I’m from Iowa and looking to go away from the area to a good school. I come from an upper middle class family so I imagine high grant packages will be difficult to find. I don’t want to have absurd amounts of debt after college so examples of colleges in the range of schools that might provide decent merit aid or specific colleges that are known for providing good financial aid would be appreciated. A range of colleges that I should not expect reasonable aid from would also be helpful (“aid” does not include loans). A total cost of attendance above 30,000/year would be out of my range.
I anticipate majoring in economics. Also, I’m not looking at small schools (<1000/class), but would a medium-size school be more or less likely to provide good aid than a large one?
Some things to add: I’m only in the top 20% of my class, but I do have course rigor. My extracurriculars are nothing special. Also, my brother will also be in college during my last two years.
Thank you but I have some financial safeties already. Right now I’m really looking to see what higher-tier schools I can get a good deal from rather than those that might give me a complete full tuition or full ride
What I know is that the total COA for each year should be around 30k or less. And yes, Alabama and Temple are both of my financial safeties. I was hoping that maybe since I qualified for full tuition at these schools, I might be able to find lesser but still good deals at even better schools, and what schools might offer deals (grants and scholarships combined) that would bring the total COA down below 30k
Regarding higher ranked universities - CASE WESTERN or TULANE - you might get good merit aid, your class rank/unweighted GPA may hurt you, but plug your stats into their net price calculators. OHIO STATE - you have a good chance of getting Trustee (maybe Provost) and National Buckeye Scholarships, which would make tuition $13-14K. Ranked lower is Florida State - you sound like a good candidate to get an OOS waiver from them (so you’d only pay in-state tuition) which was $6,507 last year…
Temple was giving full tuition last year for 3.8 GPA and 32 ACT, but apparently they attracted too many high stats students last year and (along with the new SAT) their minimum stats for merit might be changing.
I know a young woman who got a bachelor’s degree in math/economics and a master’s degree in economics at U Alabama in 4 years. She had to pay very little and got a great education.
Temple is no longer a safety since that award is changing.
Alabama’s award for free tuition is the same as last year.
The problem with “higher up” schools is that an ACT 32 becomes “more average” and therefore not worthy of large awards. Once you’re going OOS, either to a private or public, you need a good sized award to get costs down to 30k.
Your parents’ income is too high for having a sibling in school to make a needed difference.
Please ask your parents…How much can you spend on my schooling during the two years that my sibling will also be in college?
If your parents can’t spend 60k per year during those two years, then you need to find schools, that from the first year costs a lot less than 30k per year.
I am retaking the ACT, do you think getting a 33 instead would make a difference?
I still have both Alabama and Iowa as financial safeties, though I may still apply to Temple if I still have a good chance of receiving the scholarship.
You’re not in the top 10% of your class. If you get an ACT 33, that still isn’t high for top schools that give merit. Merit at better schools is competitive…meaning that it’s directed to those with top stats and/or who add ethnic or regional diversity to the school.
Did you ask your parents how much they can spend each year when there are two in college??
I’m thinking a Loyola could be reduced to a reasonable price, but what about a college like Fordham? What schools mark the point where a 33 begins to not be considered high?
My parents were able to pay for my older brother and sister in the same situation, so I would think it would not be an issue to be overly concerned about, but I obviously will have discussions about price with my parents before I go off to college.
Fordham may consider an ACT 33 high, but they’re not generous with merit. They do award for NMFs and they do have some other competitive merit awards, but nothing that you could count on.
[QUOTE=""]
My parents were able to pay for my older brother and sister in the same situation, so I would think it would not be an issue to be overly concerned about,
[/QUOTE]
but I obviously will have discussions about price with my parents before I go off to college.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
No…you don’t wait until “before I go off to college.” THIS IS THE TIME to ask that question.
You may find that the situation is wonderful and they can and will happily pay. However, you may also find that paying for your two siblings has put them in a situation where paying for 2 more is not easily done. They may have taken out loans. Who knows?!?
Or, they may be getting to an age where they realize that they need to save more for retirement.
I hope you’ll get great news and that they can pay for any school for you and younger sib.
There’s a mom who used to post on this board who let her first child pick any school he wanted (NYU) and she amassed a bit of debt from that. If the next child then thought, “well, mom and dad paid for NYU, so paying for me won’t be a problem,” then that child would have been sorely disappointed because the loan payments interfered with paying for the next child who went to college.
Just ask how much they can pay per year when you and younger sibling are in college…better to be safe than sorry.
By “before I go off to college” I meant before I even send in any applications. I will talk to them and figure everything out.
I personally am considering Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. Is it true that Fordham is stingy with merit? Do you know about how much I might expect? Can you recommend similar colleges that are likely to be more generous?
For Fordham (and most other universities), do a Google search of “[college XYZ] net price calculator”. You’ll spend 10-15 minutes per calculator, but it’s worth the time! Many colleges’ calculators will estimate the amount of merit aid you’ll get based on your stats. You’ll also need to input your parents financial information into those calculators, but if your parents are making $200-300K, you are not likely to get any need based aid. Last year, Fordham’s net price calculator indicated my D (with a 33ACT and top 5%) would get a $27K merit scholarship, which left $19K in tuition. From looking online at Fordham’s freshman profile for the class of 2019. 55% were in the top 10% of their high school class. Unfortunately, I think your lower class rank will reduce your chances of getting big merit at a university like Fordham.