<p>Gotcha. Forgot to say, I have a 2 parent family but the income is still the same. So it looks like without the tuition break program UMaine Fort Kent would cost roughly $9,500 (20,000-5500-5000) and USM would be $7000. But with the tuition break Fort Kent would be $6700.</p>
<p>Does the $7000 include $4000 for transportation and personal expenses? Do think you’d need that much for transportation. Did your estimate include work study?</p>
<p>Fort Kent is at the very top of Maine at the border with Canada. That location is not for the faint of heart. Portland is at the bottom of Maine probably five or six hours to the south. It is a super hip city that is a foodies paradise and much warmer.</p>
<p>Yes. I guessed a two parent home, no income for you.</p>
<p>You’re right, and I didn’t look at the personal expenses ($4k, that’s outrageous!). I will totally apply and try to visit when I get some time off. I know nothing about Maine, so that info is super helpful! You guys are awesome people 
</p>
<p>I have an aunt who works at USM. Whoopie pies (the state dessert) at the Two Fat Cats Bakery if you visit Portland.</p>
<p>Plan on getting a part-time job when you can…try to find one that can give you LOTS of hours in the summer to bring in more income/savings. It would be nice if it’s a job that will let you come back and work during later summers while in college.</p>
<p>@judy28 Just so that you can explain this to your parents correctly. USM is $31,000. From the NPC you would receive about $18,000 in merit and need based gift aid. That does not need to be paid back. The remaining $13,000 was broken down $3500 work study and $5500 Stafford loan. You have about $4000 left to pay the first year. You can buy used books and try to cut some corners. Your sophmore year you can borrow $6500 (Stafford) and your junior and senior years you can borrow $7500 per year. If you get a job as an RA your upper classman years, I think Maine pays for both your room and board. You might not need loans during those years. Apply as a freshman for that job.</p>
<p>Some suggestions:
-Connecticut College
-Oxford College of Emory University
-Occidental College
-Bryn Mawr
-Mount Holoyoke
-Beloit
-College of Holy Cross
-Brandeis
-Agnes Scott
-Lehigh
-Trinity University (TX)
-Colorado College
-Furman University</p>
<p>By the way have you considered Keene State? I think they offer some less competitive freshmen merit scholarships which you may be eligible for. </p>
<p>@whenhen Do you think that any of the options would give her a free ride or under 5K?</p>
<p>If she could get into MHC or similar, they probably would cover nearly all of her costs. </p>
<p>Is MHC test optional? She should apply to the TO schools, as well. </p>
<p>OP…did you take the most rigorous curriculum at your school? calc? APs? </p>
<p>Can she have the app fees waved? Drivable options would probably be best so she could come home for the holidays.</p>
<p>@gearmom No free rides, nor do I see them costing less than $5,000/ yr, but most of those schools meet almost all demonstrated need. Now that does mean the OP will take out loans. It also means she’ll have to work at school, and that her parents will be expected to contribute to the total cost of the school. Unfortunately I don’t see her as a competitive candidate to any no loans school, save for perhaps the test optional Bowdoin. </p>
<p>If the family makes 36K with no assests that is probably paycheck to paycheck. 1 or 2K might be the top of parent contributions.</p>
<p>I’m not disagreeing although the fact is, her EFC is estimated at $2,900/ year and outside of the hyper selective schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Williams, that’s typically the baseline by which schools will price the product. By the way I ran the NPC on a couple of different schools on the list (I assumed she came from a family of four, but have no idea if that’s true), and all cost at least $7,700. There were a couple of borderline prospective schools I excluded since the NPC estimated it would cost >$10,000/ yr to attend. </p>
<p>It really is unfortunate how poorly New Hampshire funds its higher education system. Residents of the state should not be forced to take on $32,000 (average for NH inhabitants) in debt just to get a degree. </p>
<p>That is good. She can run the NPC for the closer schools and maybe pick a couple. Do you think she can get the app fee waved?</p>
<p>Here are the criteria developed by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) to determine fee waiver eligibility
<a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/feewaiver/pages/default.aspx”>http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/feewaiver/pages/default.aspx</a></p>
<p>I would be shocked if she weren’t eligible for fee waivers since she already meets the criteria even if she’s an only child.</p>
<p>Sorry it took me so long to reply! To answer some questions:
1.Curriculum wise, I took 3 APs, and mostly honors courses. I didn’t take calculus, since math is not my specialty and it would have been a nightmare on my transcript.
2. Fee waiver: I talked to my guidance counselor about this and apparently my family makes too much money (i kid you not, it’s about $200) over the amount that would qualify me to receive the waivers. I got a part time job under the table to save up enough money to pay for apps.
3. While being close to home would be ideal, location is not my top priority. I don’t care if I’m freezing my butt off in the middle of alaska, as long as I can graduate from a good college without a lot of debt.</p>
<p>I’m willing to do work-study/any kind of program to cut costs. The schools @whenhen mentioned are all fantastic, but they’re very selective (do I have a chance?). </p>
<p>Feel free to ask any other questions!!!</p>
<p>I would keep USM. I think that is your safety. And I would call USM admissions and ask them to wave your fee. Say that you are in the running for a President’s Scholarship but have to earn the money to pay for app fees yourself. Why waste $40 and colleges do offer free admissions to good students. And Portland has 230 restaurants which means job opportunities. As for the rest, I checked some with your stats and I am not sure. @whenhen needs to help with choosing a few good ones.</p>
<p>I didn’t know you could ask admissions to waive the fee, so thanks a bunch! I went through and checked @whenhen colleges on collegeboard. Out of the schools mentioned the best price was beloit, but I would still have to come up with 10k/year after loans. </p>
<p>She should be able to get fee waivers from her GC for private and public schools…and by calling the private schools directly.</p>
<p>She can also get waivers from Collegeboard to fill out CSS Profile.</p>