Smart, underachieving kid, need merit aid, so frustrated!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Those are very helpful! Please keep them coming! I'm researching as fast as I can.
DD told me tonight she's only applying to colleges we're certain we can afford. Our budget is about $29K, max, so she needs about $40K in merit aid for most private colleges.
I'll look into the College of New Jersey and Clark, for starters and the schools in Ohio. St. Olaf's sounds great, but it would be a hard sell to get her to go to MN. She's definitely a homebody.
She's frustrating because she could do a lot more with her abilities, but she'd rather watch movies or chat with her friends. Her teachers have told me this, so it's not just me. I guess her attitude is healthy, but I worry the price she'll pay is she'll be unchallenged in college.

She sounds like a great kid and has worked really hard. You sound obnoxious. To expect $40K in merit is unreasonable. It sounds like you are pushing the expensive schools and have a decent income and probably didn't save as much as you could have. She'll do great at a state school.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you run the Net Price Calculators at those schools to see if you're eligible for any need based aid? If middle class, these private colleges will accommodate, especially the ones that advertise as meeting full need. But maybe the notion of middle class is skewed in this area. But even a low award amount would get you down to 29K with merit aid too. Now add in a work study award as well, say 2.5-3K. Subtract out household expenses no longer necessary for your kid (grocery costs, car insurance perhaps, activity fees from high school ECs, etc). Assume your daughter will also contribute to living expenses/books/incudentals from her summer earnings. Then tack on that 5.5K unsubsidized fed loan if you need/want to, but you can probably get there without that.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if your daughter complains to her friends about her underachieving parents who expect her to go to a private private college but couldn’t even manage to save half the necessary amount and instead expect a teenager to come up with the rest. If only her parents had applied themselves they might have earned more and been able to afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back again

She can go to the state U, but she wants to go to a small school.

I wonder if DD's lack of ECs is going to take her out of the running for the high numbers merit scholarships? When I read about the kids who win the big scholarships on college websites, the winners are always kids who built a school for disabled children in Afghanistan and flew a private plane across the US singlehanded, etc.

What state are you in? There are small state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: I have to agree with most posters that your post is pretty frustrating. With that said, having just gone through the process with my incredibly bright son with pretty severe LDs, so lower stats than yours, got substantial merit aid from Connecticut College. I didn't know much about it before the process, but it sounds like a great school for someone who wants small liberal arts. He will be going somewhere else thanks to legacy status, but just thought I'd suggest she look at Conn College.

This cannot be true.

Conn College is a NESCAC school, and that group of schools does not offer merit aid or sports scholarships.

https://www.conncoll.edu/admission/scholarships-and-grants/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Those are very helpful! Please keep them coming! I'm researching as fast as I can.
DD told me tonight she's only applying to colleges we're certain we can afford. Our budget is about $29K, max, so she needs about $40K in merit aid for most private colleges.
I'll look into the College of New Jersey and Clark, for starters and the schools in Ohio. St. Olaf's sounds great, but it would be a hard sell to get her to go to MN. She's definitely a homebody.
She's frustrating because she could do a lot more with her abilities, but she'd rather watch movies or chat with her friends. Her teachers have told me this, so it's not just me. I guess her attitude is healthy, but I worry the price she'll pay is she'll be unchallenged in college.

She will not get $40k in merit aid anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Those are very helpful! Please keep them coming! I'm researching as fast as I can.
DD told me tonight she's only applying to colleges we're certain we can afford. Our budget is about $29K, max, so she needs about $40K in merit aid for most private colleges.
I'll look into the College of New Jersey and Clark, for starters and the schools in Ohio. St. Olaf's sounds great, but it would be a hard sell to get her to go to MN. She's definitely a homebody.
She's frustrating because she could do a lot more with her abilities, but she'd rather watch movies or chat with her friends. Her teachers have told me this, so it's not just me. I guess her attitude is healthy, but I worry the price she'll pay is she'll be unchallenged in college.

IME, merit aid is about $20-$25k- unless the student has done something insanely good. It brings it down to the most expensive in state schools for us (UVA or W&M).

Look at the Net Price Calculators at each school to see what you would expect to pay. What does FAFSA say your parental contribution should be?

[Anonymous]

Our recent experience was that, across a range of schools with different stickers prices, merit tended to bring cost down to the range of $30-$40k (tuition, fees, room& board). The only options that came in under $30k were our in-state publics. If your $29k budget is firm you'll need to focus on those. But, it's also impossible to know what you'll get until you apply so your DD should loosen up on only applying to places you *know* you can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back again

She can go to the state U, but she wants to go to a small school.

I wonder if DD's lack of ECs is going to take her out of the running for the high numbers merit scholarships? When I read about the kids who win the big scholarships on college websites, the winners are always kids who built a school for disabled children in Afghanistan and flew a private plane across the US singlehanded, etc.

Why not a small in state school?

UMW has 5,000
CNU has 4,900
Longwood has 5,000
UVA wise has 2,000

[Anonymous]

Dear OP,

I'd strongly recommend that you read Colleges that Change Lives or at least the CTCL website. Many people on this board don't like them but many others swear by them. I'm in the latter camp. Each CTCL college is different, but they often give a lot of merit aid, attract some super smart kids, and provide a lot of individual attention. They are famous for helping under achievers find purpose and start achieving.

We tended to like ones in the Midwest and West but the list is organized by region and there are a few in every part of the country.

Of course there are great colleges not on the list, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if your daughter complains to her friends about her underachieving parents who expect her to go to a private private college but couldn’t even manage to save half the necessary amount and instead expect a teenager to come up with the rest. If only her parents had applied themselves they might have earned more and been able to afford it.

+100
This thread and the OP are beyond absurd.

[Anonymous]

Read Who Gets in and Why and The Price of College. Join the Paying for College 101 Facebook group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: I have to agree with most posters that your post is pretty frustrating. With that said, having just gone through the process with my incredibly bright son with pretty severe LDs, so lower stats than yours, got substantial merit aid from Connecticut College. I didn't know much about it before the process, but it sounds like a great school for someone who wants small liberal arts. He will be going somewhere else thanks to legacy status, but just thought I'd suggest she look at Conn College.

This cannot be true.

Conn College is a NESCAC school, and that group of schools does not offer merit aid or sports scholarships.

https://www.conncoll.edu/admission/scholarships-and-grants/

+2 A few years ago my 25 ACT kid got a ton of merit from Connecticut College. Submitted an artistic supplement. Didn’t attend but was surprised by the merit aid offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Those are very helpful! Please keep them coming! I'm researching as fast as I can.
DD told me tonight she's only applying to colleges we're certain we can afford. Our budget is about $29K, max, so she needs about $40K in merit aid for most private colleges.
I'll look into the College of New Jersey and Clark, for starters and the schools in Ohio. St. Olaf's sounds great, but it would be a hard sell to get her to go to MN. She's definitely a homebody.
She's frustrating because she could do a lot more with her abilities, but she'd rather watch movies or chat with her friends. Her teachers have told me this, so it's not just me. I guess her attitude is healthy, but I worry the price she'll pay is she'll be unchallenged in college.

She will not get $40k in merit aid anywhere.

Not true, my ds got $38k in merit from College of Wooster and my dd got $40k in merit from St. Lawrence. Both schools were considered safeties but I have to say the kids were so happy with those awards that if they had not gotten into first choice, those would have been strong possibilities.

[Anonymous]

What about Lawrence U.? Or Gettysburg?