A "is this a good college" thread for all college searchers...

[Ppufi]

Hello all. I'm a high school sophomore, and I'm really starting to seriously look at colleges and what I intend to go to school for. I'm interested in being an archivist or a curator for museums. Have anyone of you had someone yu know who has gone for something like that?

 

[clarabelle]

What are some Northeast public schools that are smaller and selective?
Kind of like William and Mary?

 

[Pinkpony]

I've been watching this thread with a lot of interest because I have senior twins weighing their options right now about where to go, and I want to ask a question with those of you willing to share...

For those who do not expect any financial aid, only merit or no merit at all, what's the amount of tuition you have "okayed" with your senior that you'll be willing to pay?

We have quite a range of tuition options with our two seniors, ranging from a complete tuition waiver to a local state school to about half-tuition waivers to a few private schools. We're waiting and hoping for a half-tuition waiver from one somewhat prestigious private school (he's been accepted and we're waiting to see if he gets half-tuition; will know in three weeks).

So what's your cut-off of what you'll pay in tuition for your senior to go to college? Is $9,000 crazy high or is it a bargain? Just tuition, not including room, board, fees, books.

Thanks to anyone willing to share.

 

[cruisnfamily]

There's a thread going for the class of 2011 where we've been talking about everything from colleges to Prom to graduation announcements and parties.

 

[DVCLiz]

I've been watching this thread with a lot of interest because I have senior twins weighing their options right now about where to go, and I want to ask a question with those of you willing to share...

For those who do not expect any financial aid, only merit or no merit at all, what's the amount of tuition you have "okayed" with your senior that you'll be willing to pay?

We have quite a range of tuition options with our two seniors, ranging from a complete tuition waiver to a local state school to about half-tuition waivers to a few private schools. We're waiting and hoping for a half-tuition waiver from one somewhat prestigious private school (he's been accepted and we're waiting to see if he gets half-tuition; will know in three weeks).

So what's your cut-off of what you'll pay in tuition for your senior to go to college? Is $9,000 crazy high or is it a bargain? Just tuition, not including room, board, fees, books.

Thanks to anyone willing to share.

I think that will totally depend on so many circumstances. Do you have the money set aside? Would you go into debt? How closely does this opportunity match your own personal "dream" for your child?

For me, $9,000 for tuition would be an incredible bargain.

 

[clarabelle]

Pinkpony we haven't really decided yet.
We have a high school sophmore. We don't expect financial aid. She may get offered some merit aid but probably not at the most selective schools.
She wants to go out of state.
We have saved, but we are not prepared to do a 50K a year school with no merit aid.
We are prepared to go higher than 9K.

 

[kbeverina]

What are some Northeast public schools that are smaller and selective?
Kind of like William and Mary?

I liked using this when we started looking:


http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/

You can use as many or as few categories for searching as you want and you can narrow down region, size, scores required, etc.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks
will look there

 

[shortbun]

Great thread! I posted a while back about Savannah College of Art and Design and got lots of great feedback.

My son is UBER shy and doesn't want to go to a HUGE college like I did. He would do better in a smaller college but wants SCAD simply because of what it offers.

Since he is a junior we're taking the time to visit schools in the area every weekend or so. He's down on UGA or Georgia State simply because EVERYONE in his school is going there. Glad to see he'll finally get away from kids he's been with since kindergarten!

Ya know, there is something to be said for having old friends around, especially if the person is shy. That's another thread but just thought I'd comment.

I'm liking this thread. DS is only a freshman right now but we're making a list
of schools to research and visit. He's focusing on Yale right now because the paleontologist he wants to study with is on staff. I can use some of these links to give him an idea of what getting into Yale would be like. He doesn't have a 4.0 either although he's always striving for it. We live in Columbus, Ohio very near OSU and I'm soooo familiar with campus life-having gone to OSU. My husband is working on his 3rd degree and has taken classes from five colleges and universities nearby for it. I really believe that the key to choosing a school would be knowing that a 16-17yo probably has no idea what he/she will be doing in 10 years. Thus, flexibility would be the key. I'm going to look for areas or colleges that co-op with other schools so there are a variety of classes and schedule choices plus lots of activity.

 

[Pinkpony]

I think that will totally depend on so many circumstances. Do you have the money set aside? Would you go into debt? How closely does this opportunity match your own personal "dream" for your child?

For me, $9,000 for tuition would be an incredible bargain.

We've always been "savers," so we do have the money set aside, but the penny-pinching side of us is having a hard time getting a grasp on what a realistic amount to spend on tuition is. The penny-pinching side of me wants to direct them to the free education they were offered, but I'm trying to silence that side of me just a bit so that I can figure out what would be an appropriate amount to agree to. I know personally I'd never go $50,000 for tuition per year, but I'm wondering what is that "number" for others in our situation so that I can try to set ours in the next couple of weeks when decisions have to be made.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Pinkpony]

Pinkpony we haven't really decided yet.
We have a high school sophmore. We don't expect financial aid. She may get offered some merit aid but probably not at the most selective schools.
She wants to go out of state.
We have saved, but we are not prepared to do a 50K a year school with no merit aid.
We are prepared to go higher than 9K.

Thank you for your input!

 

[kbeverina]

Ya know, there is something to be said for having old friends around, especially if the person is shy. That's another thread but just thought I'd comment.

I'm liking this thread. DS is only a freshman right now but we're making a list
of schools to research and visit. He's focusing on Yale right now because the paleontologist he wants to study with is on staff. I can use some of these links to give him an idea of what getting into Yale would be like. He doesn't have a 4.0 either although he's always striving for it. We live in Columbus, Ohio very near OSU and I'm soooo familiar with campus life-having gone to OSU. My husband is working on his 3rd degree and has taken classes from five colleges and universities nearby for it. I really believe that the key to choosing a school would be knowing that a 16-17yo probably has no idea what he/she will be doing in 10 years. Thus, flexibility would be the key. I'm going to look for areas or colleges that co-op with other schools so there are a variety of classes and schedule choices plus lots of activity.

Since you live so close to OSU, I would encourage him to try to get some intern-type work there in the departments he's interested in.

There are so many kids with perfect scores who want to go to ivies. After reading college confidential for a while, it seems to me the kids who get in are not always the kids with perfect scores, but the kids who do unusual things, work in research departments outside of high school, make contacts with people who can give great recommendations, etc. Solid research work in his chosen major may count for more than a 4.0.

There was a thread there for 3.6 kids looking for top 20, and it was cool to see how many of those kids made it.

 

[Green Tea]

I love William & Mary. I didn't realize how relatively small the school is until we started looking. Then I read that they accepted more out of state students than in state.

The state of Virginia caps the percent of out of state at 35%. There is a movement this year to drop that to 25%. I think nearly 70% of William and Mary's revenue comes from out of state, but not nearly that many of their students.

 

[Chelley00]

he is accepted at both as direct admit to the business school, but he keeps waffling..

My DS was also accepted as direct admit to both business schools, but he chose Indiana. IU had better ratings in Business Week and US News for placing their graduates in jobs than U of I did.

 

[disykat]

We have given our child an exact amount we are willing to pay for total expenses. We've planned pretty carefully so, in our case, that amount pretty much equals the EFC the FAFSA assigned him. We have also given him a cap on what we are willing to "let" him take out in loans. Meaning, he may lose our financial support if we see him making what we believe are poor choices.

The upshot is that our son can afford a state school and any private school he wants to attend will have to give him enough aide not in the form of loans for him to attend. So far the one private acceptance gave him enough merit to bring it in reach.

 

[Sadie22]

Hello all. I'm a high school sophomore, and I'm really starting to seriously look at colleges and what I intend to go to school for. I'm interested in being an archivist or a curator for museums. Have anyone of you had someone yu know who has gone for something like that?

I suggest you visit archives and museums and talk to archivists and curators about how they were educated and how they wound up in those jobs, what it takes to get hired, etc. You may find a mentor or two in the process. Our state archives has had an internship program for college students for many years. Perhaps there are such programs where you are.

 

[pixie dust 112]

I've been watching this thread with a lot of interest because I have senior twins weighing their options right now about where to go, and I want to ask a question with those of you willing to share...

For those who do not expect any financial aid, only merit or no merit at all, what's the amount of tuition you have "okayed" with your senior that you'll be willing to pay?

We have quite a range of tuition options with our two seniors, ranging from a complete tuition waiver to a local state school to about half-tuition waivers to a few private schools. We're waiting and hoping for a half-tuition waiver from one somewhat prestigious private school (he's been accepted and we're waiting to see if he gets half-tuition; will know in three weeks).

So what's your cut-off of what you'll pay in tuition for your senior to go to college? Is $9,000 crazy high or is it a bargain? Just tuition, not including room, board, fees, books.

Thanks to anyone willing to share.

I would go to $20,000 for room for all costs combined. Anything above that would be her taking out loans. I was lucky that my daughter did choose the public school with a scholarship so we are only paying 13,000.00 a year. But she has 2 sisters coming up right behind her to pay for! My next daughter is a junior so starting to look at colleges now. She will not be getting an academic scholarship but has a real shot at getting an athletic scholarship to a Division 2 school. She has had several colleges contact her about this already.

I don't know what I would do in your situation with 2 starting at the same time.

 

[MrsPete]

For those who do not expect any financial aid, only merit or no merit at all, what's the amount of tuition you have "okayed" with your senior that you'll be willing to pay?

We haven't put a dollar figure on it. Instead, we've told our daughters -- both of whom will be in high school next year -- that we can pay for four years at a state university: Tuition, fees, dorm, and meal plan. If they go to a more expensive school or live in an apartment rather than a dorm, they'll have to figure out the difference. We expect them to work full-time in the summer, part-time during school so that they can pay for books, parking sticker, and incidentals.

We may end up compromising on the four years. Our oldest is going into nursing, which includes a mandatory summer school before Junior Year (before beginning Clinicals). And our oldest is starting to talk about Architecture -- but she's 13/8th grade, so I'm not saying "this is it for her -- which is a five-year degree. She's chosen Drafting 1 as an elective next year, and I think that'll give her an idea of whether it's for her; it was her father's favorite high school class, and it's what sent him towards the engineering field.

I think we're rather similar to you: We've been savers for a long time, and we HAVE the money for college, but we aren't willing to say, "Here's our checkbook -- go wild!" We have to think about our retirement needs and a new house we plan to build as well as the kids' college. We're very willing to pay for the educations that'll take care of them the rest of their lives, but we want to be sure we stay in the "best value for the money" range.

 

[Pinkpony]

I would go to $20,000 for room for all costs combined. Anything above that would be her taking out loans. I was lucky that my daughter did choose the public school with a scholarship so we are only paying 13,000.00 a year. But she has 2 sisters coming up right behind her to pay for! My next daughter is a junior so starting to look at colleges now. She will not be getting an academic scholarship but has a real shot at getting an athletic scholarship to a Division 2 school. She has had several colleges contact her about this already.

I don't know what I would do in your situation with 2 starting at the same time.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience dollar-wise. This is truly helping me with my decision.

And thank you, too, DisyKat, for your experience as well.

 

[Pinkpony]

We haven't put a dollar figure on it. Instead, we've told our daughters -- both of whom will be in high school next year -- that we can pay for four years at a state university: Tuition, fees, dorm, and meal plan. If they go to a more expensive school or live in an apartment rather than a dorm, they'll have to figure out the difference. We expect them to work full-time in the summer, part-time during school so that they can pay for books, parking sticker, and incidentals.

We may end up compromising on the four years. Our oldest is going into nursing, which includes a mandatory summer school before Junior Year (before beginning Clinicals). And our oldest is starting to talk about Architecture -- but she's 13/8th grade, so I'm not saying "this is it for her -- which is a five-year degree. She's chosen Drafting 1 as an elective next year, and I think that'll give her an idea of whether it's for her; it was her father's favorite high school class, and it's what sent him towards the engineering field.

I think we're rather similar to you: We've been savers for a long time, and we HAVE the money for college, but we aren't willing to say, "Here's our checkbook -- go wild!" We have to think about our retirement needs and a new house we plan to build as well as the kids' college. We're very willing to pay for the educations that'll take care of them the rest of their lives, but we want to be sure we stay in the "best value for the money" range.

Sounds like an excellent plan. We've always told our boys we'd pay for college, but I should have been more explicit about exactly what we'll pay for, as you have done. But silly me waits until now to figure it out.

Thanks for your advice. You hit our view on the head in your last paragraph.