@merething: Another vote for you to consider Bryn Mawr. I have a niece who graduated from there. Look closely at the arrangements they have with Haverford, Swarthmore, and now University of Pennylvania (Penn).
@merething: Wow, you are one impressive young lady! My S1 is a senior and S2 is a junior, so we experiencing a crash course in colleges searches, qualifying for aid, etc. We visited Kalamazoo (Michigan) and Oberlin, Kenyon & Denison in OH. It was our impression that there are great students at all of these schools. We ran out of time to visit College of Wooster, but all of these are great schools.
I would say Oberlin has the most crunchy granola vegan types of kids, very socially conscious, and really love music and art. They have a conservatory and their own art museum. Definitely most quirky campus we visited. Kenyon is gorgeous, but isolated on a hill away from any town. Their dining hall looks like the model for Hogwarts, and I liked that the kids ate at long tables and benches, together, rather than little split up tables for 4 - 6 kids. They get a lot of food from local sources and you can even live on their farm, as your on-campus housing! There seemed to be a nice mix of kids, some sporty, some artsy (great theater program), and lots of cool traditions. But it felt like the student body was more on the privileged side.
From what I’ve read about College of Wooster, it seems to be a lot like Denison and Kalamzoo: Good mix of students, nice campus feel, good programs, etc. I would expect all of them to offer QUITE good merit aid to a student w/ your stats. Denison is newer feeling but a lovely hilly campus, and the town it is attached so, Gambier, OH, is one of the prettiest towns I’ve been to. And you are not far from Columbus, and I think the school can help with transportation from their airport. Kalamazoo is a bit further for you, but their K-Plan is great and we really liked that they pull students from all over the country. They really encourage study abroad, as well.
I like Niche.com and ■■■■■■■■■ for reviews by students, and the financial aid tracker on CollegeData.com, for some actual aid data. Students post what awards they received, from the various schools they applied to, and whether it was merit aid or financial aid. You can also click on the student’s ID and see what other schools they applied to, and what kind of aid, if any, was offered. It is a nice way to find schools similar to ones you might be interested in.
As mentioned previously, every school completes a Common Data Set that has all their statistics for a given year, including admissions and financial aid. Just Google “Common Data Set 2015” and the name of any school you are interested in, and start digging through the information. They might only have 2014 available, but it will state how many students, both from the freshman class and from the student body as a whole, received non-need based merit aid, and the average amount of the award. For admissions purposes, you will see what percentage of students are offered admission, and what scores it takes to put you in the top 25% of applicants. That is where the merit aid is, if they offer it. Good luck! You sound amazingly together for a high school junior. (I only have boys. Is your brother this thoughtful, practical and organized?!) Hope to see you post where your journey takes you.
@merething: If your PSAT score gets you NMFS status in New Jersey, you will find out in September of 2016. If you are NMSF. then your combined SAT, as reported it was over 2000, and 3.9 unweighted G.P.A., will almost certainly get you NMF status. You could be accepted by the University of Oklahoma. You would be able to be admitted to their Honors College, and you would then be eligible for a full tuition waiver OOS at the University of Oklahoma, plus an additional $9K/yr. or so towards fees,housing, food, etc. Next best thing to a free-ride!
@intparent Good to know! I’ve driven by Holyoke (it’s so pretty!) but I haven’t really looked at it. I definitely should! I’m familiar with Hampshire because I have a friend there; that’s about it. 
@mackinaw I really like the idea of a consortium, actually! I feel like BMC/Haverford cross registration would be more common than anything else just because of the proximity?
@morningside95 Wow, thank you! I don’t think I’d have trouble fitting in at Oberlin or finding a crowd at Kenyon, but I’ll likely have a much better idea when I visit. I’ve heard Denison might be a little conservative leaning, which worries me. Not sure what that’s based on, though, so I don’t want to make any quick judgments. I know essentially nothing about Kalamazoo.
I didn’t know that information was available on CollegeData; I’ll have to check it out. I’ve also looked at common data sets before but I didn’t know merit aid info was there, too. Guess I just didn’t scroll down far enough.
Thank you again for all your help. For what it’s worth, my brother couldn’t care less about his college search. He’s willing to come along with me on my visits and maybe look at a school or two for him, but if he gets into Rutgers he’s pretty much done. Sometimes, I envy how relaxed he is about the whole process.
@HeavyLidded I don’t want to derail this thread, but you can PM me with questions and I’ll see if I can help.
I think what you are doing is amazing btw and should be applauded! So impressive and mature. We said the same things frankly, but were fine going full pay especially at a top school. If they got in it, they deserved to go and we would find ways to send them. We just don’t spill all of our finances to our kids, and they drive old cars even if we could by them a shinier new one. There are plenty of people that pay for their students to go to school and certainly stretch to do so, I asked because on this forum you will think it a sin to actually pay for college. But most families do pay for it. Plenty of people borrow money as well and that is not all horrible as it is portrayed here, they may be protecting home equity or know grandparents money will cover the expense later, or the student may be going into a lucrative field that will have no problem paying it off. There is no bad plan if it works for your family, so just use caution on adapting a philosophy from strangers, do what is right for you. All parents want their kids to have the best, that is normal and how they go about getting it is their business.
@blueskies2day Thank you! I’ve indirectly taken a lot of advice from the posters on here. I absolutely believe that a lot of families stretch to make college costs work, but it’s unclear which schools my parents are willing to stretch for–and to what extent. I don’t want to assume anything, so for now I want to be fairly conservative in assessing my options, save for maybe a school or two where merit is quite a reach.
@RayznHELL That sounds like an incredible opportunity! However, I think I may miss the cutoff by a point or two and I also don’t think I’m interested in large universities. Nothing against them on principle or anything, I just feel like I’d be overwhelmed. I don’t take as much initiative to get what I need sometimes, and that’ll be harder to deal with at a larger school. Thank you so much, though!
@merething: Since we have a S17 too, we are hoping for that 2-in-college-at-the-same-time break, that you and your parents should be getting on the net price calculators. Even though he’s set w/ the local in-state school, Rutgers is great too, and you will get a $ benefit for his being in school at the same time!
Also, my S17 didn’t score quite as high as you did on the 2015 PSAT, but we are in MN, where the cut off is lower. I know NJ is one of the highest, as my nephew is from there, and cutoff was 224 his year. However, with the new PSAT/SAT, the scoring is different, as you probably know, and you may make the cutoff this year, with a 221. Here is a link to those of us who are a little obsessed with this issue. Remember, 228 is the top score on the new test. If you look at this page of the "National Merit Cutoff Predictions Class of 2017:
You’ll see that predictions for NJ are 218-220, and Testmasters (the higher #) is known to be conservative. I suggest you speak with your guidance counselor to discuss this possibility. There are plenty of smaller schools that offer National Merit Scholarships that are in the $2000 to $10000 range. Just search for “National Merit Scholarships” for any schools in which you are interested. I think you have fairly good chance at NMSF, and that will be an nice “gold star” in addition to all you other academic and other accomplishments. (Sorry, NJ is so high compared to others, it seems unfair, the way the cutoffs vary, but that is the way National Merit sets up their program.)
Re: Denison, not necessarily conservative, but more preppy than other OH schools. I think College of Wooster, is less so. Check out Niche.com - “Boys & Girls” section the reviews from students. Kalamazoo may be too geographically undesirable, but is a great school and mix kids. Great programs, and you would be a candidate for a nice scholarship. Wish I knew more about LACs out east, other than the big names, as that is where my S17 is interested in attending, and we need to find slightly less selective schools for him, as his GPA is low-ish, even though he’s a very smart kid. If you decide to go further afield, I can recommend many great schools, here in the comfy, friendly Midwest! S16 was just accepted to Grinnell, a wonderful school in the middle of nowhere, IA, with amazing programs, kids AND merit aid.
Good luck on your continued search! Good luck with National Merit too!
FYI - Here’s a site that includes schools, private and public, who are known for scholarship aid for National Merit Scholars:
http://diycollegerankings.com/50-50-highlights-118-colleges-for-national-merit-scholars/12039/
@morningside95 I’ve skimmed through that thread and some posters are predicting a cutoff around 222-223. I’m impatient to find out, but there’s nothing for me to do except wait at this point. I’ve heard some interesting arguments about somehow restructuring National Merit cutoffs by income, but I feel like that’d be really difficult in practice. Besides, I’m not looking to start a fight.
I’m more on the artsy/intellectual side of this (for what it’s worth, I just cringed at the fact that I just described myself as intellectual,) but 'll definitely check out the reviews! I’m absolutely considering Grinnell. My parents aren’t too excited about me considering going to college in the middle of nowhere, but they’ve agreed to go visit a few schools in the Midwest with me over April break! I’m excited! That being said, merit aid at Grinnell is likely a reach with my stats.
Thank you so much! Good luck to your sons as well!
Also, the NPC should have already accounted for the second kid in college, right? I wasn’t actually around when my parents filled it out, but they did put down that there would be another kid in college and we’re still full pay. I’m assuming we’re not going to get any pleasant surprises, then?
Denison is an interesting community – extremely diverse, with about 20% first generation college students and roughly the same percentage of Pell grant recipients. In our visits of midwest and east coast schools, Denison was one of the most clearly diverse communities we saw, dramatically more so than Kenyon and Oberlin, as well as Dickinson and others.
While there is part of the Denison student body which leans upper middle class white and moderate, there is another part of the student body which is highly diverse in terms of socio-economic, ethnic and racial characteristics. We have been impressed at Denison’s efforts to create an interesting community.
@merething. I think your plan to check out the Colleges That Change Lives is a good option, as they are lesser known, but quite challenging schools. W/ your stats you would be in the top 25% of applicants at most of those schools. And in line for great Merit aid. Plus many of their COAs are $10k to $15k cheaper than more will know schools.
@morningside95 Isn’t Denison in Granville, OH? I’m thinking Kenyon is the one in Gambier - ?
Denison is in Granville, a quaint town with strong New England feel, with old clapboard houses etc, several B&Bs, some neat restaurants (the mandatory coffee shop where townspeople, profs and students congregate, though I can’t imagine coming off the hill for just a cup of coffee), good Mexican food, a cult custard/ice cream shop plus more, clothing shops, bike shops etc.
Gambier is the town (village?) where Kenyon is located, tiny really, 2 streets that intersect by Middle Path on campus, with a post office, bank, real estate office, coffee shop, Kenyon bookstore, a couple of restaurant/food places, and that is just about it. Also charming, but miniscule. The college really extends into and through the village, as the Art building at Kenyon is at the end of the village.
@GnocchiB. You are right! I have been mixing up the names of those 2 towns ever since our visit, last summer! Granville was almost postcard perfect in it’s 19th turn of the century quaintness. Tho we had some amazing Mexican food in Mt Vernon, OH, the town closest to Gambier/Kenyon w reasonably priced accommodations: Fiesta Mexicana!
I am a native of CA, and could not believe we found such great Mexican food in a small town in OH!! It looks very kitschy on the outside (and inside too, really) but it was nearly packed on a Wed night at 8pm!)
Thanks much for correcting me. I would go back to Granville, just for a cute B&B getaway (as my son did not apply there) but it is 12,hrs from MN!
Haven’t read the whole thread.
OP, you have a very mature attitude. Might I suggest that your parents might actually come through in the end with more options once your choices become clear (lookup calicash’s dramatic story) . So I suggest you focus on finding a few schools in the following categories
- In state options that are currently affordable
- OOS options that are known to be good deals at face value, on the likes of Truman and UMinn-Morris, Olin, Cooper Union (the last two are engineering schools if that's your thing). SUNYs are very inexpensive also.
- Canadian schools - their tuitions are quoted on their web pages in Canadian dollars each of which is currently worth 72 cents, so take the quoted tuitions and multiply by 0,72 to get your cost today. Also I believe the tuition is fixed (in Canadian dollars) once you matriculate, so it can be hedged by opening up a Canadian dollar account with the money you'll need for all 4 years (assuming that your parents have it).
- Schools where you are likely to get merit.
- Finally, choose some colleges that would be appropriate if you were full-pay, just don't fall in love.
It’s early in your search, so cast a wide net. Also, some of the public applications are quite trivial so in some cases, it’s easier to apply than to research the school. The University of Minnesota applications are particularly trivial.
I don’t think your parents have yet figured out what the benefits are to the private schools. Some would say that there aren’t any, but I disagree. You should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Canadian schools do increase tuition each year. Tuition is not fixed.