college admissions process so far, financial aid disappointment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you assessed which schools are most likely to offer your kid access to whoever is most needed to write letters of recommendation for med school?

I think it's very important at this step to optimize for that further goal. Not just financially. Schools differ a lot in how they provide letters of recommendation. Also your kid will likely need to excel in science, do research, and do a lot of health care volunteering. Your revised plan needs to factor in these points.

It may be better to shine at a lower tier school than get lost in a crowd at a higher ranked school. I have a friend who is a wealth planner whose son is interested in dental school. He is going to a small local Catholic university. The mom feels this will best optimize his chances of being prepared and admitted.

y
Excellent advice. We are still waiting on a small group of schools RD, 2-ish are known to give more money if my child gets in AND they are small with research opportunities. This application process has shown us no matter how good the grades and extracurriculars, nobody is guaranteed admissions at any school even if you are ABOVE THE STATS. If my child can get into one of the smaller private colleges that is known for more merit and aid, we would be happy but just do not know now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, don't assume that your child will be going to school "with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time." (Which....I have other thoughts about, but....) Some of those peers will be students in the same boat, lacking the funds/FA to go to theirbtop choices. Hopefully they won't be too disappointed to be at school with your kid.

+100

OP, you need to check your bias. If your kid isn’t happy with Towson, are they following your lead? It’s your job to explain Towson is a good school and that strong kids go there for many reasons. If they don’t like it they can transfer after saving money for a year.

[Anonymous]

The lesson is everyone should love their safety schools!

And “safety” school should mean a financial safety too. My child also cannot go to their dream school because they didn’t get merit or aid. I don’t believe it’s an unusual occurrence. It’s okay, however. They were prepared for that outcome and they got admitted to many other schools that are within budget that they like. Your kid will be ok!

Also - alternative - if you are only short $10k then they can take a $5k loan and work a lot to make an extra $5k for tuition. It’s possible. Find a way??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, don't assume that your child will be going to school "with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time." (Which....I have other thoughts about, but....) Some of those peers will be students in the same boat, lacking the funds/FA to go to theirbtop choices. Hopefully they won't be too disappointed to be at school with your kid.

+100

OP, you need to check your bias. If your kid isn’t happy with Towson, are they following your lead? It’s your job to explain Towson is a good school and that strong kids go there for many reasons. If they don’t like it they can transfer after saving money for a year.

OP, and you are right. It's too easy to get caught up in all this, and when you're surrounded by families accepting EXPENSIVE schools without the aid even come out, it's hard, but have to realize our circumstances are all different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Right? Why is this a surprise now? Affordability should have been part of the convo before he even applied. What about your state schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Right? Why is this a surprise now? Affordability should have been part of the convo before he even applied. What about your state schools?

Are you even reading? OP already said which state schools their DC got into, and that they were rejected from the flagship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Right? Why is this a surprise now? Affordability should have been part of the convo before he even applied. What about your state schools?

Because you cannot predict merit and aid. And you also cannot predict state school acceptance. Virginia offers a LOT more options in good state schools versus Maryland, and U Maryland, which is the most rigorous state school, does NOT guarantee acceptance even if your child is way above the stats (mine was). Maryland is comparatively limited

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Don't be a dick. Until you do it, you don't realize how stingy the FA or merit aid at these school really is. You hope for the best. Rubbing it in that "you did this" is just an a-hole thing to say.

Not everyone has time to research every school, possibility, etc. like the people on this board.

OP- my child had a D1 sports offer to a very high academic school (top 15). DC turned it down. That school was $90K a year. Even with athletic money (but no FA and no merit given by this school at all to anyone), it was not worth it. That's an absurd price tag to pay at almost full freight. We didn't know how stingy they'd be until DC got the offer. It was devastating to turn it down but . . .

DC is at a high performing d3 program at a school that people on here often mock. But DC is Dean's list, an athlete, and having a great experience. DC will graduate debt free with prob $100K+ left over for grad school. While many of DC's peers will be drowning in undergrad debt. Spin it as such.

Also DC talked to lots of professionals in the field of study and all said "it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad."

OP here. Thank you for your story! For those who said we didn't prepare perfectly and I set my child up for disappointment, maybe. But we thought their solid gpa (3.8 unweighted, 4.8 weighted, multiple 5s on AP exams, slightly above average SAT), plus multiple meaningful awards and varsity sports would be enough. And it wasn't. Lesson learned. And we are still learning as this process continues. At this point we've determined around 40k per year is around our max, with medical school down the road. This is actually a good lesson, although disappointing, in making informed decisions about finances. We don't hear enough about kids who do NOT go to their dream schools because of money but end up loving where they go.

Why only Towson/Salisbury for safeties? Would your kid be more excited about say University of Nebraska, University of Iowa, Iowa State et al, that are known to provide in-state tuition and other aid for good candidates?

How many AP credits would your kid have? Maybe it's not the full 4-year experience, but many kids can skip at least a semester or maybe even a full year from AP credits. It's not $40k...but if you only have to go for three years at $60k that works out to $45k over 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Probably tough to get financial aid with savings.

DS did get some financial aid at a private school. We think it was because he was kid 2 in college. This was only at one school. The rest we got nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been hard. My child has gotten into their safeties (Towson/Salisbury) which they are NOT enthusiastic about. They have also gotten into some of their reach/target schools. Unfortunately, those schools so far are around 60k per year with merit (child has 4.8 gpa). Financial aid is minimal. I don't have an amazing salary, but child has substantial college savings because of extenuating circumstances (not enough to cover 240k though). They go to a decent high school in Montgomery County, and it is sad for them to see their classmates commit to schools they cannot commit to. How do you help your child handle going to a safety so they can graduate college without debt? My child is so disappointed to have to go to school with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time. But they/we just aren't willing or able to pay 50k PLUS per year. They want to go to med school after college as well, so the price of undergrad really matters. Please tell me your stories of going to a safety bc of money and kid thriving.

Did your child apply to UMBC? That seems to be a better college than the two safeties mentioned and is very easy to get into even with mediocre grades.

[Anonymous]

Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Didn't you discuss the financials and run the NPCs for every school before applying? Sounds like substantial college savings means no need-based aid. Your child shouldn't have applied to any schools you both weren't willing to cover the difference for (given limited merit almost everywhere except a few schools for NMSF/NMF). Unfortunately you set your DC up for disappointment, which is a shame.

An alternative is taking a gap year to work and save as much money as possible, and to plan on working during school years and summer to help offset the extra costs. But a smart motivated kid will can do very well no matter where they attend UG!

Don't be a dick. Until you do it, you don't realize how stingy the FA or merit aid at these school really is. You hope for the best. Rubbing it in that "you did this" is just an a-hole thing to say.

Not everyone has time to research every school, possibility, etc. like the people on this board.

OP- my child had a D1 sports offer to a very high academic school (top 15). DC turned it down. That school was $90K a year. Even with athletic money (but no FA and no merit given by this school at all to anyone), it was not worth it. That's an absurd price tag to pay at almost full freight. We didn't know how stingy they'd be until DC got the offer. It was devastating to turn it down but . . .

DC is at a high performing d3 program at a school that people on here often mock. But DC is Dean's list, an athlete, and having a great experience. DC will graduate debt free with prob $100K+ left over for grad school. While many of DC's peers will be drowning in undergrad debt. Spin it as such.

Also DC talked to lots of professionals in the field of study and all said "it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad."

The prior poster was right. Sounds like there is significant college savings but want money for grad school. It makes no sense to apply to a school that you know is out of your budget.

If a D1 truly offered your kid a spot, your kid was actively recruiting there and presumably you should have known no money was to be offered. When my kid recruited, every coach would ask if we’d need aid… and whether it was only available as need based (ivies, for example).

Why shoot the messenger? Sounds like mistakes have been made and you have to face them: we shouldn’t have encouraged you to apply to schools out of our budget, we shouldn’t have trusted the npc, we should have told the coach you can’t afford to attend without aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just go to UMD. If your kid can’t get into UMD in-state, you are probably leaving out a key bit of information. Perhaps they are not as high performing as you think. Let me guess, SAT under 1500, but just “doesn’t test well.”

Can nobody read? OP already said the kid was rejected at UMD and had a “slightly above average” SAT. If that means 1100, med school is a pipe dream. Silly to forego a good undergrad experience for a career that will never materialize.

[Anonymous]

Just curious…what are the out-of-budget schools that admitted your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, don't assume that your child will be going to school "with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time." (Which....I have other thoughts about, but....) Some of those peers will be students in the same boat, lacking the funds/FA to go to theirbtop choices. Hopefully they won't be too disappointed to be at school with your kid.

+100

OP, you need to check your bias. If your kid isn’t happy with Towson, are they following your lead? It’s your job to explain Towson is a good school and that strong kids go there for many reasons. If they don’t like it they can transfer after saving money for a year.

Here's the Towson med school recommendation process. Now imagine being a top student there vs. mid-pack somewhere else.

https://www.towson.edu/fcsm/departments/preprofessional/medicaldental/admission.html