Our younger son wants Division 1 football, but our state flagship is hard to get in to. He’s likely to have a 3.2-3.3 GPA and a 1200 or so SAT ( based on PSAT). We’re looking at paying 20-25K per year. I’m thinking West Virginia or Bowling Green (top 25 last season). Any other ideas?
With a GPA above 3.0, he’d qualify for merit money at Ole Miss and LSU.
@PrimeMeridian, our older son could have gone to Ole Miss for next to nothing (he was NMSF), but I think it may be out of S2’s range. Maybe LSU should be checked out. He thinks he doesn’t want to go south, but he may like it if he checks it out.
Universities of Wyoming and Utah both make establishing in state residency relatively easy. Academic safeties for your son, although the cost of travel will be quite high if you’re coming from Pennsylvania.
No offense, but “big time football” should be towards the bottom of the list of factors when deciding to pick a college…
The Ole Miss “Academic Excellence” awards don’t require NMF.
Scroll down to the SAT/ACT/GPA merit money table on the bottom of this webpage:
http://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8
Here’s the SAT/ACT/GPA merit money table for LSU:
http://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/financialaid/entering-freshman-scholarships/
Here’s the Arizona State merit money calculator:
https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator
@WildestDream, I agree. We’re talking about a kid (albeit a talented writer) who doesn’t like school. Anything that gets him excited about college is ok by me.
Wanting D1 football & school spirit is as valid a soft criterion as wanting an urban campus location or wanting a balanced male:female ratio.
@PrimeMeridian, I agree. It certainly isn’t a deal breaker for him.
My son wanted the same thing and went to University of Cincinnati
I agree with @PrimeMeridian , I see nothing wrong with that being very important to a student. I personally love the school spirit that sports bring. I love it when the whole campus and community come alive.
And West Virginia is in the Big 12 with Texas Tech, Guns Up!
NCAA D1 has a lot of schools, but the really “big time” football is in the five D1 FBS power conferences (versus the other FBS conferences or FCS conferences).
http://www.espn.com/college-football/standings lists schools in D1 FBS; you can also select D1 FCS, D2, or D3. You may want to go through the list of schools and their costs of attendance and scholarship pages.
Bama.
“If it ain’t SEC, it ain’t football”
Nothing wrong with wanting football. When you’re paying for college you are paying for an education and a lifestyle, imo
Kent State?
^Kent State NPC indicates a possible scholarship of about $10,000 for those stats which would bring costs down to about $20k
The Ohio schools that aren’t Ohio State seem to give good money. Of course once he starts seriously looking (he’s a junior now) he may decide football is less important.
FSU, UCF, USF or U of FL. Florida offers relatively inexpensive OOS tuition.
ASU may also work. They are generous with merit aid - https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator