When your DS seems to like EVERY school you visit...

College Search & Selection
1

Hi all. Haven’t been on here in years, as my older two are now seniors in college, but I’ve found myself haunting the forums again for the past month due to the dilemma with DS who is a hs Jr. Please bear with me for what will be a long post!
He is interested in International Studies/Affairs with a vague goal of eventually working in politics/govt, perhaps with the State Dept. He is currently thinking Law school, but I know that can change, and maybe a Masters in another field will seem more desirable as times goes on. He is a solid student - 1440 on recent SAT (first time he has taken), GPA is 3.8+, 4s on his first few AP tests, Eagle Scout, VP of a political club at school, NHS, Key Club, TONS of community service, etc.

He has an older sister at a LAC (a CTCL school) and we have been incredibly impressed with her experience, especially as she is applying to grad school. However, we do see some drawbacks with her experience. His older brother is in the Honors program at a huge state flagship. Again, we have had reasons to be impressed with his experience too, for entirely different reasons, but also see drawbacks there. But, with that knowledge, my thought was that hs DS would be a good fit for a small LAC. We are looking for schools where he is likely to pull in some merit $ since the older two will be graduating and our EFC will go up…ideally would love to be down around $30K total, but realistically, we know it may end up closer to $40k.

We are FL residents, but he really really would like to head north to college (which sort of kills us since with Bright Futures, he could go to school for free in FL). Zero interest really in going anywhere in the SE. So, based on his interests, our first visit was to Dickinson. He LOVED it. He was sold. But he had not seen anywhere else. Our next stop was American. This kid LOVED DC and could not have been happier with the location of American. He was lukewarm about the campus when we first arrived, but that quickly changed after hearing about their opportunities and student body and that became the standard he used for the next couple of schools. Hated GWU, so we did manage to eliminate one type of school at least! He did not like the urban-style campus, was bored by the talk of engineering, etc, and I think it just felt too big for him, especially after American.

Because we are FL residents, we have told him we have to consider FL public schools, so we checked out New College. He basically went under duress, and I was desperate for him to love it. Well, we got there, and he decided he would be happy enough there but it was not his first choice…however, I didn’t like it. Lol! But, it’s not my decision of course. Based on the fact that he liked American, which was in a city, and not as small as Dickinson or New College, we then went to UMiami. Again, he said he could see himself there - apparently the 3 Cognates they talked about are what swayed him. In fact, he said that if it were in DC instead of FL, it would be perfect. I like that though UM wouldn’t be free, they will apply some Bright Futures $, which if they do it on top of another nice scholarship, could make it the most affordable. Plus, transportation would be cheaper.

So, we have a kid who has liked every school we have seen so far. (We will also go tour UF shortly, as he has not had an official tour of a school that big, but I expect it will have the same effect as GWU.) We have his preference to be somewhere up North, MY feeling that he would do better somewhere smaller, and he seems to like self-contained campuses in urban areas. The latter seems to rule out most small LACs. However, it’s not like he didn’t like Dickinson, which is somewhat rural. After discussing it, he said he thinks he will likely end up being happy anywhere he goes - he says he is just excited to go to college! SO any suggestions on what to use to make a decision? Other schools to consider? I’m wondering about the whole Boston area…? But, we have to draw the line somewhere! I guess I worry that maybe the fact that he thinks he likes everywhere means that he hasn’t seen “the one” yet. Our older two were much more decisive!

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BF this year for the top award was $6500 plus $600 for book. It is currently scheduled to go back to $3100, but there is a bill in the legislature to keep it at full FL tuition. At UMiami he’d also get $3300 as a FL resident grant. Plus he could use a lot of the local scholarships available to student in Florida that can only be used in Florida. Pretty soon you are talking real money!

3

Seems like you really mean “EVERY school except in-state public schools”…

As you noticed, his preference against in-state public schools goes against a number of low cost options.

However, if he is not very picky in other respects, that is better than if he fixates on a dream school. I.e. if there are lots of schools he will be happy to attend, April will be less stressful if some of them return denials or end up being too expensive (as long as at least one admits him and is affordable).

Have you given him a price limit and checked the net price calculators of the various schools under consideration?

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It is always tough to compete with good cheep in state options. However, if you are truly comfortable in the 30-40k range that you said, I would take a look at Beloit College. They give a lot of merit aid (but not full tuition/COA). They have a good IR program. Their version of the NPC will give you an idea of merit aid that he would be eligible to receive. I wouldn’t call Beloit urban, but it also isn’t Kenyon. FYI, Beloit (city) is on the Wisconsin/Illinois border. Pop ~36K. About 2 hrs WNW of Chicago and 30 minutes south of Madison.The student pop ~1,300.

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We have said things like “you won’t be able to go to any of these schools without a decent amount of merit $$” (which in my mind would be roughly 20k), but I’m not sure we have given a hard limit. In my mind, New College is now a viable financial safety for him, even if not his most favorite school. Have not run any NPCs, partly bc I’m not sure how accurate they will be, since things will change substantially after our older two graduate this spring. With luck, claiming them may help the first year (since we will be using 2017 returns for fafsa next fall) for Hs DS, but not sure what happens to financial aid after that when we aren’t claiming them. I know what our EFC has been with them, so I don’t have high hopes.

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You can try the NPCs with both the 3 in college scenario and the 1 in college scenario to estimate what may happen.

Better to have some idea than going in blind.

7

Richmond, Wesleyan, Macalester all worth a look…and if he is open to Catholic schools, perhaps Loyola Maryland. Maybe Goucher for a safety?

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My son initially liked all but one of the colleges we visited. But as time passed afterwards, and he talked about the schools, there were some he liked less than others… and they dropped off the list. Sometimes it takes some time to reflect on each school. And the truth is, he could have been happy at any of those schools, even the ones that might be an ever so slightly less perfect “fit.” I do not really buy into the whole ‘have one dream school’ mentality.

If your son recognizes he could be happy at many colleges, it could make the process a little less stressful, because if one school does not admit him, another will. And he is able to imagine himself happy at any school he applies to that admits him. That is good news.

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I have been thinking about Goucher…seems like it could check several boxes! The mid-Atlantic area has appeal to me too bc we have family in PA and in the DC suburbs. Wesleyan and Macalester also just hit my radar tonight. Thanks for the suggestions!

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Lots of great PA choices with Gettysburg most similar to Dickinson. Franklin and Marshall, Lafayette, Bucknell and Lehigh are other great PA choices. Given financial aid is a focus, you may want to look at the list of schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need - Franklin and Marshall and Lafayette are on that list. Another great potential choice in VA is U of Richmond which meets 100% of demonstrated need.

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The Midwest LACs seem generous with merit. They have to sweeten the pot to make up for location.

I think you could see a $20k scholarship at Earlham and their sticker price is lower than many.

He would find areas of study of interest to him, study abroad is huge & scholarships follow, and they have a new program where every student qualifies for an internship opportunity at no extra charge, in some cases including international travel costs.

They have great May Term opportunities. Some are expensive & some equally appealing excursions are bargain basement priced. No extra tuition charge, depending on Spring course load.

Many flights from Dayton to FL. Lots of international students. The downside is no vibrant city, no charismatic college town.

I agree with the suggestion to run NPC with different scenarios.

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Other Midwest LAC’s including Grinnell, Kenyon and Oberlin provide merit aid, but given all three also meet 100% of demonstrated need you’ll have to run each school’s NPC as one can’t stack merit and need based aid.

Here’s the link to 100% of demonstrated need schools for your reference https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need

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@Collegefortwins We were looking for merit last year with a budget of 30-40K and ended up focusing on the Midwest. Of the schools we researched, the most generous merit was from Denison (up to full tuition), College of Wooster (up to 30K or half COA), and Case Western (up to 30K) in Ohio. Farther north, St. Olaf in MN (up to half of COA, which bought cost to just under 30K). Dickinson and Macalester both offered maximum merit of 20K in 2017 which meant a balance of around 45K, assuming no need-based aid. I heard mention on CC last year of awards up to 30K at Oberlin for STEM students and 25K for non STEM.

Would he be willing to look at Davidson? I know you said no SE but it sounds like he might be bending a bit.

Other good values (that we did not pursue in depth) are two CTCL schools, Rhodes and Centre.

Wesleyan does not offer merit aid.

I think that Goucher might not be strong enough academically for your son and it is pretty small.

I strongly recommend a look at Case Western if he wants an urban area and a school that is not too large (around 5-6K undergrad IIRC). Easy access via Cleveland airport. I’m not sure about his choice of major but it is strong in liberal arts as well as tech and STEM.

Good luck! It’s better than having a kid who is super picky.

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Older DS with nearly perfect stats got into Richmond, but didn’t get any merit $$. Same with F&M! (Which is a shame, bc that was his 2nd choice after WUSTL) So I guess for that reason I hadn’t considered those for younger DS.
DD is at Wooster, and we also looked at Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon for her when she was applying. Younger DS will be visiting Wooster when we go see DD this winter. Considering working in Denison and Oberlin during that trip. I can see him more at Oberlin than Denison.

Realistically, I shouldn’t be worrying about this - older DS is at his “safety” and has been really happy there…they do bloom where they’re planted!

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Thanks @mamaedefamilia! We visited Case with older DS, and the campus was in many ways similar to GWU in DC - I think it would not be self-contained enough. We have many friends with kids there (we lived in OH for many years prior to moving here to FL!) and they are thriving there and seem to do well afterward.
Really interesting info about Dickinson and merit $…I was hoping they might be more similar to Wooster. He had a great discussion with a counselor from Denison at a college fair and so he has mentioned it more than once, so I guess we really need to give that some consideration.

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Some LACs in more urban areas or at least not rural-
Macalaster
Rhodes
Trinity College in ct
College of the Holy Cross
Tufts
Muhlenberg

17

American really sounds up his alley, I was about to suggest it after your first couple of paragraphs. I wouldn’t worry about the ‘likes everywhere he goes’ factor. My kid had that too. He has time, and you’ve got a good start to lists.

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@Collegefortwins The Denison campus is really charming (Olmstead of Central Park fame designed it), as is the nearby small town. It’s about a half an hour from the Columbus airport so it’s close enough to a city of size to balance its small town location. We only visited during the summer but our GC commented that the student vibe is similar to Dickinson so maybe it will work for your child.

We were a little disappointed about the cost at Dickinson. However, My D preferred Oberlin and is a very happy first year student there. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about her Oberlin experience.

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The University of Denver has a school of international studies and is very big on study abroad. It is like American in that it is an enclosed campus close to (but not really in) the center of a major city. The Denver campus is apparently nicer than American’s (I toured American with my D, and she also toured Denver). On the other hand, the international opportunities of DC would beat those of Denver.

For your son, Denver would essentially be a safety. He would have a good chance of being offered up to the maximum merit aid of $25K, which takes things down to around $40K. American and then Dickinson would be better choices, probably. But with American’s admit rate down to 26% (which seems surprisingly low to me), even getting in there may not be a sure thing, let alone getting $20K in merit. So your son will obviously need some safer choices.

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F&M does not give merit, only financial aid – they switched their model within the last few years or so.

Agreed, Denison overlaps with Dickinson in terms of vibe, but there is a difference in ethnic/racial/socio-economic diversity. Denison is about 18% first gen as well as Pell grant, and I think about 35% non-white. The village of Granville is delightful, something dropped out of New England, and is about 25-30 min to Columbus which is on all kinds of lists as a neat city for young people. At least when we were searching merit, Dickinson topped out at about $20k, and Denison, in theory, goes up to full tuition, though the full tuition award kids we met were stunningly impressive, and choosing between Denison full tuition awards and full pay at Stanford, Columbia etc. We were very pleased with merit at Denison for our well-rounded but not tippy top kid.