sorry if i was confusing in how i phrased stuff. i am of course not so delusional as to believe that i could get into brown or bowdoin for certain. but it’s certainly a possibility.
Could yes, for sure - but you were delusional if you believe this statement you made…well I guess it depends on how one defines reasonable. Then there’s the monetary aspect - I hope you got the right #.
“However, i do have a reasonable chance of getting into and enjoying Brown”.
Curious - what’s your end goal - i.e. when you graduate or unknown at this time?
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Check with Bennington about its policy with respect to how scholarships (internal or external) affect its financial need projections. At some universities, they will reduce their need-based aid by however much they give out in merit scholarships or that a student receives from outside scholarships. I don’t know what the policy is at Bennington (or at any other school on your list), but this is information you will want to know for every school you apply to.
i don’t know yet. but i do want to do something related to community work and poetry (maybe theater, but that’s an off chance). i don’t think it would be beneficial for me to know what i want to do after college as of now, because that sort of thing could change pretty easily given the amount of perspectives i’ll be exposed to during my 4 years.
reasonable means that i have as much a chance as other people. of course it’s going to be selective, but it’s not impossible. since i do have a good safety school, i’m not disposing of my chances of getting into a college down a deep dark canyon or anything. i already know for myself which colleges will be a good fit for me (i have done in-depth research), and if i’m allowed to i would like to ask for only financial advice here.
Check with Bennington about its policy with respect to how scholarships (internal or external) affect its financial need projections. At some universities, they will reduce their need-based aid by however much they give out in merit scholarships or that a student receives from outside scholarships. I don’t know what the policy is at Bennington (or at any other school on your list), but this is information you will want to know for every school you apply to.
…and AustenNut, i asked the Bennington AO in an interview about this, and they didn’t say that my need would change. which is a relief.
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I like your answer - too many kids have their paths defined - law school or what not - so it’s good you are open. I was more curious given the majors, that’s all.
btw - I personally think and I’m not an AO and we don’t see essays or LORs or hear about interviews but if you’re applying RD to Brown and it had a sub 4% acceptance rate, I would think your odds are better. You’re a wonderful candidate. But by better is that 5% or 8% or 15% - that I don’t know. The truth is the only ones who know are the teams that evaluate candidates.
That you have a safety you like is wonderful but again, I encourage you to find another safety that you get to the # not by need. Too many kids think their # is one thing and the actual # is different. Often times, that’s tied to home equity - so if your family owns a home, etc. that sometimes changes the game.
Good luck.
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Wishing you good luck! For some encouragement my kid posted several chance me threads 5+ years back. His list included several Ivies and top 20s. He got a similar response to what you have gotten.
He kind of laughed it off, took the advice of his GC, put together bespoke applications and focused on his grades. He vowed never to return to CC (which he hasn’t) but introduced me to it.
He graduated from Brown which he choose amongst acceptances including 2 other ivies, Duke and Gtown (and yes he had several safeties just in case).
The well intended CC consensus was that he would get shut out. Point being we are complete strangers, meaning the least informed to chance you.
You asked about finances but given the thread seemed to digress into chance me discussion, I wanted to give you some encouragement and advice.
Listen to your parents and GC, don’t be discouraged, get good grades, write good essays and try and enjoy senior year.
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I just thought that I would put in a good word for Rutgers.
When I was in graduate school (at Stanford) the other students in the same program had come from a very wide range of other universities. There was only one single university that had sent more than one student (that I knew of) to the same graduate program in that particular class year. It was Rutgers. The three students that I knew who were Rutgers graduates were all very good.
Since then I have worked with several Rutgers graduates. I also have several in-laws who are Rutgers graduates. ALL of them make their alma mater look very good.
There are strong students at Rutgers. You will find lots of them.
To me it sounds like the best approach is to look for universities that are likely to affordable, apply to multiple of them (including Rutgers), get your acceptance letters back with financial aid information, and then compare your options.
I think that one of my daughters got a $200 scholarship from a group in high school (most likely music related). However, $200 does not go very far in 2023. At least for us the financial aid that actually mattered was what we got from each university directly.
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I wasn’t around for your kid’s thread, but I don’t think anyone on CC here is saying that OP is likely to get shut out. I suspect that one difference between OP’s situation and your son’s is that I believe your family had/has the finances to be full-pay at any institution. OP’s family can contribute $15k/year. Additionally, OP is getting some surprisingly varied NPC results.
I think that people on this thread are trying to make sure that OP will have an affordable choice come spring. Experienced posters know that “full-need” schools that are need-aware might nix OP because of the financial piece, even though OP would be a stellar candidate. Schools that are not need-aware but don’t meet full need might not get the cost low enough. And though I think OP’s chances at the Top X schools that meet-need (generously) and are need-blind are probably greater than the odds of many other students, I don’t know if those odds are greater than about 20%.
So although I am hopeful for OP, I also want to make sure there is a safety net underneath him.
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Not disagreeing at all. Just ensuring OP doesn’t get scarred off from applying to affordable reaches and or CC.
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Bennington’s endowment per student is $60,000. That is exceptionally low, and would have me concerned 1) about the school’s viability and 2) it’s ability to be generous. If you were my child, I would encourage you to find a different “safety” school. (Also, there’s this:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/17/10-colleges-where-getting-a-degree-may-not-pay-off.html )
Bard ($120,000/student endowment), Skidmore ($195,000 ), Connecticut College (165,000) all seem to be financially safer.
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I agree and don’t understand how Bennington could even come close to OP’s budget of $15K. If the NPC is showing that…I would run it again, or think it’s just wrong.
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We live NJ, I’d consider us upper middle class if we lived in a lower COL area, middle class for here. My kids went to public universities, in state and OOS, the OOS ones gave merit, none gave us a dime in FA, except for subsidized loans when we had two/three in college at the same time. I remember being surprised.
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And it is also the case that just because Bennington’s NPC says the student’s need is X, the college doesn’t have to provide X. Bennington is neither need blind in admission nor guaranteed to meet full student need.
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I know I beat dead horses and I hate to repeat it - but after what @Mjkacmom just wrote and your point on need aware -
OP - find a safety - financial and admission - that does not rely on a net price calculator…because if the NPCs are wrong, at least you’ll have a school to call home, even if it’s not your favorite.
Lots of choices presented above that get you there without any need.
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The net price calculator results also seem very wonky to me. It seems highly unlikely that the result from Bowdoin’s NPC is accurate. Of course, every family’s circumstances is different, and Bowdoin is definitely quite generous with financial aid (as is Princeton ordinarily). I am not shocked that Bowdoin came out lower than Brown based on my experience with those calculators, but the discrepancy between the two is somewhat bigger than I’d expect. And the discrepancy between Bowdoin and Princeton is even stranger.
To be honest, I think that something is off if Princeton’s NPC is estimating a net price that is more than 2.5x that of Bowdoin. Such a result makes me suspect that the OP’s parental finances are more complicated than typical and/or there are assets or income that were captured by the Princeton and Brown NPC but for some reason didn’t get captured by Bowdoin’s NPC. Or perhaps the OP used the quick MyTuition calculator on Bowdoin’s instead of the full net price calculator. Or there was an entry error at one of the schools. If so, the correct information will come out when the family fills out the CSS. The good news is that all three colleges are no loan schools so any aid should be all grants. Unfortunately, as many posters have pointed out, they are all very high reaches for all students so a financial safety is crucial if the parent’s budget is really 15K.
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Another cautionary note. To have $5500 dollars to contribute to college costs, you will need to actually earn more than $5500. Taxes (state and federal), FICA will all be deducted from your earnings before you get your pay check.
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And if you are receiving need or merit aid beyond full tuition (ie used for room and board) then this amount will be taxable, so exceeding the standard deduction when your earnings are added becomes more likely.
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Another thing you should find out is if your parents will be eligible for one of the tax credits. If so, will they put that extra money towards your college costs in subsequent years.
@Mwfan1921 what are those tax things, and the amounts?
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I don’t know about the tax credits! Maybe @kelsmom @belknappoint @politeperson do?
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“ Q12. Is there an income limit for AOTC?
A12. Yes. To claim the full credit, your MAGI, modified adjusted gross income (See Q&A 13 for MAGI definition) must be $80,000 or less ($160,000 or less for married taxpayers filing jointly). If your MAGI is over $80,000 but less than $90,000 (over $160,000 but less than $180,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly), the amount of your credit is reduced. If your MAGI is over $90,000 ($180,000 for married taxpayers filing joint), you can’t claim the credit.”
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