<p>MDCISSP,
What variables are absolute stickers for your son, and which variables is he willing to be more flexible on?</p>
<p>I was wondering if he has checked out Bradley in Illinois, or perhaps Bentley in Massachusetts?</p>
<p>The biggest problem is price-I just don’t want to spend $50,000 X 4 and I don’t want my son taking loans.</p>
<p>My son likes his choices to date: UT Dallas, Towson, Salisbury and Binghamton. Right now, I think top choices are Towson and Binghamton. Some of the private schools mentioned by Rockville Mom sound really nice (College of Charleston for example), but I don’t want to be faced with potential acceptance and then discussion/let down if not willing to pay the full price X 4. </p>
<p>I’ll check out Bentley. I am from Chicago and I think my son would not be happy in a small town (Peoria, for example) unless there are plenty of good resources (ethnic restaurants, etc.) walking distance or short bus drive away.</p>
<p>It is really important to me that my son be completely independent and be able to come home if he wants to using the bus, Amtrak, etc. I am willing to be flexible about Binghamton not being on the Amtrak station list because we like the other pluses of Binghamton (choice of many majors, big Jewish community).</p>
<p>I’ll check out Bentley and Babson further on the internet. I like Northeastern for its Co-op program but it looks very pricey.</p>
<p>mdcissp, can you have a discussion with you son in which you say, we can afford to pay X per school. Some of these private schools cost more, so you can only go with merit aid. We think that for you to incur a big debt will handicap you and may force you into choices that in hindsight you and we would wish you didn’t have to make. So, you/we can only accept a school if the total cost to us is X or less (and less is better). Then, he can apply and go only if the conditions are met. Does that not work or is it too much like bringing a cute puppy home for a couple of days with conditions that are not met and then saying we’re not going to keep it?</p>
<p>mdcissp – CofC is a public South Carolina university. There is also a University of Charleston, in Charleston, West Virginia. That may be private. We drove by the university in WV in August, during a visit to our former Rabbi’s new congregation. I know nothing about that school, but I HIGHLY recommend the Rabbi!</p>
<p>Justamom, Albright is a good suggestion; it is sort of a less selective Muhlenberg/Juniata/Susquehanna. Note that its 4 year graduation rate is much lower and its transfer out rate higher than the others and that the Reading location has drawn some negatives on CC. I am not sure of its current Jewish population, but years ago (ok, decades ago–I forget how ancient I am) it was seen as a good pre-med fallback. I recall they offer a free app.</p>
<p>At Bing, because of the convergence of Rosh Hashonah and Labor Day, as reported they sent everyone home for a week right after they got there. I agree that was misguided, but the NJ kid I know has been happy since then.</p>
<p>MDCISSP, if you are applying to Bing without having visited it, see if there is a local recruiter or alumni group to meet with, as it can’t hurt to bank some “interest points”. I suspect Bentley will be more expensive than you prefer. </p>
<p>Unbelievablem, I was making the comparison with Baltimore and DC, knowing MDCISSP has expressed a preference for larger cities than Binghamton, although as I had advised her previously Bing does have good access to the shopping and restaurants she wants. With a population of about 44,000 Binghamton is smaller than Towson, much less Baltimore.</p>
<p>J</p>
<p>MSCISSP, one thought about Northeastern–I know it is expensive, but bear in mind that the excellent Co-op program means your son will be able to earn some good money while in school.You might wish to check out their message board.</p>
<p>Regarding Bradley Univ in Peoria. </p>
<p>I guess I wouldn’t classify Peoria as small town. The city has 130,000 people and the metro area has around 350,000 people. But then again I come from a city of around 50,000 so that seems pretty large to me.</p>
<p>I hope your son finds a school he truly likes.</p>
<p>mdcissp – you and your son seem to be putting an awful lot of stock in binghamton now – especially since his list is so short. i would strongly suggest that this is not a wise thing to do without visiting it. (not just saying this for binghamton, but for any applicant for any school). </p>
<p>also re Jewish life at binghamton – it has a lot of offer - with both an active Chabad and an active Hillel. i notice that you seem to be focused on the Chabad. just fyi, at binghamton, unlike many (most?) schools with active Jewish populations, binghamton has a sizeable, active, Orthodox student population. at many other schools without such a population, Chabad is doing general outreach and most of the students attending programs are not Orthodox. I am NOT saying that binghamton’s Chabad only caters to Orthodox students – i do not know enough about the binghamton Chabad and the students who participate in their activities to say what the mix of Orthodox and non-Orthodox would be. i’m just saying that you should be aware that the population of students who take advantage of Chabad programming at Binghamton MIGHT be different than at other schools – which doesn’t mean that your son wouldn’t be perfectly happy at Chabad – i’m just saying that you and he should be aware of it. i would suggest looking into BOTH the Chabad and the Hillel.</p>
<p>re binghamton and the high holidays – OOS students should also realize that since most binghamton students are from NYS, even when the school doesn’t close the dorms for the high holidays (it always cancels classes for the high holidays as far as i know), MANY students still go home for the high holidays. </p>
<p>again, i can not more strongly suggest actually visiting the school.</p>
<p>re binghamton as a city – i just feel it important that people from OOS realize that binghamton is a city – too many people assume because it is in upstate NYS that it is rural. it is a small city, but even a small city is simply different than a rural area.</p>
<p>mdcissp:</p>
<p>Please don’t allow yourself to rule out a school based on their “sticker” price. Have you ever bought a car at full asking price? How do you really know how much financial aid a school can give you unless you apply?</p>
<p>Just like we know people that graduated from Lehigh and are very successful, we also happen to know 2 people that have graduated from Bentley and one who is currently there now. All loved it there because of it’s manageable size, approx. 4,000 kids…it’s proximity to Boston and a million other colleges in the area…it’s fabulous reputation for teaching students business and computer skills, a large amount of Jews, although they say the Hillel is not too active…and mostly, the ATTENTION they are given for job internships.</p>
<p>I also believe it’s extremely necessary to look at a school before attending, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s so important to look at every school BEFORE applying. Maybe you apply to 10 schools and get into 6. Those 6 are obviously the schools then that you should look at and tour…maybe you’ll get into a school that you liked “on paper”, but touring is imo very necessary before attending. </p>
<p>Mdcissp: I think you are trying toooo hard for that perfect fit. I hope you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment. No college is a perfect fit for our kids. They had one choice for middle school, mostly one choice for high school and they adjusted. Yes, of course we can try to find the best criteria…way back at the beginning of this thread I mentioned we knew someone that thought Elon was her perfect match. She was so unhappy once she got there and ended up at UMarylandCP. She never thought of herself going to such a large school, but absolutely loves it. Just keep in mind that we all try to find what we think will be great matches for our kids, and somehow it all works out the way it’s supposed to and the kids will be fine and hopefully thrive and succeed.</p>
<p>Mdcissp: I think chocchipcookie give good advice above. At this point, you son just needs to decide if he finds a school appealing enough for an application. It’s good to leave your options open and make a decision once you have the acceptances. I do have a word of caution about schools that are far from home without good transportation options. You have mentioned that your son needs quiet and has done well in high school with home as his base. He may find dorm life overwhelming and prefer to come home on weekends to get a break. This will be easier at a school that is close and has good access.</p>
<p>ditto the idea of visiting Binghamton; let the rep from your state know you are coming as well…and if that is not feasible, contact said rep and find out if they are going to be in your area…if you live in Maryland, I would imagine that there are a decent number of alumni that live there; look up the alumni page at [Binghamton</a> University - Home](<a href=“http://www.binghamton.edu%5DBinghamton”>http://www.binghamton.edu) and call them to find names of alumni; they would be more than willing to help…another person to contact would be Andy Morris in the admissions office; he organizes the alumni events around the country…</p>
<p>MD: I do not know about Binghamton’s supplement or if there is one that allows a 2nd or 3rd choice school…when you go on common app you can check…</p>
<p>Many, many thanks to all for your caring responses. To respond to some points,
- My son knows what we have saved up for him. It is not enough to pay for $50,000. X 4.
He said he does not want to take loans and I don’t want to co-sign. I am willing to pay a little over what we saved because I don’t want loans, but not to the point of $200,000 plus after 4 years. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>My son is applying to Binghamton. He met the rep for Binghamton and was very pleased with the information presented.</p></li>
<li><p>Now concerned with Binghamton SOM (School of Management) limited enrollment. Called Binghamton. SOM is very competitive. The only major I see in Harpur that is a fit is the Economics major with various titles (policy, analyst, etc.). If my son wants Accounting or Financial Engineering, the switch would not be easy, and may not happen.
Whereas with Towson, Salisbury and UT Dallas, it is much easier to get into the Business school. UT Dallas said can study anything you want. Towson has easier requirements to get into the Business school. Still want my son to finish his application to Binghamton, but concerned about the Business school entrance being very limited. This was also a similar concern of Rockville Mom with James Madison University.</p></li>
<li><p>We will discuss Northeastern further as well as some of the other Business schools mentioned (Babson, etc.).</p></li>
<li><p>For those interested in Binghamton, my understanding from the school’s rep on the phone is you apply for a first and second choice school on your application.</p></li>
<li><p>I really don’t care if most of the kids at Binghamton Chabad are Orthodox. I think the very Orthodox are at schools like YU, Touro, and Israel. I care about the fact that the programming sounds great at Binghamton Chabad. My experience with Chabad is they are open to any Jewish person no matter how much or how little observance there is.</p></li>
<li><p>Agree that there is no perfect fit for my son. We just have to try to find the closest match possible.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Mdcissp, between Holliesue and Rodney, you have hit the gold mine of informed Bing advice!</p>
<p>Maybe it’s a sign?</p>
<p>If you consider Babson, you might want to have a look at Bentley as well. You might want to consider Bryant too, and even Roger Williams as a safety.</p>
<p>If you look at Bryant and Roger Williams, you might want to look at the University of Rhode Island too.</p>
<p>^good advice and suggestions.</p>
<p>Re Bryant, Roger Williams and URI, perhaps you can help MDCISSP (not that she isn’t doing fine herself) by explaining what they add that Towson and Salisbury do not and how likely it is that the cost gap could be narrowed through aid.</p>
<p>MD, I was trying to think of any not too distant OOS publics that might meet your criteria, but could only think of the ones which came up previously–Pitt, George Mason, Temple, Rutgers etc. I am glad to hear you met a Bing rep and that it went well. Is a Columbus Day weekend type trip out of the question?</p>
<p>I cannot comment on financial help or merit aid MDCISSP’s son might get at these schools. I would guess that the big advantage of Bryant, Roger Williams, or Bentley is that MDCISSP is very worried about her son gaining admission into the business school at Towson or the other state schools that have requirements to apply to the business school at the end of sophomore year.</p>
<p>I don’t know the COA attendance at Towson for instate students vs. her EFC and if FA is possible at a private school. I know that Towson for OOS is not a bargain, JMO.</p>
<p>Changing topic a bit - I’m not a huge Suze fan - find her a bit dramatic and over the top - but for what it’s worth - her show Saturday night will be on paying for college and student loans. It’s on CNBC - 9pm here in MD.</p>
<p>mdcissp - one of my biggest lessons learned from S1’s college process is that you really don’t know how much a particular college is going to cost until your child is accepted and you see what merit aid and/or need-based aid they are awarded. </p>
<p>S1 attends one of those $50,000+/year colleges and I assure you we pay nowhere near that amount. This pricey private university ended up being our least expensive option when all was said and done.</p>
<p>My approach with S2 and what I recommend to my friends who are going through the process for the first time - as long as you have at least 2 financial safety schools on the list - schools that you could comfortably pay for - then don’t limit the rest of the list for price. You may get more generous offers from private colleges than from OOS public schools. You may find that some of these offers bring the pricey private school pretty close to an in-state public. It might happen - it might not - but you won’t know unless you try.</p>