<p>DD went to the summer programs at both West Point and the Naval Academy. Those are definitely her top choice schools. She will also be applying to the Air Force Academy. She has begun all of the applications for each of those. This is plan A.</p>
<p>Additionally, she has begun applications for AROTC, AFROTC and NROTC. Because she has to name several schools that she would like to attend on each of the applications, and all of the various ROTC programs are not available at the same schools, she will be applying to many different schools that she would be happy to attend with an ROTC scholarship. This will be plan B. These schools are:</p>
<p>University of Washington
Seattle University
Gonzaga
University of Portland
Santa Clara University
University of San Diego
Tulane
University of Arizona
Arizona State</p>
<p>And then Plan C will be if she doesn’t get an ROTC scholarship, then she is/has applied to these schools where she will qualify for large merit scholarships to that will require very little out of pocket cost. She realized that she needed to open up her mind geographically, if she really wanted to go out of state. She got a 2140 on her SAT test. These schools are:</p>
<p>University of Mississippi
University of Alabama
Louisiana Tech University</p>
<p>She is happy with all of the choices and I am very de-stressed knowing that we have a plan that will work financially, for her to not have debt when she leaves school, and be prepared to move to a military career or consider grad school afterwards.</p>
<p>Congrats on the progress and the fine SAT scores. It looks like you have a good plan! </p>
<p>It couldn’t hurt to keep your own state flagship on the list, especially since you said it has guaranteed full tuition scholarship. For DS, state app was very easy… and due to their rolling admission he had one “in the bag” early - that’s a good feeling.</p>
<p>@ Colorado_Mom - Our state flagship school is still on the list. At least one, if not all, of the ROTC Scholarship applications require an in-state school to be on the list of schools she would be willing to attend.</p>
<p>Midwest - That’s great. You are so much further ahead in the college search than many families (including us, 3 years ago). That’s probably a necessity with the military/ROTC angle, but I’m sure not easy.</p>
<p>Has she considered the Coast Guard Academy? They no longer need a nomination, so it may be worthwhile for her to put an application in. The early priority deadlines are October 15 and November 15. Final deadline is February 1.</p>
<p>We are having the same dilemma. My rising senior has excellent stats, and I keep getting told, and wonder myself, that she should reach higher and apply to some more competitive schools.</p>
<p>In our case, she has 1 reach school where she plans to apply ED. But she also loves a program at the state school, where she is an automatic admit. So it seems we are done. Why look further? But then, that just seems wrong, like she needs to keep looking and considering. She even got a huge pack from Yale the other day, and earlier, U of Chicago. The Yale book looked great. But I think Yale is a huge reach for her, and if she is happy with the state school… you get the idea.</p>
<p>Well, without know stats and particular interests, eightisgreat, couldn’t tell you if Yale would be a good choice for your daughter or not. But for *some *students Yale might be cheaper than the state school.</p>
<p>Duke and UNC have some very competitive full-ride merit programs. And…although her scores and grades are not tippy-top - they’re close! And, as a highly qualified female interested in engineering, it might help her at Duke, in particular.</p>
<p>The service academies, if that’s where her interests lie, seem like a great choice. Hope they work out for her.</p>
<p>Eightisgreat - If your D is happy with the state choice, don’t encourage tippy top schools like Princeton or U of Chicago unless you have done your financial research and are ready to pay the cost (up to $60K/year). There are no merit scholarships there, and if you qualify for need-based aid, there is a good chance that is not as much as you want. </p>
<p>Instead look for schools that would give good merit aid. For example, my son got a top scholarship at Case - that made the costs comparable to CO state schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>What about Marquette? Their engineering building is only a few years old, they have ROTC and do offer some merit money. Not sure merit would bring price down to 7.5K though.</p>
<p>It sounds like you have a great plan, and it should work well since it sounds like your D will be happy with any of those schools. My D also had a GC who pushed her to apply to reach schools. She, however, was interested in state flagships, applied to 5 of them (3 safeties and 2 matches) and was accepted at all. She chose a safety that’s on your Plan C list (Alabama) and is very happy there. I think sometimes GCs suggest reach schools for high stats kids to make the high school look better when they get in, rather than because those schools are right for the particular student. We just ignored the GC and had my D apply to schools she wanted to attend. There are plenty of excellent students, professors and programs at non-elite schools, and we knew our D would get an excellent education at all of the schools to which she applied.</p>
<p>She might want to look at some of the private military schools – like VMI, Citadel and Norwich University. The ratios are still pretty messed up and therefore there might be more money, including merit money, for a girl. All are great schools located in beautiful places.</p>
<p>@ Beth’s mom - sometimes I do wonder if the GCs want to improve the school’s profile by showing all of these top schools that students were accepted to, regardless if they matriculated. It seems like many GCs will say “Don’t rule out a school just because of the cost.” I think this is a great message for a family who has a low EFC, where a high achieving student can get substantial merit aid. But when there is a low EFC, and a complicated family situation, I have found it very hard to turn a blind-eye to the financial piece. We have been upfront about the financial situation with our DD and I think she appreciates the fact that we have researched the schools to show her what is possible without high debt, and if the stars align, she may even have several options to choose from come next April. She has had a say in the college list and has ruled out many potential schools after visiting them or researching them on their websites. Interestingly enough, she is growing more fond of our own state flagship school, after having compared them to other states’ schools, too. While it’s possible to get some very substantial merit aid at certain schools ($30,000, in some cases), when the full price to attend is $55k a year, coming up with the other $25k just doesn’t make financial sense for our family.</p>
<p>Somebody asked about the Coast Guard Academy. Our daughter looked at it, but doesn’t feel as though it’s the right fit for her, based on the smaller watercrafts, etc.</p>
<p>Midwest - Our experience is a few years old. But geez… the GC college info night had not even a mention of FA estimators that were available online even then. That’s crazy since an initial pass helps set strategy for merit$ vs FA. </p>
<p>So much depends on the school. I’ve heard some parents complain that GC steer all students toward state schools… a well known option, with lowest list price. But they even do so for families that might find a better fit and cost a private school.</p>
<p>Countingdown, that’s a big surprise to me. I have friends whose (accomplished) daughters attended Purdue OOS and they didn’t get anything. Your S’s friend must have great stats.</p>
<p>Well, teenagers can certainly keep us on our toes! It seems like everything is ever changing with them and this college decision process is a real journey. Just when you think you have it figured out, our kids have a few new thoughts.</p>
<p>DD discerned that she ultimately did not want to go to one of the Service Academies and has withdrawn her applications. She is still committed to a career in the service, but decided she wanted a more traditional college experience. She applied for Navy ROTC and Army ROTC scholarship (no longer interested in Air Force). She has been notified that she has gotten the Navy ROTC scholarship, but won’t know on Army ROTC until February/March.</p>
<p>Her final college application list ended up being:</p>
<p>University of Portland
University of Arizona
Arizona State
University of Mississippi
University of Alabama
Louisiana Tech University
University of Notre Dame (Her only reach school)</p>
<p>Since applying, we have now visited all of the schools, except for Notre Dame. After the visits, she has ruled out: Arizona State University (she got a full-tuition scholarship there) and Louisiana Tech University (she got a full-ride there). So now we are down to 5… We will visit Notre Dame, only if she is accepted and then we’ll have to wait for the last of the scholarships for her to make her final decision. On a real high note, she really, really liked Alabama (full-tuition scholarship plus $2500 Engineering Scholarship) and can definitely see herself there. She also liked Ole Miss, but we are still waiting on scholarships there.</p>