A woman in physics … Try a small LAC. They are always trying to boost their science majors and may give money for it. Check the CDSes. Also, she may want to rethink the big schools. They usually have the best labs.
I get what the poster is looking for. I am saying that it does not exist… the students who get the very small number of merit scholarships at tippy top schools are usually very outstanding and unique. It is not a strategy to pin your kid’s hopes ton. Reality is that they need to look lower in the rankings for merit if they really don’t want to pay, because the thread title is asking for something that doesn’t really exist. And we would all like to have our money in the bank set aside for something else (improved housing, retirement, large purchases like cars, etc). I don’t really see this as unique. Also, income counts for quite a bit more than assets do in the need based aid calculation. So if the OP is showing no need based aid on the calculators, it probably isn’t just because of that slug of cash in the bank.
Lawrence (happens to be in your home state) is particularly strong in Physics for a small LAC that gives merit.
You have to decide what you are willing to pay, then give your kid your limitations. Don’t let her apply to the Mudds and Caltechs of the world if you aren’t willing to pay. That is just going to lead to heartbreak.
I assume she’s applying to UW-Madison as a financial safety? COA for residents is about $25k.
@“Lucy’s Mom”
@intparent is absolutely correct. @thumper1 is correct the OP needs to look beyond the Top 20. And look back at posts #6, #8, #9. There seems to be a myth that colleges are going to offer a free ride to students who are not substantially superior than their ‘ordinary’ students. Sure, the kid with parental income below 30K who can get into Princeton or Haverford will go for free, or nearly so, but how many kids like that are out there? Another myth is that are tons of families out there who blew through all their money and therefore get huge financial aid, when the reality is that EFC is primarily based on income. (If you make 150K , 200K, and have no money set aside, your kid’s options will be severely limited, even if he gets into a Top 20 school.)
The overall reality is that unless parents are willing to pay full-freight to a private college (and few are) there has to be a compromise: the less paid, the less prestigious. This is not a disaster. Going to Lawrence or Case Western means you are going one of the best colleges in the USA.
I feel for you. Your D worked so hard and has fantastic stats, could probably get into a top 10 university and…you can’t afford it. Instead she has to look at lower ranked schools to get good merit scholarships. Makes a parent feel sooo guilty! Here’s my math:
Money you have to put toward college (annually):
Your contribution = $25,000
D’s employment = $4,000 (40 hrs/wk over summer, 10 hrs/wk during college)
D’s student loans = $7,000 (average over 4 years)
TOTAL = $36,000
College costs (annually):
Personal expenses and transportation= $16,500
Books = $1,000
Dorm and food package = $10,000 (but could be up to $13,000)
TOTAL (not including tuition) = $27,500
Thus…you can afford to pay tuition of $8,500 per year.
With her stats, she has a decent chance for an invitation to interview for a full tuition scholarship at USC or University of Miami FL. She probably dreams of going out-of-state, but your in-state University of Wisconsin-Madison has extremely strong science programs. Lots of good options are already mentioned by other posters.
@momfactfinder, getting in to the top 10 (even while paying full-freight) and getting the full scholarship at USC takes much more than good stats. A substantial scholarship to Miami is pretty likely, though.
I presume that the D won’t get any athletic scholarships?
Thanks for all of the responses. Unfortunately the train had left the station on these $60k year schools before I even knew she was in contact with them. Quite a few of her peers are of course applying and had them so hyped it was a bit of a challenge to even open the door to other options…but we are making progress.
My Hesitation with wi. Schools is entire family plans on moving therefore her aid status could be affected but the flip side is it takes care of an immediate problem and if we have to pay oos for the final year it might be worth it in the end.
We will look into all of the schools mentioned. Very helpful. I wish you all the best on your turn…,it’s certainly not what we expected
@momfactfinder Thanks for that breakdown. I was wondering how you calculated $16.5K for transportation and personal expenses per year? Does that include health insurance? What else? Perhaps that category could be an area where the OP’s child could economize.
Another possibility might be Illinois Institute of Technology. Her stats would put her in the running for their full tuition scholarship. My daughter is there and is doing very well. This school is less talked about here but has plenty to offer. There’s a physics professor from IIT who posts on CC and answers questions–I bet he would give you a bunch of information about their physics program. @xraymancs
Don’t feel too bad about your financial situation. It’s common. There’s lots of us telling our kids that we can’t afford just anything and their college lists will have to fit the budget as it is, not as we wish it was. It’s better to get that communicated now. The good news is that there are far more than 30 schools where kids can get a great education.
@Wje9164be for the merit scholarship for maryland were you in state or out of state?
You can say she is already set on an elite school because her friends are, but in the end I bet most of her friends end u in Madison or Minneapolis, or at one of the other schools in state. When my kids were juniors and seniors, ALL their friends were going to NYU and Kansas and Georgetown or somewhere in California, yet when freshman year started 90% were in a Colorado state school. Dream and cash are two different things.
Everyone is happy where he/she ended up.
^^^ Yes to this!
^^Yep.
And in my experience, many kids who go to a far away dream school end up transferring back to hometown UW-Madison.
Also, ask your daughter to compare and explain differences between any of her $60k schools’ physics departments to UW-Madison’s, to show you why they are worth it over the $25k option.
@Madison85 We live in the Chicago suburbs and I can’t tell you how many kids I know who are transferring after spending freshman year far away. Most of them coming back to a Big Ten School. Really makes me cautious about sending our kids away. We have to really make sure the fit is right. I really don’t want them to have to transfer. ;(
Have you actually run a couple of the financial aid calculators? You mentioned that you have a lot of savings, but you didn’t mention your income level. As a very rough rule of thumb, the EFC will only require that you contribute about 5-6 % of savings over $20k per year. (In other words, if you have $220k in savings, they’ll expect you to contribute about $12k of that savings – 6% of $220k - $20k – the first year. The calculation will be done fresh the next year. BTW, if you’ve spent the savings in the meantime, say in the 3rd year, you may be expected to contribute less in that year.) On the other hand, I think they expect you to contribute close to 30% of net income (after certain deductions). If, like many start-ups, your business doesn’t make a ton of money in the first couple years, then you’ll be expected to contribute less in those years. I definitely support what you’re doing and and some of the options others are identifying. I just want to point out that (i) it’s worth running the calculators and (ii) a lot of top schools are very generous with need-based aid and in determining the amount of need.
Her stat is sufficient for merit aids in many selective schools, however, not all students with that stat will get that.
Full ride at selective school is extremely rare, not just UMich (it has around 15). However, UMich does have many scholarships available disregarding in-state or OOS (OOS students at around $10k-$20k per year, $5k-$10 for in state). Her stat is within the range (if her ACT is really 35+), but again, it is not guaranteed. After all, students with ACT 35 at selective schools are dime a dozen (e.g. ~20% of admitted students at UMich CoE). Nevertheless, even $10k-$20k per year may not help much from the near $65k/year CoA if you cannot pay your share. If you are looking for near full ride, you need to look at schools that are a little bit less selective or have guaranteed scholarships by score/GPA.
lucy’s mom, if your whole family has lived in WI longterm & your D will graduate from a WI high school, she can choose to remain a WI resident even if both parents move out of state (once she is age 18). By senior year many students have rented an apt. & could easily meet the requirements to maintain residency.
OP has she applied yet to any of these schools you can’t afford?
If not it would seem like the train is still in the station.
One word: Tulane.
She might get close to full tuition there.
Wow, big mistake. I apologize - $16,500 for personal/travel is way wrong. $3,500/year is the estimate I used for personal/travel expenses when figuring out costs for my D. Very sorry!
So…you can afford to pay tuition of $21,500 per year. You’d likely get enough merit at Tulane and Case Western to make them feasible.