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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are in the donut hole: too much money for FA, not enough to afford privates or OOS public.

DD has a 3.9 unweighted, but she's a junior and is floundering this year. She'll probably end up with a 3.2 at the end of the year at the rate she's going. Her SATs will probably be around 1200 based on her PSAT scores, according to her high school counselor.

I am starting to compile a list of places for DD to visit during spring break, but aside from our in-state schools, what other colleges will accept someone with her stats, and give her merit aid? She has one somewhat unusual interest, is a non-varsity athlete, no special talents except that she's nice and funny and people like her.

She's social and outgoing, so she'll feel fine in a large OOS public, but we can only afford it if she can get merit aid. She'd probably prefer a SLAC, but are there any that would give her enough merit aid to match in-state tuition?

Any suggestions? I'm thinking U Delaware, U VT, maybe Penn State? Any other ideas? Northeastern, maybe? [/quote]

OP, I for one do not think there is anything wrong with your DD's stats. I think she will find a great college and do well there. But I don't think, given your financial limitations and your DD's stats, that that college will be Penn State or UVM or Northeastern.

Only 8% of Penn State students with no financial need get aid, and the average amount of that aid is $4500. Most of those students will be PA residents, and they will be students with the highest test scores and GPAs. IOW, not your DD. OOS cost of attendance is about $60k. Are you thinking of other Penn State options besides the main campus? You are still talking close to $50k for an OOS student.

UVM OOS cost of attendance is $54k. UVM does give merit aid to a lot of students, but their 75th percentile SAT score is 640/650 (V/M). Most merit aid will go to students with scores above that level.

Northeastern gives a boat-load of merit aid, but their 75th percentile SAT score is 740/760. (Yes, really.) Merit aid will go to the top applicants. (This is not the Northeastern of our youth.)

You need to go to a good college search engine, such as this one: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

And search for colleges that meet your DD's preferences for location, size, etc., and that have a 75th percentile SAT score that is at or below what you think your DD's will be. (This website lets you set the 25th percentile, so you have to guestimate.) This will give you a list of colleges where your DD might be a desirable applicant. Then you need to cut that list down by seeing which ones offer meaningful merit aid. That information is most easily found by googling the name of the college and "common data set." Go to the common data set, to section H (financial aid.) Line n. tells you the number of students who had no financial need (that is, had an expected family contribution that was at or above the cost of attendance) who received scholarships. Line o. tells you the average amount of those scholarships. This will give you an idea of the likelihood that top applicants are offered merit aid and how much those awards might be. When you find schools that look promising, google the name of the college and "net price calculator." Here you will find a tool that will help you estimate what a student like your DD might pay. Be warned--some of these are much more helpful than others. The more info they ask for (test scores, GPA, family income) the more accurate the estimate.

You can also use the college navigator website to search for public universities and then quickly look to see what the OOS cost of attendance is at the schools. Remember that the College navigator's estimates of net price paid by family income includes the large number of students who will be paying in-state prices. That's not an accurate estimate for OOS students. Go to the college website and run the net price calculator.

You can also search on the College Confidential website for a running post on "colleges that give merit aid" or something like that for ideas. There's also a number of threads there on "colleges for B students." Very helpful. Stick to the parent forum. Lots of good advice.[/quote]

some good info here, however I'm not sure where you get your numbers for PSU.

COA at PSU is $47K - http://admissions.psu.edu/costs-aid/tuition/ (less if you're only counting billable costs.)[/quote]

Sorry, you are right. I didn't see that the "additional estimated costs" included room & board, so I added it in, double counting it. Thanks for the catch.[/quote]

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