<p>I hope you find a college that fits your criteria and I’m sure you’re just rounding numbers but for anyone reading this thread I think it needs to be clarified that UW-Madison isn’t $5,000 in-state tuition and the other schools $4,000 instate-tuition as you mentioned in post #4.</p>
<p>In-state tuition + R/B for UW-Madison will run around $17-$18,000 per year.</p>
<p>In-state tuition + R/B for a satellite campus like UW-Platteville or UW- La Crosse will run around $13-$15,000 per year.</p>
<p>It seems to me that you need to have the ‘money’ talk with your DD. She wants to go someplace small and warm. You have a high EFC. The odds of you paying less than $30,000 per year out of pocket at Wake, Richmond, Furman, or Elon would seem to be slim. Are you comfortable paying that and/or assuming debt? If not, you need to change the schools you are looking at.</p>
<p>Try some regional private schools in the South which tend to be cheaper. Look at Flagler, Florida Southern, Loyola (NOLA). If religious, try Birmingham Southern and Samford.</p>
<p>Going south to a small national private might have to be taken off the table. We had the same schools on our initial list for S (he initally wanted to go south), they were all taken off the table when I calculated our EFC, the finances just are not going to work-out. We have retooled and are now looking at smaller (less than 10,000 undergrads) state schools that give good merit aid to OOS students.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>thank you for clarifying for other readers. I realize that the other tuitions have been the total (tuition + room & board) package so it could have been confusing. For tuition only, it is $4,835.52 for residents at UW-Madison, not including room & board. I could not find that amount when I quickly looked on their website. Tuition only for non-residents is$12,710 and for MInnesota residents it is $6,364.56 . sorry for the confusion!</p>
<p>As I told her when we both fell in love with Wake FOrest: if we look hard enough, we should be able to find a similar school with a lower tuition. WHen I am done & if I still can’t find it, then yes, we will be having the talk. I just wanted to do my own research first to see if there was anything out there. and I do appreciate all of the leads I have received from this forum! One thing I am lucky for, is that I do have a pretty down-to-earth daughter. when I present her with the facts and her options, I am sure we will find something we all will be happy with! I just want to do my research for my own sake as much as for her.</p>
<p>Actually, in-state tuition and fees (not R/B) is $9672.00 and OOS tuition and fees is $25421.00. I think you’re looking at semester costs.</p>
<p>If you are looking for merit to bring costs down maybe look on the Parents Forum at the B student threads for ideas.</p>
<p>Good luck with the search!</p>
<p>Take a look at High Point University. The comprehensive cost for 2011 (everything but books, basically) is $37,000. Your daughter would likely qualify for one of the $7k - $9k scholarships, although they’re not guaranteed.<br>
High Point is working very hard to become a premier Southern liberal arts school. It doesn’t have the history that Wake Forest or Furman have, but it has lots of good programs and just may be exactly what you’re looking for.<br>
High Point itself is a small city about 30 minutes from Winston Salem.</p>
<p>thanks. you are probably right. did it seem quite inexpensive! and this now makes the other colleges seem a little more reasonable, too! I guess I need more help in this whole college thing than I thought (or maybe I should just continue to leave it to my daughter 
)</p>
<p>Wake is a great school if you don’t know what you want to do. I’ve personally changed my major and minors (unofficially, of course, just in my head) about 5 times while being here. Its wonderful for that reason. And Wake does give a lot of financial aid to those that qualify. In fact, they attempt to, and mostly succeed in, meeting 100% of demonstrated need. So I’d definitely give it a shot. They do truly believe in you growing as a person, not just as a statistic :)</p>
<p>thanks! I will check that out, too.</p>
<p>thanks, sillystokey! I was hoping to hear from someone who goes to the schools (my guess is there is another forum for that, too…just haven’t had time to look for it yet). and I am glad to hear that they do believe and act on what they say is their philosophy. I am sure most other schools do , too. but it is hard to tell by looking a t their websites & promo materials…</p>
<p>mequonmom, there is another poster, Rockvillemom, who I believe has a son attending Wake Forest. She posts a lot on the Jewish B student forum. You might want to post over there or PM her and get her viewpoint.</p>
<p>Try Roanoke College. They offer great merit aid, and have an excellent 3/2 program where the first 3 years earns a math or physics degree, and two years at Virginia Tech earns an engineering degree. It’s a bit hard to find the program on their website - type “engineering” in their search box and it will appear.</p>
<p>Be aware that a 3/2 program means paying for 5 years of college, and many students don’t follow through on it because it means leaving their friends after 3 years.</p>
<p>thanks again, everyone. I truly appreciate the college suggestions & also things to think about (which in the case of the 3/2 issue, I did not think about her not wanting to leave OR paying for the 5th year!).</p>
<p>Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida has everything you’re looming for minus engineering. Great climate, affordable, small student body, no rush to choose major, etc. Please let me know if you have any questions, I’m a junior there now!</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad raises good points about 3/2 programs - but in the case of Roanoke, you’re close enough to Tech (about a 30 minute drive) that you could still live near Roanoke, and commute to Tech. Also, the last two years would be at a public, keeping the cost in line with 4 years of private.</p>
<p>Ceilidh8, we’re visiting Flagler in December with our daughter - can’t wait to see it!</p>
<p>Hi! thanks, mamduck. thanks for the info about Roanoke. also, please let me know how your visit to Flager is in December. Ceilidh8, there are so many questions I have that I don’t even know where to start. If you don’t mind my asking, what made you choose Flager? what other schools did you consider? what are the classes/workload like? what is your major? are people friendly there (obviously you are, but what about everyone else as a whole!)? would you mind sharing your gpa/act/sat scores so we can get an idea of where my daughter would fit? anything else you can tell me about the school that may help us decide? we are also looking at New COllege in Florida. do you know anything about that?</p>
<p>^^ mamaduck, that would be a good point about balancing public/private costs at VT if the OP were from Virginia, but she is from Wisconsin. OOS costs for VT are only $10K less than Roanoke.</p>
<p>If she has danced a lot (lessons all her life) and now is co-captain of her dance team, I would definitely call that a leadership role and a passion. Will she continue to do something with her dance in college? The reason I ask is that things like that are also considered in the merit aid equation at private LAC, whereas at state school they focus more on GPA+ACT/SAT by itself. If U of W has a good honors program, your daughter may like that as an alternative to an expensive LAC like Wake Forest. At some state flagships, the honors kids get special treatment and much nicer dorms … a definite benefit for only paying in-state tuition!</p>
<p>mequonmom- I chose Flagler because they had the programs I wanted, it was in Florida (I have a few scholarships from the state), & had an urban-esque feel without being in a huge & distracting city (I wanted a walking town as I don’t have a car). I really just felt ‘right’ about it after my visit & interview. Flagler is very affordable for me; this year I am paying $945 a semester.
I came from a VERY competitive pubic magnet arts high school where I trained in ballet. I took 7 AP courses & took honors for the rest. I had some family issues my freshman year that disturbed the quality of my work, but my grades picked up again as a sophomore. I think I graduated with a 3.4 UW & over a 4.0 W but I don’t really remember. I had a 690 in CR & mid-500s in math (not my strong suit) on the SATs. Flagler practices a holistic approach to admissions, so keep that in mind. Most of ECs involved ballet & theatre. I’m a strong writer though & Flagler really values the essay component. Flagler was my first choice (I applied ED) & I really didn’t seriously consider any mother schools.
I am a Psychology major & Art History minor. I have had some INCREDIBLE professors who care so much about their students. Classes are pretty small & the faculty to student ratio is around 18:1. I find the student body to be easy-going & quite nice. I have made wonderful friends here. We have a lot of flexibility; I’ve taken a fair amount of classes outside of my major/minor, (Archaeology & Vladimir Nabokov for instance). I take a full class load, work ~15 hours a week, & am president of the Social Sci Club, so I’m pretty busy…I suppose I typically spend about 2 hours per course per class meeting studying. I’ve been on the Dean’s List continuously.
First years stay on campus in the beautiful Ponce de Leon Hotel rooms built by Henry Flagler in 1887. The campus is so gorgeous. The town is very unique, has a great job market, is close to the beach, & several large cities (Orlando is 2hrs, Jacksonville 40mins, Daytona, etc). </p>
<p>New College is in Sarasota, which is a pretty cool area. It’s pretty hippy from what I hear, which isn’t necessarily, but it’s definitely not a traditional school.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any more questions :]</p>