Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[mamacatnv]

Tears were flowing tonight!! HAPPY TEARS!!! My daughter got into Northeastern with a 53,000 a year financial aid package- its unbelieveable!! She cried for 30 minutes. Up until now she has been accepted at placed she was ok with going to if she had to- this was in the places she WANTED to go to. What a relief!!

Congratulations, that is just awesome!

So still no financial aid from number 1 choice school...they said probably end of the week, but Niece is already driving me crazy trying to figure out how to make it work. Well, the short answer is unless they give her a lot of money, there is no way to make it work. $64K or so is just not OK and I will not allow her to put herself into such astronomical debt at the beginning of her life (I'm pro-educational debt usually, but she has other, much cheaper, choices). We can swing 30K, maybe a few thousand more for the "right" school, but... I'm sorry I'm venting. DD is starting to look at possible semesters/summers abroad and I am not happy with the costs of those either.

I completely understand the wanting to protect them from debt, they just "don't get it" IMO. DD has shifted her focus from Minnesota to Hofstra. I will say that Hofstra has really stepped up and the numbers are now far more manageable than the "sticker price" we are now under $30K including R&B. Last night my Dad stepped up and told me he would help DD - as to what that means, I am not sure but we are exploring all options. DH and I have agreed to co-sign her loan for the first year and she is looking into the options to be an RA for her subsequent years which will greatly reduce costs since housing is now more expensive than the tuition after the scholarships and awards they have offered her.

I feel your pain. My DD's accepted students day at Iowa State is the day after a big Conference track meet (yes, she joined track ) and we have to drive 4.5 hours to Ames, IA after the meet for her to be bright eyed a bushy tailed in the morning. I know *I* won't be "bright eyed and bushy tailed" .

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her. It's hard when you can't afford your kid's #1 school. So far, I'm lucky and my DD doesn't have any real interest in going to University of Iowa, her most expensive school. It's about $46K all-in with no scholarship money. The Speedos meet was there last weekend and my DH and I walked around a bit and *we* really liked it. DD was with her team the whole meet and didn't really get a chance to see it. We are keeping the day after returning from Iowa State open for her to tour if she has an interest.

Speaking of financial aid ... does anyone know if schools will pony up more money if you let the counselors know that your kid can't attend if they don't give you more money? My DD is an average student and this doesn't apply to us but I wonder about some of the other kids on the thread.

Someone on College Confidential suggested we approach Minnesota with the awards we have received from other schools to see if they are willing to offer up funding to bring the overall COA to the same range. This same person mentioned that given DD's stats and gender, they were very surprised Minn has not offered up anything, they also stated they had called Minn in regards to their kid and their "award" letter (same one we got a couple of weeks ago) and they were told that the "award" letters still DO NOT have any merit/scholarships assigned as those will be coming out the end of March. I wish Minn communicated these very important facts a bit better. I need to email her advisor and just ask outright if they are done or if there is more to come.

DD is currently in NYC and per our conversation last night she has decided she would take Hofstra over Minn. Two totally different education paths but I will admit I think that socially/emotionally and "fit" wise, Hofstra is the better choice for her. She has been admitted into the Honors College and they have a plethora of options that include decent STEM based programs/majors.

I cannot wait for May 1 when this whole process is done!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Accepted Students Day at Va Tech is the day before we leave for WDW! We'd have to drive 4 hours on Friday afternoon, stay overnight, do Accepted Students Day, drive 4 hours home. Then the next day drive 12 hours to WDW.

 

[aprilgail]

. DD is starting to look at possible semesters/summers abroad and I am not happy with the costs of those either.

My daughter wants to do a semester abroad too- I actually just got off the phone with northeastern to make sure her grants and aid carry over for that. Two schools that gave her scholarships said that it could not be used to travel abroad and two other schools said theirs could be used to travel abroad. Northeastern said since it is grants and aid it can be used for that but if she got a scholarship from there it could not (she did NOT get a scholarship). They also told me that there is something called "The Northeastern promise" which means the aid she gets is promised for 8 semesters, it can go up though if income goes down and if tuition costs go up say 8% next year then the grants and aid will also go up 8%. I really hope she picks this one, I liked the campus and the area and she was very interested in their work co-op's- they help you get paying internships across the US and you work there one semester getting experience and paid. The dorms here were probably the smallest of any we have seen (figures!) but if that is the worst thing then that is great. I seriously doubt that any other school she applied to is going to give her this much aid but we will wait and see.

 

[aprilgail]

Accepted Students Day at Va Tech is the day before we leave for WDW! We'd have to drive 4 hours on Friday afternoon, stay overnight, do Accepted Students Day, drive 4 hours home. Then the next day drive 12 hours to WDW.

Oh boy that stinks!

 

[mamacatnv]

My daughter wants to do a semester abroad too- I actually just got off the phone with northeastern to make sure her grants and aid carry over for that. Two schools that gave her scholarships said that it could not be used to travel abroad and two other schools said theirs could be used to travel abroad. Northeastern said since it is grants and aid it can be used for that but if she got a scholarship from there it could not (she did NOT get a scholarship). They also told me that there is something called "The Northeastern promise" which means the aid she gets is promised for 8 semesters, it can go up though if income goes down and if tuition costs go up say 8% next year then the grants and aid will also go up 8%. I really hope she picks this one, I liked the campus and the area and she was very interested in their work co-op's- they help you get paying internships across the US and you work there one semester getting experience and paid. The dorms here were probably the smallest of any we have seen (figures!) but if that is the worst thing then that is great. I seriously doubt that any other school she applied to is going to give her this much aid but we will wait and see.

My DD also wants to do a semester abroad - Her awards/Scholarships will apply towards the costs of abroad programs. She came up with this information, I know nothing of study abroad and it never occurred to me to ask. Sounds Northeastern wants her and that really makes a huge difference.

 

[robinb]

Mine also wants to study abroad. We will have to look into whether any scholarships can be used.

 

[Poohforyou]

My daughter will study abroad. She did get a merit scholarship to northeastern and we were told by both admissions and financial aid that her scholarship would go with her abroad as long as she went with a northeastern program. If she did something independent it wouldn't.

Obviously if she does a co-op there isn't anything paid to the school unless she stays in Boston and lives on campus.

All the schools she applied to have the same policy.

 

[laughinplace199]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

 

[sksjasams]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Congratulations! Great news!

 

[SmallWorld71]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Same here! DS just found out he got in! It's the first school (of 6) that he's heard from. He's so happy and I am relieved to have heard something!

 

[robinb]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Same here! DS just found out he got in! It's the first school (of 6) that he's heard from. He's so happy and I am relieved to have heard something!

Great news for both of you!! Congratulations .

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Same here! DS just found out he got in! It's the first school (of 6) that he's heard from. He's so happy and I am relieved to have heard something!

Yay!!!! Congratulations to both your kids!

 

[robinb]

My DD's club coach just wrote the most AMAZING letter of recommendation. My DD sent it to both the University of Wisconsin Madison and University Minnesota Twin Cities.

Here is the closing paragraph:

When considering (DD) for your institution, I can assure you that you are receiving a hard-working, motivated, confident and bold leader. Knowing that (DD) will apply the same about of dedication to her personal success and the success of your institution that she applied as an athlete within our program, I can assure you that her future will be bright and filled with success.

 

[Mom3girls]

Same here! DS just found out he got in! It's the first school (of 6) that he's heard from. He's so happy and I am relieved to have heard something!

Mind me asking what school is BC?

 

[SmallWorld71]

Mind me asking what school is BC?

Boston College, sorry!

 

[AustinTink]

My DD's club coach just wrote the most AMAZING letter of recommendation. My DD sent it to both the University of Wisconsin Madison and University Minnesota Twin Cities.

Here is the closing paragraph:

That is awesome. My son's coach wrote his best recommendation letter by far. I mean, really, their coaches see so much of their character and know them so well. Their opinion means a lot.

 

[jasmom1022]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Awesome! Congrats! Where else is she waiting to hear from?

 

[jasmom1022]

Tears were flowing tonight!! HAPPY TEARS!!! My daughter got into Northeastern with a 53,000 a year financial aid package- its unbelieveable!! She cried for 30 minutes. Up until now she has been accepted at placed she was ok with going to if she had to- this was in the places she WANTED to go to. What a relief!!

Wow!! That is so great! I know how much Northeastern costs and your financial aid package sounds heavenly!

DS is waiting to hear from Northeastern but I feel it was a reach school for him. He would be beyond thrilled with a package like your DD received.

I hope she hears from her #1 choice and then has a big decision to make. I wish you all the best!

Dianne

 

[aprilgail]

DD just heard from her first (of 9) schools. She got into BC and is so excited!

Congrats!! Is that her top choice?

 

[laughinplace199]

Congrats!! Is that her top choice?

It's not her #1 because it's so close to home (15 min from our house), but she does really like it and would be happy there. It's just a relief to have an acceptance - she knows she's going to college! Will hear from the rest in the next week or so, but she applied to a lot of reaches, so we are prepared for a lot of no's.