I think I understand better now. Your point is that there are colleges in each category (LACs, public’s, etc) which will be attainable, and that is good. It would just be more useful to others to give examples.
So much data is acquired anecdotally. For example, it is nearly universally acknowledged that Princeton gives good financial aid and NYU does not. This appears on neither college’s website, but seems to occur with regularity. Just as you mentioned aid at Howard is mostly for high stats, and Hofstra was not good for aid, those slivers of info can be helpful. Not always the case, of course, and there is possibly someone somewhere who got aid from NYU and nothing from Princeton. But enough anecdotes can be helpful to prospective families gauging admissions or aid chances
@roycroftmom , agreed. I think that’s what we are all getting at.
No one student’s experience will ever be universally applicable to all students. We understand that. Already, this thread has given me useful info to help advise my students.
And @EconPop did I miss which colleges said yes and gave enough aid? That’s super useful info to a lot of people.
Just saw your edit and post #56. So I gather that at least some he’s been accepted to offered enough aid.
I don’t think specific universities matter as much as you think they do. There is a good bit of random involved. This also must be approached with basic common sense.
Common Sense: However small or large the list, include pure safeties.
Okay, once that is done, apply where ever your research and your heart take you.
If your student dreams of NYU, apply. Don’t listen to conventional “wisdom” that says NYU rarely provides full-need aid. You won’t know if they will provide it to you until you apply and hopefully get accepted.
If your student dreams of Grinnell, apply. Don’t listen to conventional “wisdom” that says your daughter’s 23 ACT will doom her application to the round table of laughter and ridicule. It’s her dream, let her shoot for it.
If your student wants to apply to 20 colleges and you can afford it (or receive the waivers,) go for it. The 20 I choose are not going to be the 20 that appeal to your son. What good is it to tell your son that my son got good results from applying to UNM if your son hates the southwest and dreams of attending UVT?
This anecdotal evidence you’re asking me to provide is, in my opinion, useless. There is random involved and I can’t predict specific good outcomes – only that random good outcomes should result.
This explains why every year, there are so many posts from kids admitted to NYU who are apparently shocked to discover they can not afford it. Maybe it was worth it to them to apply anyway, I don’t know. An awful lot seem to be holding onto a dream that they will be the exception to the general practice on aid, or the one kid they admit with poor stats.
The tip about UNM is good, an often overlooked option. My own kids are past this stage, but we used a different, though successful strategy. Personally, I like evaluating hard data and odds, but everyone is different. Good luck.
Yes, Econpop, but maybe there’s a parent out there who has a kid with stats like your son’s. Maybe that parent is clueless and is looking for affordable options and has no idea where to start. Maybe that parent will see this thread and think “UNM is a school I can consider.” Consider doesn’t mean “must apply and will get the same result.”
Anyway, I’m going to follow this thread and I hope you’ll give more precise info as time goes on.
@ucbalumnus brought up a good point about public LACs. NY has Geneseo. Florida has New College of Florida.
If your student dreams of NYU, apply. Don’t listen to conventional “wisdom” that says NYU rarely provides full-need aid. You won’t know if they will provide it to you until you apply and hopefully get accepted.
If your student dreams of Grinnell, apply. Don’t listen to conventional “wisdom” that says your daughter’s 23 ACT will doom her application to the round table of laughter and ridicule. It’s her dream, let her shoot for it.
If your student wants to apply to 20 colleges and you can afford it (or receive the waivers,) go for it. The 20 I choose are not going to be the 20 that appeal to your son. What good is it to tell your son that my son got good results from applying to UNM if your son hates the southwest and dreams of attending UVT?
@EconPop - I agree with you whole heartedly here. this…many here on CC consider taboo. As long as the student understands that there is a budget and any school that can not meet this budget can not be considered. I say “go for it” because you never know. There are many who have set their children up for major disappointment & as some say “devastation” because they have not been prepared and have not heard the word “No”, . Disappointment is part of real life. My kid may be disappointed but not devastated. Going into the process, she knew what the budget was. Contrary to what some may say, you can come away with an unexpected outcome regardless of how many NPC calculators you use, I’ve seen it. By no means am I saying don’t do your research but I am saying that if you don’t try, the answer will always be “NO”. No “Coulda, shoulda, woulda if only I had, I wonder if I would have gotten into …” for our family.
The process I’m outlining here has absolutely nothing to do with the multitude of high stats upper middle class families who expect specific expensive universities to provide significant financial aid to any and every student.
Those families should have done a better job researching. Anyone who is “shocked” to discover they cannot afford NYU is willfully ignorant.
I’m with you. Applying to NYU and hoping for FinAid is not the same thing as applying to NYU and fully expecting to receive a 50% discount just because you want it.
When the accepted schools deliver a FinAid judgement that isn’t enough for us, I am not shocked or surprised. I file it and move on to the next. If it is a college that my Son is especially excited about, I send a polite, pleasant email to the university, explain our situation, and gently ask if they might reconsider.
I never rant, I never complain, and I never condescend. Sometimes the school significantly increases their aid. Sometimes they do not. But neither they nor we are left bitter with the exchange. I thank them and say I’d be happy if my son ended up at their school. They thank me.
They don’t have to give us one thin dime. I am very grateful when a school offers a 50% discount, even when I know it is not close to enough for us.
What shocks me is when I read on CC about those who walk into (or call) admissions offices demanding this or that, or who get offended because a college won’t give them what they want. Maybe I come from a different place, I guess.
I have read the entire thread. While interesting and enjoyable to read, I do not see the benefit to readers other than to take a shotgun approach to admissions & hope for the best.
P.S. It is probably reasonable to assume that the applicant’s stats were approximately 1150 SAT & 3.3 GPA & URM. I think OP’s range of stats are a bit too wide in order to offer any meaningful guidance.
I find the UNC-Charlotte denial concerning for this North Carolina applicant. Not sure, but class rank may have been a reason for the in-state applicant’s denial to UNC-Wilmington.
UNM is desperatly in need of students, so that acceptance with significant discounts is understandable & presents a solid opportunity due to OP’s research.
The acceptance to Virginia Tech is wonderful news !
All the best to your S @EconPop.
I think you understate the tip your S may get from being an URM. I think the Harvard lawsuit shows there is a bump. Of course it varies by school and at the more holistic review schools it may have more of an impact, but there are some schools who are making diversity pushes a big focus like BC and Colgate. And many of the lacs also wish to improve their diversity numbers.
As for your comment that high stats, full pay applicants are in ‘almost complete control’ of the process. Well that gave me a good chuckle.
Nowhere in #63 did I say an applicant should expect NYU to meet their financial need. If anything, multiple times in this thread, I have explicitly stated that I never expect a specific result from a specific school. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep repeating that.
I know this entire process is foreign to many regulars on CC. I also know that others fully understand where I’m coming from.
Others have said they recognize benefits in this thread.
However, I fully understand and expected that many others would fail to recognize the benefits. I’ve tried to patiently explain, but I fully understand my explanations will continue to fail for some.
I guess all I can offer is, for those who don’t recognize the benefits of this thread, I admit this thread is not for you. I can’t say enough that this thread is not going to appeal to everyone. It is not going to make sense to everyone. I don’t expect it to, and I don’t necessarily want it to.
This is my family’s journey, and I’m glad that at least a few other families can glean a small amount of value from it.
@EconPop First, Congrats to your son. Sounds like you have more than a few schools to choice from. I have child that will be in this stat range who is currently a Junior. We won’t qualify for any aid, have 4 kids with 1 in college 1st year, live in PA (eye roll) with a barely Penn State budget and that will include my kid taking out the full federal loan. So when you are done with this post I hope it will include a list of the schools applied to with a yes/no and $$$. There is a real lack of that here as you mentioned and would be VERY much appreciated. Thank you!
Might consider giving cc’ers the benefit of the doubt. Posters understand that one person’s experience is just that. But with more specific information (scores, schools, outcomes) it can be more helpful to folks reviewing past and current experiences. Without that, which is your prerogative to share or not, what folks are expressing, is that its of limited utility to many. Much more info is disclosed on the individual. “class of…” threads. Not sure why the need to be so vague. But thats your choice.
My impression is that your son is mature & resilient as revealed by his willingness to apply to two dozen schools in various regions of the country in order to advance his education. He is not bogged down by challenges of adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings and is willing to do what it takes in order to earn a college degree. This is both admirable and worthy of respect.
I’m a huge proponent of giving the benefit of the doubt. I guess my hope is that for anyone who doesn’t understand why we’re doing this, that they not suck all the breath out of the room for those who do get it. Those that do get it, want to contribute positively.
There are hundreds of threads on CC. I’m happy with someone saying “this doesn’t make sense to me,” and running off to frolic in threads they enjoy. However, I would hope that no one chooses to remain here and take negative potshots simply because they do not understand.
I’ll keep posting about my family’s journey. I’ll answer questions about it where I can and feel appropriate. I’ll politely decline when I feel the desire. If anyone wants to dig through my 480 posts on CC and drop a bomb here to prove their negative point, that’s your prerogative. [EDIT: I am not implyng Linda did that. I sincerely appreciate her candor and curiosity.] However, I’ll gladly engage with anyone who wants chirp in and positively engage in the thread.
But, if anyone disagrees strongly, please don’t keep repeating the same complaints. I ask that anyone with such strong disagreement to this thread please be polite enough to state their disagreement, and leave those of us who do understand to discuss the topic in peace.
But he is getting there.