Finding a low-cost college that would offer a lot of financial aid.

College Search & Lists
1

Hi, I’m currently in the process of applying for colleges and already made a list of the ones I wanted to apply to. However, after looking at the net price calculators to see how much I would have to pay, I realized that a couple of schools that I intended on applying to were not realistic. Are there lower cost options available? I’m okay with going to a less prestigious school if I can potentially go there for very little money or even potentially free. I live in NJ and have a 99.5 weighted gpa with an Sat score of 2110. I’m going to be a first gen college student with only my brother going into school before me.

Here was my initial college list and my goal is to pay less than 10k going into either a stem or economics major

Rutgers
Lehigh
Penn State
Carnegie Mellon
University of Illinois Urbana Champagn
George Washington University
University of Minnesota
Boston University
TCNJ
University of Maryland

Are there any colleges that would offer me sizeable merit based aid or just be cheaper overall?

2

What is your M+CR SAT?

I can see right off the bat that Penn St, UMaryland, UIUC and likely UMinn are unaffordable…maybe even more.

are your parents saying that THEY can pay $10k per year? If not, where would THAT money come from?

A STEM or econ major? what is your career goal?

3

My math and critical reading combined score is 1410 (710, 700 respectively). I understand that they are unaffordablle and was hoping there were some similar quality schools available at a cheaper price. My parents and I have seen how much financial aid we are likely to get (with my brother already in college) and are basing it off of that.

I’m a bit undecided career wise. In a stem field, I am interested in engineering but also have interests in economics and international relations.

4

Ok… 1410

Well, Alabama will give you free tuition with that score. Also, if you major in eng’g, you will get an add’l 2500 per year. Total merit award …over $110,000

Your remaining costs would be affordable. Get your app in soon, only takes about 5 minutes…no essays, no LORs, easy peasy…send in scores and transcripts and you’ll have a big award in a couple weeks.

5

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

6

Follow the link in reply #4 for safety candidates.

See this link for additional match and reach candidates:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/

7

What is your unweighted GPA?

Especially as first gen, you may have a shot at Cornell, and their FA is excellent. And it’s not too far from NJ.

8

Don’t underestimate Rutgers. Its Honors Program is really very good! My stats were similar to yours, albeit many years ago, and I got a full-ride presidential scholarship from Rutgers. My undergraduate degree didn’t cost me a cent and prepared me well for graduate school. I was accepted with full funding to PhD programs at Johns Hopkins and Cornell, and without funding at UC Berkeley.

9

i suggest you add Cooper Union. 50% merit scholarship plus much more for needs based and is a best in class school for eng. very tuff admission standards though.

10

Is your efc also 10k ? In that case, you’d get excellent financial aid at colleges such as Lafayette or Trinity ct. For economics Hamilton, Colgate .