I would take a hard look at Colorado College as it meets all your requirements including being out West, close to hiking and running. All those posters that keep putting out public universities out there are glossing over the fact that they are most likely not include a lot of FA. The fact is, for FA, you need to eliminate all public options unless they give a full ride for your DD stats which there aren’t a lot of and I think you would reject anyway due to location.
@chicago5010 - University of Montana can be generous to high stats out of state students. Missoula is a lovely college town that has both river and mountain activities, I wonder about being able to run year round, though.
In terms of Colorado, University of Colorado/Boulder likely won’t give her significant aid; and University of Denver may not necessarily attract kids who are her academic equals. (In other words, it’s not all that selective…) Colorado College is great for accomplished students who like the outdoors, but it IS small, and its block schedule is a negative for many.
@katliamom most find the block schedule objectionable because they never experienced it thus it is different and potentially scary. For those who have experienced the vast majority like it if not loved it. Personally I think its just a different way to schedule classes and not that big a deal either way. If DU doesn’t have academic equals where does that leave University of Montana?
@CU123, well Montana can be generous to OOS students, which is why I brought it up, OP is looking for merit money and Montana has it. As for CC’s block schedule – not that I want to get into an argument – but there are many professionals (and students) who don’t like it for certain fields. Langauges, for example. Or sciences. I’ve known several professors at CC who admitted the block schedule left them exhausted and probably not at their best as instructors. I know a philosophy professor who left CC even though she was offered tenure, because she found it hard to teach her subject in a block schedule format. As they say, different strokes…
DU has generous merit money, but full ride is tough. Utah State has easy free tuition but a full ride is tough. Same with Montana.
I like DU. Has talented students, well thought of in Denver. Denver is a great city.
CC is a very special school and enjoys high regard in the area.
I immediately thought of Grinnell until you specified large school/west coast.
St. Lawrence might be a great candidate for her. She would likely get great merit aid plus institutional aid. Students seem pretty down to earth, the school provides an enormous amount of opportunities to students. Students lean athletic, outdoorsy. There is a golf course on campus. There are mountains (Adirondacks) and water (St. Lawrence River) nearby. It’s cold up there, but she would be used to that, I’d imagine. Students seem really happy. There seems to be a tradition of senior tour guides tearing up when they talk about graduation.
You know, I was thinking the same ^. I think they give full aid packages too. I know some kids who had substantial fun aid there. It’s a wonderful school too. I like everyone I’ve met who graduated from there. Someone in this board has a child with full ride there , I believe
@CU123…UNC is public and meets full need for all. Whether the student will like it or not…I don’t know.
So does UVA not exactly out West, and of course the definition of full need is variable.
@cptofthehouse - yes, St. Lawrence made my son a very generous financial aid. offer. They don’t claim to meet full need on their website, but my hunch is that if they want a student badly enough, the “gap”, if anything, will be low.
OP - if you want details on our situation and the financial aid offer we received, feel free to private message me.
I am not going to suggest specific schools since so many have been mentioned.
We were in the same position financially. Some of the top schools (and maybe others) use the CSS Profile: make sure to fill out the special circumstances section with info on your health issues.
I always think it is a shame that people have this stereotypical view of schools like the Ivies. Half the students at Harvard are on FA and 20% are going for free (income under $65k). Other top schools are similar in their efforts at socioeconomic diversity. Sure, a friend asked my kid if he wanted to go to Europe for spring break, but for the most part, there is such a mix of backgrounds that, with the right attitude, the feelings of marginalization can really be minimized. The important thing is that your daughter has gotten a high school education that prepares her.
We found Harvard to be a warm and supportive place for one of our kids with health challenges. That really goes against the image people have of it. And the house system creates community.
I am not an Ivy booster and in no way am I suggesting that your daughter apply to Ivies. If she likes small classes with the professor teaching rather than TF’s, that is a consideration in favor of LAC’s. In fact, there are many pluses to LAC’s. (For dance we considered Bennington, Vassar, Barnard, Goucher, Skidmore, Sarah Lawrence.)
But in theory, anyway, I would not want her to eliminate schools based on somewhat outdated hearsay either.
I just think that if you want to pay <10K$; you might have to get creative and not worry about the rankings of your schools.
R&B & fees costs more than $10K at most schools. It’s not often public and small private schools will dip into R&B costs for you, unless you have a particular, competitive scholarship for a particular school; OR they are a meets-need school that lots of people are trying to get into. Remember, there are smart kids at almost every school; and there are honors programs as well.
if it were me, i’d be figuring out what i could pay; including a student loan, perhaps pell grants & state grants, savings and out of pocket. Once i knew what I could afford per year, then I’d hone in schools in areas/locations of interest; and contact the scholarships office for what special, non=published or “unicorn” scholarships are offered and start applying away. (and your D has great stats; I’d be applying for TT schools too.)
I.e. half of the students are from very high income/wealth families (try the Harvard NPC at https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator to see what you need to get no FA from Harvard), and 20% or fewer are from families from approximately the bottom half of the household income distribution (not exactly free, since the lowest net price with maximum FA reported by the Harvard NPC is $4,600 for domestic students and $3,000 for international students who are more limited in being able to earn money from work in the US).
Look into Berea College. It’s free for everyone and as far as I know everyone gets a job via the school. I hear great things about it from the fees kids I know who went there.
Also have you looked into HBCUs. I’m not sure of the race or if your daughter would be comfortable at a majority black school but with her stats she would get a fullride at many of them.
MIddlebury! I know it doesn’t fit your preferred geography, but my niece sounds just like your daughter, and she loves it and got a free ride there!
How many 17-18 yr old know what they want? When I read post like this I often wonder if this is what a parent wants or what a student wants?
The student has been a high performer, but is afraid of the rat race (I don’t necessary agree T20 schools are necessary rat race schools)? Why can’t a parent tell the student to just do what he/she has been doing and take advantage what a top tier school has to offer if he/she should be so lucky to get in?
I was a full scholarship student. I never ate cheese until I went off to college or knew what is synthetic material vs natural material or how to really hold my forks and knives. I learned so much at my “top tier LAC,” from my professors as will as the students.
It is natural for our kids to be scared of change, but it is our responsibility as parents to encourage our kids to move out of their comfort zone, to stretch themselves, and experience things they have never experienced before.
I remember my kids were afraid of swimming, going to over night camp or trial out for dance/sports/club, and I had to be the one to say “just give it a shot or you would never know.”
I am not saying your kid should only apply to T20s because he/she should have a balance list, but to completely shy away from T20s because he/she wants out of rat race is out of fear and I wonder whose fear is that.
@NYC2018nyc I wouldn’t characterize getting need based financial aid as a “free ride”. If a family has financial need then, yes, some schools meet full need. Free ride might be free for you but other families paying full tuition are paying for those “free rides”.
Schools that meet full need without loans have highly competitive admissions. The OP seems to think that his D has a chance at those schools and is looking to get off the crazy train. Amherst, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, Williams all meet full need without loans and would be collaborative experiences.
I agree that there are plenty of students in the top schools who need financial aid, need to work, have families with financial issues. PELL kids, not all that many. The fact of the matter is that you do tend to get more financial aid from the most selective schools. If you get accepted, and if their formulas work for you.
The fact of the matter is there is that merit within need thing going on. A school with abysmal financial aid statistics—like meets only 65%of need on average and only 19% get full need might well be a better opportunity to get MORE money than, say, Amherst which meets 100% of need. Why? Well, Amherst defines that need, whereas that other school might define it through FAFSA. More importantly, a student might be certain to get into that other school whereas the chances of getting into a school like Amherst is slim. If you are a top catch School X, it may well offer you a very nice aid package. You also have a good chance of working with a FA Director who is also the AO.
So, if you NEED money to go to college, it’s much more challenging all around. Getting that one sure thing might be more difficult if you need a full ride or close to it. The two auto fulls my son had on the table are gone now. Unless you are in a state where there are some auto freebies and you have the goods, you have to cast a wide net looking at some schools that don’t tend to make the reviews and you know nothing about. Prairie View A&M might well be a wonderful opportunity, but when funds are tight, visiting it may not be affordable and getting a good idea of what the environment is not easy.
You look into commuting options— what’s local to you. I am fortunate in that I live near a plethora of academic possibilities . I worked this year where there really were none that came close to them. My son had a number of full tuition paid awards, but the room and board costs these days are not afterthoughts.
Fortunately the OP’s DD has stats that colleges are willing to pay for and that give her a fighting chance to get into a school that gives good Fin aid. She also has a parent who is suiting up to battle and surveying the grounds. I think she’ll have some viable choices at the end of the day.