Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any theories on what is driving increasing popularity of women's colleges?

More women are comfortable about "coming out" earlier in their lives

Troll alert.

Anonymous wrote:Any theories on what is driving increasing popularity of women's colleges?

More women are comfortable about "coming out" earlier in their lives

Any theories on what is driving increasing popularity of women's colleges?

Anonymous wrote:Geez, PP, what’s it to you?

you're right. I withdraw the question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

you think all colleges are fungible? W&M is much better than those two schools, so it should cost more. In this case you get what you're paying for.

More prestigious, sure. But, not necessarily "better" from a fit perspective. Too many posters on this board confuse selectivity with what is the best college for their kid from a fit or even a specific major perspective. My kid just turned down a whole slew of better/more selective colleges for a school he liked better and a program that he felt really met what he was looking for. I'm fine with it. The fact that it's saving me $35k/year is just gravy.

I hope it works out well for your kid. But what may seem a better "fit" now, to a teenager, might look different to a prospective employer or grad school admissions committee. Without knowing the details it's hard to say. You're not the one touting JMU over U.Va and W&M are you?

Sorry, no JMU bias here. Interestingly enough, I have a good friend who is the head of a Phd program at a major research university and I asked him about the importance of "brand name" in graduate school admissions. He basically said that exceling where you were was way more important than the reputation of the school. (Obviously, with two equal students the nod may go to the one with the undergrad degree from the school with a better reputation.) One of the points he also made was basically that the big fish from a small pond was way more likely to have had direct contact with professors who could write meaningful recommendations that could sway graduate school admission committees. There's also a school of thought out there that academic performance will be better at a school where a student is happier. So, I wouldn't discount it.

Geez, PP, what’s it to you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

you think all colleges are fungible? W&M is much better than those two schools, so it should cost more. In this case you get what you're paying for.

More prestigious, sure. But, not necessarily "better" from a fit perspective. Too many posters on this board confuse selectivity with what is the best college for their kid from a fit or even a specific major perspective. My kid just turned down a whole slew of better/more selective colleges for a school he liked better and a program that he felt really met what he was looking for. I'm fine with it. The fact that it's saving me $35k/year is just gravy.

I hope it works out well for your kid. But what may seem a better "fit" now, to a teenager, might look different to a prospective employer or grad school admissions committee. Without knowing the details it's hard to say. You're not the one touting JMU over U.Va and W&M are you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

you think all colleges are fungible? W&M is much better than those two schools, so it should cost more. In this case you get what you're paying for.

More prestigious, sure. But, not necessarily "better" from a fit perspective. Too many posters on this board confuse selectivity with what is the best college for their kid from a fit or even a specific major perspective. My kid just turned down a whole slew of better/more selective colleges for a school he liked better and a program that he felt really met what he was looking for. I'm fine with it. The fact that it's saving me $35k/year is just gravy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

you think all colleges are fungible? W&M is much better than those two schools, so it should cost more. In this case you get what you're paying for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

2018-2019 W&M COA
In-State: $39,225
OOS: $61,370

W&M parents are lucky to pay this compared to what I have to pay for Davidson. And W&M is just as good in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince DC of that.

PP are we will have WM tuition in state saved for each kid, plus two years of room and board per kid. pay the other two years per kid out of income. No loans and we can pay some above WM. But not $300k all in times 2 kids.

I hate that it is all need based, but does not consider that we live in NOVA, not SC, and because we were using saving for several years during the recession. Not adding to college funds. Good income now. But not 6-7 years ago. But colleges don’t consider these things in awarding aid

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

NEASCA colleges, by definition, do not give merit aid. Period. If you are in the donut hole for Williams, have a 1600 SAT, are an olympic athlete, are a Siemens finalist, cure cancer and graduate #1 in you class at TJ (where my kid actually is doing well) you still will not get a cent of merit aid from Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Bates, Colgate, etc. Reed has the same policy. As do Ivy’s. So even though my kid is topping out TJ with significant extracurriculars and SATs above 99%, he cannot even consider these schools. HHI $275. But, we live in the DMV (high COL) and are putting 2 kids through college over 6 years.

We have been saving more than $1500 per kid per month for several years. But we got killed in the recession with both parents losing jobs at various points and our house losing 100k in value. So we did not have steady saving during the recession.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

2018-2019 W&M COA
In-State: $39,225
OOS: $61,370

Yowza!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.

2018-2019 W&M COA
In-State: $39,225
OOS: $61,370

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLACs outside of the NE continue to gain in popularity (Rhodes, Sewanee, Kenyon, Denison, Macalester, Occidental).

They give merit aid. Lot of parents in the donuthole, which makes them affluent (high achieving kids) in urban areas. Out of pocket, likely 80k by the time my kid graduates, times two kids. When WM is an excellent in state option. Just not going to happen. Oberlin or Grinnell with about 20k to bridge the gap? Very interested. Probably more interested in Bates, Bowden, Reed or Amherst. But with no merit aid, we aren’t even considering them. We can’t be the only parents making this calculation.

I know of two NVa kids admitted to Sewanee and Rhodes this year with merit aid that put the net cost about 15% lower than W&M in-state. (Have you looked at W&M's total cost of attendance for next year? It was an eye opener for me.) So, don't assume a LAC is out of the question from a cost standpoint.