Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, as someone new to this too I wanted to explain what I have learned about the cost of private school. There is not a set price that everyone pays, the “sticker price” on the website is adjusted in the financial aid package which is based on merit (grades and scores) and family income.

Sometimes you can pay the same amount at a private school as you would at a local public state university depending on the aid package.

Often immigrants or price sensitive students aren’t aware of this.

Anonymous wrote:University of Alabama gives you a free ride for a perfect sat score.

Look at presidential elite scholar in the link below

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Anonymous wrote:University of Alabama gives you a free ride for a perfect sat score.

Look at presidential elite scholar in the link below

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Anonymous wrote:OP, you cannot afford UC Berkeley. UCB will not give aid to your out-of-state student.

Many colleges do give need-based financial aid. See if you are eligible by using college Net Price Calculators. Each college has a Net Price Calculator on its financial aid website that will show you how much aid you can expect from that college for your specific financial situation.

If your son is a National Merit Finalist, take a look at the nice merit packages at University of Alabama https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/national-merit/ and University of Tulsa https://utulsa.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/nmsf/

Private colleges give need-based financial aid to out of state students like your son. So, use the Net Price Calculators for Mudd and Caltech, for example, to see if they would be affordable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:N VA - Asian Male interested in Computer Science major. Any colleges (in state prferably) which would be easy to get in with a 1600 SAT score. Average ECs, no other hook, no leadership roles. Summer software internship and 100+ volunteering hours

What is he actually the most interested in? What does he do for fun, and what are the people where he did his internship telling him? Thank you for the detailed response, these are excellent questions. He is interested in Computer science and specifically on the AI/Machine Learning side. His internship has been on that side as well. He loves sports, and is part of his schools Mobile Apps Development and Debate Team.

How much formal prep did he do to get the 1600? Is he really a bright, curious kid who reads a lot, or a kid with no interests other than Fortnite who prepped a lot?
He prepared on and off with Khan Academy. He has been a bright kid, and mostly a straight A/A1 minus student, loves to read and balanced in terms of his education/interests and excercising which he is passionate about

Will he probably be a National Merit finalist?
He scored 1500/1520 so should be on the Semifinalist list hopefully - not sure about the finalist

How much can the family afford to pay based on savings, what the student could earn during the academic year and summers, and what the parents could likely pay out of current earnings? (Example: If the parents are already paying for things like clubs, tutoring and allowance, how much is that? Could the parents pay that plus some extra for college?)
Around 25K per year is what we can afford - we know that is very less

What does “Asian” mean? Is the student someone who really knows an Asian language and could study at a college-language at that level, or a single-passport U.S. citizen who just happens to look Asian?
Asian family, kid born in US and US citizen

If he’s really a gamer who prepped hard to get the 1600 and has no real interest in doing anything other than earning a living and having time to chill, then the logical thing is to apply to UVa, Virginia Tech and George Mason, and maybe using Virginia Commonwealth or being a math major at George Mason as a safety.

The simple way for him to disaster proof himself would be to take accounting and economic classes and aim more for jobs at places like Capital One than at FAANGs.

If he’s really a bright, curious student, try adding Harvey Mudd, Cal Tech and WUSTL to the list. Thank you will look into this. His dream school is UC berkley which however does seem next to impossible to get into, being in VA

Cal Tech and Harvey Mudd have fabulous financial aid. The downside there for a dutiful prepper is that they’re hard. The upside for a genuinely bright kid is that they’re challenging. Thank you, will look into both of these schools

It’s a mistake for kids who think going to those schools would be fun and who might get in to assume they’d be too expensive. Students on that wavelength should try applying and see what happens; maybe the net price will be low.

WUSTL has some full tuition scholarships and some genuinely bright students, and it might be more excited about the high SATs than negative about the ECs. For some students, going to WUSTL could be cheaper than going to community college and living at home.

If the student would like a place like WUSTL, he could use Case Western, University of Rochester or a less selective/merit rich school in a fun place (example: Arizona State) as another way to escape from the George Mason gravitational field. Thank you, makes sense

Given that George Mason should be a safety for the student and has amazing access to great employers, it’s probably a mistake for the student to apply to any out-of-state schools less well-known than Arizona State, unless he’s aiming for a school in a particular type of location.