You have your safety and that is your instate school -WVA. Apply early and do not miss the unique programs and opportunities that may have separate applications. This is your insurance policy.
Then you play the game.
Run the net price calculators on the highly selective reaches. Do they come in around $20,000 for your family or not? If not, pick one for the glory of possibly getting in if you must, but focus on those that stack merit and financial aid.
Look for those merit scholarships or programs that are unique and might love to check the box that they have all 50 states represented with their incoming Freshman class. Pursue a few of the big interview scholarships and a few smaller privates with good merit and aid.
Also, stay engaged if you do not get offered the full scholarship initially. There are a few of us on here who had kids who were the runner-up, but then were offered the full ride when initial person decides to go elsewhere.
You will end up with some great choices a year from now, but if the finances do not balance out you have your safety.
You have worked hard and you deserve to enjoy this next year. Good luck.
ECs have very little to do with merit aid. Schools are looking at two things, GPA and test scores. They give aid to attract higher numbers, raising their averages, to climb the rankings.
That depends on the school. Non-selective schools that âbuy inâ top students (to borrow tsbnaâs phrase) may look only at GPA and test scores. But at selective schools that give very limited, very competitive full ride merit scholarships (examples: Robertsons @ Duke, Stamps at GT and UMich, Banneker-Key at UMD) the decision process is holistic and ECs are a big component. Other than at GT, test scores are optional.
@curryeater, congratulations on your impressive accomplishments!
Cheaper isnât always better and the cheapest option should not be the de facto starting point for preference.
Social, academic and financial fit are all very important in determining happiness and eventual outcomes and should be considered equally.
You canât attend a school unless you can afford to pay for it, but sometimes modest amounts of debt are worth it.
Prestige and name recognition donât always matter but often they do. For international students and those interested in specific careers, certain top tier schools out perform lower ranked schools. This difference becomes more acute as the disparity in ratings, prestige or name recognition become greater.
These decisions and discussions are personal and based on family value systems and unique financial circumstances. Consequently no one should pass judgement on the conclusions or priorities of others.
While it may seem helpful to hear about other kids specific experiences assuming that your experience will be the same is a foolâs errand. Your response to any comments beginning with the term âmy kidâ should be taken with a grain of salt in terms of its personal relevance.
No matter how well intended, anyone giving you advice will be basing that advice upon their own biases and as justification for their prior decisions. It is human nature.
If someone always offers the same answer they arenât listening to the question.
The value of free advice from strangers is often equal to what you are paying for it.
Listen to and respect everyone but only follow the advice of GCs, confirmed experts, your parents and others who know you the best.
Indeed very true, and probably germane to the OP, but representing a minuscule portion of all merit awards. In those cases ECs are the differentiator because most applicants will look the same otherwise.
Itâs going to be tough getting Ohio State under $23k.
2023-24 direct costs of oos tuition $38,365, plus $4,000 engineering fee plus room and board of $14,328 add up to $56,693
You are likely to receive the National Buckeye and Maximus, but those add to $16,500/yr so the net price will still be above $40,000 and that doesnât include tuition cost increases between now and when you would actually start.
There are larger (full tuition/full ride) scholarships, but they are very competitive and require supplemental applications, which puts Ohio State in the reach category since it does not fit your budget without those large additional merit awards.
What other schools practice yield management. A lot of nearby schools (Ohio U, UK, Pitt, Tennessee) might see my stats and reject or defer me for yield management.
Is there a way to tell what schools practice yield management, like say for Northeastern, they when from 90% to 18% through yield management, right? A will that are trying to decrease their acceptance rate and raise their rankings use yield protection on me?
A common indicator is if the schoolâs common data set, section C7, indicates that level of applicantâs interest is anything other than ânot consideredâ.
First off, there are more than 19k undergrads at WVU. It wonât feel like high school 2.0.
That said, however, it does not sound like you would be happy to attend WVU if itâs your only affordable option in the end. Hopefully, you will have additional affordable options. But if you want a guaranteed option besides WVU, you need to find another school that is guaranteed to meet your price point.
If next spring rolls around and you would be content putting down your deposit at WVU and would get excited about enrolling and attending for four years, then you donât need an additional school. But if you would be feeling like you dread putting down that deposit and being trying to find last minute options that you might be able to afford or be looking to transfer or graduate as soon as possible if you realize WVU is your only viable option, then this is the time to be looking for another option.
Only you can tell us how youâd feel if WVU is your only affordable option.
Some that have a reputation for it include Northeastern, Case Western, Syracuse, American, U. of Chicago, and Tulane. And yield management doesnât necessarily mean the same thing at each school. Sometimes itâs test scores & GPA way above the 75th percentile, but other times itâs the lack of ED. But if you show sincere and significant demonstrated interest at the majority of these, that can overcome some of the yield management practices. So if thereâs a school that has a reputation for yield management that you really like, feel free to keep it, but know that you do need to show a lot of interest.
Speaking of financial safeties, take a look at Ohio University. As a West Virginia resident, you would automatically qualify for in-state tuition here (source). That by itself will bring costs to a little less than $28k/year. Looking at the scholarships available, I strongly suspect that you would receive at least $5k in merit scholarships, making this school likely or extremely likely to be financially affordable for you.
Getting below $23k at an OOS flagship will be difficult without winning a named scholarship like Stamps. Those are very, very competitive.
You said your cost would be $18k at full need schools. Is that affordable? You can only take $5.5k in loans your first year. The rest would be cash flow or parental loans.
WVU is your safety. Itâs a fine school for engineering. It wonât be HS 2.0 with 20k students from every state and internationals. Apply early. Apply for honors and any other perks. Then aim high. I have several family and friends with engineering degrees from WVU. Theyâve done well.
If youâre a NMSF that could open doors for full rides.
You have a lot of reaches on the list but a few other ideas.
FSU with the OOS waiver would be around $20k. Youngest son is there now and loves it.
NC State has the Parks scholarship and is an excellent engineering school.
Surprised CMU and Cornell arenât on your list. Maybe Rice. Lehigh, Bucknell and Lafayette are smaller but good engineering schools and might meet your need.
Tufts is the only other school that comes to mind immediately, but a few have been discussed in other forums on CC. You might want to start a thread on âschools that practice yield managementâ and let the CC parents come to you.
I think the Northeastern example you provide is more a case of a school becoming more selective as it rises in rankings. Another school that has become more selective as its academic reputation improved is Notre Dame.
Schools can determine how interested an applicant is by what they do - campus visits, department/major information sessions, alumni interviews, etc. - and what they write in their applications. Some schools have supplemental essays along the lines of âWhy ABC Universityâ where students can write love letters to the school, or spend 10 minutes on a form essay that shows no evidence of research or desire.
I think, as a general rule, that larger public universities are less likely to practice yield management and pay attention to demonstrated interest than smaller private schools. It is a numbers game for them and they get so many applications it is hard to give each that personal attention. (CC members who work in admissions, please chime in here.)
I second checking out Iowa State and UN-L. Iowa State you would get very close to your target price just with the automatic merit aid, since you would qualify for the highest level. Any other scholarships, plus working a job would definitely get you in range.
When my D22 applied at UN-L with stats that arenât as good as yours, she was given very generous merit scholarshipsâŠand kept getting more sent her way when she didnât accept the offer of admission right away. She didnât prefer UN-L at all, but it had more to do with not being impressed with the department for her major, but being very impressed with the department at Iowa State (Food Science). Her cost would have been lower at UN-L, even with the fact that at Iowa State she gets the Generations (Legacy) scholarship, but that wasnât enough to sway her.
University of Dayton is a private school with D1 sports and school spirit. They do give very good merit aid and have plenty of engineering research opportunities.
Agreed and I think theyâre out there - Bama, Ms State, UAH, W CarolinaâŠmaybe Southern MissâŠmaybe FSU (if they get an OOS waiver. WVU and Marshall in state.
Not sure there are more.
A K State or Iowa State might be worth a look - not sure if they get that low. If thereâs reciprocity with Ohio, one can look at Ohio U or Miami - not sure if they get this low.
On the other thread, I think OP showed a test score - and those above take the combo of test and gpa - and provide enough auto merit to be there.
So you choose a few - OP wants D1 football - so you take a Bama, Miss. State and either WVU (big time) or Marshall (still D1) - and partner those with the MITs of the world if the NPCs come to low 20s or below - and you have all bases covered.
Not sure thereâs others to be found - thatâs why these schools are so popular with academically high level students.