“Hot Colleges” (2018 admissions cycle)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP are we will have WM tuition in state saved for each kid, plus two years of room and board per kid. pay the other two years per kid out of income. No loans and we can pay some above WM. But not $300k all in times 2 kids.

I hate that it is all need based, but does not consider that we live in NOVA, not SC, and because we were using saving for several years during the recession. Not adding to college funds. Good income now. But not 6-7 years ago. But colleges don’t consider these things in awarding aid

Every college is different. Some selective schools DO consider where you live and the cost of living. Call the financial aid office of the college and ask what they consider when awarding need-based aid, it can change from year-to-year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

+1

That's us. DC is having an excellent experience at Denison. Although DC had the stats/chops, we didn't look at the likes of Bates, Bowdoin, Amherst, etc., because we can't pay $70K+ and rising.

There are a lot of parents making the same calculation.

We made this calculation passed on Wash U, Michigan, UVA and a few others.

[Anonymous]

And passed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U.M.D is $23K in state- an excellent value

It includes Big Ten sports, 10 minute metro ride to the National Mall and unparalleled internship opportunities.

[Anonymous]

DD attends a top private and is a junior; kids from her school seem to have a growing interest in UCLA and USC. The number attending has been rising the past 3/4 years and over spring break her instagram was filled with LA/California college visit pics. These are kids that 5 years ago would have gone to an Ivy from her school. Smart kids, honors classes at a top private but not tippy top smart or recruited athletes. I know USC has long been called "University of Spoiled Children" but these are kds with a very high caliber of academics.

[Anonymous]

I’m the Wash U poster from above, we are quite please with UMD. It is less than one third of WashU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD attends a top private and is a junior; kids from her school seem to have a growing interest in UCLA and USC. The number attending has been rising the past 3/4 years and over spring break her instagram was filled with LA/California college visit pics. These are kids that 5 years ago would have gone to an Ivy from her school. Smart kids, honors classes at a top private but not tippy top smart or recruited athletes. I know USC has long been called "University of Spoiled Children" but these are kds with a very high caliber of academics.

I wouldn't bank on UCLA because it is only going to get more difficult to get into now that the number of OOS seats has been reduced to 20%. I've taught at USC and had a family member attend there and faculty still think it's the University of Spoiled Children. Too much traffic, parking hassles and lousy neighborhoods, especially to the south. Unless it's the film school, I think you can do a lot better for the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD attends a top private and is a junior; kids from her school seem to have a growing interest in UCLA and USC. The number attending has been rising the past 3/4 years and over spring break her instagram was filled with LA/California college visit pics. These are kids that 5 years ago would have gone to an Ivy from her school. Smart kids, honors classes at a top private but not tippy top smart or recruited athletes. I know USC has long been called "University of Spoiled Children" but these are kds with a very high caliber of academics.

2 out of the 5 kids at my DC’s school that got a perfect ACT wound up at USC. I suspect merit aid played a role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD attends a top private and is a junior; kids from her school seem to have a growing interest in UCLA and USC. The number attending has been rising the past 3/4 years and over spring break her instagram was filled with LA/California college visit pics. These are kids that 5 years ago would have gone to an Ivy from her school. Smart kids, honors classes at a top private but not tippy top smart or recruited athletes. I know USC has long been called "University of Spoiled Children" but these are kds with a very high caliber of academics.

2 out of the 5 kids at my DC’s school that got a perfect ACT wound up at USC. I suspect merit aid played a role.

Good for them. I would never send my DCs there - maybe for the film school, but nothing else. Have you been in LA by the airport lately? It's really unpleasant. Air quality is bad. I think USC has come up in the ratings only because east coast kids want to go to the west coast and other than UCLA and Berkeley (which have gotten impossible to get into), there aren't that many other great choices near the coast. Inland, of course there's the Claremont colleges, but that's a much different feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

2018-2019 W&M COA
In-State: $39,225
OOS: $61,370

Yowza!

W&M does freeze tuition for in-state students for all four years.

[Anonymous]

Sewanee is VERY generous with merit aid. My quite-middling senior (low B average, 32 ACT) received $20k. We loved the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sewanee is VERY generous with merit aid. My quite-middling senior (low B average, 32 ACT) received $20k. We loved the school.

How long ago?

[Anonymous]

does anyone know how much merit aid these colleges give? -Williams, bowdoin, bates, colby, connecticut college, vassar, denison, swarthmore, lafayette, colgate, bucknell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does anyone know how much merit aid these colleges give? -Williams, bowdoin, bates, colby, connecticut college, vassar, denison, swarthmore, lafayette, colgate, bucknell?

0, only a tiny national merit award, 0, 0, 5-20K, 0, 5K to full tuition, highly highly competitive full tuition, 24-40K a year, 0, 2K-30K a year

[Anonymous]

Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.