Understanding Merit Aid Possibilities OOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He'd get more merit from a mid-tier private than OOS publics. If cost is an issue, he should definitely look beyond state schools. Or do SUNY.

Same question as above

[Anonymous]

This kid needs to step it up. He was “top 10 academically going into HS”. Ooookay, but he is now in HS where academics will surely be tested both in GOA and rigor. He has already stated he is not interested in the PSAT/SAT. And, his parents want/need merit money? He needs some motivation.

[Anonymous]

If you use the Net Cost Calculator, for most schools, you will input financial data as well as GPA and other data that will help inform what kind of merit aid you might get at schools. When we did this we found it was pretty accurate. For us, the best merit brought the cost of an OOS flagship down to what our in-state schools cost (in VA). To give you a sense of what this looked like where my kid was accepted (all amounts are per year)

Vermont - $20k
UConn - $18k
UMass - $16500
Minnesota - $10k
Delaware - $10k
Illinois - $0

The first three brought the cost down to equivalent or less than Virginia Tech. Those amount were also roughly what the calculator told us we could expect. We were surprised that DE and MN came in lower but they were definitely safeties and IL was a reach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are younger so I have not been in this world yet. (yes, I am ignorant, please be kind!) I am trying to help out a friend. She wants a better understanding of how merit aid can help her son. We are in NY.

Her son is a sophomore. He's a bright and talented kid. He was top 10 academically entering HS, went right into the "honors" wind symphony which is kind of rare, he's a 3 sport athlete who plays on travel teams. All honors and I think AP Human Geo last year.

But, his grades went down a bit in 9th grade (~mostly As but some Bs and maybe one C). He was more focused on sports and his GF. Nothing wrong with that necessarily, his parents are not uptight and while they want him to do well academically, they are very supportive of him having a well-rounded life. I feel like there's an element of him feeling like he's falling behind the top students-- his parents again are okay with this, and they want to encourage him to do the best he can. But it's a slippery slope. We were talking about PSAT/SAT, it's not on his radar at all and he said, "If it's not required, I'm not taking it." His parents said: "Actually good scores will help you with scholarships so yes you will be taking the SAT."

I hope what I'm saying makes sense. It's like, OK we're not aiming for Ivies here, but that doesn't mean you can stop trying. The parents want to start touring SUNYs. Which are a great option IMHO. But he wants to go away. Money is an issue. They may have saved some but there is also debt. I think they would prefer he's not really far; we are in NYC suburbs.

What else.... he was on a STEM track but had a bad experience with a mid-year replacement teacher in an elective and now wants to give up on that. Probably not relevant lol but his GF dumped him over the summer and he's kind of bummed in general.

I know there are opportunities to go away to great state schools, and they provide guidelines for what you need to achieve to get merit aid. Can you please recommend resources to look into this or even schools worth looking into? Thank you so much.

This is obviously not going to be every kid’s top pick, but South Dakota States costs about $23,000 per year even without merit aid: https://www.sdstate.edu/office-financial-aid/cost-attendance

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:University of Alabama publishes merit guidelines. Just Google “University of Alabama out of state merit”

Omg no OP
SUNY school not Alabama. No one in their right mind chooses a school in Alabama over SUNY.

LOL. So many kids not in their right minds to choose a warm, cheap, beautiful school with a large honors program, awesome honors dorms, and SEC football. What insanity.

+1 there is a reason NY kids flock to southern flagships

If so many are going to AL why do they need to offer so much merit aid to not top tier students to get them to go there?

Because the merit aid is what makes it more desirable than SUNY.

Merit + weather + football + overall social vibe. SUNY does not have the same vibe as a southern flagship.

[Anonymous]

Keep private religiously affiliated colleges. You can get a solid education with merit money without having to become religious. At most you'll need to take a course or two in theology.

[Anonymous]

He should figure out what kind of school he wants - large or small. He can likely get merit at lower ranked privates but they will likely be 2,000 or less students. And depending on the amount he receives, SUNY may be a better deal.

In terms of going away, if he is living in a dorm, he will be away from home. The parents should discuss budget with the kid and show him what SUNY would cost vs out of state school and what his loan payments would be after graduation for out of state school. Pretty eye opening.

[Anonymous]

SUNY has incredible aid. I went for free.

[Anonymous]

Op, "not far away" re: distance might mean UConn. But he would do better to get a higher GPA and not get C's in AP classes. Many parents make the mistake of signing their kids up for all of the hardest classes and then think it's the kid's fault when they don't get A's. Probably each class, individually, at a high level, they could handle. Taken all together, they can't. Since he has no SAT/ACT score yet, the -really- don't know what kind of a student they have.

When the time comes, if he really wants to get away, he should be willing to look at University of Kansas, for example. Indiana, Michigan State, flagships in the South. In terms of cost, apply widely. Do no waste a lot of energy trying to have assurance re: merit aid. It can be very hard to predict. DC had good results but the particular results were impossible to predict. The list was completely reordered from most expensive to least expensive.

Parents need to know: can they say no at the 11th hour that a college is too expensive OR has the kid fallen in love with it and it's going to be a big fight. Some parents find it easier to limit applications to instate since the cost is known. For us, DC applied to 8 OOS publics and we were glad they did.

[Anonymous]

pp again, poster 8:51 had a great post

[Anonymous]

Maybe OOS publics have made merit aid easier to predict

[Anonymous]

OP here and I just want to thank everyone for their input, it's really appreciated.

8:51 your post is so helpful, thank you.

And yes, this kid's mom is a great friend, we have gotten each other through the bad times (losing family members, she watched my kids during my chemo, etc.) and celebrated many good times. I absolutely adore her and I want to help any way I can and this kind of thing is a bit more in my wheelhouse than hers. Thanks again everyone!!

[Anonymous]

I see a couple of red flags here. Among them -- ditching STEM because he had one bad experience with a teacher. And his attitude toward the tests sounds passive at best. He should know that with so-so grades, good test scores can help tip the balance and/or help him get merit aid.

Also, the SUNY system is enormous, with enough different "types" of schools for everyone. If you're near NYC, he could literally be 6 hours away and go to a good SUNY (Buffalo or Geneseo, if he gets it) for an extremely reasonable price.

[Anonymous]

DS HS class of 2023. Merit award and resulting cost of attendance:
UMN: $25k, $30k
Ohio St. $16.5k, $44k
UMD: $10k, $46k
Lehigh: $30.6k, $51k
CWRU: $30k, $56k
BU: $28.5k, $60k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS HS class of 2023. Merit award and resulting cost of attendance:
UMN: $25k, $30k
Ohio St. $16.5k, $44k
UMD: $10k, $46k
Lehigh: $30.6k, $51k
CWRU: $30k, $56k
BU: $28.5k, $60k

I didn’t know BU and Lehigh give merit. Why do you think they wanted your particular student?