<p>We've been getting a few of these too. We just got one from Washington and jeffrson, a school I have never heard of. Does anyone know anything about this school?</p>
<p>If money is an issue because you are low income, you may want to use an EFC calculator to find out how much your family would be expected to contribute to a school that guarantees to meet 100% of need. You may also want to look into those colleges who meet 100% of need with grants instead of loans. For instance, if your EFC (expected Family Contribution) is $5k per year, then a school that meets 100% of need is going to help with the balance. Again, you want to find such colleges that meet that need with grants, not a bunch of unaffordable loans.</p>
<p>If money is an issue for other reasons (not low income but can't afford a high EFC) and your child needs to find colleges that give high merit scholarships. Right now, his stats may not be high enough. Composite ACTs of 32 usually can get big awards at some colleges. </p>
<p>Others are right about LACs needing boys. Who knows which ones would give merit money to a MALE with a 29 ACT???</p>
<p>One more important point! If money is an issue, you may want to reconsider sending him to a school that is so far away that you will have to provide airfare several times a year (T giving, Christmas, Spring Break, Summer home and Fall return). If your child is going to stay in a dorm, you will also have additional costs when you have to have this dorm things (computer, clothes, "stuff", etc) transported back and forth at the end of each school year. Also, if you were to want to visit for the annual "Parents Weekend" you will also incur travel/hotel costs. There are additional expenses when kids go far away to school.</p>
<p>BTW... northeastern schools tend to be the worst at giving merit money. There are a tiny few who do, but most only give financial aid to those in need.</p>
<p>Both of my boys filled out those express apps. Did not necessarily get loads of money from all of those schools, but it did give them a feeling of accomplishment. Good practice for filling out other apps as well.
There are a number of schools that give national merit scholars very generous aid, Arizona comes to mind. There have been some interesting posts here on CC regarding getting free college for kids, and lists of schools with generous merit aid.</p>
<p>Once again, thank you for all the wonderful advice. This kid is the eldest of four and I feel absolutely lost. Seems like it was much easier when I was a teen. I don't think we qualify as low income per se, but we do have one income and a large family. We own our home (or should I say we pay a mortgage) and have three vehicles. </p>
<p>DH and I supported our son's desire to stay relatively close to home in the Northeast, but we were not aware of a lack of merit aid in this area. Now I'm getting worried!</p>
<p>Reillielou -
please complete the EFC calculator at collegeboard for both the FAFSA (federal) and institutional methodologies. You need to know if you can go needs-based or merit aid route, and this is how you do it. The size of the family will be considered.</p>
<p>Rellielou, Also keep in mind that colleges give preferential financial aid packages to students towards the top of their admit pile. This is true even at schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need. What I mean by "preferential" is that more desirable students may be offered less loans and more grants (i.e., money that doesn't have to be paid back). This is in addition to the issue of merit scholarships which, of course, are often not based on need (although not always!). </p>
<p>Additionally, the fact that you have four children to put through school is likely to be a plus in your favor when it comes to financial aid calculations, so do apply for aid.</p>
<p>I second NorthstarMom's recommendations of Earlham and Beloit as places that are top-notch academically but have to work a little harder to attract applicants and are thus generous with merit money. Other possibilities would be Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Denison in Ohio, and Hobart & William Smith in New York. Earlham and Beloit, however, have a very similar "feel" to Hampshire and Bennington, in terms of tending to attract highly creative students. Both are also particularly receptive to applications from Home-schooled applicants.</p>
<p>If you send me a private message, I'd be happy to send you some good resources to help you sort out the whole issue of financial aid, preferential packaging, and scholarships.</p>
<p>Rellielou, One thing I learned several years ago going through this process with my son is that if you have financial needs and your son/daughter is a desirable (this is a broad term) candidate many of the schools will come through for the family. We chose a cross section of institutions. That said, I totally agree with Carolyn's and NorthstarMom's Midwest LAC picks. They are cheaper to begin with and are out to secure a strong class and some that I have visited are in actually fantastic locations. If your son has some picks closer to home I would definitely apply. But I wouldn't forget where the best "deals" may come from. The basic cost of living is less so going out to dinner, buying clothes etc is less. I'd also include in your search the South and Texas if that is not too far afield: places like Trinity U in San Antonio. I would also look at College of Wooster in Ohio.</p>
<p>Rellielou, I can understand your feeling of being overwhelmed by all this. My daughter was homeschooled, and fulfilling the roles of parent, gc, and registrar during the application process was a heavy load. </p>
<p>You said
[quote]
I don't think we qualify as low income per se, but we do have one income and a large family. We own our home (or should I say we pay a mortgage) and have three vehicles.
[/quote]
I think you might be surprised to find how much aid you child qualifies for. With four children, it may not be a question of how many cars you have, but rather what kind of cars you drive. They may ask the purchase price of your home as well as its current value. The financial aid forms are extremely thorough, and the private school forms are even more so. Just don't rule out expensive schools across the board, until you find out a little more.</p>
<p>Much depends on which schools your son applies to. You'll want to look for schools that offer need based aid, that promise to meet 100% of need. Then look at each school's average student debt load upon graduation, and their average financial aid awards. Use EFC calculators (use the right method for private schools). </p>
<p>It will take some work to figure out where you fit in the scale, but you can get a pretty good idea, and you might be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>There is a Jesuits streak at our house ( and my son goes to a public magnet high school !) . Express applications from : Fordham , Boston College , St. Joseph's ( in Philly ), Canisius .............</p>
<p>In our house it seems the express apps come from cold places. They get recycled with the envelopes unopened :)</p>
<p>Rellie I would recommend your son to apply as early as he can and to about 10 school total, if you need to compare fin aid offers. Midwest schools will be probably more happy to have your S because of geographic diversity. I believe recent ranking listed Lake Forest and Knox colleges as #1 and #2 colleges where students are most happy with their fin aid. Lawrence and Knox do not require test scores and Lawrence is committed to meet your 100% need. Ohio which is geographically closer to you has many truly wonderful schools. Personally I like Hiram the best but College of Wooster, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan are schools that we visited and liked very much. For quick review of good midwest schools you can read Loren Pope "Colleges that change lives" book.
Those schools tend to travel together to diff cities for college fairs so you might find one not too far from you.
Anyway, my experience that midwest LAC tend to evaluate whole person and appreciate personal contacts with school. You need to talk to your son and figure out your game plan right away. Also many small LAC have scholarships for which you can apply separately. Wooster has talent scholarship where person can get as much as 16 K of merit aid. Check out with schools your S will apply and see if there are other separate portofolios to be submitted for additional scholarships.</p>
<p>Rellielu, have you considered applying schools that are competitive with the LACs your son is interested in? That way, if the competing school offers higher aid, you could leverage that for more aid at S's favorites. </p>
<p>I think if the choice is you/S going deeply into debt for the selective school, or getting a free or near-free ride at the less-selective school -- pick the free ride, graduate debt free with good grades - and apply for highly selective grad schools. I'm not sure any BA is worth massive debt & the associated heartaches</p>
<p>I really, really appreciate all the thoughtful comments. My son has received the VIP app from Pitt, U VT, and U of Hartford. Are these places considered cold? Just seems normal to me... :) He has mild Asperger's and we all feel that it would be best for him to be close enough to home that we could drive there in a few hours. I may encourage him to apply to 1-2 of the good LACs in the midwest, just to see what happens. I don't think he'd want to be so far from home, as he is very uncomfortable with traveling and new situations. So very much to contemplate... </p>
<p>Rellie</p>
<p>Rellie, if your son has mild Aspergers, I do not recommend any of those schools. They are large and I can tell you that Pitt and Hartford have a large commuter, non dorm, suitcase population. You would be better off to have him at a school where they all live on campus to get to know each other and a smaller, more personal environment, where he sees the same people more often. My friend's daughter went to Pitt and one of her complaints was that she had nearly no one in any two of her classes for most of the time she was there. There is no real campus as it is a city school, and most of the kids come from Pittsburgh. Though she grew up in the area, she was away for highschool, and it was a surprise to her, how few people she knew there. </p>
<p>I have both of my older ones at schools 7-8 hours away, but we are near an airport that has many inexpensive direct flights to the cities where they are living which makes it pretty easy to get there quickly. In fact, easier than some I know who have kids 4-5 hours away.</p>
<p>Rellie,</p>
<p>Along with the advice to use an EFC calculator to find out how much your family will be expected to contribute each year, I recommend the following:</p>
<p>Be sure to find out each school's TCA - Total Cost of Attendance. The TCA includes: Tuition, Fees (health, lab, activity, etc), Books, Room, Board, Daily transportation, Trips back and forth for home visits, personal expenses. I would also include any expenses that you and your spouse would have to incur to visit your child for the annual "Parent's Weekend" or other events. Also, will your child have to have a car with him or does the school provide campus and nearby town transportation. Since you are a large family living on one income, all of these extra expenses could become a hardship.</p>
<p>Do not simply rely on the one Room and Board price that the school claims on its TCA page or the one price that a college book gives you. We have learned that when a school has to list a single number for its room and/or board, it lists the cheapest situation (their cheapest dorm and their cheapest meal plan). For example, in my son's case, the new honors dorm that he will likely stay in, costs 2k more per year than the dorm cost that is listed on the college's TCA page and in college books. Similarly with the meal plan, because my child is a boy, he will need a more expensive meal plan that the one listed (my son cannot live on just 10 meals per week!!!), so his meal plan will cost about 1,200 more per year. </p>
<p>So... in other words, go directly to each websites actual housing and dining sites to get the real prices. The newer or recently remodeled dorms can be much more expensive, as well as those dorms where a bathroom is shared by only 2 or 4 people.</p>
<p>This may all seem like "small potatoes" but it's not. Overlooking these issues can result in surprise expenses that total several extra thousand per year.</p>