And your safety can end up being a diamond in the rough 
@Jkellynh17, I sense you feel irritated with me, maybe because you think I"m oblivious or snobbish. I certainly don’t mean to come across that way. I have 5 kids, and I’m also a teacher and occasional college admissions coach who has advised probably over 100 kids over the years, with a wide spectrum of academics/finances. I’m not downplaying the stresses of financial pressures. Heaven knows I share them.
But it sounds like you are implying a needs based scholarship is like ‘hitting the lottery’? Or am I misunderstanding you? To be clear, I totally agree that Northwestern is hard to get into. Still, there are many other colleges across the country with much higher acceptance rates that also give high need based scholarships.
I was only worried that someone with high need might conclude that if they aren’t at the top in academic stats, they won’t get a need based scholarship or grant. That is just not true. It really depends on the colleges (and the student).
But I definitely agree that it is very difficult to find this ideal academic/artistic/financial safety. This is why I wrote that you could get a really good education at a LAC that, as bisouu says, can be a diamond in the rough. Or even a diamond! As long as you let go of other things, such as geography (It may have to be far away) or your ideals in other areas. For instance, you might get a great need based scholarship from a LAC that is not top in theatre. But you could go there, and create your own path and carve out your successes from there.
What are these colleges that are easy to get into artistically, financially and academically, that award need-based aid and are worth attending? I’m curious.
Do ANY of these look like easy admits? http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need
I have to say, I agree with jkelly here - you would have to be a really high stats kid to call the vast majority of the schools on that list an academic safety.
It must be Friday - my mind goes right to “Who needs safety matches? Doesn’t everyone use a lighter these days?”
Ready for a long weekend!
@Jkellynh17, I don’t quite understand your tone. Is there something I’m saying that is somehow insulting you? The US News and World Report that you link with an all caps (“ANY”)–well, yeah, US News is US News; it’s going to list the ‘top’ academic colleges.
But there are quite a bit more.
To students and parents who are seeking possible need based scholarships for students who are not top 1%-- I suggest starting with the Colleges That Change Lives list. Then expand out from there. You can look at each college’s website to get an idea how big their endowment is. I never said they were ‘easy’ to get into. But they are not a “lottery.”
A few examples–my son goes to Clark. His award is very substantial. They have a lovely theatre program.
Beloit College in Wisconsin also gives substantial aid. Another student of mine got full tuition there.
Oh, there are many more. There are many really excellent ‘lower’ or medium tiered LACs that are not impossible to get into. Can everyone get into them or get a grant? No, of course not!
But it’s much less impossible to get a need based grant than you might think, especially if you widen your field. That’s my point.
I’ve said all that I will say on this issue. I’m ready for a long weekend too!
So Beloit meets some need, that’s true, but not full need, which is the criteria for the list I posted. I just ran the NPC and it came up with a package that required double the input EFC with $16K in Parent Plus Loans. That is, indeed, a good bit more affordable than many schools. No one offered us anywhere close to two times EFC; we ended up paying three times. There’s also something called need-aware admission, which means that they may not take you if you need too much money. So even if you have the grades and scores for these schools, they may not be safeties.
I guess I’ll say one more thing. A college may have a policy of meeting full need,yes. But “meeting full need” includes financial aid (loans) as well as grants/scholarships (as well as work study btw). In practice, depending on the situation, sometimes a college that ‘meets full need’ can give a worse offer than a college that doesn’t have that commitment. That is, your college does’t have to be on the list of colleges that ‘meet full need’ for them to make a very generous need based offer. It is sometimes difficult to tell how the financial offer will pan out - since it will depend on how much they want you - and it can also be open to negotiation if you have several offers in hand. You should definitely run the NPC to get a sense where you stand but it sometimes will not tell the whole story.
Regardless, I have known many cases in which a LAC is cheaper than in-state university. I’m not sure if @Jkellyn17 is talking about getting no loans at all? That is increasingly almost impossible in this day and age for high needs students, except in a small handful of colleges. In fact, my older D graduated from a college that had the commitment for meeting full need with no loan; then they changed in her Junior year so she graduated in debt. My younger D has graduated Northwestern with loans. I’m not talking about no loans. I’m talking about substantial grants/scholarships (many $10,000s) that makes a college as cheap or cheaper than an in-state university. That is what I would consider a financial safety in this day and age.
Also, yes, it is harder to get into most schools if you are high need. Most colleges are now not need blind. However, once again, that doesn’t mean that you have to win the lottery to get a sizable financial offer. Especially - once again - if you apply to colleges that are ‘below’ your qualifications and cast your net wide. I’m not saying it’s possible for everyone, but it is possible for a wider group than you might think.
Good luck to all in this stressful process!
Peace. I think Stafford Loans are fine. $100K in Parent Plus are not. My S will have car-sized loans. What you have to be careful about is house-sized loans. This discussion started about financial safeties, that is, schools where you know you can afford it up front. That is very, very difficult for low-income students, who may get great packages at any number of schools but can almost never know up front that that will be the case.
I found financial aide to be entirely unpredictable - the net price calculators did not create accurate forecasts for us. But then we were not looking at need based, but merit based - FAFSA seems to think could pay for a house or two (in terms of scale of costs) without breaking a sweat. Not the case…
@KatMT Thank you for breaking down the “safety” into 3 categories, helps me to think more clearly about the mix of colleges.
@DoinResearch You are welcome.