Northeast "Selective" Colleges

[Phlip]

For the poster that asked about Trinity--it is in a terrible area, the city of Hartford is in not so good shape and the campus is open--you can have anyone walking through at any given time. There have been several incidents over the years. I wouldn't send my daughter there if it was free.

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

I applied to Bucknell in 2010 for enrollment in 2011. I went RD, as I applied to Lafayette ED. I was an IB diploma candidate (and eventual recipient), my grades were not weighted on a 4.0 scale, and my SAT was a 1750 I think. I committed myself to a few activities in high school and became drum major of the marching band my junior year (it as a two year commitment).

All in all, I really pushed Lafayette during my college selection process and even wrote on my application, "I really want to go here!" I was accepted there and never looked back, although Bucknell once sent out an email saying I was accepted there before someone in their admissions office noticed they sent that email to the wrong batch of kids. Oops.

Lafayette looks at the whole picture of the student and carefully looks at the personal statement (as any college should, really). My acceptance letter mentioned my essay and it got mentioned at convocation. A lot of Lafayette kids looked at Bucknell and vice versa.

 

[3boymthr]

Sharbear ~ we do need financial aid and the choice of school will most likely come down to the best packages offered. The only school on her list that we can afford is UMass Amherst and she really doesn't want to go there She would be less likely to resist if she got into the Honors College. We did tour there just to get a look at the new honors buildings...

I have run the calculator on every school on her list, but its hard to tell because her father will also have to establish an EFC and I'm pretty sure he'll put us out of the running for aid. And yet, not be able/willing to pay more than a small share of the cost. If it were determined on my income alone, she'd be going to school nearly free lol.

I've sorted her schools by acceptance %, size, merit aid, average SAT, etc. Its quite a spreadsheet we have going here Now we are starting to look for more match schools that will not consider her dad's income: PC, Bucknell, Susquehanna....these are a few she is considering.

She has looked at Colby, Bates, Bowdoin and I can't say for certain why they are not on her list. I think lack of merit aid maybe...

With UMass, don't count on being able to go there if you are looking at Financial Aid expecting it to cover most of the costs especially if you make more than $50,000/yr. Their FA packages are in a word - terrible. DS got loans only and only to the federal maximum. Everything else was to be paid OOP by the parents.

ETA - We filled out and submitted the FAFSA on January 1 (right after midnight) so it wasn't as if he was at the bottom of the ladder on the getting it submitted - it's just that so many with need apply there's not much to go around. His cousin also applied and didn't get any aid and they make much less than we do - under $50k/yr and her parents are divorced.

OTH - Don't overlook the Girl Scout activities as leadership and for scholarship opportunities, especially if she gets her gold award. there are tons of scholarships out there.

 

[PatsGirl]

3boymthr, thank you. To be perfectly transparent, our budget OOP is $25K tops (a loan for her and $$ from her father and myself total) and Umass Amherst falls just under that, thus it is our safety school. As much as I hope she can have a choice, I'm not sure any of the schools on her list are going to get their end price under that. Again, because her Dad has never and most likely never will expose his income to me, I have no real idea of what is going to happen. My guess is he is in the $150K range at least putting us together at about $200K. Even with his income that high, I can't imagine him being able or being willing to pay more than $10K/year OOP. I'm actually hoping he'll pay that much, but even at that I'm guestimating.

And to the prior posters, my research in the areas surrounding Trinity turned up considerable violent crime incidents, both on campus and all four sides of the campus. Apparently there is alot of gang related violence and low income housing (please no flames here, I'm pretty broke myself lol) in the abutting neighborhoods. When we visited there were alot of people on street corners, I should have taken that as a sign but it wasn't until after that visit and she was adamant that Trinity be put at the top of the list that I mentioned it to a few people and everyone told me to look a little closer. She is very disappointed but as one person said "I wouldn't send her there if they gave her a full ride".

 

[ctinct]

Hi, Patsgirl,

I want to share some of my daughter's experiences with you.

First, is your daughter really married to staying in the Northeast? The one thing I wish we had done differently is cast a wider geographic net. Schools like to have students from all over. My daughter's school, which is in PA, recruits heavily out west. Maybe just throw a few applications out there, to schools in the south and Midwest, and if they come back with acceptances and good financial aid, then you can consider visiting.

I see that you don't expect much help from your daughter's father, but are not applying to a lot of FAFSA only schools, or schools that only require the custodial parent's CSS Profile. Please consider that if your daughter does get into these schools, they WILL expect either him to contribute or for you to cover it yourself. Very few waivers are given, and it has to be something drastic like he is in jail or his whereabouts are unknown. It really stinks, I know, but I can understand the school's position. For this reason, my daughter only applied to one Profile school, and that was only as a lark to see if she got in because she had a fee waiver. We knew if she got in, we wouldn't be able to swing it. It was Amherst, and she was wait listed.

Also, obviously ymmv, but Providence gave her the worst aid package of all the schools she applied to, even though they gave her merit money. It was the first acceptance she received, and we thought we were sunk if all her packages came back similarly. This was just about a year before the calculators went live, so I don't know if the net price calculator for you will be spot on.

I think it would be a good idea if she looked at schools that give good merit to people with schools slightly below hers. We had a weird situation of applying to one school where my dd's stats were far above the average, and she only got the second best merit award, but at schools with higher average gpas and test scores, she got the highest awards. I think the school knew it was she was using it as a safety, and therefore didn't give her their best merit award, figuring she probably wouldn't accept.

Also very important is looking at schools that meet a high % of need. Warning---shameless plug for my daughter's school, Gettysburg College. When she started, they met 100% of need. I don't think they do any more, but we have found them to be very generous. It was only slightly more for her to attend there than our state university, which gave her full tuition, but has high room and board and layers and layers of fees. Gettysburg is a smaller school out in the boonies, so it's not for everyone, but she is very happy there and doesn't want to leave next May.

Also, I think I read your daughter plans to take the ACT. Great idea. Have her look for study tips online. My daughter did significantly better on the ACT than on the SAT.

Last thing is check out what scores are needed for the University of Alabama's scholarships. That was our financial safety as my daughter's scores qualified her for free full tuition, and other costs are very low. It was the least expensive option we had. Sure, some people snickered when we told them she had applied there, but that's just their Northeast bias coming through. Bama is an up And coming school, and although it was not my daughters first choice, it felt good to know she had an option we could afford. You don't have to compete for these scholarships; they are pretty much automatic if scores meet the cut- offs.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading about where your daughter ends up.

Patsgirl, I see that you posted a few minutes before I did. Honestly, if you think your ex-husbands income I'd that high, and you're pretty sure he won't provide financials, I wouldn't even waste your money applying to profile schools. They won't even give you an aid package without his info, and with that income, they will be expecting a huge ciontribution from him. My income is very similar to yours and Gettysburg, UCONN, and Bama were the only schools of the ones she applied to that we could have remotely afforded.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

3boymthr, thank you. To be perfectly transparent, our budget OOP is $25K tops (a loan for her and $$ from her father and myself total) and Umass Amherst falls just under that, thus it is our safety school. As much as I hope she can have a choice, I'm not sure any of the schools on her list are going to get their end price under that. Again, because her Dad has never and most likely never will expose his income to me, I have no real idea of what is going to happen. My guess is he is in the $150K range at least putting us together at about $200K. Even with his income that high, I can't imagine him being able or being willing to pay more than $10K/year OOP. I'm actually hoping he'll pay that much, but even at that I'm guestimating.

And to the prior posters, my research in the areas surrounding Trinity turned up considerable violent crime incidents, both on campus and all four sides of the campus. Apparently there is alot of gang related violence and low income housing (please no flames here, I'm pretty broke myself lol) in the abutting neighborhoods. When we visited there were alot of people on street corners, I should have taken that as a sign but it wasn't until after that visit and she was adamant that Trinity be put at the top of the list that I mentioned it to a few people and everyone told me to look a little closer. She is very disappointed but as one person said "I wouldn't send her there if they gave her a full ride".

I think you & Dad need to have a sit-down discussion about what he can & will contribute.

 

[NHdisneylover]

OP--I don't know if that 25K figure you threw out is just tuition and fees, or also housing--but thought I would mention that you really need to look at housing and food plan costs (if she will live on campus); they vary tremendously from school to school (at least where DD17 is looking) and often offset tuition differences.

 

[3boymthr]

3boymthr, thank you. To be perfectly transparent, our budget OOP is $25K tops (a loan for her and $$ from her father and myself total) and Umass Amherst falls just under that, thus it is our safety school. As much as I hope she can have a choice, I'm not sure any of the schools on her list are going to get their end price under that. Again, because her Dad has never and most likely never will expose his income to me, I have no real idea of what is going to happen. My guess is he is in the $150K range at least putting us together at about $200K. Even with his income that high, I can't imagine him being able or being willing to pay more than $10K/year OOP. I'm actually hoping he'll pay that much, but even at that I'm guestimating.

And to the prior posters, my research in the areas surrounding Trinity turned up considerable violent crime incidents, both on campus and all four sides of the campus. Apparently there is alot of gang related violence and low income housing (please no flames here, I'm pretty broke myself lol) in the abutting neighborhoods. When we visited there were alot of people on street corners, I should have taken that as a sign but it wasn't until after that visit and she was adamant that Trinity be put at the top of the list that I mentioned it to a few people and everyone told me to look a little closer. She is very disappointed but as one person said "I wouldn't send her there if they gave her a full ride".

$25K definitely will get you UMass. I have to say though that compared to the other schools she's applying to it's such a different school. As a safety school but still in western MA might I suggest Westfield State. Not as large as UMass but still a state university and slightly less expensive than UMass with a enrollment that's more in line with the other schools she is looking at. (double Mt. Holyoke, half of Tufts, but only 1/5 of UMass. Several of my friends went there and they all LOVED it. They have a very active Alumni Network and most still go back to alumni events.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you end up shut out of the need-based "no loan" grant programs because of your ex's income, you might want to consider the strategy that I have been pursuing: public out-of-state tuition waivers. DS doesn't have the grades to qualify for the best of them, but it sounds as though your DD does.

Several public universities in the Southern states have in-state tuition that comes in under or not much over $10K/annual. Most of them give waivers to outstanding OOS freshmen that bring down the cost to at or just above the in-state rate; a really good deal when the in-state tuition is really low. Some schools that might do nicely for her in that context would include College of Charleston, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and perhaps William & Mary.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I applied to and was accepted to several of the schools you mentioned but that was over 15 years ago so I have no advice about her chances.

I will echo what others said about broadening the range a bit. I had planned to stay in the New England area and seriously considered Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Trinity and Wesleyan but ended up leaving the area all together. Has she looked at schools in PA at all? Haverford and Swarthmore are great options for Liberal Arts and both provide access to a city.

I'll also say that if she is unsure of the women's college angle, she should make sure she investigates it thoroughly. I didn't seek out women's colleges but ultimately my first choice ended up being one of the Seven Sisters. I loved it and would not trade it for anything but I never had any real reservations about a women's college versus a co-ed school. Women's colleges can be amazing if you are open to them but they are not for everyone. If she is unsure, she should be sure to do overnight campus visits if she can and talk to as many students as possible. Most of the miserable students I encountered at my school were students who ended up at a women's college only because it was their safety school or the most prestigious school they got into not because they had a strong attraction to the school itself. I'd be happy to answer questions she might have about women's colleges if you send me a PM. Again, it was 15 years ago but some things don't change. I will say that there are a lot of differences even among similar seeming women's colleges so doing your research is key to see which is the best fit.

 

[nerderella]

She would like to double major in Neuroscience/Psychobiology and Hispanic Studies. At the moment (and I know this can change because I haven't decided what I want to do with my life yet at 53 lol) she wants to work for the FBI in some type of profiling/psych or enforcement position. She is also considering pre-law. Wow, I get tired just typing those aspirations.

I haven't done admissions with any of these schools since 1997-1998, but here's my honest .02 from a career standpoint. And I apologize if this all comes across as overwhelming or pessimistic-- it's not my intentions at all.

First, look at the big picture. She has aspirations on what she wants to do, but has she really looked at the best paths to those roles?

Research which school offers the best program in Neuroscience or Behavioral Neuroscience that also offers Hispanic Studies and go from there. If she really wants to start out in a career that utilizes what she learns, it's best to find a school that offers the chance for students to do research, either on their own or with professors. Getting her name on publications early in her collegiate career is a boost for jobs and puts her ahead of the game for grad school applications if she goes that route.

Being realistic, many of these smaller NE schools are great schools and have ridiculous price tags in the neighborhood of $50k/year. If your OOP expenses are $25k, that leaves your daughter on the hook for $25k/year in loans if she doesn't get scholarships or grants. Is an 'extra' $100k for a four year education worth paying for until she's 50? And if she does go to law school or a non-PhD grad school program, now you're possibly looking at $220k in loans. Again, not trying to be pessimistic, but when I was picking schools, I didn't consider whether the school was good in my field or how long I'd be paying off what I took out in loans and went for the school I thought would be "better" reputation-wise.

I'm 34 now, but I graduated in '02 from St. Lawrence University in NY with a degree in Biology and Anthropology/African Studies. I worked for over a decade in behavioral neuropharmacology, starting at MIT (a job I found due to non-SLU connections) and moved to various startup bio-research companies in MA. While I enjoyed my time at SLU, at least as far as my career in science goes, the only thing it really did for me is give me more debt and fewer publications than my colleagues who went to large state schools. I worked alongside people from UMass (a school I knocked and said I'd never go to) that were even more prepared for a job in the field than I was. Now, that's not to knock my college experience as SLU is a decent place to get an education, but at a price tag then of $43k/year--12 years later, I'm still trying to get rid of student loan debt accrued while there. I honestly question whether it was worth it in the long run-- especially since my current Masters degree is only costing $12k/year and I'll leave with no debt.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I haven't done admissions with any of these schools since 1997-1998, but here's my honest .02 from a career standpoint. And I apologize if this all comes across as overwhelming or pessimistic-- it's not my intentions at all.

First, look at the big picture. She has aspirations on what she wants to do, but has she really looked at the best paths to those roles?

Research which school offers the best program in Neuroscience or Behavioral Neuroscience that also offers Hispanic Studies and go from there. If she really wants to start out in a career that utilizes what she learns, it's best to find a school that offers the chance for students to do research, either on their own or with professors. Getting her name on publications early in her collegiate career is a boost for jobs and puts her ahead of the game for grad school applications if she goes that route.

Being realistic, many of these smaller NE schools are great schools and have ridiculous price tags in the neighborhood of $50k/year. If your OOP expenses are $25k, that leaves your daughter on the hook for $25k/year in loans if she doesn't get scholarships or grants. Is an 'extra' $100k for a four year education worth paying for until she's 50? And if she does go to law school or a non-PhD grad school program, now you're possibly looking at $220k in loans. Again, not trying to be pessimistic, but when I was picking schools, I didn't consider whether the school was good in my field or how long I'd be paying off what I took out in loans and went for the school I thought would be "better" reputation-wise.

I'm 34 now, but I graduated in '02 from St. Lawrence University in NY with a degree in Biology and Anthropology/African Studies. I worked for over a decade in behavioral neuropharmacology, starting at MIT (a job I found due to non-SLU connections) and moved to various startup bio-research companies in MA. While I enjoyed my time at SLU, at least as far as my career in science goes, the only thing it really did for me is give me more debt and fewer publications than my colleagues who went to large state schools. I worked alongside people from UMass (a school I knocked and said I'd never go to) that were even more prepared for a job in the field than I was. Now, that's not to knock my college experience as SLU is a decent place to get an education, but at a price tag then of $43k/year--12 years later, I'm still trying to get rid of student loan debt accrued while there. I honestly question whether it was worth it in the long run-- especially since my current Masters degree is only costing $12k/year and I'll leave with no debt.

Excellent advice.

 

[PatsGirl]

Thank you everyone for such great advice I realize now that she has to look outside the NE schools on her list but she's really sticking her heels in. FWIW, the $25K is a number when all three of us combine our contribution and so far, UMass is the only one I can say for sure will come in under that.

She will not consider schools more than 8 hours away. In the original process I came up with a list for her to look at, many of the schools were in the Carolinas, one in Georgia, one in Florida, but she absolutely refuses to go south. She'd prefer UMass to that.

The schools I am encouraging her to look at in NY include Skidmore, Union, and ? Schools in PA are Dickinson, Bucknell, Susquehanna. Of these, only Bucknell and Susquehanna will not include Dad's income. Of the ones she has already looked at only PC is on that list and she is only leaving that on the list as a safety.

I would love ideas of other schools, are they called non-profile schools?, in the Northeast where others have had some success with merit aid. I do have the list but many I have never heard of.

Its really unfortunate that a student who has worked so hard is limited so much to affordable schools. On the other hand, alot of these schools do meet 100% need, so the EFC will determine that number for us. Maybe it won't be as bad as I am thinking

@Gumbo 4x4 ~ I wish that were an option. I can't get this guy to commit to how much he'll help with school supplies. He always comes through in the end (and he does pay child support without missing a beat) but its always last minute on the "extras". I'm pretty sure he's a bit nervous to disclose any financials, his support is based on about half of what I believe his income to be and I've never taken him back to court to have it increased in 17 years because it was enough and I thought it was fair. Honestly, I don't even know how that works ~ will his support continue through college (our agreement doesn't have an end date that I can find), will his support offset any potential help if it goes to court? I absolutely cannot afford to have his support ended and then pay for college as well. Things to ponder lol.

 

[castleview]

Thank you everyone for such great advice I realize now that she has to look outside the NE schools on her list but she's really sticking her heels in. FWIW, the $25K is a number when all three of us combine our contribution and so far, UMass is the only one I can say for sure will come in under that.

She will not consider schools more than 8 hours away. In the original process I came up with a list for her to look at, many of the schools were in the Carolinas, one in Georgia, one in Florida, but she absolutely refuses to go south. She'd prefer UMass to that.

The schools I am encouraging her to look at in NY include Skidmore, Union, and ? Schools in PA are Dickinson, Bucknell, Susquehanna. Of these, only Bucknell and Susquehanna will not include Dad's income. Of the ones she has already looked at only PC is on that list and she is only leaving that on the list as a safety.

I would love ideas of other schools, are they called non-profile schools?, in the Northeast where others have had some success with merit aid. I do have the list but many I have never heard of.

Its really unfortunate that a student who has worked so hard is limited so much to affordable schools. On the other hand, alot of these schools do meet 100% need, so the EFC will determine that number for us. Maybe it won't be as bad as I am thinking

@Gumbo 4x4 ~ I wish that were an option. I can't get this guy to commit to how much he'll help with school supplies. He always comes through in the end (and he does pay child support without missing a beat) but its always last minute on the "extras". I'm pretty sure he's a bit nervous to disclose any financials, his support is based on about half of what I believe his income to be and I've never taken him back to court to have it increased in 17 years because it was enough and I thought it was fair. Honestly, I don't even know how that works ~ will his support continue through college (our agreement doesn't have an end date that I can find), will his support offset any potential help if it goes to court? I absolutely cannot afford to have his support ended and then pay for college as well. Things to ponder lol.

Those two are quite expensive themselves.

 

[Asherry25]

Schools so would recommend in PA: Gettysburg, F&M, Susquehanna (one of my strong students got over 20K in scholarship there this year), Dickinson, muhlenberg, Bucknell.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I haven't done admissions with any of these schools since 1997-1998, but here's my honest .02 from a career standpoint. And I apologize if this all comes across as overwhelming or pessimistic-- it's not my intentions at all.

First, look at the big picture. She has aspirations on what she wants to do, but has she really looked at the best paths to those roles?

Research which school offers the best program in Neuroscience or Behavioral Neuroscience that also offers Hispanic Studies and go from there. If she really wants to start out in a career that utilizes what she learns, it's best to find a school that offers the chance for students to do research, either on their own or with professors. Getting her name on publications early in her collegiate career is a boost for jobs and puts her ahead of the game for grad school applications if she goes that route.

Being realistic, many of these smaller NE schools are great schools and have ridiculous price tags in the neighborhood of $50k/year. If your OOP expenses are $25k, that leaves your daughter on the hook for $25k/year in loans if she doesn't get scholarships or grants. Is an 'extra' $100k for a four year education worth paying for until she's 50? And if she does go to law school or a non-PhD grad school program, now you're possibly looking at $220k in loans. Again, not trying to be pessimistic, but when I was picking schools, I didn't consider whether the school was good in my field or how long I'd be paying off what I took out in loans and went for the school I thought would be "better" reputation-wise.

I'm 34 now, but I graduated in '02 from St. Lawrence University in NY with a degree in Biology and Anthropology/African Studies. I worked for over a decade in behavioral neuropharmacology, starting at MIT (a job I found due to non-SLU connections) and moved to various startup bio-research companies in MA. While I enjoyed my time at SLU, at least as far as my career in science goes, the only thing it really did for me is give me more debt and fewer publications than my colleagues who went to large state schools. I worked alongside people from UMass (a school I knocked and said I'd never go to) that were even more prepared for a job in the field than I was. Now, that's not to knock my college experience as SLU is a decent place to get an education, but at a price tag then of $43k/year--12 years later, I'm still trying to get rid of student loan debt accrued while there. I honestly question whether it was worth it in the long run-- especially since my current Masters degree is only costing $12k/year and I'll leave with no debt.

I am happy to see your advice This is exactly the take my DD17 has had--she is looking specifically for good programs for her intended major and then looking closer at the schools which offer that--and they are not the "name" schools. Beyond that, she is looking at a good fit and a good total price tag-that will not leave her or us in any debt post graduation. She is already working summers in a related field and getting hands on experience as well--so that she is not just another graduate with good grades after 4 years.

 

[NewRVLady]

Research which school offers the best program in Neuroscience or Behavioral Neuroscience that also offers Hispanic Studies and go from there. If she really wants to start out in a career that utilizes what she learns,

it's best to find a school that offers the chance for students to do research, either on their own or with professors.

Getting her name on publications early in her collegiate career is a boost for jobs and puts her ahead of the game for grad school applications if she goes that route.

.

My nephew's "Dream school" was always MIT-he has been heavily involved with computer robotics and artificial intelligence since 8th grade-very gifted.
After touring colleges last year, he realized he would get to do hands on work immediately, as a Freshman, at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburg, it became his goal.
He got accepted and is headed there in August....and he is way farther from home than 8 hours.

 

[leebee]

OP, your daughter has some very fancy, big-name, expensive schools on her list. However, she really needs to focus on the schools with good neuroscience programs, not with the "best" names. If she is interested in a very different minor from her major, she needs a bigger school. This is going to give her the ability to do RESEARCH as an undergrad (so, SO important if she wants to go to grad school… which she needs to do in neurosci) with the diversity she needs to find a school that also has her minor studies interests. Have you seen this?

http://education-portal.com/article...dergraduate_Programs_List_of_Top_Schools.html

If your DD was to matriculate at UMass, she'd have full access to the program at Amherst with a UMass price tag, as well as being able to pursue her minor. She'd also be able to take classes at Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire, NONE of which are crummy schools!! It's certainly something to consider. Honestly, if she wants to do neuroscience, I would be looking at bigger Universities with well-funded neuroscience undergrad programs. Having the opportunity to do several years of undergrad research (including summers) with the same professor, having her name listed on research publications, being listed on posters presented at national meetings, etc., will go much further in the long run towards grad school than having "big name private school" listed on her bachelors degree.

Also, from a personal aspect… DH was on faculty at Bucknell for three years and chose to leave. I wouldn't send my kid there. Beautiful campus, some good programs, but in our experience the college doesn't support its faculty and there is a lot of "money talks" going on there. We also weren't fans of the culture and attitude found in many members of the student body. This was from an "insider's" POV, and DH was successful there (not a sour grapes response), but we chose to leave and didn't have DD consider the school at all.

Here is DD's story…

DD (graduated HS in 2011) had academic credentials similar to your DD's- #2 in her class, weighted GPA of 4.1, Key Club president (4 year member), drama (including lead roles), French Club. She taught dance 4 hours a week and spent 20+ hours training in classical ballet and contemporary ballet. She was also hired as a demi-soloist and corps member in 2 local ballet companies. Her downfall was her SATs, which at the time she applied, schools were only looking at the math and English portions (of course… she was in the 97th percentile in writing). Her combined SAT score was 1380 (out of 1600 at the time; if the writing score had been reported, she would have been at 2100). She applied to Skidmore, (#1), Middlebury (#2), Cornell (legacy), Syracuse (legacy), Hofstra, Mt. Holyoke, UMass, UNH, and UMaine (safety schools). Wait-listed at Skidmore, no at Middlebury and SU, got in everywhere else. NICE aid packages from CU, Hofstra and Mt. Holyoke, good at UMass and UMaine, cruddy aid at UNH. THEN she looked at the bottom line aid packages. Yes, she got some great aid, but in addition to merit money, scholarships, etc., they include loan money as part of the package. Given the bottom line at these schools, she realized she/we would come out somewhere between $70K and $100K in debt. My very smart but disappointed girl looked at the indebtedness and chose UMaine, where the education is OK and the money is manageable. As she said, she'll be going to grad school, and that's where the "name" is important. Here we are, 4 years later and she's starting as a senior in the fall. GPA is still great (3.78), and she has a summer internship that has already led to a job offer for part-time in the fall. She is academics chair in her sorority, a soloist at one ballet company and contributing artist at another (both paid positions), has received annual scholarships from her department and is secretary of the campus chapter of the national major-related honors society at her school. She spends about 12 hours a week in the dance studio. She is also a student contributor to two national publications. She also has a very steady, committed boyfriend who we like and who likes us, and they are planning for the future.

MY POINT HERE: Going to UMaine was a bitter pill for DD to swallow after all her hard work in high school. We thought DD was in line for "big things" at "big name" schools, but that was not to be. She was SO disappointed but made a rational decision. It turns out, she LOVES where she goes to school, has made solid contacts academically and professionally, has had a LOT of fun, met a wonderful man who adores her, and she is very happy with her decision. Her 4 year indebtedness is under $25K (this includes living on campus 3 years- she has an apartment this year), which means loan payments in the range of $250 a month. As we didn't have to take out PLUS loans, we will be able to help with her loan repayment.

Anyhow… good luck in whatever your DD chooses to do. It's never easy.

 

[sharbear]

Patsgirl, you have received some good advice. I think you really need to look at some schools where she will receive merit aid and can be affordable. If she has more affordable options, she will be happier than having UMass as her only option that she will both get into and can afford.

A couple of things. First many of the schools on the list are now $60,000+ per year.

Bucknell is a Profile school so they will consider your and your ex's income. Also if you are remarried they will consider the household income and not just yours. I don't know if you have remarried, but I'm putting that out there. Bucknell does say that they meet 100% of need but it is what THEY consider your need, not what you think you need and not what your EFC is. My D loved Bucknell and applied and was accepted there. Their aid package was the worst of all of the schools she was accepted to. And much more than our EFC and what other meet needs schools offered. It was simply not affordable.

What I would do is play around with the NPC's. Put in what you think his income is and see what the numbers come up at and if they are affordable. If his income is what you say it is I do not believe you are going to come up with the number you are thinking of.

Also your D needs to have a conversation with her dad and see if he is willing to even fill out the forms and disclose his income to these schools. You, his ex will not see those numbers and she should tell her dad that. All of these schools you mention will not even be possible if he won't cooperate.

I'm sorry I feel like I'm being so harsh. I know she's worked hard and it doesn't seem fair. My neice was a senior this year. Her parents did not really understand how financial aid works and at the end when she had her acceptances in, she didn't have many options. It was not a fun time, to have acceptances that were not affordable. And acceptances that she didn't really want to go to.

 

[PatsGirl]

Sharbear ~ Not being harsh at all, no worries The biggest mistake I've made in all this was not realizing that her father's income would play a part in the financial package. Our initial list of schools were those that met 100% need and doing the calculators for each of them. Between merit and financial help, she was under the $25K in every school (except Middlebury I think) and most were under $20K. YEAH! NOT!!!

Fast forward three months after visiting most of those schools and I find out they are,for the most part, unreachable to her It's almost as though we are starting from scratch again, but this time her excitement has taken a huge dip. For that, I'll probably be forever sorry.

Her father is very good to her. He is taking her to the upstate NY schools to look around (his wife is from that area) and will definately be contributing. But, he and I are on the same page with the costs, neither of us is willing to go into substantial debt for this. And he will not disclose his income or what he hopes to contribute until the packages come back. I am pushing her to get some info from her while they are on this road trip but its unlikely. In all fairness to him,he has substantial debt and pays support so I'm not expecting him to pony up $25K/year himself either.

I guess I should thankful I/we are figuring this out before applications go out and we have time to rethink schools. I am going to push hard for the UMass option...she loved Amherst, Smith and Mt. Holyoke and can take classes there. Both my nieces graduated from UMass and both are doing very well. Their parents are in the 180K range and found that the only affordable option and didn't even bother looking elsewhere.

On a side note, I have Bucknell as a school that doesn't require non-custodial input.

And thanks to someone who mentioned Gettysburg...I just ran the calculator there and looked at their programs. I'll send an email to DD and have her take a look.