Great east coast schools that don't require CSS profile?

College Search & Lists
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<p>I only want schools that will not require the CSS profile. I’m okay with the fafsa, but there is almost no chance of me receiving aid with the CSS.
I really wanted to check out George Washington University, Northeastern, Syracuse and BU, but they all require the CSS.
I’m down to my last choice, Marist and looking around these CC posts, most people don’t seem to like the school.
I’m getting really worried that I won’t like anywhere I’ve been accepted to. I’ve applied to (or will apply to) UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, Chapman, Loyola Marymount, University of Washington, and Marist. The only one I really think I’d go to at this point is UW and we probably can’t afford the OOS tuition.</p>

<p>Wordspam begins…now!
I will definitely be an out of state student. I’m from California.
GPA: 3.636 (I know. I thought I was doomed for community college my junior year because we can’t afford college so I stopped caring about my grades)</p>

<p>SAT: 2070
CR: 730
M:630
W:710</p>

<p>ACT: 30</p>

<p>APs: Bio, US hist, World hist, Physics, English language</p>

<p>Senior courseload
H Physiology, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Stats, Peer Counseling, Journalism</p>

<p>ECs:
4 years KEY club. More than 600 service hours
2 years volunteering at a local animal shelter
3 years on the Green & Gold school newspaper. Entertainment editor 11th grade, Opinions editor 12th. 1st place in SCJEA state write-off competition for Critical Review 10th grade
3 years Speech and Debate. Debate Captain 2 years. League champion 2 years. 3rd in Duo Interp 10th grade, 1st in Expository speaking 11th grade.
Founding member of A Cappella Group
3 years SCRAWL, school’s literary arts magazine. VP/Co-editor 11th grade, President/EIC 12th grade
Can’t remember any more. They probably don’t matter so much after this anyways.</p>

<p>I’m a triplet if that changes things. EFC is around $14,600 and I can’t afford to pay much more than that. I’ll be working and taking out loans, but the school’d got to offer good financial aid. Main reason I’m not applying to NYU, CRAPPY FA!</p>

<p>Any ideas? I was thinking University of Pittsburgh, but their app is due on the 15th if I want scholarships.</p>

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<p>Also I’m in the top 10% of my class if that changes anything. I’m 54 out of 700.
And I will look at other states as well. It doesn’t have to specifically be a coast school, but preferably not in the south or midwest.
Oh and I applied to U of Dayton as a backup since they give thousands of dollars just for a decent SAT score.</p>

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<p>What are you trying to achieve aid wise? No school that is FAFSA only meets 100% of need. So while your FAFSA EFC may be lower, it doesn’t mean you’ll have your need met.</p>

<p>Is the issue that your family can’t afford it’s EFC? Is the $14K a FAFSA EFC? What is your IM EFC? You may need to look at schools that offer merit aid. See the top of the financial board for ideas.</p>

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<p>Chapman covers 100% of need. Or so they say.
I want to get as much need met as possible, more than 80%.</p>

<p>My family can’t afford it’s EFC because we have to pay it three times for three different daughters to go to college at the same time. We’re triplets.
the 14k is Fafsa.
The CSS is too high to even consider. My parents refuse to cover anything that require the CSS.</p>

<p>The schools that offer merit aid are often religious colleges in states I don’t plan want to live in. I applied to U of Dayton and Chapman because they offer nice merit money, but they’re far from my first choice.</p>

<p>Any ideas? Any schools at all?</p>

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<p>Here’s a list of schools that DO require CSS Profile:
<a href=“https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv[/url]”>https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv&lt;/a&gt;
If a school is NOT on the above list, presumably it does not require CSS Profile. Most schools are not on the above list. Now the trick is to find schools that also have late application deadlines and otherwise meet your needs.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/841691-official-list-schools-later-deadlines-9.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/841691-official-list-schools-later-deadlines-9.html&lt;/a&gt;
(see post #135)</p>

<p>Suggestions<a href=“non-Profile%20schools%20with%20late%20deadlines”>/u</a>
Centre College
Kalamazoo College
Earlham College
Hendrix College
Trinity University (TX)</p>

<p>These are all very good private LACs (liberal arts colleges). The non-Profile schools with late deadlines also include some public universities (such as Wisconsin and Miami University of Ohio) but I’m afraid as an OOS student you’d be unlikely to get adequate aid from them.</p>

<p>Check out the following list of best values in private LACs. Centre College, Earlham and Kalamazoo are all on the list.
[Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2010-11](<a href=“Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)
Forbes has ranked Centre College very highly in recent years:
[#24</a> Centre College - Forbes.com](<a href=“Forbes List Directory”>Forbes List Directory)
Centre, Earlham, Kalamazoo, and Hendrix all appear on the “Colleges That Change Lives” list:
[Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)</p>

<p>Even if you are not too keen on the idea of a LAC, I recommend you at least apply to one or more of these. See what shakes out with admission and aid, then you can decide which schools are worth visiting.</p>

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<p>I will throw in that some schools don’t require the CSS Profile, but have their own form that asks all Profile questions! One of my children attends such a school. </p>

<p>So look at their financial aid web pages to see if that school has their own form!</p>

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<p>I don’t know what this means. Some of the most aid-generous schools require PROFILE and give their students financial support far in excess of what FAFSA would suggest.</p>

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<p>I think it means her family has assets FAFSA doesn’t consider that Profile schools will.</p>

<p>What most don’t seem to understand is that there are NO FAFSA only schools that meet need. The only one that I know that even appears to claim to do this is Chapman, where Parent Plus loans are part of meeting need.</p>

<p>This is tough, I worry the OP is stuck. Her state options are $30K and UCs don’t meet need. Her merit aid schools will be at least that too and the above suggested LACs are unlikely to come in below either.</p>

<p>The best bets here probably are CSUs at about $20K or the schools that might give great aid for the scores like Auburn or Alabama. </p>

<p>The OP doesn’t mention the sisters’ stats which will play into the full picture for the family.</p>

<p>This might be a good candidate for a gap year as many of the best merit scholarship deadlines have past. If the OP pulls up the GPA this year and can bring the SAT over 2100, she can have some nice choices for merit.</p>

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<p>2college-taking a gap year could hurt the family overall. If EFC is that high with 3 in college, it will be worse for them with only 2. And 4th year of school would be worse if she is the only one still in school. </p>

<p>That said, I would seriously consider the Midwestern LACs. There is good merit aid to be had and not many from CA are willing to put up with the Midwestern winters or thoughts of endless cornfields.</p>

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<p>According to its Common Data Set for 2008-2009, Earlham College fully met the need of 98 of 194 students determined to have need. The average percentage of need met, among all students awarded need-based aid, was 91%. These figures do not include loans.</p>

<p>Which will work out better for this family, 91% of need based on a lower EFC, or 100% of need based on a higher EFC? We don’t really know, because we don’t know the spread between the two EFC calculations. However, I assume the OP’s family investigated this and decided the spread was significant. </p>

<p>Besides, the most generous schools (need-blind, 100% of need, no loan) may not be an option for the OP at this point.</p>

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<p>MizzBee, I’m assuming all 3 sisters may come up with only unaffordable options this year as the family may be late to understanding the FA game. They could all take a gap year and apply for more merit options, something they can’t get as transfers.</p>

<p>Tk, are you sure Earlham isn’t throwing in Plus loans? It’s so unusual to find generous schools not using Profile to protect themselves.</p>

<p>Their other very good option may be 2 years at a CC and then transferring to UCs.</p>

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<p>I think Princeton qualifies as a great east coast school. They don’t require the CSS Profile.</p>

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<p>^ ??? Princeton? The OP can not get into Princeton!</p>

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<p>regardless of how the earlham determines and meets need, the degree to which it discounts tuition for a typical student is somewhat eye-opening. </p>

<p>in 08-09, earlhams institutional grant aid spending totaled a rather high $14836 per enrolled student. whats more impressive is that this $14836 came off of a total cost of ‘only’ $40844, resulting in an average student expenditure (before things like stafford loans) of just over $26000 per year. not average student receiving aid. average student.</p>

<p>i cant think of a single private school (excluding the notable exceptions like cooper union) with a midrange sat score over 1200 that can match that $26000 figure. brown, for example, came in just under $36000 by the same metric for the year in question (08-09).</p>

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<p>Plus loans are explicitly excluded. The CDS, Section H2.i, asks for this information (my bold ):

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<p>The Earlham College response was “91%” for that reporting year (2009-2010). A year later (2010-2011) it has dropped to 86.3%. In some recent years, it has been 95% or more.</p>

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<p>OP, I don’t know where you got the idea that people on CC don’t like Marist. It’s just not commonly discussed.</p>

<p>Marist is a great Jesuit college. Jesuit colleges specialize in asking the students to consider their place in contributing to society… in being good global citizens.</p>

<p>Anyway, the SAT scores are good, and the student body is small. Interaction with professors is first rate. I believe your chances for merit aid are good because Marist admissions is currently trying to increase its CA and west coast student population.</p>

<p>P.S… get your common app to them today, which I believe is the deadline.</p>

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<p>When did Marist become a Jesuit school?</p>

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<p>Not only is Marist not Jesuit it is not even considered a Catholic College anymore. </p>

<p>With respect to its reputation I have heard great things about the school from many students as well as parents of students.</p>

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<p>^ Thanks. That’s what I thought.</p>

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<p>Well, I heard there are discounts at some schools for twins, so if you all can go to the same school for a year or two, that could save a lot.</p>