Congratulations on St. Lawrence! Looking forward to continued updates!
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A second acceptance, at the other safety, but both schools currently have COA at around 29K. No word from the other 8 schools. Feeling a little white knuckle-ish, but optimistic. Still hoping to get to the 20-22K range, and willing to accept the area of 24K. Getting closer. Itās possible an appeal of aid could get us there in one of these two. For now, playing a waiting game.
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I should add, the āsafetyā is in her top three, on top of some of the reaches. That term can smack of privilege, but it was just a very likely accept ā¦ also very likely to be too expensive without TE.
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Do the current financial aid awards she has received include the federally funded Direct Loan which is in the student name? Itās $5500 for freshman year. Would that bring these colleges your price point? Also, a job could net her maybe half of that amount.
One school has packaged her, plus merit, and did include direct loan, did not include work (which weād welcome!). The other gave a merit offer but will package when (or IF!) FAFSA ever arrives.
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Do you have any assured to get you to the $5k lower level you require? With the nmsf, there are several out there that take you well below - not sure if you applied to any. I understand they may not be on your list today but is $29k a deal breaker that then brings them into the picture ? Or youāll stretch if needed?
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One of her current app schools (Bowdoin) does honor National Merit ā¦ but only, of course, if sheās accepted. We might have to stretch, or perhaps try some of those NM schools that also have rolling admits. Either (or both) of these schools could come through with a Tuition Exchange award. And eight other schools will weigh in. Trying to avoid that stretch, but ā¦ we are at least getting close.
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Gotcha - you know for a small school, Tulsa is freeā¦Maine (to be closer) has an unreal deal and Alabama is the king of deals. Obviously Tulsa and Bama are not close and I think distance mattered.
is it your understanding that Bowdoin gives $2K above need? Hopefully your student gets in - and then the need # comes in a bit lower than other schools - to get you down to the $24K.
I just worry that other āaffordableā schools - the dates have passed.
Keep us apprised but you might want to throw in an app or start searching these other schools - because in the end, you need a place you can afford. You can likely find the rigor at that alternative.
Looks like UMaine youād get free tuition OOS - while not the best deal out there, I think you wanted to be close to home.
Best luck with the rest of the decisions.
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Thanks so much. All of the advice and feedback on this forum has been so helpful. Hopefully either one of the rich schools comes through with both acceptance and big aid, or one of these accepts adds in TE. Yes, the Bowdoin 2K would just stack onto whatever ā¦ so thatās likely a pipe dream. The Maine deal isnāt quite as good as last year (they dropped the room and board bit, for NM) but still very good. This is our first kid going through, and it really is a learning experience.
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So Tulsa is free - not sure the deadline. Their President has posted on here in the pastā¦although Iāve not seen his name lately. Itās freeā¦period, end of story (other than travel, extras) and would be closest in structure to the LACs youāre applying to.
U Maine shows a March 1 deadline - have you applied? Yep, you have room & board but still in budget.
Alabama is 5 years free tuition (so some grad school), 4 years housingā¦so you pay for foodā¦but then get a $3500 annual stipiend. Also well under budget.
There are great options - but please ensure you know the deadline for whichever youāll choose - assuming you would vs. taking the $29K one and stretching.
Unfortunately, hope for the remaining decisions is not a plan.
Best of luck to the student.
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Yes, the old āhope is not a strategy.ā Thanks on the 3/1. Iād looked around for rolling deadlines, but missed this.
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If the COA is coming in a bit higher than what you can manage, even at the 3rd tier LACs, this is getting a bit scary, unless youāre willing to borrow more.
Isnāt it worth a call to the NMF full ride schools, to see if theyād still take an application from her?
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Iāve wondered about this since October, but today thought Iād ask: What did you mean in this post when you wrote āBased on your daughterās profile, Skidmore and Bard are doing her a favor?ā Iām reading lots of tea leaves as we consider the two offers we have on the table (Eight RD schools offers/acceptances TBD.)
I think it was supposed to say āshe is doing them a favorā as in she is a very strong candidate for those schools?
Thatās what I was hoping ā¦ vs the opposite! Thanks.
Just a quick note on Skidmore. It has a reputation for waitlisting high stats kids who need FA in RD, regardless of demonstrated interest. If you do some searching, thereās a bit of anecdotal evidence supporting that reputation. Mind you, it didnāt stop my D24 from visiting and applying. Iām just not particularly sanguine about her chances even though her stats, like your kidās, are well above Skidmoreās averages.
Good luck!
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I appreciate that. In our original thinking, Skid was a nice ātargetā for her stats (and she liked it a lot) ā¦ but I suspect your fears about her chances are dead on. We mixed in some need blind, no loan type places, and hopefully we get the paradoxical āin at the reaches and out at the targetsā type of result. Thanks.
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Been following your journey for awhile & I am genuinely curious how it turns out.
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Thanks! We are mostly still in the land of no news, as eight of the schools on RD have not yet sent decisions. Two will come this Saturday, and the rest over the following two weeks. D24 is truly excited about all 10 schools she applied to, (likely, target, reach, high reach) ā¦ however, one never knows what really is a target or reach.
Of the two schools who have offered acceptance, she was also awarded TE at both, plus merit. Current COA (pre-fafsa) at one is 30K, and the other has recently fallen to about 19K. The 19 is also in her top five in terms of fit, academics and so on, so she is now in a really nice position that could improve. We sort of hope two or so of the remaining eight put her to a meaningful and difficult decision, but most importantly the fear of falling into the affordability/acceptance donut hole is gone.
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Hi all. I thought I would wait until all precincts were heard from before updating ā¦ but since crucial plot points were revealed this a.m., I thought Iād update, as itās feasible this could be useful to someone. More to come (six outstanding), but now four of ten are in, with three offers of acceptance and two fully packaged. Everything is coming in very close to the NPCs (a smooch lower), and everybody to come (but Bard) had NPC below 24K.
St. Johnās Annapolis (TE) - COA 17K (plus travel ā¦ itās far)
Middlebury - COA 22.5
St. Lawrence (pre-FAFSA) - COA 29K
Skidmore - Waitlist (declined) ā¦ several CCers warned us, which helped
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