Another word of advice now. Don’t let him (and don’t you or his other parent) get too hung up on rankings or status. The things to focus on are academic fit, affordability for your family, and overall atmosphere of the school. The ranking is mostly a distraction. Don’t go down that rabbit hole, and don’t let others (relatives, well meaning friends) take him there if you can help it. Be sure he has a solid list of safeties, matches, and reaches, all of which he would be willing to attend and hopefully all of which appear to be affordable for your family. It is harder to find the matches & safeties – reaches are easy to find, so don’t focus most of the search effort on those.
@ctparent2019, since finances are going to be an issue you can’t separate FA from applications. Your S must understand clearly what you can afford to pay, and he must understand that he may end up being accepted to a school that he can’t attend because he isn’t awarded enough aid. He must be willing to apply for scholarships (at many schools there are different applications for different types of scholarships and they are separate from the school application), and understand that if the scholarships or need-based aid don’t come through he won’t be able to attend that particular college. And of course he must have a true safety that he can be admitted to AND afford. Since there is uncertainty with need-based and merit-based aid at many schools, it’s critical to spend time finding a school that your S would like to attend and you are certain will fit in the budget. Also, if your research turns up schools that will definitely cost too much even with all likely aid there’s no point in spending the time applying, and you certainly don’t want him falling in love with a school before finding out there’s no way he can go there. Some schools advertise massive merit scholarships, but they’re extremely competitive. If a school gives 10 full-ride scholarships among a freshman class of 5000, you want to know that going into the process instead of thinking a full ride is likely.
Oh, and you probably already know this but make sure he studies hard for the PSAT; it’s required junior year for consideration for National Merit (finalists can get very large scholarships at some very good schools), and if he doesn’t score in National Merit range the prep will still help him for the SAT.
STRONGLY recommend you give your son a $ that you can afford to pay - and make it realistic for you. Before a school goes on the list for consideration run the NPC (assuming it’s relatively accurate for your situation like you don’t own a business, etc). If the NPC comes up close to your number, it can go on your list. The number of students who come on here and say they got accepted to their dream school but can’t come close to affording it is heartbreaking. And in a vast majority of cases the students/parents thought that somehow the school would come up with big money for them because they were so talented. So avoid problems up front by marrying financial reality with the selection process - it can save you a lot of time and grief in the future. Also beware of GC’s who are overly optimistic about your son’s academic/financial chances at school. Certainly not every GC falls into this category but the few who do can really impact a student’s future and not in a good way
You know…you have us flying blind here.
What sorts of colleges do you think your kid will be applying to?
Just an FYI…NO KID needs to attend a $60,000 a year college. If he goes to your instate flagship, it will be MORE than 20% cheaper…even without a penny of need based aid.
You are looking for a $12,000 discount per year on a $60,000 per year college? And you are willing tomreduce your income VERY substantially to,get that?
How about doing as I suggested upstream. Take that “extra income” starting right now…and put it into that 529 you have started. That is a far better idea than quitting jobs and reducing income…because you you know…your kid won’t be in college forever…and you may want that job and it’s seniority back if you quit…and won’t be able to get it.
If your kid is a tippy top star student…there will probably be merit aid schools that willreduce your costs at places where MERIT is offered (no Ivies…sorry).
The honors college at your instate flagship is likely very good.
NPC caculators are not always accurate. You will find many post about them on this site. I would not rely on those numbers you are getting now to make decisions about your family’s finances and paying for college. If you were to take the information you are using now to fill them out and use that same info when your son is a senior I think you would see very different results.