Beginning college search

[Anonymous]

At the very beginning of a college search for a kid who lives in NY, and just assumes he will go to a SUNY, mainly because he doesn't know what the other options are.

I need help coming up with other ideas for him to look into. Solid enough grades. A little bit of extracurricular.

-He has no idea what he wants to do, but from what he describes, something like business might be a good idea, so we need an all purpose kind of school where he doesn't need to apply to a particular program for entry.
-There needs to be at least a bit of a Jewish population.
-He can't specify city/rural, big/small.
-He and his parents dont want to consider private, but are open to out of state state schools.
-He will look at UMD.

What are some out of the other options? East coast is probably preferred, but open to other ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the very beginning of a college search for a kid who lives in NY, and just assumes he will go to a SUNY, mainly because he doesn't know what the other options are.

I need help coming up with other ideas for him to look into. Solid enough grades. A little bit of extracurricular.

-He has no idea what he wants to do, but from what he describes, something like business might be a good idea, so we need an all purpose kind of school where he doesn't need to apply to a particular program for entry.
-There needs to be at least a bit of a Jewish population.
-He can't specify city/rural, big/small.
-He and his parents dont want to consider private, but are open to out of state state schools.
-He will look at UMD.

What are some out of the other options? East coast is probably preferred, but open to other ideas.

New York state is really as big and varied as a lot of countries, and it has highly regarded, reasonably priced state universities.

Why are you thinking he should consider other schools?

If you think he should broaden his horizons: What if he went to a school like SUNY Buffalo and spent his junior year in a school
overseas?

Or: what about the University of Arizona? It's good, not that hard to get into, and probably a lot of fun.

[Anonymous]

Why out of state publics but not private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why out of state publics but not private?

I'm assuming they're cheaper? Am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the very beginning of a college search for a kid who lives in NY, and just assumes he will go to a SUNY, mainly because he doesn't know what the other options are.

I need help coming up with other ideas for him to look into. Solid enough grades. A little bit of extracurricular.

-He has no idea what he wants to do, but from what he describes, something like business might be a good idea, so we need an all purpose kind of school where he doesn't need to apply to a particular program for entry.
-There needs to be at least a bit of a Jewish population.
-He can't specify city/rural, big/small.
-He and his parents dont want to consider private, but are open to out of state state schools.
-He will look at UMD.

What are some out of the other options? East coast is probably preferred, but open to other ideas.

New York state is really as big and varied as a lot of countries, and it has highly regarded, reasonably priced state universities.

Why are you thinking he should consider other schools?

If you think he should broaden his horizons: What if he went to a school like SUNY Buffalo and spent his junior year in a school
overseas?

Or: what about the University of Arizona? It's good, not that hard to get into, and probably a lot of fun.

He's a bit sheltered and may want to consider branching out a bit further. He's applying to SUNYs because they don't know where else to apply. He's not opposed to looking elsewhere (I'm not trying to force it!) but isn't taking initiative to look into.

[Anonymous]

Kid should look at several SUNY’s and pick one. Why are you against his plan? I’m sure you have this child’s best interests at heart, but from what you’ve posted you’re no better informed than this family is. He’s got a good enough plan. MYOB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why out of state publics but not private?

I'm assuming they're cheaper? Am I wrong?

List price, for the most part, OOS publics are cheaper than privates. But privates often give merit aid that can make them comparable. I wouldn't rule them out. (Assuming cost is the driver - OP will have to clarify).

[Anonymous]

Start visiting schools. If the kid hasn't previously been to universities for sports camps, etc, he needs to visit. Start with something close to home-sounds like the Sunys are all basically rural. He also should see a big school and an urban school. What are his outside interests?

[Anonymous]

At the very beginning of a college search for a kid who lives in NY, and just assumes he will go to a SUNY, mainly because he doesn't know what the other options are.

I need help coming up with other ideas for him to look into. Solid enough grades. A little bit of extracurricular.

-He has no idea what he wants to do, but from what he describes, something like business might be a good idea, so we need an all purpose kind of school where he doesn't need to apply to a particular program for entry.
-There needs to be at least a bit of a Jewish population.
-He can't specify city/rural, big/small.
-He and his parents dont want to consider private, but are open to out of state state schools.
-He will look at UMD.

What are some out of the other options

? East coast is probably preferred, but open to other ideas.

Why are you meddling in this family's decision? Did they ask you to help?

[Anonymous]

" Why out of state publics but not private?

I'm assuming they're cheaper? Am I wrong?"

In a word, Yes, out of state publics are often not cheaper than privates.

With your description of the student, the privates he would apply to would have high sticker prices and then give lots of merit aid.

If he has the 75th percentile stats of the private, they will know he will be getting into a SUNY or three.

They also know that no one is going to pay 2X the SUNY price to go to a lower second/third tier NY private.

We are currently paying less than 45% of the sticker price of just such a school in NJ.

We got similar offers from NY privates.

I think the first thing we need to know to suggest schools is where in NY are we talking about?

If the student grew up on Long Island or in the city, the answers will be very different from Oswego or Irondequoit.

[Anonymous]

People, no need to lecture OP. Can’t you just answer her question??

- so not op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why out of state publics but not private?

I'm assuming they're cheaper? Am I wrong?

List price, for the most part, OOS publics are cheaper than privates. But privates often give merit aid that can make them comparable. I wouldn't rule them out. (Assuming cost is the driver - OP will have to clarify).

Thanks, that makes sense.

The kid doesn't have very strong interests, which is why it's hard to come up with alternatives. And which is why cost matters - if he was passionate about something that would require a particular private or region, they would make it work, but since he doesn't know, they don't want to spend more than they need to. They also recognize that he is sheltered (despite living very close to the city) and that going a little further away with people from different places might be a good idea.

As for why I'm involved, they brought it up. I'm close with the kid and I'm close with the parents. They are overwhelmed by the process and we were throwing around some ideas together, but I am only familiar with a handful of schools, amd most of their friends are just looking at SUNY too, so I thought I'd throw out the question to people who have more recent experience with the process.

[Anonymous]

Assuming this kid is a junior, then he and his parents still has plenty of time to figure this stuff out. The parents haven't given you enough info to go on. If he's a senior then, yes maybe random suggestions from DCUMers are better than nothing.

We could name every school on the East Coast that could possibly come in around the cost of OOS attendance at UMD, but it would all be just a stab in the dark. If the student has the stats to get into UMD, then he would likely qualify for some merit aid at some East Coast flagships (just not UVA, UNC). The same stats would likely get him merit aid at liberal arts colleges outside of the top ones and they may end up being comparable to an OOS public or even a little cheaper.

A co-worker of mine recently visited University of Delaware with a kid who is fairly undecided and leaning towards business - they really loved it. They have scholarships up to about $13K for kids with good stats. Other East Coast publics that offer fairly generous merit aid are Temple, South Carolina, some of the Florida schools, Pitt (need really good stats), Vermont, etc. Ohio State has a pretty generous OOS scholarship if he's willing to head west and doesn't mind a huge school.

[Anonymous]

While I don't have a specific example of BOTH good merit aid in the UNH Whittemore school of business and economics, I would vouch for each individually.

The school is strong and they have the ability to provide aid to less than stellar applicants.

[Anonymous]

What is his personality like?
Interests?
Artsy?
Into sports?
Likely to want Greek life?