Chance me- 3.87 MI junior for Biology [molecular/cell/developmental, not pre-med] at selective colleges! [4.0 GPA for University of Michigan, <$15k]

Chance Me / Match Me
41

I want you to apply to BM and I hope you get in but I want you to have balance.

Let me ask you this - if you were a full pay family but mom and dad said you had 10k a year for college, which would it be ? I want you to find that school next but it’s the assured home. Do you live by a two year or four year you can commute to ?

I’ve heard of schools getting into the 20s, like Susquehanna but you are in a tight spot at $10k-ish. Collehe is expensive, unfortunately.

Definitely run the NPC for Berea.

42

Our income is too high for Berea unfortunately. I live relatively nearby to Macomb Community College and Wayne State. WSU would only be affordable if I get a pretty good merit scholarship. (Which I guess I would probably get with my stats)

It’s honestly just extremely disheartening trying to find this “needle in a haystack” school that

  1. Meets full need (or some equivalent in merit scholarships)
  2. Is need blind
  3. Is somewhere I could actually get into

Additionally, it’s even more confusing because not all colleges meet full need in the same way- Laf’s NPC gave me a 9k estimate, where Lehigh’s (a need blind school) gave me a 20k one. It just feels like there’s no winning here. :frowning:

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Wayne State University web site suggests that it’s net price calculator includes merit scholarships. Have you checked?

44

Realistically you may need to have a commuter school as your deep backup option.

But I would not get too discouraged overall. If you come up with enough realistic options that at least might work, then you can apply to a lot of those and have a reasonable chance of one or more offers to consider.

45

That doesn’t mean you won’t get in though. We had a similiar situation and we overcame this issue by applying to a lot of schools. Sometimes you can get fee waivers -and that’s worth looking into. And some schools simply have free applications. It takes time and hard work to apply to a lot of schools.

Do be aware that need-aware REALLY varies between schools. Turns out Northeastern is SUPER need aware but other schools not so much.

I can say from my daughter’s acceptances that Colorado College was very generous -but it’s a very outdoorsie school. Trinity (TX) was also spot on regarding their NPC.

Just as I said above - run the NPCs and make a bigger list of schools if you feel you have the time and energy. Definitely look into fee waivers (sometimes you can just call and ask - Colorado College just sent my daughter a code)

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46

It is true - schools look at need differently. That’s why you need to apply to many - and check the NPCs which aren’t always right. We see some kids on here get more, some less than the NPCs say.

But sometimes parents with businesses - the NPCs are off - because of expense writedowns a college may not accept. Other schools include home equity and there can be other variances - hence the difference between Lehigh and Lafayette. Lehigh, btw, is need blind (on most kids they say) whereas Lafayette clearly isn’t - so Lafayette may be more aggressive but can easily say no. Lehighs grants are $3K larger on average than Laf - to show this somewhat.

There are schools out there with full rides but hard to get - from a Wash & Lee - which is also need blind to SMU to a student recently got one at East Carolina to UNC Charlotte to many more (UNC, UVA, Davidson, Emory to name a few). The issue becomes are you Ivy worthy which you often need to be to get these (maybe not quite at East Carolina) to how many apps can you do.

It sounds like you are in the position of your family has given you a limited budget but earns enough to not go free.

So my suggestion - get your SAT out of the way. Let’s see how you do.

I don’t see schools like Kalamazoo or Beloit or Depauw getting to $10K but you can check them.

Here is the list of colleges that meet need - it’s third party but you can go through some of the NPCs - have your family do it. You can save their info on the college board website to save time. Use the NPCs, not my intuition.

For a kid, I know it stinks - but please realize, colleges are businesses. The state schools - which you have many - will support its students and do in Michigan with free tuition if qualified but that still leaves room and board. Private colleges are that - so they can’t just enroll kids. People have to pay the bills. It’s like sometimes you stay at a Days Inn instead of a Marriot when you travel. You go where you can afford and for you, it might be community college - or you might get lucky so find those NPCs that work and focus there.

Maybe mix in a school with a hail mary (free scholarship) but they are a lot of work and competition insane. You’ll be able to evaluate after getting an SAT if those are worth it.

Wayne State has a free tuition program - ie the state taking care of you. So tuition is reasonable and as mentioned above, their NPC will give you the merit amount - so likely affordable without (with you taking a summer job or small loan).

PS - make sure to look at Skidmore. Why? There’s another post - a student got $26K or so at meets need Rochester but $4K at Skidmore. Not sure why the delta - but worth a look.

Good luck.

Wayne State Guarantee - Financial Aid - Wayne State University

Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid · PrepScholar

47

Yes, the OP’s situation is not at all unique, many kids/families have this issue. And it for sure is not stress free, or particularly easy, to navigate.

But again the good news is a lot of people here are willing to help, and in fact overall I think applicants like the OP who then do what they can to reasonably use that help have at least mostly gotten results they were happy with in the end.

But also again, most is not all, so the OP 100% needs a plan for what to do if no selective college both admits them and meets their budget. However, with that understanding, there are indeed many things the OP can do to try to get an offer they would prefer, including making sure to apply to a lot of colleges that realistically at least might work (in the event ED1 does not work, of course).

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48

I agree that the ‘free ride’ scholarships are SUPER SUPER competitve. I think they are often looking for the 4.0/36 ACT/1600 SAT grades before they even look at ECs. At least that was my impression.

49

I note the OP already reported they checked the NPC at Depauw and stated it “was good”, but also a bit higher than Bryn Mawr and Lafayette.

50

Not sure what good means. They have a 9k budget. So even with a loan, 15k.

Depauw is 77k direct costs. Avg grant $50k. Of 487 261 got need aid. I’m sure the rest get merit. 224 dud. No one paying full there so maybe op gets lucky.

But they have to play around on NPCs a lot and find those to hit budget + $5500. And of course, when they go costs will have gone up.

51

The OP was pretty clear that meant its NPC came in under the limit set by their parents:

52

Apparently, U Rochester is need-blind (unless you’re waitlisted) and meets full need, so I think I’ll be adding it to my list. Plus it has a 40% acceptance rate.

I’m currently in the process of running about a billion NPCs too.

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53

Depauw is generous in how they figure need. They use the all in figure of books , travel, and incidentals. If I had the budget and stats of this student, Depauw would be a no brainer.

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I assume Rochester looked good on their NPC? If so that is a great option.

Another university you could consider checking out would be Brandeis, which is also meets full need and need blind.

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55

Depauw - LAC in Indiana. Not DePaul in Chicago. Well you say Depauw later so you might be referencing them.

I think anywhere the NPC looks good is worth a shot. It’s a buyer’s market - schools need butts in seat and any revenue so maybe start at US News #1 and work down. Even non meets need schools can be generous.

56

That’s amazing, I’ll certainly check out Brandeis.

Also, U Rochester came back as 16k a year from their NPC. A little high, but hopefully with a 5.5k federal direct loan and a bunch of work study, it’ll be alright?

57

Did Rochester’s NPC say whether their aid package would already include loans and/or work study?

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58

Fair point - you have to look at the details. Most schools are not loan free. Look at the price after grant and note this can change for next year’s apps. But it’s good for you to run all schools off the list I sent earlier and not just names as you hear them. Brandeis, as an example, is re-orging due to financial woes so I’d be less inclined if I had others showing as well.

59

I meant Depauw. I think it autocorrected

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60

I got 6k on CollegeRaptor’s NPC for Brandeis!! :smiley: