<p>You are going to have to decide which is more important to you (and son), going to a ‘named’ college or finishing with no debt. Hopefully he’ll get into UCSD or another local school you like and he’ll be able to live at home. If not, and he wants to go away, it probably will cost your something in loans or savings. There just aren’t that many full, everything included, even the travel schools out there. </p>
<p>One of my daughter’s has a very good package of scholarships, but it is still going to be about $10,000 this year after room and board, tuition, travel, computer, books, and just every day living costs are added up. About $6000 of that was ‘hard’ costs I paid to the school for the amount left after the scholarships were applied to tuition, fees, room and board, but the rest is just stuff that came up as we prepared for her to live at school. She took all her stuff from home like bedding, towels, etc., but we still needed to spend about $300 just for set up stuff at Target, including a new bike. $1000 for a new (very needed) computer, another $1000 in books. Travel, some clothing, a few luxuries like entertainment and it all adds up to a lot of money. Her suite mates probably spent 3 times what we did on dorm set up (shelves, tv, bedding, towels, cable tv stuff that I don’t even understand, lamps, etc.) We just went with the basics and it was still expensive.</p>
<p>Community colleges in California are very good and a good way to save money. Will a cc offer him everything on his list - computer gaming program, cello, low or no cost, prestige name? No, but it might offer no cost and a good base, and then he can transfer for the last two years.</p>
<p>I guess I was honestly hoping to hear from some lower middle class families in our situation. Are there not that many on CC? (Lower middle class for us is income of 74K for a family of 5 living in So Cal with two in college; not poor by any means)</p>
<p>Yes, I do know community college and yes, my son is aware that it a real possibility. I was just looking for other last minute ideas.</p>
<p>Thumper, Vassar isn’t the right fit; he says he wants a more politically balanced school. I’ve looked at so many LACs and they all seem to have a heavy drinking/drug culture-not so good for a t1 diabetic. </p>
<p>Well, I’ve gotten a few ideas. Thanks, all.</p>
<p>SBJdorlo-- those are great stats! How does he feel about going to the midwest or East coast? A boy with those stats would be a prize for lots of schools that are looking for students from all parts of the country. And schools that are looking for boys. Have you thought of Clark, in Worcester, MA? Great school, and great merit aid. College of Wooster in Ohio? Of course the down side is that many young people don’t want to go far. (But I’m sure he will find a good spot close to home…deep breaths until that happens.) I know a young man who’s having a great experience at little Edgewood College in Madison WI…yes, on nearly full aid. </p>
<p>I was thinking about Montana. Son said he’d be fine with cold weather and I think he said he’s gotten some emails from them.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know 74K is middle income, but here on CC, I see people saying middle income is 120K. To me, that’s upper middle income, so by CC definitions, we must be lower middle income.</p>
<p>I don’t know-I’ve run f. aid calculators on numerous schools and we are now always showing a small amount of Pell Grant. Not sure why. EFC was $9523 with 76K income. My dh make about 2-3K less this year, so I was guessing EFC might be around $8500 since we also have less money in 529, having spent all of the oldest’s money. </p>
<p>I’m hoping son can actually take a gap year and work-that wouldn’t work if he goes to a UC or Cal State since they don’t allow gap years. I would hope he could earn 2-3K in the summer which would all go towards school. This past summer, his job didn’t earn him much, though. (Cellist) He looked at other stuff, but nothing worked out with his hours for school and other job, and it was an amazing experience.</p>
<p>Yes, up for Special Corporate NM Scholarship. He was only Commended, but got notification at the beginning of the month that he was vying for the Special one. He’s also been applying to a number of other scholarship programs.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, all I know is that my oldest son could <em>not</em> stack his outside scholarship on top of either Harvey Mudd’s full tuition scholarship or the Cal Grant/need-based aid he would have gotten. They said no way. </p>
<p>I am a bit perplexed with the description you have given of your son. IMO, he seems like a very strong candidate and I would suggest you look into schools which are very generous with need based aid. There are many schools besides Ivies which are extremely generous. </p>
<p>And FWIW, my son had no AP classes at all, and took no AP test and was accepted at a top 20 LAC with a 30 ACT. Now, our Income is significantly higher than yours ( mid $120k) but we still got a great FA package of about $40k/yr a year (no loans.) We are also only a family of 3. </p>
<p>And last year a friend of mine with income of around $75k ( single mom with D1 at a CC, S in high school) D2 was accepted to Top 20 LAC and got $56kyr in FA (all grants, no loan) </p>
<p>@emilybee , all I know is that he got the lowest AES scholarship at UTD. His SAT CR+M, 1480, should have put him in at least the middle category, a full tuition scholarship, so I have to conclude his application is weak for some reason. Maybe being homeschooled and not having AP tests-I don’t know. He had his community college transcripts sent- he has one B- and they didn’t need SAT II scores. I just don’t know what else to conclude except there are a lot of stronger candidates vying for those scholarships. And UTD is/was a real school of consideration because of their Arts & Tech major.</p>
<p>I’ve looked over and over at LACs, but most have such a heavy drinking/drug culture. CMC and Pomona are interesting because of both music and Intercollegiate Media Studies, as well as English, but both so hard to get into. Plus Pomona requires 4 SAT II scores from homeschoolers. Davidson is interesting, but I know they want to see demonstrated interest. I honestly can’t recommend to my son LACs where there is so much partying. Maybe that’s wrong, but that’s where I stand. And he seemed to prefer mid-sized schools.</p>
<p>We’ve talked about CMC, but shoot, 10% admit rate. And it looked like EFC was about 10.5K there anyhow.</p>
<p>He didn’t apply to Alabama. Just missed it completely.</p>
<p>Rosa, he’s ok going away. His brother would love him in Boston, I can tell you that! He did apply to Northeastern EA, but because there were some problems getting his SAT II test scores and they came too late, (they require two for homeschoolers), he was rolled over into RD. And I don’t know that he’d get any scholarships there anyways. He also applied to WPI and will apply for scholarships.</p>
<p>I agree with emilybee; there are some excellent schools out there that pledge to meet 100% of need at which your son would be in the top 25% stats-wise. He may have to travel, but if he doesn’t limit himself geographically your situation isn’t nearly as dire as you make it sound. And I have to say, your comment “I’ve looked at so many LACs and they all seem to have a heavy drinking/drug culture…” is completely off the mark and your false perceptions may be doing you and your son a huge disservice.</p>
<p>You NOW have ONE child in college. How much is THAT child’s EFC? </p>
<p>It must have been the Harvey Mudd award that would’ve reduced…not the Cal Grant. Students stack private awards on top of Cal Grants (and Pell Grants) all the time. </p>
<p>I don’t think you can go by UTD and what sounds to me like merit scholarships. Schools which give grants based only on need is where you should also be looking, IMO.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Pepperdine? I don’t know how good there FA is but it is a very conservative school from what I understand. I also think he should apply to at least one of the Claremont colleges. Yes, the are hard to get into, but your son is certainly qualified. Of course, that doesn’t mean he will be accepted, but you don’t know unless you try. </p>
<p>Also, your son can call a school like Davidson and request an interview. Most schools have alums who are local or they do them on SKYPE. That is enough to show interest.
A visit is not necessary. </p>
<p>EFC for 2014 was the number I quoted, apx. $9500 for my one kid. </p>
<p>Ok, so yes, maybe it was only Harvey Mudd’s policy. When I sat down with their f. aid dept., they told me their hands were tied and that it was a Cal Grant rule or something like that. You’re saying they didn’t tell us the truth? I do know that Caltech’s package was way more generous than Mudd and there was no mention of this policy there, so you may be right-which would be a <em>huge</em> relief if my son could bring in outside scholarship on top of free tuition.</p>
<p>MiddKid, you are probably right. The schools of interest have been Trinity in Conn, Hamilton, and Colgate. You’re right-I just can’t get past the fact that the vast majority of kids drink, and pretty heavily. Please correct me. I really, really wanted to like LACs. I am overprotective because of the diabetes. I do know CMC has a sub-free floor or dorm and my son has expressed an interest in sub-free dorms. He perked up when I shared about a friend’s very positive experience in Penn’s sub-free dorm. He needs a safe place for diabetic supplies, changing pump, etc. </p>
<p>Skype interview-I did not know that. We’ll look into it this weekend.</p>
<p>Pepperdine I am pretty sure is off the table financially. I’ve run calculators and it’s pretty crazy expensive. Not sure about scholarships there.</p>
<p>Son did like the idea of the Athenaeum at CMC. Perhaps that’s the school he can apply to, even without doing an interview. The English dept. looks great, too, and he could do music at other schools. I don’t think his forth SAT II score in Italian will be very good, so Pomona might not work.</p>
<p>I’d look for schools that, parties or not, also have strong and active religious organizations on campus. Plus, if you’re lucky, nearby churches that attract and incorporate those students. That opens it far wider than strictly religious colleges. (And that’s how my very religious young friend vetted her college choices. I.e., not what the extremes may be doing, but what she would find to engage her and make her happy.)</p>
<p>And those that offer generous finaid, as a routine policy, not just a few scholarships. Btw, not all kids at party schools go to parties. Lots of them pursue other interests. </p>
<p>I am familiar with all of these schools and very familiar with one of them, and I will tell you emphatically that you are wrong. It’s a “fact” that the vast majority of kids at these schools drink pretty heavily? Where on earth did you come up with that? Because, to be undiplomatic about it, that is nuts. Sure, there is alcohol and drug use at these schools, but not to any greater or lesser extent than most other non-sectarian colleges in the United States. It sounds like either your son has led a very sheltered life so far and/or you don’t trust him, both of which will be a factor no matter where he ends up.</p>
<p>But please, tell me - where did you get this “fact” that the vast majority of students at Trinity, Hamilton and Colgate drink “pretty heavily”?</p>
<p>If your EFC is $9500 for one kid…it likely is half for each when both are enrolled at the same time. This is why you are seeing a teeny Pell Grant amount. TEENY.</p>
<p>How comfortable are you having your kiddo 2500-3000 miles away from home?</p>
<p>Let’s look at the arithmetic again…$11,000 for room and board. Your EFC is $8500. That leaves a $2500 balance…which could be taken as a Direct Loan…$10,000 total for all four years. And your son would need a small 10 hour a week job for personal expenses. Does that work?</p>
<p>St. Olaf, Carleton, or Grinnell are all excellent liberal arts colleges without a heavy drinking culture. The preppy lax-bro thing is not operative everywhere. Don’t be afraid of LACs on principle.</p>