I’m pretty sure in our case UKentucky was mailing my son right from the start (like starting in Junior year) but yes, those “you can still apply” letters are probably quite important to kids who have been turned down by all their reaches, with no safeties. (For high stat kids, there are typically no “match” schools – just reaches and safeties. Any school that is a match for their stats is a “reach for everyone” type school.)
IIRC he also got some (not from UKentucky but places like University of Advancing Technology) toward the end of his first year of college. The message was clearly, if you’ve flunked out of your first school, try us. :-/
We are also realizing that there are costs that we hadn’t fully factored in.
Heath care. Our HMO is not in our D’s state, so getting a plan for her through the school was another $1800
Flights and from school. Turns out there are a lot more breaks than I expected. Flights add up.
Going with her for move in day. More ca-ching (mom’s flights, hotel, car)
Textbooks. This I did factor in, but still it’s there.
Extracurricular expenses (in her case associated with a sports team but would apply I assume to musicians too).
If she does study-abroad, more ca-ching.
I kind of vaguely thought about these costs and they are much, much smaller than tuition+board, but we still feel every $100. She will work in the summer, but it won’t cover all of the above. So for kid #2, I factoring in a bit more room in our ‘what can we afford’.
My daughter is doing study abroad next semester and it is several thousand cheaper than when she’s on campus. Everyone pays the same amount for tuition, fees, and room (and breakfasts), so for an OOS student, it is cheaper than tuition alone on campus. There are airfares and more traveling around, but those costs are within our control. I expect it to be a wash in the end.
For both kids, the extra costs have gone way down after freshman year. Even the one who lived on campus for sophomore year had a cheaper meal plan, figured out cheaper ways to buy books, etc.
My kids don’t come home for many breaks, just Christmas.
@DemonDad
Hello! I have very similar stats to your son and almost looked into all of those schools mentioned on your list for software engineering. Rutgers is mostly about fit. The cost is great but the buses to classes, no interaction in class, and highest on campus crime rate in the country deterred me from applying. I did an overnight visit at RPI for a sport and absolutely loved it but the cost is too much. They dont give out much in scholarships either. TCNJ was perfect!! Extremely highly ranked, selective, beautiful and great campus fit, and the value is unbeatable.
@mattlax27 Yes, TCNJ does tick off many of the boxes for our situation. I view it as a much better choice than Rutgers. My only concern is that TCNJ is not well known outside the region and therefore career placement may be more difficult after graduation. All things considered this is the most likely choice.
First things first, he needs to get accepted at TCNJ.
We also added Case W, Temple, Champlain and Marist into the mix.
@DemonDad That was my only concern as well but it is well-known in the tri-state region and thats where I initially want to work. Anytime after that, employment is based on experience so it wont matter too much long term. Say if he wants to get hired outside the region as soon as he graduates that may cause problems but most people stay close and save up a bit after graduation anyway. I also looked into Temple and Marist a bit. The campus at TCNJ blows away Temple’s broad street and TCNJ is much more selective than marist.
TCNJ is a highly selective school with a great reputation. Little difficult to get in depending on major but worth it.
Also , impressive record of placing alumni in top grad schools .
@mathmomvt, Kansas State and University Of Tennessee-Knoxville both have nice merit aid. I don’t know if it’s guaranteed at Tennessee, but it looks like it is. Kansas looks like it’s definitely guaranteed.
Both would get you under 30K.
I don’t know much about the academics at those schools, but if you care about US News rankings, Tennessee is tied with NYU, WPI, Illinois Institute Of Technology, Stony Brook, UConn, UMass Amherst, and a bunch of others. Kansas State is one level down, tied with Oregon State, Stevens, and a bunch of others. This is for undergraduate engineering at schools with a doctorate program:
When I last looked at this list, I remember seeing a few glaring examples of schools that looked like they were incorrectly ranked, to me, as a total non-expert on the matter. But it should give a general idea of where schools fit.
Forgot to mention. I visited TCNJ recently, and couldn’t believe how nice the campus was.
A neighbor of mine has a kid there studying Math and the kid loves it. He got into Villanova, but decided to go to TCNJ instead. And money wasn’t an issue.
For daughter’s first semester, she ordered all the books from the bookstore. We looked online but almost all the books listed were for new editions, and she was scared to use an older version. It was over $1000. As a sophomore, friends gave her books, she figured out that she didn’t need all the books the profs listed, she could order online, use past editions. She hasn’t spent more than $200 since. My other daughter had the same experience, with computer codes being the most expensive thing she can’t avoid.
Even though her tuition has gone up (and up and up) every year, other costs have gone down. Books, ‘setting up the dorm’ as she doesn’t care anymore about decorating, meal plans (way, way cheaper as they gouge the freshmen at her school), transportation as she bums rides.
Hi there–my D has similar stats (4.0 GPA W & UW), 1520/1600 SAT. She plans to study engineering and has already applied EA to Drexel, WPI and Northeastern. She will apply to Stevens, RPI (she is a Rensselaer Medalist for her HS), and Villanova RD
Am wondering with her stats what kind of merit aid might she be offered? Her stats are good, but are they good enough? She didn’t love RPI as much as other schools even though the medal would guarantee her at least $25k/year if accepted.
@OCNYmom It’s not just stats, but the school’s individual merit aid policy. Read each school’s website to see if they announce stats neeed to be competitive for scholarships. Look the schools up in collegedata.com. In particular, the Money Matters tab will tell you percentages of kids getting merit and the average amount.
You can use the percentages like a rule of thumb: if 16% of the class is getting merit, your student’s stats should be in the top 16% of the application pool for the best shot at a merit award.
@stencils - “you’re in NJ. NJIT? Or is Newark a deal-breaker? Seems like merit might be pretty good with those stats, plus you’re in state.”
NJIT looked good for engineering, have visited the campus twice and it is nice enough with great access to Manhattan but the surrounding area is not the greatest. Very impressed with the engineering faculty who spoke and the honors college students (they recently had a Goldwater winner) presented themselves very well.