Recommends SLACs for my son

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reed
Swarthmore if he can get in
Carleton
Kenyon

not a single one of these schools offer merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Ohio Wesleyan offers merit aid, fits other criteria as well.

[Anonymous]

Hobart & William Smith - tend to be generous on merit aid. My DC with lower SATs than OP got a decent unsolicited merit offer.
Denison also tends to be generous and the SATs will be an asset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hobart & William Smith - tend to be generous on merit aid. My DC with lower SATs than OP got a decent unsolicited merit offer.
Denison also tends to be generous and the SATs will be an asset.

Just an aside but congratulations to DC and you!!! Freshman and 8th grader and I hope we are that fortunate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP's son has 2330 SATs - I think he can aim higher than a lot of the colleges mentioned on here. OP, I think your son needs to (and stat!) decide if he wants to focus on applying to the colleges where he originally intended, or to a bunch of SLACs, because if he really wants to focus on SLACs, he should devote most of his applications to those colleges so he can apply to some reaches, some targets, some safeties and then see how financial aid works out at each place. St Mary's is a great in-state public choice and based on naviance at my child's high school, that should be a safety to target with your son's profile so be can really devote the rest of his app's to a range of SLACs.

The whole reason why people were recommending SLACs a notch lower than a "match" was because OP said that their family cannot pay in full. Although OP's DS could probably get admitted to places like, say, Haverford, it is unlikely that he would get merit aid at those places.

Exactly. I wish people would educate themselves before spouting off on these threads. Yes, OP's DS might be able to get into a top 20 school. But with one child in college, one at home, and a HHI of $200k+, this family will get NO financial aid. If they feel they can't afford to be full pay, there is simply NO POINT in applying to, say, Haverford or Williams, which offer only financial aid. The goal is to find schools that offer merit aid to a student of this caliber. It turns out there are a lot of them, but almost none of them are top 20 schools. Which is fine, because a fine education can still be had at many of them.

For families like this, a "reach" is not a school where admission is hit or miss for a student like this boy. Rather, a reach is a school that might offer merit aid to a student like this. That almost certainly means a school where admission for the student is pretty likely. Schools offer merit aid only to the students they are trying to lure to campus.

I would not assume no financial aid. I know many people with HH incomes around 170K who qualified for aid.

OMG PEOPLE.

OP has said clearly that (a) her HHI is $230k (which is $50k more than $170k, or, guess what, almost the cost of a year at a private college; what do you think colleges think that additional income should be spent on?) and (b) that her family's EFC is $59k--or about the cost of a year at private.

THIS FAMILY IS NOT GETTING FINANCIAL AID. What part of that do you people not understand?

That's why she's looking for MERIT aid. It's not based on HHI.

Yes, but there seems to be quite a bit of confusion on this thread about what the OP is asking. MERIT aid, not FINANCIAL aid. This family should definitely assume no FINANCIAL aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed
Swarthmore if he can get in
Carleton
Kenyon

not a single one of these schools offer merit aid.

Kenyon does. The others do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed
Swarthmore if he can get in
Carleton
Kenyon

not a single one of these schools offer merit aid.

Kenyon does. The others do not.

http://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-and-grants/academic-scholarships/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hobart & William Smith - tend to be generous on merit aid. My DC with lower SATs than OP got a decent unsolicited merit offer.
Denison also tends to be generous and the SATs will be an asset.

Just an aside but congratulations to DC and you!!! Freshman and 8th grader and I hope we are that fortunate.

Thanks, although DC didn't go to either. Chose a full pay school.

[Anonymous]

there are a ton of smaller, less well known SLACs in the upper midwest that may fit your needs. No, they're not name brand. Yes, some people might sneer at them. But many of them offer merit aid, and some offer work-study aid for all students, regardless of income.

Full disclosure, I attended one of these schools. It was an amazing, if somewhat unusual, college experience. I attended a top 10 MA programs and eventually got my doctorate.

Beyond that, have your kid sign up for Fastweb and figure out what scholarships he can apply for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP's son has 2330 SATs - I think he can aim higher than a lot of the colleges mentioned on here. OP, I think your son needs to (and stat!) decide if he wants to focus on applying to the colleges where he originally intended, or to a bunch of SLACs, because if he really wants to focus on SLACs, he should devote most of his applications to those colleges so he can apply to some reaches, some targets, some safeties and then see how financial aid works out at each place. St Mary's is a great in-state public choice and based on naviance at my child's high school, that should be a safety to target with your son's profile so be can really devote the rest of his app's to a range of SLACs.

The whole reason why people were recommending SLACs a notch lower than a "match" was because OP said that their family cannot pay in full. Although OP's DS could probably get admitted to places like, say, Haverford, it is unlikely that he would get merit aid at those places.

Exactly. I wish people would educate themselves before spouting off on these threads. Yes, OP's DS might be able to get into a top 20 school. But with one child in college, one at home, and a HHI of $200k+, this family will get NO financial aid. If they feel they can't afford to be full pay, there is simply NO POINT in applying to, say, Haverford or Williams, which offer only financial aid. The goal is to find schools that offer merit aid to a student of this caliber. It turns out there are a lot of them, but almost none of them are top 20 schools. Which is fine, because a fine education can still be had at many of them.

For families like this, a "reach" is not a school where admission is hit or miss for a student like this boy. Rather, a reach is a school that might offer merit aid to a student like this. That almost certainly means a school where admission for the student is pretty likely. Schools offer merit aid only to the students they are trying to lure to campus.

That is why I recommended that the student decide if he wants to focus on slac's or not, because he will need a range to ensure he is accepted to at least one where he can get merit aid. However, OP has not said they need a full ride by a long shot - so some "reaches" will be colleges for which he is academically on target and gets some merit aid albeit not as much as at a Denison. With 2330 sat's, he will likely get merit aid at some decent slac's, not just ones that are academic "safeties" for him.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you considered applying for private scholarships as well? He may have to write/repurpose an essay, but there's a lot of non-loan money out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered applying for private scholarships as well? He may have to write/repurpose an essay, but there's a lot of non-loan money out there.

We learned the hard way that you have to report those awards to the school and they may reduce your merit award accordingly.

[Anonymous]

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-merit-aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I suggest Dickinson, Dennison, Kenyon, Oberlin, The College of Wooster, St. Olaf's, Knox College, Kalamazoo College, Earlham, Antioch, Ursinus, Eckerd, Hampshire, Goucher, Clark, Allegheny, Tulane, Roanoke, Goucher, Drew, Hollins, Washington (MD), Muhlenberg, Bennington, Gettysburg, Davidson, University of Richmond, among others.

These are good suggestions given that kid has a 3.38 and requires merit aid.

Dickinson alum here. Outstanding education, bucolic campus with stunning new science and academic facilities and listed in Loren Pope's "colleges that change lives". Very strong poli sci and humanities departments with a great language problem and study abroad options. It was a bit fratty when I was there ten years ago but I hear thats changed and there are many theme houses, clubs and intellectual activities to engage in.

Its become much more popular and selective over the past decade but acceptance rate is still only in the high 30s. As good as it is it still seems to be a backup to kids applying to Middlebury, Colgate etc. I remember they had $10-15k merit aid scholarships for the very best students too based on GPA and SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I suggest Dickinson, Dennison, Kenyon, Oberlin, The College of Wooster, St. Olaf's, Knox College, Kalamazoo College, Earlham, Antioch, Ursinus, Eckerd, Hampshire, Goucher, Clark, Allegheny, Tulane, Roanoke, Goucher, Drew, Hollins, Washington (MD), Muhlenberg, Bennington, Gettysburg, Davidson, University of Richmond, among others.

These are good suggestions given that kid has a 3.38 and requires merit aid.

Dickinson alum here. Outstanding education, bucolic campus with stunning new science and academic facilities and listed in Loren Pope's "colleges that change lives". Very strong poli sci and humanities departments with a great language problem and study abroad options. It was a bit fratty when I was there ten years ago but I hear thats changed and there are many theme houses, clubs and intellectual activities to engage in.

Its become much more popular and selective over the past decade but acceptance rate is still only in the high 30s. As good as it is it still seems to be a backup to kids applying to Middlebury, Colgate etc. I remember they had $10-15k merit aid scholarships for the very best students too based on GPA and SAT.

Would he be a good candidate for merit aid there?