Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.

Wut?

My DC is at Denison with $26K/year in merit aid.

Yeah, Denison gives merit aid. Their net price calculator says a student with parents making 500k a year and a 3.75 gpa and 31 act gets 24k a year

Wow! Had no idea. Insisted on instate.

We just did the Ohio tours.

Wooster is a College that Changes Lives school that really, really impressed me, and they do an ton of aid. Denison does. Kenyon and Oberlin do, but you would need higher stats (but not ridiculous). Next up for us? Grinnell and Macalester, which are also generous with merit aid for smart kids. Lots of CTCL schools out there that are excellent and have great merit aid, if you look for them.

I loved pretty much all of the Ohio schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow is that now the prepaid works? You pay in the current value of tuition and it covers whatever tuition is at the time you matriculate? That could be a pretty sweet deal, depending on a family’s finances.

We were not interested when we moved here a few years ago, as Kid prob won’t attend public va school and we don’t need the savings, so didn’t research the specifics. But Interesting!

Basically. You lock in the cost of VA Tuition and you have how every many semesters you bought locked in. My kids have 8 semesters each. Will 100% cover tuition and fees at any state school— 2 year or 4 year. 2 year has a conversion factor, so you get more than one semester of CC. 4 year you pay zip (except room and board and up charges for some special programs like engineering and nursing), whether your kid goes to WM, UVA, VCU, Longwood, or someplace else. Can pay lump sum, or some each month (we autodebit each month).

In practice, you come out way ahead on VMI and WM. We started in 7th and will finish paying the May before DS starts college. WM is highly likely for this kid. In that case, we will have paid $68,000 for 4 years of tuition valued at about $100,000. UVA, we would break even or be slightly ahead. VT, VCU, JMU, we would lose money (maybe $8-10k). But, I am very risk adverse. So knowing that I have locked in their college tuition no matter what happens to the economy or the cost of state schools helps me sleep at night. And knowing WM is likely for at least one kid means we will come out ahead between the two.

If DC goes in state private, we get what we put in with a decent rate of return. OOS school? We get the average price of a VA 4 year school, so we will end up behind what we would have in an INVEST account (unless the economy tanks).

But, if DC1 goes OOS, we will probably roll two years over to fully fund DC2 (who is 2 years younger) and then keep saving everything else into INVEST, to minimize the hit if neither kid goes in state.

We are also saving about 2 years of room and board per kid in the INVEST. We can make up the other 2, plus some gap between public and private.

The WM bonus would be great. But for me, it’s just peace of mind. No matter what else happens, I can send both kids to WM/ VT/ UVA without debt or digging into retirement. I wish I could say, to any college they want. But a WM/ UVA/VT hard science education with no loans is nothing to sneeze at.

Is this true? You would actually lose the money that you put into the account if you choose a VA school that costs less?

Yes. Because you are buying semesters of education at any state school. Not at a specific state school. I paid $68,000 for 8 semesters of any VA 4 year college. You don’t own the money. You buy the amount of education.

To be fair, at the rate educational costs are going up, you probably don’t lose money unless you start late. We didn’t start until 8th grade for DC1 for a variety of reasons, including not living in VA. If we had started at birth, we’d be ahead no matter what school.

But it’s not for everyone. Weigh the risk of leaving some money on the table vs the risk of having a kid choose WM or of a VA funding shortfall and a sharp increase in college costs, or another recession wiping out invest 529 savings. Since we started saving close to college and could not rebound from another recession (we got killed in the last one), and had a kid heading to TJ, which has an 85% WM admit rate (that is, he could almost certainly get in) , and we knew he wanted a small school and not engineering, prepaid made sense for us. You have to read the info carefully and make the best call for yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow is that now the prepaid works? You pay in the current value of tuition and it covers whatever tuition is at the time you matriculate? That could be a pretty sweet deal, depending on a family’s finances.

We were not interested when we moved here a few years ago, as Kid prob won’t attend public va school and we don’t need the savings, so didn’t research the specifics. But Interesting!

Basically. You lock in the cost of VA Tuition and you have how every many semesters you bought locked in. My kids have 8 semesters each. Will 100% cover tuition and fees at any state school— 2 year or 4 year. 2 year has a conversion factor, so you get more than one semester of CC. 4 year you pay zip (except room and board and up charges for some special programs like engineering and nursing), whether your kid goes to WM, UVA, VCU, Longwood, or someplace else. Can pay lump sum, or some each month (we autodebit each month).

In practice, you come out way ahead on VMI and WM. We started in 7th and will finish paying the May before DS starts college. WM is highly likely for this kid. In that case, we will have paid $68,000 for 4 years of tuition valued at about $100,000. UVA, we would break even or be slightly ahead. VT, VCU, JMU, we would lose money (maybe $8-10k). But, I am very risk adverse. So knowing that I have locked in their college tuition no matter what happens to the economy or the cost of state schools helps me sleep at night. And knowing WM is likely for at least one kid means we will come out ahead between the two.

If DC goes in state private, we get what we put in with a decent rate of return. OOS school? We get the average price of a VA 4 year school, so we will end up behind what we would have in an INVEST account (unless the economy tanks).

But, if DC1 goes OOS, we will probably roll two years over to fully fund DC2 (who is 2 years younger) and then keep saving everything else into INVEST, to minimize the hit if neither kid goes in state.

We are also saving about 2 years of room and board per kid in the INVEST. We can make up the other 2, plus some gap between public and private.

The WM bonus would be great. But for me, it’s just peace of mind. No matter what else happens, I can send both kids to WM/ VT/ UVA without debt or digging into retirement. I wish I could say, to any college they want. But a WM/ UVA/VT hard science education with no loans is nothing to sneeze at.

Is this true? You would actually lose the money that you put into the account if you choose a VA school that costs less?

Try raiseme. You sign your kid up for an account, they put in grades, extracurriculars, awards, etc and earn micro scholarships. Also for college visits, college interviews, college fairs, taking the PSAT, SAT, ACT. If they get into a school that participates, the money is theirs in the form of a merit scholarship. It’s new, and lots of schools don’t participate. But, with 2 years of grades, 2 big extracurriculars, PSAT 10 and some college visits, my kid has $7500 from Oberlin in his account, over $20,000 from Denison and over $30,000 from Wooster.

We also learned this weekend that Wooster and Oberlin both now do early aid. You file a transcript, SATs and extracurriculars, plus that FAFSA in August, and they will give, you an financial aid estimate (need AND MERIT) before you have to apply for ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.

Wut?

My DC is at Denison with $26K/year in merit aid.

Yeah, Denison gives merit aid. Their net price calculator says a student with parents making 500k a year and a 3.75 gpa and 31 act gets 24k a year

Wow! Had no idea. Insisted on instate.

We just did the Ohio tours.

Wooster is a College that Changes Lives school that really, really impressed me, and they do an ton of aid. Denison does. Kenyon and Oberlin do, but you would need higher stats (but not ridiculous). Next up for us? Grinnell and Macalester, which are also generous with merit aid for smart kids. Lots of CTCL schools out there that are excellent and have great merit aid, if you look for them.

Anonymous wrote:Wow is that now the prepaid works? You pay in the current value of tuition and it covers whatever tuition is at the time you matriculate? That could be a pretty sweet deal, depending on a family’s finances.

We were not interested when we moved here a few years ago, as Kid prob won’t attend public va school and we don’t need the savings, so didn’t research the specifics. But Interesting!

Basically. You lock in the cost of VA Tuition and you have how every many semesters you bought locked in. My kids have 8 semesters each. Will 100% cover tuition and fees at any state school— 2 year or 4 year. 2 year has a conversion factor, so you get more than one semester of CC. 4 year you pay zip (except room and board and up charges for some special programs like engineering and nursing), whether your kid goes to WM, UVA, VCU, Longwood, or someplace else. Can pay lump sum, or some each month (we autodebit each month).

In practice, you come out way ahead on VMI and WM. We started in 7th and will finish paying the May before DS starts college. WM is highly likely for this kid. In that case, we will have paid $68,000 for 4 years of tuition valued at about $100,000. UVA, we would break even or be slightly ahead. VT, VCU, JMU, we would lose money (maybe $8-10k). But, I am very risk adverse. So knowing that I have locked in their college tuition no matter what happens to the economy or the cost of state schools helps me sleep at night. And knowing WM is likely for at least one kid means we will come out ahead between the two.

If DC goes in state private, we get what we put in with a decent rate of return. OOS school? We get the average price of a VA 4 year school, so we will end up behind what we would have in an INVEST account (unless the economy tanks).

But, if DC1 goes OOS, we will probably roll two years over to fully fund DC2 (who is 2 years younger) and then keep saving everything else into INVEST, to minimize the hit if neither kid goes in state.

We are also saving about 2 years of room and board per kid in the INVEST. We can make up the other 2, plus some gap between public and private.

The WM bonus would be great. But for me, it’s just peace of mind. No matter what else happens, I can send both kids to WM/ VT/ UVA without debt or digging into retirement. I wish I could say, to any college they want. But a WM/ UVA/VT hard science education with no loans is nothing to sneeze at.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.

Wut?

My DC is at Denison with $26K/year in merit aid.

Yeah, Denison gives merit aid. Their net price calculator says a student with parents making 500k a year and a 3.75 gpa and 31 act gets 24k a year

Wow! Had no idea. Insisted on instate.

Wow is that now the prepaid works? You pay in the current value of tuition and it covers whatever tuition is at the time you matriculate? That could be a pretty sweet deal, depending on a family’s finances.

We were not interested when we moved here a few years ago, as Kid prob won’t attend public va school and we don’t need the savings, so didn’t research the specifics. But Interesting!

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Yowza![/b]

Holy, Moley, when did that happen? I have a student at UVA. We're paying only $23K (everything included).

$23K? Does your student have a scholarship? None of these figures are near $23K, they are higher:

https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/18-19

Yep. WM $23,400 next year tuitiion and fees, $15,800 R and board, books, travel, incidentals. But this does not increase after the first year. So yeah— close to $40,000, all in WM. Making me very thankful that I have a prepaid VA 529 and a kid whose first choice is WM, and is from TJ with the stats to get in.

BTW—we didn’t start the prepaid part of the 529 until 7th grade. We will ultimately pay in about $67,000 in tuition, without a lot of time for it to increase in value, but it will cover about $100,000 in the 8 semesters of tuition we bought if DC ends up at WM starting in 2020. If you have a kid who might go to WM, it’s a great deal.

The again— VT is only $13,600 in tuition and fees next year, and under $23,000 with room and board. CNU is about this much. As is BCU.

UVA $16,520 tuition next year, $32,500 all in.

BTW, I heard on NPR that WM is the most expensive public school in the country...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.

Wut?

My DC is at Denison with $26K/year in merit aid.

Yeah, Denison gives merit aid. Their net price calculator says a student with parents making 500k a year and a 3.75 gpa and 31 act gets 24k a year

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:<<Not every TJ parent is gunning for the most prestigious college sticker to put on their car. Some of us are looking hard at kids interest, talents, needs and fit. You do you. My kid will be fine.>>

Yah, I want to hang out with this other parent: he/she is reflecting our family's approach exactly.

We would just substitute MoCo for TJ in the quoted passage! My child selected the least prestigious of the 7 schools he got into. And I totally support his decision: it was clearly the best fit all around.

What is your kid like and which school proved to be the best fit? Curious how he researched and found this school. Our priorities are similar to yours. Our kids might be different but would love some insight into how you researched schools and your decision making process once he had 7 acceptances
FWIW my kid wants a LAC (small or mid sized) which has a strong biology program. Wants a Northeast/mid Atlantic college where kids are serious and intellectually curious but does not want a pressure cooker. It does not have to be a top 20 school but He wants a school that places students into top graduate schools. He has excellent stats and very good ECs

Haverford.

Thanks
Looked at Haverford (he liked it) but was confused by the biology program. It sounds like they focus on microbiology while Bryn Mawr focuses on Macrobiology. Not sure how that works if ds discovers he really prefers Macrobiology. Technically students can take courses at either college but not sure how that works in practice and whether there are any downsides to having to take courses at two colleges. Also not sure what it means for research opportunities if you want to work with a professor at Bryn Mawr whether you would find it harder since you are not a Bryn Mawr student.
I suspect if ds wants to study biology seriously he would be better off at a bigger research university but I know he would be happier at a liberal arts college. Still hoping to find a wonderful liberal arts college in PA, MA, CT, NY or MD with a strong biology program

Hamilton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GT is a good school but it’s no mit.

What is? But when the school has zero college-type experiences and you feel like you are headed to an office with a group of socially awkward people rather than class with some young adults, what value do you put on that?

Top businesses around the country line up to get engineers from GT. They do well all over the country and they can hold a conversation on subjects besides nano physics.

GT is No.1 - to No. 5 depending on rankings for aerospace engineering in the nation. https://ae.gatech.edu/

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Lafayette or bucknell but for the rest....none.

Wut?

My DC is at Denison with $26K/year in merit aid.

Anonymous wrote:GT is a good school but it’s no mit.

What is? But when the school has zero college-type experiences and you feel like you are headed to an office with a group of socially awkward people rather than class with some young adults, what value do you put on that?

Top businesses around the country line up to get engineers from GT. They do well all over the country and they can hold a conversation on subjects besides nano physics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From our HS:

Georgia
Indiana
Tulane
VT
Colorado

Interesting. Georgia Tech or UGA? I have a kid at TJ. And they always have a large number of kids admitted to GT Engineering and 1-2 kids who go. Vs. a couple dozen kids who go to each of to Michigan Engineering and Illinois-CU Engineering. And since I have a class of 2020 kids interested in LACs, And not Engineering, I never dig deep enough to figure out why that is? GT is as good, or better, in Engineering. Better financial aid? A desire not to love in the South? Better TJ recruiting? Interested because DH is from GA and I also grew up in the South.

Also interested to hear about hot LACs or small national universities. Especially ones with good merit aid (which knocks out a lot of schools). Oberlin was always on my radar, but College of Wooster, Kenyon and Grinnell look surprisingly good on paper. Very high percent of kids in top PhD programs. Very good undergrad science research. Excellent merit aid. Also Denison, which was scratched of our list for my kid specific reasons. And Davidson, which I knew about since it is a Southern school. It would surprise me if there wasn’t a run on these schools. Anyone?

My DC picked GT over Michigan and we are from the NE. I think people pick Michigan over GT if there could be a possibility of not majoring in engineering. At GT, it’s engineering and maybe business school. That’s it. My DC refused to apply to MIT/CMU/HM etc - DC wanted a college experience - football games, etc. At the end of the day, GT has been a good fit for DC - never thought we would say this as we were not happy when DC didn’t want to apply to the schools we thought were “better”! Hopefully all the parents going through this process will “relax” - your DC will be fine and sometimes they know better than us.

Better than GT for engineering/CS? That list is very short and on the east coast, that list is MIT.