My two cents is even if it is possible for you to take on $40K in personal debt, you should think very seriously about whether that is a good idea, particularly since you think an extended grad program might be in your future too.
So personally, I would be chasing stackable merit (meaning they will add it to your need aid and not offset it) to try to cover that gap.
I believe Rochester does offer stackable merit, so they might actually get you where you need to go.
I also believe Case offers stackable merit, and would be another good choice if so.
I am not sure RPI stacks, but they are a great Physics college with robust merit, so you might try to check them out.
Kenyon says it will stack merit but with a âlimitâ. Still, might be worth checking out in your case.
Finally, I think Franklin & Marshall is saying they will stack merit (although I find their statement a little ambiguous). Anyway, that is another strong Physics LAC you might want to check out.
The fees are subtracted first. The fees for undergraduate loans arenât huge - just over 1% - but they make a difference (and the entire amount borrowed, including the loan fees, is repaid with interest). A $5,500 loan actually pays out at $5,442 (or $5,441 depending on how the rounding is done).
But the rest above will be over 4% - excessive fees on top of interest. And IMHO best to be avoided.
OP is really limited but should shoot for those Hail Mary scholarships starting with W&L and the Johnson.
Hereâs a third party list. OP should check each school itself and these should be considered beyond high reach but maybe a few are worth a shot - certainly W&L and SMU are.
Thank you all so much for the financial insight⊠So the census Iâm getting is that ED would not be in my best interest? I donât really want to, but I also donât want to squander potential opportunities to help my chances.
The reason why I posted on chance me⊠am I competitive enough to not have to apply ed to get into the schools on my list? I know Iâm a good applicant, but half of the kids from my high school donât go to college, so I canât really compare myself to the rest of the country.
If you are getting NPCs above what you are able to pay, then you cannot ED as itâs binding. If a school says your cost is $20k and you apply knowing that, then youâre stuck.
Assuming you are a Junior as youâve missed many EDs.
What is your family income ? Is Questbridge a possibility ? Your family income should be $65k or less I believe. Iâm guessing given your NOCs itâs not possible but worth an ask.
Since you go to a private academy and are rural, talk to your counselor about success stories. They likely have great insights.
As a statistical aspect to consider, MIT reports a 25th percentile SAT score of 1520. This makes it one of the few schools in the nation for which your score would place you below the 25th percentile for attending students. This isnât said here to discourage your interest in MIT; MIT remains suitable for you. However, I would suggest that, for the majority of your list, you include colleges for which your excellent SAT result would contribute toward your likelihood of admission.
I am a senior, the Williams ed deadline is November 15. Family income is $150k. Unfortunately, all of the school counselors are new within the last two years and donât have much experience either as a counselor or at a small school.
How is this split between Math versus English/Reading?
I agree with others that you should not apply ED anywhere. Finances are more important than whether you end up at U.Maine, Williams, or MIT or somewhere else. One issue is that you will find other very strong students and good research opportunities at any of these schools. MIT might have more opportunities, but competition will be intense. The academics at MIT are also quite intense even if you do not have a financial need to also hold a part time job (although some students do manage to do both). At U.Maine while you will find other very strong students, you might be able to at least be a bit closer to the top of the class, and thereby stand out a bit and get to know your professors, and still find good research opportunities.
PhDâs are usually fully funded. However, the funding is sort of minimal, or perhaps covers tuition and fees and a small stipend (and health insurance in at least some cases, including our daughterâs current PhD program), but the stipend is typically barely enough to live on. Paying off student loans at the same time could be tough. A masterâs degree is usually not funded. Minimizing the amount of debt that you take on for your bachelorâs degree will be valuable and could open up some opportunities down the road.
Research experience is likely to be at least as important as the difference between any two schools on your list. This position sounds likely to be valuable, without my knowing quite what it consists of. This can both help with a first job after graduating, and also help with graduate school admissions.
I think that you are doing very well. MIT (and Harvard and Cornell) will still be there when you are applying to graduate programs.
Yes, it is $150k and they donât really have any assets, are still only halfway done with mortgage, and my dad only finished his student loans at 50. They did the npc.
Thank you, the sat was a 760 eng 750 math⊠I hope though that they will see the 5 in ap calc ab and my enrollment in multivariable and conclude that Iâm fine at math.
Many schools donât care how much debt you have or COL, your numbers seem off for aid with $150,000 income. We had 2 in in state publicâs with that income and received $0 in FA.
I would not ED anywhere if I were you. You are a PHENOMENAL student!!! Congratulations on all your hard work and accomplishments! But your issue is cost, and your focus during this admissions process needs to be cost. With your parentsâ income of $150,000, you are not going to find many schools with a price tag of $5,000 - $10,000. If were you, I would do three things right now:
Forget ED.
Make a list (perhaps with CCâs help) of schools that might give you a full ride (since thatâs essentially what you need). These schools will be a tier or so lower from the reaches you are considering, but you need to focus on schools you will actually be able to afford to attend.
Have another discussion with your parents about cost. Have them open up school webpages and run the NPCâs themselves. Have them look at student federal loan limits. If a low-income family truly only has $5,000 to contribute to a childâs education, thatâs completely fine! And if a high-income family chooses not to contribute (much) to their childâs education because they have a value system that says kids should find a way to pay for college on their own and make their own way in the world, thatâs completely fine too! But from what youâve written, this doesnât describe your family. Your family makes a comfortable income and is choosing not to help you pay for college because of⊠a mortgage? Did they do zero college savings in the past 18 years? Are they saying they really canât afford $15,000 per year (making them survive on $135,000 per year for 4 years)? That number plus $5,000 in loans would put many more schools in reach. Something doesnât add up here. Either you donât fully understand your familyâs financial situation (which I suspect may be the case) or your parents donât fully understand the current costs of attending college. Either way, you need to sit down and talk with your parents. Good luck!
If they have a mortgage, they have an asset (the house). If they have 1-2 cars, they have assets (some schools ask about car valuations on the CSS). Your parents need to run the NPCs again entering fully transparent financial information. Something isnât adding up here. Perhaps a family friend with experience can help them sit down and rerun the NPCs.