@Momof0ne thank you very much. I do not have a financial award letter. I will reach out to admissions on Monday to find out what’s going on. But it looks like the CSS profile is due tomorrow so I’ll let my parents know it might be what’s holding up the financial award letter even though I am a medalist.
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Accepted w/ Leadership Scholarship. Much larger than other schools, also have FIRST Robotics Scholarship.
1490 SAT
105.01 Weighted GPA
Great Recommendations
Multiple Leader Positions
S accepted, leadership scholarship, aeronautical e.
35 act
3.8 weighted at rigorous public HS in northeast
not a ton of EC but depth and long commitment to a few
Good luck all, this year is crazy. nothing making sense with admissions!
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D accepted, Game Science and Simulation
From CT
Leadership Scholarship, + Grant of 6K.
~4.4 W, 3.85 UW, One class that isn’t AP or H (ironically, that would be Calc)
1350 SAT (however, not one hour of SAT prep, one test, almost didn’t submit)
A number of ECs, but nothing like a science fair award, starting a business or curing cancer
My question is the grant. The letter doesnt saymuch, just shows the 2021-2022 cost, and shows the leadership award and the grant, but I presume the grant may be “need based” and that next year it may be gone. This FAFSA for our family was lower than the next 2 years FAFSA will be based on job circumstances, so if that is true, I have to treat the grant like a one year only 6K, right?
We are assuming it will be a one time grant as well. Better to hope for the best and expect the worst, right? We are from Massachusetts and my son was accepted into the College of Engineering (Major: Aeronautical Engineering)
He received the Leadership Scholarship + a Grant of 5K
3.7 UW GPA, test optional, 6 APs, The rest mostly honors, multiple ECs and two leadership roles.
We were a bit surprised not to receive more grant aid since we will have two in college next year, but if anything this just helps to narrow down my son’s list a bit. Same for WPI. Fortunately, RPI wasn’t one of his top schools, so he’s not disappointed. I suspect he will notify RPI of his decision to decline within the next week or so.
He has already been accepted into Purdue Engineering which also has stellar reputation and would have a lower net cost even without scholarships or grants. And with their reputation for holding tuition costs steady, I think he will get the best of both worlds if he chooses to go there: Great education/reputation/career services along with predictable out of pockets costs after freshman year. He has also been accepted to Ohio State…just waiting for the financial aid offerings, Penn State (not likely to receive much if anything at all), and Clarkson. His lowest cost options will obviously be our in state schools, UMass Amherst and Lowell (by a good amount) but they don’t offer aerospace. He’ll have to determine whether it makes sense to save money and get a mechanical degree with the hopes of securing a job in the aerospace industry or to pay more for the specific major.
Sounds like a similar situation. She will be our second in school (first is a sophomore in college now), and I did notice our EFC was cut in half this year from prior years where we got zero aid of any kind. WPI offered her 31,500 in scholarship, and 1K in a grant, so while they come in at the same net cost in year 1, I have a feeling RPI would be a lock to offer no grant in years 2-4. This seems to make some sense given the rankings of WPI and RPI respectively, both great schools but one is considered a notch up.
Like your son, she was accepted into Purdue Poly as well, with not a penny of merit (I was surprised, but given they are not giving much aid to anyone that isnt need based, this makes sense). Even at full cost, Purdue comes in a hair cheaper than either WPI or RPI and without the fear of losing merit or grants, and with their tuition locks, its likely the gap will increase each year.
The offer from Michigan State comes in around 5K less than WPI, and 10K less than RPI without the grant. She is still waiting on merit offer amounts from RIT, Utah, Virginia Tech, so we’re still unsure.
Ironically, she applied to about 10 schools hoping that between rejections and the merit offers half of them would eliminate themselves. We’ve had no such help. She feels humbled to have received acceptance from every school she applied to, but many of the offers are netting down to about the same with a slight variance based on roughly what their US news ranking is. So in the end many options are still on the table if you try to mix cost versus school.
Sounds like your daughter has many great options! Like your daughter, my son applied to 10 schools total. We just weren’t sure how college admissions would play out given the lack of testing opportunities and students that deferred going to college last year based on the pandemic. So far he’s been admitted to all 8 that have released decisions. Still waiting on Virginia Tech and Syracuse University.
My daughters is a junior nursing major at Fairfield University. Despite being the most expensive college that she applied to, in terms of private schools they came in with the lowest net cost! It’s amazing to know that we are paying less for her with one in college than we will pay for my son with two in college. My husband and I have been discussing how to compare the financial aid packages when so much can change financially (specifically efc) once my daughter graduates the following year. A school like Syracuse could initially come in lower, but then increase substantially in following years. I’m not much of a risk taker, so the continuity of Purdue tuition is definitely appealing! As you said, no worry of losing scholarship or grant money.
Wishing your daughter all the best wherever she lands!
I don’t want to go into all the details here, but definitely reach out to the school. We received some conflicting information between what’s posted on the RPI site and the award letter we received.
S21 accepted to biomedical engineering with the medalist scholarship. Still such a pricey school, even with that award. We will be full pay, with another starting college in two years.
@HankCT @CollegeMom98 It sounds like our kids are in similar situations and are lucky to have a number of great schools to choose from. S21 definitely over applied, since he wasn’t sure how admissions would play out this cycle with so many unknowns. He’s been accepted to Purdue and a few others EA but is waiting on Virginia Tech and Syracuse, plus a few reach schools. I have a feeling that April will be a tough month of number-crunching and decision-making, especially since we haven’t been able to see some of these schools in person!
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I wish we knew more about the Syracuse engineering program. My son attended a mock Aerospace class and really enjoyed it. I would just like more info on the graduate outcomes. I looked at salary info on college scorecard and though mechanical salaries seemed in line with other engineering programs the aerospace salary numbers were much lower (around 53k). He could certainly go for mechanical but aerospace is his true passion. Wondering why the number is so low?
@flyawayx2 Well said. It’s very difficult- schools have been pressuring for kids to apply ED - but we haven’t been able to visit any schools. We actually were lucky to visit WPI in Feb just before covid - but that was it before our touring was shut down.
As my current HS senior says - in the end it’s just a college and they are all good schools and it’s what you make of it. I’m glad she has that grounded perspective - but secretly disagree. I know with our oldest she felt the same until she visited Binghamton U, and she fell in love with it over schools like Penn State, UMass and Clark, which before visiting were higher on her list. Ironically binghamton was also 5-10k per year cheaper than the others as well.
It’s so important to visit, get a feel and a vibe. I assume we will all be making a mad dash like you said in April. Fingers crossed things have become safer by then.
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@flyawayx2 , we are in the same situation also. My daughter also got accepted to biomedical engineering at RPI. She has acceptances in Texas A&M, ASU (Barrett honors College), UMN (twin cities) and Bama (her father’s alma mater). She EA’d her reach school and was deferred, and we are waiting on a couple of other reach schools RD decisions. Good luck to your S21.
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For those who are worried about losing the grant in the later years, I’d suggest contacting the Financial Aid office about it. When I applied (many years ago), I applied ED as a medal winner. I came from a very large family. When my parents saw the out of pocket number, they didn’t think we could do it. My mom called Financial Aid and explained our situation. They asked how much we’d need to make it work and it was only about $1,000 more per year (admittedly that was a lot more money back then than it is today). They worked with us and I was able to attend.
I remember my dad being worried that they would pull the rug out from under us after the first year. After the first tuition payment he said, “Well, we made it through this year, we’ll see about next year.” That certainly wasn’t great to hear as I entered my freshman year. I was worried that year that I would make friends and have to leave. Luckily, RPI was fantastic. And I kept all of the scholarship for all 4 years.
I also had a friend who had financial issues during her sophomore or junior year. She thought she was going to have to leave because her dad was refusing to pay. I suggested she talk with the Financial Aid office in person and explain her situation and they were able to work out a solution.
I know that the Financial Aid office can’t always bring the cost down to what each family thinks they can pay. But I thought it would be helpful to share some personal stories from people who attended. It’s a fantastic school with great outcomes. Good luck to everyone! I hope that you/your children are happy wherever they decided to attend.
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According to the RPI catalog grants are renewable. Here’s what it says:
"Rensselaer Grant* (formerly Rensselaer Alumni Scholarship) This need-based grant is awarded to students who exhibit strong academic and extracurricular achievement, and display a strong commitment to excellence. Award amounts may change if the student’s demonstrated need decreases significantly. Increases in the award are subject to the availability of funds. Recipients receive this award for a maximum of eight semesters of full-time undergraduate study. School of Architecture program students may receive the award for up to ten semesters of undergraduate study. There is no minimum grade point average required for renewal each year.
Coterminal degree students may receive up to 2 additional semesters of funding after completing their undergraduate degree requirements. Students in coterminal MBA programs may receive up to 3 additional terms of funding." And here’s the link: http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?catoid=21&navoid=512
@gobaking thanks for the details. Unfortunately, I am scared a bit by the “if need decreases significantly”. I work in an industry where the pay can vary a bit year to year, and the FAFSA for next year will be much stronger than this year, so I can see them being motivated to remove the “need based” grant. At some point I may reach out to them and see what options exist for increasing the leadership merit to replace the grant, or something to make us feel better about the grant sticking around.
For us, even if the grant were guaranteed, RPI would be her most expensive option, although with the grant, not by too much, so it would be in the running. Without the grant, it starts to become more difficult to align the stars.
My daughter was accepted EA into Lally for Business Analytics. And if anyone can shed light, I am open to being further educated on the matter, however, scholarships aside, all top-tiered private universities, for the most part, range in a total sticker price of $70K - $80K.
For out of state students attending a state university, maybe for the exception of Michigan and certain state universities willing to charge the same tuition to out of state students (i.e. U. Alabama has an arrangement with Florida) , tuition and costs may be lower. This is because the state university tuition and costs are lower to begin with. But in comparison to the private university (i.e. SUNY Albany v. Syracuse or RPI), overall, for a top-tier private university to private university comparison, the sticker prices all range within $70K to $80K, i.e. George Washington University, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, University of Miami, Syracuse, NYU, etc.
If I am in error, please shed some light as I am open to learning something new.
I’m not entirely sure what you are asking
Generally speaking private colleges have a higher sticker price than state schools. Prices also vary regionally. State schools in the Midwest are lower cost than state schools in the northeast …
In the end though it’s the net price that matters. As an example, zero merit from Purdue will run you about 40k per year for tuition, room and board. Meanwhile, a 30k scholarship from RPI leaves you with 44k a year - more expensive than no money from Purdue.
I will also add that states have different prices. For example, SUNY universities are significantly cheaper for out of state students than UConn, UMass or UVM, all neighboring states. Binghamton for example is a better education than UVM, despite UVM being almost 15k per year more expensive. The difference is mainly in the 28k tuition for binghamton versus the 41k UVM charges, and UVM fees and room and board are also more expensive.
We heard back from the admission office, and they advised they have not completed rolling out the financial aid/scholarship package but anticipate they will finish a week. So I would say keep our fingers crossed and eyes opened on the portal the next few days.
They do suggest us to complete the CSS profile but we are trying to clarify if this is needed for merit based scholarship consideration (which I don’t believe that’s the case as indicated by their portial).
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My kid was deferred. And today friends say RPI has extended RD to Feb 15th. They originally extended to 1/31. They must have lower applications, and are unsure about the “test optional” kids this year.
that’s rude?
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