Looking for safety schools - solid student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, and I would add that BC is not a target with those stats...more like a reach.

+1 BC a reach, but Bucknell is probably a target

This surprises me! (About BC)

My son has slightly higher stats but maybe worse ECs and top choice is BC which we consider reach. If admin rate is below 25% and your stats are not 75% then should be considered reach. We are full pay ED so hopefully that will help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, and I would add that BC is not a target with those stats...more like a reach.

+1 BC a reach, but Bucknell is probably a target

This surprises me! (About BC)

My son has slightly higher stats but maybe worse ECs and top choice is BC which we consider reach. If admin rate is below 25% and your stats are not 75% then should be considered reach. We are full pay ED so hopefully that will help.

Sorry but full pay will not help as BC is need blind. ED should help though.

"Boston College remains one of only 20 private universities in the United States that is need-blind in admissions and meets the full-demonstrated need of all undergraduate students."

https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/announcements/tuition-2020-21.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, and I would add that BC is not a target with those stats...more like a reach.

+1 BC a reach, but Bucknell is probably a target

This surprises me! (About BC)

My son has slightly higher stats but maybe worse ECs and top choice is BC which we consider reach. If admin rate is below 25% and your stats are not 75% then should be considered reach. We are full pay ED so hopefully that will help.

Sorry but full pay will not help as BC is need blind. ED should help though.

"Boston College remains one of only 20 private universities in the United States that is need-blind in admissions and meets the full-demonstrated need of all undergraduate students."

https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/announcements/tuition-2020-21.html

Boston College is aggressive about families tapping home equity and retirement savings. It does everything it can to limit factors that could boost a family’s financial aid.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/retirement-home-equity-college-tuition-51561739799

Be prepared to be asked for as much as 25% of your equity—even if you are 58, like me, or 55, like my neighbor Brian, whose daughter has been my son’s friend since their mothers met while walking wailing babies. Boston College asked Brian’s family for 3% to 5% of their equity, per year, on top of what they otherwise could afford. The University of Southern California asked me for 6%, helping turn the $30,000 a year other schools believed my family could pay into USC’s initial request for almost $63,000.

“Everyone builds equity, either to downsize after the kids are out of high school or pay off their house and have lower expenses in retirement,’’ said Mitchell Goldberg, president of Client First Strategies in Melville, New York. “People look at the house not only as a retirement asset, but also as the be-all, end-all retirement emergency fund.”

That means many colleges’ promise not to tap your retirement—Boston College’s director of student financial strategies, Bernard Pekala, said the school meets families’ full need, but considers housing an asset available to pay tuition—is bunk.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-home-equity-impacts-college-aid-11570095001

Schools that require the CSS Profile handle the home-equity information differently. Boston College, for example, looks at 100% of home equity. Stanford University announced last year that it won't consider home equity at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but full pay will not help as BC is need blind. ED should help though.

"Boston College remains one of only 20 private universities in the United States that is need-blind in admissions and meets the full-demonstrated need of all undergraduate students."

https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/announcements/tuition-2020-21.html

Boston College is aggressive about families tapping home equity and retirement savings. It does everything it can to limit factors that could boost a family’s financial aid.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/retirement-home-equity-college-tuition-51561739799

Be prepared to be asked for as much as 25% of your equity—even if you are 58, like me, or 55, like my neighbor Brian, whose daughter has been my son’s friend since their mothers met while walking wailing babies. Boston College asked Brian’s family for 3% to 5% of their equity, per year, on top of what they otherwise could afford. The University of Southern California asked me for 6%, helping turn the $30,000 a year other schools believed my family could pay into USC’s initial request for almost $63,000.

“Everyone builds equity, either to downsize after the kids are out of high school or pay off their house and have lower expenses in retirement,’’ said Mitchell Goldberg, president of Client First Strategies in Melville, New York. “People look at the house not only as a retirement asset, but also as the be-all, end-all retirement emergency fund.”

That means many colleges’ promise not to tap your retirement—Boston College’s director of student financial strategies, Bernard Pekala, said the school meets families’ full need, but considers housing an asset available to pay tuition—is bunk.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-home-equity-impacts-college-aid-11570095001

Schools that require the CSS Profile handle the home-equity information differently. Boston College, for example, looks at 100% of home equity. Stanford University announced last year that it won't consider home equity at all.

Both of you are correct. They have one of the smaller endowments among need-blind schools and would like to be able to change their need calculation, though they'd have to come up with the funds some other way. Try their Net Price Calculator and see what it says.

[Anonymous]

OP here - appreciate the feedback. DS has decided to try ED at Bucknell. I think that's the right place for him and he has made the choice. good luck to the others here, it is stressful.

[Anonymous]

Hidden ivy...Bucknell

[Anonymous]

I would call UMD a sure bet for your child’s stats, OP. Of course there is always a wild card possibility of non acceptance.

Gettysburg and Dickinson would be great safeties for him.

[Anonymous]

If they like Jesuit universities, consider Fairfield University- might get merit aid too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, and I would add that BC is not a target with those stats...more like a reach.

+1 BC a reach, but Bucknell is probably a target

+1 BC is a reach for 1430. Know 2 kids at our non magnet HS that did not get in with over 1500 and one was high achieving athlete with Seven 5’s on AP test and three 4’s and 4.7 GPA. It is not that OPs stats don’t match, just that there are thousands of kids with those stats for the school to choose from. It really stinks after all that hard work but just the way it is...

[Anonymous]

I don’t look at Naviance’s 25-75 percent as much as the scatter plot. BC is a tough school to get into at least from my daughter’s magnet. Maybe 1400 is good enough SAT score from a rural area but it’s challenging here.

We looked at Tulane because they market heavily and thought my DD with similar stats to OP might consider the school. It seems like they yield protect though because high GPA kids with 1400 SATs are often rejected but kids with lower GPAs and same SATs accepted.

We consider UMD a match though looking at Naviance it really should be a safety as we are in state.

[Anonymous]

Agree with Dickinson. Maybe St Mary’s College of MD too?

I don’t see UMD if he wants a small, rural
Private?!

[Anonymous]

For all the kids with 1500 who did not get into such and such a school, there are many with much lower scores that get in!
Only about 2% of kids get that score. There are more spots at all the good schools combined than there are kids with 1500.

[Anonymous]

Playing along because my kid has similar stats, safeties could be Elon, Skidmore, or Midwest schools (Marquette, St Olaf).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, and I would add that BC is not a target with those stats...more like a reach.

+1 BC a reach, but Bucknell is probably a target

+1 BC is a reach for 1430. Know 2 kids at our non magnet HS that did not get in with over 1500 and one was high achieving athlete with Seven 5’s on AP test and three 4’s and 4.7 GPA. It is not that OPs stats don’t match, just that there are thousands of kids with those stats for the school to choose from. It really stinks after all that hard work but just the way it is...

My kid has a 32 - which is probably equivalent to a 1430. Absolutely loves BC and is applying ED. Definitely a high reach per the college counselor and scattergrams. Most admits at DC’s school have a 34 or 1540.

[Anonymous]

Virginia Tech is a solid safety school.