Funny moment at Gtown info session. A question was asked about merit aid and the answer was none, if there was, everyone who ever applied has the grades and tippy top application to be eligible.
We were told that at our college, too. Too difficult to differentiate merit.
You can sweat or swear 
Lots swear at me !!
Humidity - and allergies (if you get) - are an issue to face for sure.
Gtown - and I don’t have a student- but many on here have complained about the food and say their kids always eat out, running up the bill. So something to think about or ask other kids about. But I’m assuming, unless you take your budget to $90K, it’s out as would be Richmond - but there’s a chance there.
Funny - we left the GW tour - just too urban for mine and no dining hall although I think they have one now. My daughter is at Charleston - still urban but not GW urban but more urban than an American.
Alabama - for all you just wrote - is what you want. My son had zero intention - was set on Purdue but visited with friends on job shadow or college visit day and changed on the spot. But it is big and you don’t seem to be looking at big although you have UIUC and IU on your list… We are Jewish and had a $50K budget too. That’s exactly what it is - identical red brick with lots of shade and hammocks but big, not smaller. Immaculately maintained (my kid was about aesthetics) - but i spent $60-70K total over four years - yours would be $10K more than me (they have an engineering scholarship that you wouldn’t get of $2500/yr. And Bloom Hillel is prominent there. And 1500+ from Illiniois - which is crazy - but it’s because they buy them in.
Are you changing the budget that you are looking at schools beyond your budget?
American U - isn’t red brick as I recall - but it’s more “suburban” - so you might check it out while you are there and UMD isn’t far, another to check out (but over budget).
You can also take a detour to James Madison, lots of Jewish students and a very nice campus - not too far from DC. And within budget.
Good luck.
How can I handle Alabama weather when I almost melted in Virginia…
He did not care for GW for same reason as your kid, too urban for him.
The budget has not changed, still around $50K, this trip was more of a dad/son time together. We were at Miami of Ohio and Indiana a couple weeks ago. MO is too remote and Indiana hit the spot, great business school and a real college town. I brought up Hamilton Luger School, will see if he bites. Should fit in the budget with a little help from AO.
S will be applying to IU and UIUC, our flagship.
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You are the kid? Didn’t initially you say he wanted warm?
I can’t answer on weather - but it’s summer - most likely won’t be at school then. You can handle the $$ savings but honestly what you described is it -and it’s obviously not the only. But that’s why I suggest JMU while you are there. I’ve not been to Delaware - but it looks like red brick and I think you can get to $50K. You’re not terribly far. See image attached.
It is great dad/kid time - my son was burned out but my daughter and I had a blast. We have similar thoughts. We visited Miami after applying and it was a turn off. We visited Elon b4 applying and while i thought it was beautiful, it was too rural for her.
Hamilton Lugar is great for IS - but is Charleston on the list and the Fellows and International Scholars? It would hit cost too. Lots of personal attention. IU is strong for languages.
IU is nice but not warm and UIUC - people get mad when I give “my opinion” - and it’s just an opinion but it’s dreadful. We took my son for engineering and he had the same - couldn’t wait to escape campus. Others don’t have to agree. IU is very nice but I don’t recall it being red brick.
OK - good luck.
I am his dad, you think he can be bothered to write this much about college search…
We are at the airport, did not go to American or any other college.
That’s funny - at least you care.
I think, as parents, we should go to school
You can take online tours if he likes the area.
We actually walked from Gtown to Gtown cupcakes all the way to GW.
What a great way to bond - these trips.
I believe this has been addressed. There are not 1500 plus students from Illinois in the Alabama Hillel. There are about 1000 students total…someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
If you are looking for a large Jewish presence in the southeast, I suggest College of Charleston. The city of Charleston has a nice Jewish presence. The Judaic center at C of C is quite nice. And the orice would come in a your student’s price point.
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Yes - I didn’t say that.
This is what I wrote:
Finally three large schools - The first - Alabama. surprisingly large jewish population and google the bloom hillel (link). has over 1k kids from illinois alone at the school. In fact, after Georgia and Texas (and obviously Alabama), it’s the third most populous state at the school with 1562 Illinois students and for you under $25k a year with automerit. It’s an old article on Illinois students trekking south but an interesting read below. As for how many Jews are at Alabama - How many Jewish students are there on campus? Per the Hillel website:
We estimate over 1000 Jewish students at Alabama, and we are growing every year!
As for C of C, where my kid goes, it’s smaller - and yes 10% or so Jewish so percentage wise. Cost would be higher but with merit and if they get an endowed scholarship which is possible (not probable), it would come in nicely. Since it’s less academically loaded, it’d be easier to get an endowed scholarship vs. a high ranked school
But COA, before merit, exceeds $50K and living off campus costs a lot more than the school published room and board amount. In fact, we paid more in rent alone than the $13779 they show for room and board.
And red brick and grassy campus area it’s not.
So if that’s really a desire, it wouldn’t work.
A friend told good throngs to S about U of SC, so I am sketching out a winter break trip to SC and Georgia to see it, C of C, Georgia, Emory, maybe GTech.
Fall break, winter break
You need to go to Iowa and Mizzou - you can drive
U of SC - great merit and arguably the top honors college - quite impressive but definitely less Jews. But again, we walked into admissions - and boom a Menorah. And it sounds like you are like me - I wanted Jewish life for my son but he didn’t care. My daughter did. It’s a really nice school and being in the state capital, might be good for Poli Sci.
UGA is very nice - a very “large” school like a Va Tech - but nice. And with merit, it’s possible to meet cost.
Emory is super beautiful and there’s a chance of a scholarship but little. My daughter was WL.
The more trips the merrier - you might like FSU and UF too - FSU very inexpensive.
I mean, there’s great schools all over - they just differ by size, cost, etc.
I chuckled when saw on Naviance that WM is a safety school given his stats and scores. Found out the AO rep for our region went to our high school. Wonder what to make of that…
No pain, no gain - not a safety. And not close to $50K.
Unless you have a common app spot to waste, not worth applying. And not easy to get to.
To me, Miami Ohio was the “closest” in feel to W&M - just larger - and similarly isolated although W&M is between two cities - oh, then again, so is Miami.
Maybe a glimmer of a chance at Richmond? 2022 or ‘21 CDS shows ‘average’ frosh merit around $30K. The cost is $80K, so may take a flyer there.
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True, no red brick, all local lime stone and open green spaces. The Eskenazi museum is excellent, the Lily library is cool, lots to like there.
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FWIW, about 200 posts ago I said that if your son likes U Richmond it’s worth applying. Merit is going to be a longshot but it is possible. As long as your son fully understands that it most likely is unaffordable, there is nothing wrong with throwing a hail Mary.
Same goes for Emory. Their regular decision admission rate was 8 percent for this past admission cycle. Admissions is a long shot and getting merit there is somewhat unrealistic. Of course you never know unless he applies.
Georgia Tech is another longshot, but would most likely be close to your 50k budget, so might be worth an application if he likes it. UGA is much more likely. He also stands a good chance of admission to the Honors college.Cost of attendance should be within your budget, and your son might get some merit aid there. I agree with @tsbna44 that you need to keep in mind with the Southern schools that your son will not be on campus in the he heat of the summer. With the exception of a couple of weeks at the beginning and end of the school year, the weather is great.
As far as William & Mary goes, I would hesitate to call it a safety even if your high school has a good track record with them. (From a financial standpoint alone it can’t be called a safety. It will cost you $65k a year.) Naviance can be a bit deceiving because it only gives you the test scores and gpa of the applicants from your school. You have no idea if those students were recruited athletes or legacies. You also have no idea about their extracurriculars, essays or teacher recommendations. Of course, your son’s college counselor will know best. From what I have heard, the interview can help a lot. If you can up your budget, it might be a realistic possibility.
I hope you and your son have been enjoying the college tours. It’s great to figure out what type of environment he likes. Did you have time to eat at Perly’s while you were in Richmond? 
For full disclosure, I have a kid at William & Mary and I’m an Emory alum. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about either of those schools.
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According to Richmond’s ‘22-23 CDS, Richmond had just over $20MM in non-need based scholarships and grants that were awarded to 150-200 accepted students out of the total class of 850, excluding money allotted for recruited athletes. Average frosh merit amount given is $29K. S24 hits their 75% in SAT and ACT scores. He has GPA and rigor, two most attributes the school likes to see in the applicant’s transcript. If he can’t qualify for merit aid, then who gets it? Only legacies and super-achievers with perfect scores?
He had a great zoom interview at WM, I sat at the top of the basement stairs and eaves dropped, oops. He and a young woman interviewer chatted away for over half hour. The questions she asked were very quirky and off the wall, but he batted them away with confidence. Again, test scores at 75th percentile and academic rigor on display via goa and transcript. He told me Wednesday he got all 5’s on AP tests, history, English and chemistry. What else do they want from him, blood sample?
Btw, ‘22 CDS shows $4.5 MM in non-need aid but only 37 kids received non-need scholarships and grants?? It does not make sense.
We did not make it to Perly’s, but had good meals at Les Crepes and East Coast Provisions and Les Crepes in Carytown. Also enjoyed great sandwiches at the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg.
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Has he cured cancer, interned with a senator, started a non profit, and created a company that’s on the path to becoming an ipo? Oh, and been published?
If not, it might be community college
Your son sounds awesome - but one never knows why they want a student and are willing to pay to attend. It could be geography, major, religion, that they play tuba or numerous other things. I mean, it could be if they have too many AP credits that they’re less revenue and that can be a no. Honestly there’s truly no way to know - my son got merit at a school that his friends with a higher GPA and ACT didn’t and I’m sure that happens all the time. In the past months, we’ve read someone rejected at San Diego State and WL at Santa Clara but attending UC Berkeley. Another in at MIT but not at BU - so it’s a crazy crazy unpredictable world.
it’s why it’s best to be even keeled about it and not have a dream (if that’s possible)…to be truly open to all schools one applies to.
I can tell though - decision day of each school will be a lot of fun for your son. The adrenaline of yes/no - but he does need to understand up front a school like Richmond is unlikely - and perhaps you should find a likely sub such as U Denver (also excellent in poli sci) that will be “about” at budget and a definitely in…as just one example.
Hope you post throughout the journey.