Still working on college list, financial aid important

College Search & Selection
1

I recently posted about my son’s college search and the schools we’re considering:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1899492-finalizing-list-of-schools-for-student-interested-in-physics.html

A quick summary: My son’s unweighted GPA is about 3.95, ACT 36, strong NMF candidate, relatively average ECs with the standout being all-state violist. He’s interested in studying physics, prefers strong, small-to-medium sized, liberal arts-type colleges, is looking in the northeast/midwest/west. We’re in Illinois, UIUC is a good comparison point – he’s very likely to get in and it’s cost are about the limit of what we can afford. But my son would prefer not to go there.

Schools we’re considering include:
reach: Brown, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Stanford, Swarthmore, U Chicago, Williams
high match: Carleton, Grinnell, Haverford, Vassar, Wash U, Wesleyan
match: Case Western, Oberlin, Rochester
low match: Dickinson, Earlham, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, Lewis and Clark, Occidental, Puget Sound, Skidmore, Willamette, Wooster, UIUC

Anyway, we ran the NPCs for many of the schools, mostly the ones that only do need-based aid, and we’re finding that we may not be able to afford them – their costs are coming in about $10-15K per year too high. Regarding merit aid, I believe many schools have a max scholarship of about $25K, and that alone will not make a school affordable. Some schools will give at least some need-based aid on top of the merit, but it’s unclear which those are and how they’ll stack the aid.

So what we’re looking for now are schools that match my son’s criteria that will more likely be affordable (i.e., have a net cost no more than UIUC’s in-state cost). Maybe some schools that have higher max merit scholarships, or stack aid in a more user-friendly way. Or something else we’re not considering. Maybe we already have some of these schools on our list, but maybe there are other ones. We’re open to being flexible on some of the criteria.

We’ve seen the lists at yolasite, and the schools on those lists tend not to match my son’s criteria (although some on the “competitive” list do, and we’ll take a closer look at that).

Alternatively, if there are ways to cover the cost at the reach schools on our list. Preferably legal.

As always, thanks.

2

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology?

Small and low cost even for out-of-state students.

Looks like a pretty good selection of physics courses: http://ecatalog.sdsmt.edu/content.php?filter%5B27%5D=PHYS&filter%5B29%5D=&filter%5Bcourse_type%5D=-1&filter%5Bkeyword%5D=&filter%5B32%5D=1&filter%5Bcpage%5D=1&cur_cat_oid=14&expand=&navoid=2603&search_database=Filter#acalog_template_course_filter

However, if he is looking at LACs for the selection of liberal arts courses (as opposed to the smaller size), the offerings in humanities and social studies may be too limited if he is interested in lots of those courses (the school has a heavy emphasis on engineering and physical sciences).

Truman State and University of Minnesota - Morris?

These are also small and low cost for out-of-state students, as well as having a more liberal arts emphasis. However, the physics course offerings may not be as extensive (e.g. may only offer one semester of junior/senior level quantum mechanics or E&M).

3

Love this, haha.

He’d have a chance for merit at:
-Fordham University
-Lafayette College
-Syracuse University
-Villanova University

4

UIUC’s in-state cost is about $30K/year. These colleges would come in under that:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1651944-very-low-cost-oos-coa-universities-less-than-25k-coa-for-everything.html#latest

5

Thanks for the responses so far. But they’re not really what we’re looking for. Maybe I should be more specific.

My son would prefer not to go to UIUC, but he’s not totally averse to it (and we can afford it). If it ends up that no other similar level school is affordable, he’d choose UIUC. For example, we’re aware of Truman State and UM-Morris as safeties, but my son has said he’d prefer UIUC over either of them.

So we’re looking for schools that at least generally match our son’s criteria that will likely be cheaper than UIUC, after considering all likely aid given our situation (and possibly outside scholarships).

That criteria includes:
Small-to-medium size
Strong in physics/science
In the northeast/midwest/west
No religious affiliation
Little/no greek life
Liberal, open, collaborative, not so mainstream

We can be flexible on some of the criteria.

Fordham and Villanova, because of their religious affiliations, are out. Syracuse doesn’t generally match the criteria. Lafayette does – its weakest point was the over-emphasis of Greek life; but is it really better financially than the other low match schools we’re already considering?

Maybe some of those schools are decent bets to be cheaper than UIUC, I don’t know. Maybe some of them have the potential for greater merit aid than I realize, or would stack it on top of some need-based aid. If anyone has more specific info about that, that would certainly be appreciated.

6

This is going to be tough…we pursued merit aid and, you’re right, it’s very hard to find one that would award more than, say, $25,000 a year. As far as stacking need-aid on top of merit-aid, I think it’d be tough to make it past that number (but there are folks here who will know more than me on that).

I mean, you could go for one of the very big awards (the Robertson at Duke University, the Morehead-Cain at UNC, others…but those are insanely hard to get…you need the stats PLUS the oomph. But here’s a list https://prephound.com/blog/top-merit-scholarships/

7

Did you look at Carnegie Mellon? From my understanding they do preferential packaging and you can send in all your finance data and get a more comprehensive estimate. So if they need a Violist you might get a nice FA package.

8

You need to find full tuition merit opportunities at schools that meet your criteria.

Personal recommendation don’t scrap your criteria for a school that only checks the cost box.

9

Have you looked at Rice University?

10

That 36 ACT might be you"r ticket to big money. It"s just a matter of finding out who desperately wants a kid with that score at their school. I’ve seen people here get merit that’s more than 25k. You’re best bet is finding a lower ranked LAC that really wants him. Schools like Earlham and Knox come to mind

11

Have you considered Bradley?

12

Juniata College in PA has a competitive full tuition scholarship. It is a small LAC. Strong in Science. Would be a low match/high safety in terms of GPA/ACT. They really want the student to want them and this needs to show in correspondence and the interview for the scholarship.

My son was a 2013 NMF. He also wanted a LAC, but finally landed at a large university with Honors College that gave him full tuition plus. Don’t rule out those large universities with full tuition. Apply and give him until Spring to make the final decision.

13

Bradley has a strong Greek presence - otherwise would be a great option.

It’s unfortunate any religious affiliation rules a school out, as many of the Jesuit schools would fit the other specified criteria (and are very open and accepting of students of any or no religious inclination). Scranton is one that comes to mind. Their new science facilities are outstanding and honors scholarships are generous.

14

@SouthernHope: Regarding the big awards, I feel like my son has the stats, but not the oomph. But we’ll take a look at those scholarships. (Some of them are at schools already on our list.)

@Dolemite: We did look at Carnegie Mellon a bit, but it was cut at some point. I thought they had a rep for not being so generous with aid? This is the first I’ve heard of preferential packaging (learn something new every day).

@ClarinetDad16: Yes, but which schools are those?! I agree with your recommendation – that’s why I phrased things as “we can be flexible”. I mean, it’s unfortunate that we may not be able to afford these reach schools, but on the other hand, it is fortunate that we can afford UIUC and many other very good schools. So I’m willing to sacrifice some things, but not everything.

@livinginLA: Yes, we know about Rice, I’ve heard many good things about it. It actually meets many of the criteria, and probably would be a good fit for my son. But there’s that one big issue – it’s in Texas. Not sure we can be flexible about that.

@citymama9: Yep, we’re trying to find such schools. Earlham is still on our list; Knox got dropped at some point, but we’ll look at it some more.

@CheddarcheeseMN: We’ve also looked at Bradley a bit – it didn’t seem like a good match, and it’s likely too low level.

@Longhaul: Juniata has crossed our radar, but perhaps we’ll take a closer look. We’ll talk about it some more, but I suspect that UIUC will be the only large university on our list. We likely will end up in a situation where a decision has to be made in the spring – but we’re trying to do the work now to get the right schools on the list so he has some good options then.

Thanks everyone.

15

Google “college board EFC estimator” and run this calculator. It will return an Institutional EFC (IM Profile method) and Federal EFC (FM FAFSA method). The distance between the two EFCs and your budget will tell you how hard it is going to be to find need-based financial aid.

Most people have a lower FM EFC (demonstrate more need on FAFSA than on Profile). Knowing the distance between the two methods will help you decide if you should pursue need-aid-only Profile-method schools. Also, try to understand the reason your IM is higher than your FM. For example, if you bought the house you bought when your teen was a toddler is in a now “hot” real estate market, ask colleges how much they count home equity in needs calculations and if they would consider a financial aid appeal if you could not buy your house at your current income.

If you just don’t demonstrate enough need to get a price within your budget, you need to focus on merit aid and public universities with lower sticker prices. The further down your list (“low match” and “match” schools), the more likely you are to qualify for merit aid. Be sure to run some of those NPCs. NPC’s aren’t always the best bet for figuring out merit aid - if the calculator doesn’t ask about grades, test scores, APs, etc, they may not be showing all the merit aid you qualify for. Look up a college on collegedata.com and click on money matters to see how many kids at a school are getting merit aid.

You are lucky that your son prefers midwestern schools. The midwest and the south are some of the best places to hunt for schools offering merit aid. Lawrence would love a violin-playing physicist and does give merit aid.

16

Did you look at the MSEP (tuition break at member midwest U’s?)

(Now that I looked at the schools, they may not be the level of rigor he wants.)

17

We researched many of your match/safety schools, and the school (already on your list) which springs to mind as meeting your criteria is Grinnell, but is not a safety ( obviously). They do give merit, and could do so for the high stats kid who is a good fit with the culture of the community. Showing interest by visiting at least once (since you are in Illinois, I’m figuring eastern Iowa is feasible), interviewing, emailing profs in science to ask about specific opportunities.

In terms of high merit awards, Denison in Ohio gives 1/3 (roughly), 1/2 tuition AND full tuition merit awards – the kids who get full tuition are super impressive (at admitted student day, we met kids admitted to Stanford, Ivies, who were looking at full tuition merit at Denison vs. full pay elsewhere). There is about 30% greek life, though it is not residential (like Kenyon), the student body is much more diverse and eclectic student than it has had the reputation for. I do recall that Dickinson maxes out at $20k per year, which is probably not enough to be comparable to IUIC in-state.

Your list looks very well-considered, and your student should have some wonderful choices. Get those essays drafted sooner rather than later, and use EA at Kalamazoo, Earlham, Lawrence & Wooster (the schools we know from my kid’s process) to get some early acceptances with good merit on the table by mid-December.

18

Thanks for mentioning this. We did this – we had already used the collegeboard NPC for a number of schools, so we had created an account and entered a bunch of data. We had to enter a few more numbers (the ones I recall were the amount of tax paid, home equity, and medical expenses), and then we got these EFCs. As you said, the two numbers were a little off.

The thing is, the numbers were more significantly off from what we got from the NPCs – by perhaps $10K. (The EFCs were lower, and more in line with our budget.)

So what does this mean? Are these numbers expected to be that far off? A help/FAQ page suggested they should be pretty close. Was some of the data we entered just for the EFC estimator significant in some way? Did we mis-enter something? (I’ll double-check things.)

I’m certainly more encouraged by these EFC estimates, and if schools can match them, we’ll be in much better shape. But I need to determine what’s causing the discrepancy.

Also, is there a good resource that describes what goes into these estimates/calculators, that might give us some idea which calculation method (and/or which schools) would give us better deals?

(I’ll add that our older son’s college time will overlap with our younger son’s by one year; we ran the NPCs and the EFC estimator with and without him also in school, and they all jumped by about the same amount. So I don’t think there’s any issue with that.)

19

I agree with the Denison rec. I know several students personally who turned down hyp (well, y and p) for Denison with big money. Beautiful campus, diverse student body, new science facilities, checks a lot of your boxes.

20

However, among various colleges that use something other than federal methodology, the net prices can still vary significantly, since each may have its own institutional methodology that is different from that of other schools. Of course, once an EFC is calculated, whether the school meets need and how much of a student contribution it expects also varies by school.

Better to run the net price calculator on every school.