<p>My daughter has been following a college list generated her counselor. As of now she is applying to 9 schools. I do not think finances were considered when this list was generated. One parent has been unemployed most of 2010 and is still looking for employment. Our EFC is about $10,000 (just over this on FAFSA and just under on CSS) . This will of course change with employment but so will out ability to pay. I am looking for a school that I know we can afford preferably within a few hours of Chicago so she can visit soon. She will not consider UofI because "everyone goes there". I have suggested Alabama but she does not want to go there (dad went to Alabama for 2 years). She has a 4.2 weighted GPA and an Act Composite of 34. Her school doesn't rank but will report that she is top 10%. She is not National Merit. </p>
<p>Schools she is now in the process of applying to:
Washington U
University of Chicago
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Tulane
Loyola Chicago
St. Louis University
Indiana University
University of Michigan (not sure why she is applying -its expensive, public and OOS)</p>
<p>I think she has the "meets full need schools" covered but they are reaches. I have looked and looked at college websites trying to figure out where to have her apply that she is very likely to get great merit money. The deadlines are approaching and I don't think I am any closer to identifying those schools. Everyone that hears her Act score says "she'll get great money" and I usually respond "really? where?" and they can't answer.
What schools do you suggest?</p>
<p>That list isnt so bad, but a few are reach schools…even for a kid with a 34 ACT. Why? Because super elite schools like UChicago, Northwestern and WashU are quirky in admissions. If Vandy takes you, they generally offer very good aid. </p>
<p>However on the whole, you are fine.</p>
<p>I might add Marquette to that list as well. </p>
<p>If she doesnt want to attend Alabama, but has Tulane on the list, then also add Loyola New Orleans, which is immediately adjacent to Tulane’s campus, very pretty and a VERY good school with fabulous faculty. They will pour aid to you with those stats. I also think Saint Louis and Marquette will pour aid. Get your applications in before November 1, using EA when possible. (non binding). Do NOT select ED to any school you cannot afford because they may take you, offer mediocre aid and then you are stuck and will have to work through that one way or another…either declining the offer and getting released or whatever. Its a big pain. I am not a fan of ED applications for anyone.</p>
<p>I have high regard for Indiana University academically. Many fine programs. Did you look at Notre Dame? Its not a safety, but they may take you and offer good money. A 34 act should get you in there.</p>
I agree that ED is a bad idea when in this financial situation, but I will correct what you say about being “stuck”. You NEVER have to attend a school you cannot afford, and declining is not more of a pain than simply sending a letter that their offer of aid is insufficient. The school won’t like it, of course, but there is nothing they can do. There has never been a case of a school taking someone to court over declining an ED admission. Still, no sense applying somewhere ED when finances are a big issue.</p>
<p>I would suggest Santa Clara. They don’t guarantee to meet need, but I am 99% sure your daughter would get a considerable merit scholarship (several graduated students from last year with less impressive stats got almost full-ride merit scholarships there) and probably some need-based. They have a big endowment, and I’m pretty sure she’ll get money from them, I would consider it.</p>
<p>i would suggest that you apply to USC. they have very generous merit and need based aid. their admissions policy is need-blind. USC meets 100% demonstrated need with the vast majority of aid in grants rather than loans.</p>
<p>I would push her to at least apply to Illinois, however. One always needs to plan for a worst case scenario, and merit/financial aid can be very unreliable.</p>
<p>I’d encourage her to apply to loan-free universities in particular – any of the Ivies, Rice, Duke. Among LACs – Amherst, Davidson, Williams, Wellesley, Swarthmore, Pomona, Haverford, Lafayette, Vassar, etc. Some of these are loan-free only below a certain income threshold, however, so check carefully. Many of these are reaches, but her stats give her at least a decent chance.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the suggestions. I am looking into these colleges and discussing them with my daughter now. Some of these are really great options we had not considered. I appreciate the help!</p>
<p>Also, check out Grinnell-exactly 5 hours from Chicago. Very generous financial and merit aid. But she has to be the kind of kid who would enjoy a rural LAC-quite different from her existing list.</p>
<p>Indiana is wonderful–she’ll get automatic $9k/year scholarship, plus probably a few thousand more per year, with selective (invitation) scholarships. There is an inexpensive resident scholars housing option, too, which would lower the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>If she does plan to apply to Indiana: I recommend applying soon! I am not sure of the deadline to be considered for honors scholarships but I think it might be Dec 1 or sooner.</p>
<p>And–if she gets in and it is on her short list, I HEARTILY recommend applying for housing ASAP. My D didn’t do that and didn’t decide on IU til the eleventh hour. She ended up getting in honors housing but was on the wait list—she’s loving it there but I wonder how she’d have felt in a more ‘party central’ dorm. (She likes to have fun but she also works hard). Apparently most people applying at IU apply for housing early, even if not positive about attendance.</p>
<p>My D LOVES IU and the honors college has allowed her to connect with many other intellectually curious students. Bloomington is a great town, SO much to do!</p>
<p>Whoever said Pitt–I’d definitely consider that too–she might even get full tuition there.</p>
<p>And for liberal arts w/ merit, consider Kalamazoo College. I think 2-3 hours from Chicago.
Butler in Indy is another nice LAC where she might get merit–not sure how much.</p>
<p>Marquette and Saint Louis, she may get half tuition at best. The rest will be in loans. If you’re willing to take on debt, those would be good choices.</p>
<p>What about University of Illinois in Chicago or University of Evansville or Bradley university, since you’re looking for nearby schools?</p>
<p>Loyola New Orleans is an excellent school, but it is far from home. Maybe Loyola Chicago or even DePaul?</p>
Perhaps she should also consider whether she wants a college education, too. Its nice to dream of an expensive school with all the trimmings. I dream of driving a Mercedes or Porsche. But if the money isn’t there, or the debt to get it is too burdensome, then its not going to happen. Your daughter is about to become an adult, which means making adult decisions and understanding adult limitations. Life hands people worse disappointments then ending up at UofI, a top-10 public. </p>
<p>You seem, from this limited post, to have a D that feels entitled to what she wants if she <em>really</em> wants it. I sure hope that big merit aid comes thru for her, but the catch is the big merit aid usually goes to kids enrolling at schools a few notches below the level they can get into. Which, again given what you’ve posted, she’d reject out-of-hand. So I suggest you and your husband decide what you can afford if you are both working again, and what you can afford if the search for a job continues on in this tough economy. And stick with it.</p>
<p>I second everything mikemac said. Wherever she ends up, in four years she’ll be at a school attended by “everyone she knows”. High school seniors overestimate how fast four years of college will go by, how quickly the novelty of being at a new place wears off, and how much educational debt can limit their options after school.</p>
<p>I second Grinnell and other LACs in the upper Midwest (such as Carleton or Macalester). They offer some of the best features of schools in the top half of the OP’s list, such as good financial aid and small classes. They aren’t safety schools but are a little less selective than Northwestern or Chicago. These are among the best “target” back-ups, in my opinion, to students who may be competitive for some of the top 20 national universities. Centre College (KY) and Hendrix (AK) are a bit less selective still, and might be motivated to cover more than need for someone with your daughter’s qualifications.</p>
<p>While what mikemac says has a lot of truth to it, a little less assuming, condescension and lecturing would be in order. He didn’t even get all the facts right. The D didn’t generate the list, her GC did. I saw nothing in the original post that indicated the D felt “entitled”. A lot of kids don’t want to go to their Big State U. Sure, maybe in the end they have little choice because of finances, but the whole point of the post was to find schools where her stats might get her close to or at the same place monetarily. If I were the OP, I would find the post offensive.</p>