Anonymous wrote:For those whose kids got merit, would you mind sharing where? My kid doesn't have a 4.0 but otherwise has good stats and we are looking for options.

UMCP, UMBC, SMCM, Pitt, USC (SC), UMiami...etc Schools like that. Not top tier but reasonably good schools.

A different perspective, OP.

I told DS he could not accept at the school that did not offer merit. He went to the lower ranked school with merit. T50 to a regional university. He is making 4.0 but bored and is seeking to transfer. Transfers are not eligible for any merit. In hindsight, I wish I had looked at a compromise that would have been more intellectually challenging and would still offer some merit. As it is, we are looking at it as two years @ $75k versus lower amount.

There are many threads on here about schools that offer generous merit aid.

For those whose kids got merit, would you mind sharing where? My kid doesn't have a 4.0 but otherwise has good stats and we are looking for options.

OP - I understand where you are coming from as school is such a large commitment. For our family, this was a
discussion before applications were submitted. DC identified a realistic reach for an ED application and we supported their choice. Knowing they were a solid candidate but one that needed a boost we did not submit for FA. DC was admitted, felt confident about the choice, and we’ve paid the full tuition without regret. Based on experiences of DC’s peers, they would have received significant merit at several of their match schools, but we’ve saved intentionally and attending the reach was DC’s wish. We are happy to invest in their confidence.

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had to decide between a great financial package at a safety school vs full pay at a reach school, how did you handle it? We can afford full pay but just barely. Anticipating that it will be hard to convince D.C. that a big name is not worth double the cost.

We chose the safety, and we're so glad we did. My kid got into T20 schools, but no FA. The safeties offered merit, and we said yes!! My kid did well and was very happy at the safety, and now has a lot of freedom because no college debt. We're happy because we didn't mortgage our house and our future to pay for our kid's expensive dream college.

What reach school has admitted students already?

Anonymous wrote:Don’t have your kid apply to a school you’re not willing to pay for. Then let them decide where to go. It’s that simple.

+1

DC didn’t have a choice, so we didn’t have to “convince” him of anything.

Who is the parent here? Do you give him control over your choice of car for your family, too? Do you have to “convince” him to buy that Honda rather than the BMW?

DC chose the full pay option because when it came right down to it, that was the school that felt like the best fit for many reasons. It is a bit of a financial stretch for us in the sense that we have to sacrifice other discretionary spending, but it is still within our budget. We would not have let our DC apply for a school we weren’t willing to pay for, and we knew this school offered no merit aid from from the outset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know your kid, mine will not do well in a safety, she is smart but not self-motivated

Don't really agree. There's a lot of grade inflation at top schools and employers won't care much about grades (though grad schools will). HYPS grad here.

Uh. What if they want to go to law school or grad school? Law school admission is now all about GPA and LSAT.

OP it is a good idea to tell your child that they will have to make a careful decision. I think the job of the parent is to guide their children by trying to make sure they have all the relevant information and by helping them to think through the possible consequences of each decision.

If you can’t afford full pay let them know they need to apply to affordable schools or try for merit or financial aid.

If you can barely pay full pay it is harder to know what to do. We were in this situation and we encouraged ds to apply to a variety of schools including at least one in-state, a few schools which offered merit aid and a couple of schools he loved but which would be full pay. We continued to discuss pros and cons (including paying for graduate school) all through senior year.

When the acceptances came in, he had been thinking about the trade offs for months. He ended up at the in-state option (with a scholarship) but only after he visited a couple of the places he had been admitted to. We encouraged him to take his time and not make a hasty decision.

For him, he opted for the in-state option because he wants to go graduate school and he was enjoyed their accepted student orientation. If we felt the affordable option would not have been a good fit, we would have encouraged him to choose a different school even if it was more expensive. Since you can afford full pay I think it is reasonable to consider fit.

Big merit was for 4 years, which for my DC, meant the last year was actually her first year in a professional program at the university. Sweet.

However, didn't know this when she decided. At the time she didn't know her major.

OP, by the time merit aid came it at all universities (or didn't), our price point moved. What we were willing to pay shifted. Because the gap had widened so. It became clear that DD had several very good options ... highlight on options ... not just 1 lower-cost school choice. The many options meant a very expensive school now stood out as an extreme outliner (even if it had originally been -a possible- re: cost)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know your kid, mine will not do well in a safety, she is smart but not self-motivated

Don't really agree. There's a lot of grade inflation at top schools and employers won't care much about grades (though grad schools will). HYPS grad here.

PP here - meant to post this in response to the post about it being harder to succeed at a top school compared to a safety

Agree with other PP that it really depends on what the schools are, in terms of whether it's worth it

Anonymous wrote:you know your kid, mine will not do well in a safety, she is smart but not self-motivated

Don't really agree. There's a lot of grade inflation at top schools and employers won't care much about grades (though grad schools will). HYPS grad here.