Target lower tier schools for merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, our highly-qualified kids attend lower-tier schools because they got great merit aid there. Lots of students make that choice.

For a student interested in science, consider Juniata, Denison, College of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, and Allegheny.

May I ask what your merit aid awards were? Was it enough money to drop in-state options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We, too, have a STEM-focused girl with good stats, and we also live in Virginia, with an HHI <$130K. Thing is, she wants a small school (<2500 students) and the options in Virginia are not plentiful. She went to Juniata’s Open house last month and really liked it, sat in on a Chemistry class and got to talk to the professor (a lady). That made a big impression on her. We’ll be looking at a number of schools on the CTCL list.

Ah, thanks. what other schools are you looking at from that list? I see these schools pop up in discussions. I'd love for someone to chime in who has direct experience?

We haven’t visited yet, but the other top candidates are Allegheny, College of Wooster and Wheaton or Hope College (if she wants to go to a Christian school, which would align with our faith).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We, too, have a STEM-focused girl with good stats, and we also live in Virginia, with an HHI <$130K. Thing is, she wants a small school (<2500 students) and the options in Virginia are not plentiful. She went to Juniata’s Open house last month and really liked it, sat in on a Chemistry class and got to talk to the professor (a lady). That made a big impression on her. We’ll be looking at a number of schools on the CTCL list.

Ah, thanks. what other schools are you looking at from that list? I see these schools pop up in discussions. I'd love for someone to chime in who has direct experience?

We haven’t visited yet, but the other top candidates are Allegheny, College of Wooster and Wheaton or Hope College (if she wants to go to a Christian school, which would align with our faith).

Thank you. My good friend who grew up here in NoVa attended Wooster in the 90's. I had never heard of it then, but have since. She loved her experience there. She was an English major, and very bright. She turned down in-state to attend Wooster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: We live in VA. We’re lucky to have great in-state schools. We estimate (if accepted): ~$30+ UVA, ~$28 W&M, and $20 something VT. We just don’t know what other options there are if she looked at another tier? She’s our oldest. We don’t qualify for need based aid. We’ve saved money for her (and siblings)- but just want to explore options.

If you don’t qualify for aid and you have saved some for her and she has worked this hard shouldn’t you support her in her goals? Are the other kids even good students? Maybe you should scrimp on the other kids and not the one who has worked her rear off?

Translation: "Shouldn't you go into debt for your child as you approach retirement, and short your other kids who may have learning or other issues which impede their ability to perform at the same level as their older sister, thereby creating potential lifelong implications for sibling relationships?"

Use your words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, our highly-qualified kids attend lower-tier schools because they got great merit aid there. Lots of students make that choice.

For a student interested in science, consider Juniata, Denison, College of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, and Allegheny.

May I ask what your merit aid awards were? Was it enough money to drop in-state options?

My DC, whose stats were not as good as OP’s DD’s stats, got huge merit aid awards from all of those schools. Juniata and Ohio Wesleyan were especially generous.

Although DC did not choose Juniata or Ohio Wesleyan, either of them would have been significantly less expensive than an hour in state public.

DC chose a different CTCL school for which we are paying about $37K per year.

[Anonymous]

^^^our in state public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We, too, have a STEM-focused girl with good stats, and we also live in Virginia, with an HHI <$130K. Thing is, she wants a small school (<2500 students) and the options in Virginia are not plentiful. She went to Juniata’s Open house last month and really liked it, sat in on a Chemistry class and got to talk to the professor (a lady). That made a big impression on her. We’ll be looking at a number of schools on the CTCL list.

Once she gets into the thick of her engineering classes in her major even the biggest state schools become small schools. The climate for women is often better at a school with a good number of female students and female professors so I’d put that on the list more so than a small school.

She’s not interested in engineering, per se. Probably chemistry or biochem. I’m an engineer and I’d definitely steer her to larger schools if that was her interest, but right now, it’s not.

Good for her. I’m an engineer too and DD wants no part of that and I’m fine with that (it’s a bit of a relief really). Chemistry /Biochem are great subjects to study and there are many schools to choose from. I’d still look for female student experiences at the schools she is interested in. Boston U was apparently horrible for women in the geology department for the last 20+ years :

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/17/plans-fire-geology-professor-for-sexual-harassment/BCMLcdXNzSIty8WlZRWxJJ/amp.html

[Anonymous]

Even some lower tier schools will try to "game" you, insist you visit for a chance at decent scholarships

[Anonymous]

Case Western, Tulane, Pitt, USC, Georgia Tech, RPI, WPI, SMU, as well as state flagships in states like Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and second-tier SLACs like Denison, Macalester

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Case Western, Tulane, Pitt, USC, Georgia Tech, RPI, WPI, SMU, as well as state flagships in states like Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and second-tier SLACs like Denison, Macalester

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even some lower tier schools will try to "game" you, insist you visit for a chance at decent scholarships

And this is “gaming” applicants...how?

Do you think it is unfair for a college to want to vet a candidate in person before handing over another $50,000?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is interested in sciences (biochem/engineering/pre-med?) and currently making a list with the usual suspects. She has good stats (35 ACT, 800 Math2, 800 BioM, high GPA). Curious if there are those who have targeted "lower-tier" schools to try to lots of merit aid? According to Naviance, she has a great shot at some great schools, but we have younger children to plan for as well. What schools would you add to your list with this in mind? TIA!

Nephew tried that this year with Syracuse and got nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even some lower tier schools will try to "game" you, insist you visit for a chance at decent scholarships

And this is “gaming” applicants...how?

Do you think it is unfair for a college to want to vet a candidate in person before handing over another $50,000?

Maybe s/he means showing demonstrated interest. SLACSs really want to know you would attend there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is interested in sciences (biochem/engineering/pre-med?) and currently making a list with the usual suspects. She has good stats (35 ACT, 800 Math2, 800 BioM, high GPA). Curious if there are those who have targeted "lower-tier" schools to try to lots of merit aid? According to Naviance, she has a great shot at some great schools, but we have younger children to plan for as well. What schools would you add to your list with this in mind? TIA!

Nephew tried that this year with Syracuse and got nothing.

Syracuse gives merit aid to only 14% of applicants.

https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=130

[Anonymous]

And maybe he didn’t have the stats.

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/can-this-family-afford-syracuse-university/