I was accepted into both with about the same amount of scholarship money (Rider is giving $24,000 a year and Seton hall is giving $25,000 a year) and I have visited Rider and I really enjoyed it. But is one school better than the other? And in what ways? I’m leaning towards Rider but I am quite unsure. Please help? Note that I am from North Carolina and so I really can’t go up and visit before it’s time to make a decision.
Err, why would you want to go to either one of these two (not very good) colleges when you have excellent colleges in North Carolina that would be far cheaper?
What are your stats? What’s your budget (how much can your parents pay per year out of income and savings)?
What matters isn’t the scholarship but cost of attendance - what is it at each school?
@MYOS1634 I’ve really always wanted to go out of state. I have no real reason to stay in NC as I really only have one family member here and I don’t enjoy living here. As far as stats go, I’m a first generation student with an unweighted 2.9 and a weighted 3.2. I’m graduating high school a year early due to some unforeseen circumstances that require me to get out of my house sooner. I have a 27 on the ACT with a perfect score in the reading section. My father passed away during the 2015-2016 school year which hurt my GPA a lot. Honestly I was a pretty unremarkable student. I think my saving graces were my Speech and Debate Awards, my Recommendations, and my essay. Both schools are around $55,000 with room and board but the average need-based aid package at each school is more than $25,000 a year and my family income is only about $12,000 a year taxed. So my financial aid package should be fairly substantial. I also really like that both schools are fairly small and in the area I want to move to.
Honestly I don’t think either school is worth traveling north for.
I’m sorry about your dad.
Rider has had some very publicized financial difficulties recently and have been cutting staff/majors to save money. Be very sure your intended major is safe. The couple kids I’ve known at Seton Hall say it’s pretty quiet on the weekends, but I think a lot of that is what you make of it.
Do you have any other schools you’ve applied to and are considering?
Neither college “meets need”. In other words, there will be no other scholarship. Neither school is affordable.
Your GPA isn’t great but your test scores are very good.
What would your GPA be without 2015-2016?
What classes have you taken (Honors, AP)?
If your family’s income is under $24,000, you need to apply to schools that are affordable. Your 27 ACT is good. In your “additional information” (box on Common App) please write this (you can copy/paste or complete): My father passed away in 2015-2016, which was devastating to my whole family psychologically as well as financially. We are trying to recover but life totally changed and this loss disrupted my schooling during that year. As you can see, before my father’s passing, my GPA was…, and if you look at my 2016-2017 or current GPA you can see it’s …" MAKE SURE this appears in that ‘additional information’ box on common app and anywhere you can paste it on other application platforms. This will give you a shot at universities better than Rider or Seton Hall with better financial aid packages.
I understand you don’t want to stay in North Carolina, but you may not be able to afford to go to college if you don’t apply to NC colleges. Apply quickly and EA if offered to UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro. I think Charlotte and Greensboro have a special program for lower income applicants that would guarantee to cover your tuition but look quickly as there are deadlines (some deadlines were November 1st.) You’d likely have a shot at Honors College at both, and with your “additional information” perhaps at the other two schools, too.
Next, run the NPC on the following schools (and each college has its own formula so you do have to run it for each college). To find the NPC type the name of the college <“College” + NPC > in your search engine.
Guilford
Sweet Briar
Virginia Wesleyan
Agnes Scott
Ohio Wesleyan
Wooster
Allegheny
Drew
Drake
Hendrix
Muhlenberg
Gustavus Adolphus
Luther
Concordia-Moorhead
St Lawrence
St Olaf
St Michael’s
St Anselm
St Bonaventure
U Scranton
UDubuque
St Louis University
UDayton
UEvansville
LaSalle
U Maine Orono
U Maine Farmington
Truman State
UMN Morris
Your “net price” should appear as $8,000 or under BEFORE ANY LOAN (that would mean you can pay with your job savings + the federal loan $5,500).
@MYOS1634 From previous posts the OP just wanted a college in the NJ/NY/PA area and it seemed like she would take loans to do that…but the usual student loans won’t be enough.
Parents are moving out of NC. Could she still be IS for NC?
I really can’t imagine Seton Hall or Rider being comparable in any way to NC options. I live in NJ and I don’t know anyone who have either school as a first choice. They seem like local back ups when other choices don’t come through.
Hopefully other options will come through.
Rider and Seton Hall would be the equivalent of Catawba, Pfeiffer, or Mars Hill in NC. People who know them can’t imagine anyone going there from OOS.
I think the student will be a resident if the parents have lived in NC for 12 consecutive months before the start of the school year. Graduating from a NC HS also speeds up the classification. I don’t know whether students whose parents move while theyre enrolled are considered and I don’t know how students whose parents move before the start of the school year are classified. This is the link:
http://registrar.unc.edu/academic-services/residency/
If the OP’s mother moves during the year, OP may have to wait for a year till she’s eligible for instate tuition in the new state.
@haileyhensley1 :
Could you not graduate and rather coukd you move to the new state your parent is moving to, enroll in HS there as a senior, graduate from hs there, and thus become a resident of the new state, which will open a lot more choices for you?
This is especially important since it’d mitigate your 2015-2016 grades by adding one more year of good grades to your GPA and since scholarships are so tied to test scores it’d give you a chance to score even higher on the ACT.
If your mother is moving to NJ, attending HS in NJ and Graduating from there would open all the NJ publics.
OP’s family is not moving to NJ, according to earlier posts, and doesn’t want to go where they are going.
But I think that state might still offer opportunities, even if not living with family.
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So my financial aid package should be fairly substantial. I
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Probably not. You’d get a small Pell Grant, but you’d be gapped a LOT. Neither school will likely be affordable.
I know both Rider and Seton Hall fairly well. They are decent schools, and you will get a good education. Rider is located in a suburban area (Lawrenceville NJ) which is about midway between NYC and Philly. The Rider campus is fairly small and known for its liberal arts education.
Seton Hall on the other hand is in South Orange, and much more urban. Seton Hall is known for its nursing and law programs. And I heard that they are in the process of starting the first private medical school in NJ.
Going to either school would certainly be a big change from staying in North Carolina. But you will incur some serious debt. Have you considered any of the options given by the previous posters? Otherwise you might be better off just coming up to NJ and just going to community college for 2 years and then transferring.
I agree, as much I know about the two schools, you should look for others that has been suggested up thread.
As a life-long NJ resident I will tell you if you want to come North there are more interesting schools but of the two I would pick Seton Hall. Post #5 has some good suggestions, namely Scranton, St Bonaventure, St Anselm, St Michael’s, St Lawrence and Muhlenberg.
Rider is a good school for Accounting in fact one of the few with a dinstinct college of Accounting but the location is beyond boring.