What affordable [<$20k] colleges are possible for my 2.8 student? [NY resident]

College Search & Selection
103

My understanding on merit is you need to be at the 75th percentile or higher of schools range of stats to have chance of merit

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Merit scholarships (i.e. non need based aid) are awarded to students that have a GPA and test scores significantly above that of an average admitted student. Some schools may additionally apply holistic measures on top of that to determine who gets merit money.

Some schools provide auto-merit above a certain GPA/test score, so you know in advance what you’ll get. At other schools, they decide how much merit (if any) to grant and you won’t know until after you’re accepted.

Finally, many schools - like the private elites - don’t give merit scholarships at all.

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105

I will take off my moderator hat for a moment. My son just graduated from Binghamton and had a great experience. He is learning disabled. He is now working in a great job. Students are generally very happy, as evidenced by the high retention rate. Bing is well connected to all parts of NY in terms of jobs. Honestly, students don’t care that it’s in the center of the state. There are a ton of city kids who go there and it’s increasingly popular with out of state students.

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106

I don’t think she’d get into Bing currently but we def want to encourage her to consider all the SUNYs that are realistic and recognize that she could still transfer in later after CC or a year at one of the others.

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And a number of kids go to SUNY Broome and transfer in. Bing actually offers that option to some students. Students live on campus at Bing but do their first year at Broome.

Binghamton is nothing special for us adults (much improved since 2019), but I am telling you, those students are having a LOT of fun. Too much fun, haha. There are also many nice things to do in the area and a few treasures in Bing itself.

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108

That’s interesting - so they get to know people in their class but transfer from Broome- huh. Will def have to look into that!

Thank you for the tip!

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109

I do hope that you are going to let your daughter decide if it’s a match, fit-wise.

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110

More importantly, they will know a lot of people at Bing itself from living on campus. That’s the major benefit.

Be aware that your D will need to keep her accommodations up to date if she plans to request them at college. My son did not request accommodations at Bing. They (and many, many other colleges) wanted more recent documentation of his LDs. By then, my son felt he could succeed without accommodations and was unwilling to go through the assessment process again. I am pretty sure (not certain though) that most colleges won’t accept any testing older than 3 years.

You and your D will have to be very proactive in getting accommodations. It will be totally on you to ensure that any colleges of interest are willing to give her accommodations. Colleges are generally quite strict about it. If there is no current documentation, she will have a very tough time getting anything. Do not expect the high school to assist in this regard, and be proactive. If accommodations are crucial, consider some of the colleges that are well known for providing support to LD students. I’m not an expert, but you can find lists online.

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Luckily she just got assessed end of last year, and will likely need accommodations in school. So we will get them updated before the EOY and likely once she’s at college too.

I know we asked the URI admissions folks about this extensively and they provide a very comprehensive support plan/program.

UVM was a bit more gray when we asked. SUNY New Paltz and Platts def seemed to have a pretty comprehensive program for learning support and accommodation.

But yeah will def have to maintain the additional advocacy.

112

There’s one other category of schools that offer merit. Those that give it to 90+% of their student body. It’s basically a discount for almost everyone, but people think that they’re getting a a better “value” because the school “costs” more, but they’re wanted and getting a “scholarship” to reduce the costs. For instance, Agnes Scott was guaranteeing every student from the class of '23 at least $23k in scholarships/grants. This aggregator presents the percentage of students without need who received merit aid and what that average package was: Merit Aid by Institution – College Transitions. It doesn’t cover all schools, and probably won’t cover many that would be in consideration for a 2.8 GPA, but it will have some. The other place to look is in section H2 of a school’s Common Data Set (you’ll need to do some math to get the percentages).

I’ll think about some more options, but has your daughter considered Drew? It’s about a 45-minute train ride from NYC so it would be easily accessible, but it has a definite campus, small classes, a diverse student body, and can be generous with aid.

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113

Two more under $40k - don’t know about the LD aspect but Millersville PA would be a likely.

York of Pa is private. They don’t have a CDS so I can’t tell the stats.

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Compromise is key. Honestly, too many kids get a bee in their bonnet about things that don’t matter all that much once they are on campus, like big D1 sports, or being in a city.

For the majority of kids who really want the residential college life experience, the most important thing is feeling that they can be friends with their fellow students, along with getting the academic experience they seek. So many students start off thinking they need easy access to a city. Location is ultimately just not that important to a lot of kids when their friends, their activities, their beds, and their food are all in one place. And considering budget, a lot of students who attend urban colleges spend a LOT of money off campus on food and entertainment. When a kid is not right in a city, there is less to spend money on.

There is a very good reason why there are many colleges not in cities with high retention rates. Happy students return to campus for sophomore year.

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115

What is your daughter’s numerical GPA (i.e. 88, 92, etc)?

For the SUNY schools, this shows the 2023 admissions data by campus (SAT, ACT, and GPA on a 100-point scale): https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/summary-sheets/Admission-Information-Summary-Sheets.pdf.

If smaller classes are important to your D, then I would focus on the University Colleges rather than University Centers, as I suspect the class sizes are smaller at the latter, and I don’t think your D’s GPA will be high enough to get access to the honors college direct from high school.

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116

My son who does love sports is actually a vocal performance music major. He liked that at cuse he didnt feel like he was going to have to choose one or the other. He likes being able to have options.

But you hit the nail on the head that fit and vibe are important!
Different people like different things. Like I love to visit nyc but a long weekend is enough. I couldnt live there as its not my vibe.

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117

Your SUNY options will likely be your best bets. Assuming that a 2.8 translates to around an 82 or 83 (based off this College Board document), AND that all the SUNYs calculate GPA the same way, the three campuses (excluding technology/specialty campuses) where that GPA would fall within the 25/75 GPA range are:

  • Buffalo State: About 5500 undergrads with an 86% acceptance rate and a $23k sticker. 13% reported their tests.

  • Fredonia: About 3k undergrads with an 85% acceptance rate and a $23k sticker. 12-14% reported their tests.

  • Old Westbury: About 3900 undergrads with a 92% acceptance rate and a $20k sticker. 12% reported their tests.

I would make sure to have at least one (if not two) of those campuses on her application list, unless she would not be happy to attend or she prefers an affordable out-of-state school (though don’t forget to factor in transportation costs).

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The next most likely campuses would be:

  • Brockport, Oswego, Plattsburgh, and Potsdam (lowest 25th GPA between 85 and 86).

Campuses where the 25th percentile had a GPA between 87-91 were:

  • Cortland, Geneseo, New Paltz, Oneonta, Purchase & Albany.

Campuses where the 25th percentile had a GPA above 91 I would consider beyond high reaches.

I would also take a very good look at the Broome to Binghamton option.

For out-of-state schools, these are some you may want to check out. None of them hit everything you say your D wants, but compromises will need to be made.

  • Central Michigan: About 10k undergrads and sticker of about $25k

  • Northern Illinois: About 11k undergrads and sticker of about $24k

  • Shippensburg (PA ): About 4400 undergrads and sticker of about $26k

  • Slippery Rock (PA ): About 6800 undergrads and sticker of about $26k

  • South Dakota State: About 9900 undergrads and a sticker of about $21k

  • U. of Memphis (TN): About 17k undergrads and sticker of about $25k

  • U. of North Carolina – Pembroke: About 5600 undergrads and a sticker of about $19k

  • U. of South Dakota: About 7100 undergrads and a sticker of about $22k

  • Youngstown State (OH): About 8800 undergrads and a sticker of about $21k, and tuition will be frozen at the same rate for 4-years (all Ohio publics do this)

Note: Sticker prices are for tuition & fees plus room & board.

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I don’t expect Binghamton and Stony Brook will be possible with a 2.8 HS GPA (even with the upward trend).

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The SUNY schools that would be good options are Buffalo State, Plattsburgh, Potsdam. I would also look at Brockport and Fredonia.

Oswego, Oneonta and Cortland will be a reach, but it’s ok to have reaches.

I would not count on Binghamton, but looking into the Broome CC transfer is a good option.

We have seen almost every SUNY school (we did not visit Fredonia or Old Westbury), and one of my kids attended a SUNY. What we noticed is that the smaller colleges have a distinct personality.

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Luckily there are so many SUNY options. I didn’t know about the Broome to Bing path either - that sounds like something worth exploring esp if you can live on campus and still get that 4-yr campus feel.

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121

Just wanted to throw out that, depending on reliability of MIL and her largess, counting on her to be there for all four years might be dangerous. We’ve all seen stories about gift $$ from relatives suddenly vanishing later on.
I would seriously budget for no help from MIL.

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122

That’s very nice
but it won’t make up for her lower GPA.

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