If you think that law school is a legitimate possibility, you might want to talk to your family to see if they would be willing to use any “savings” from your college expenses (i.e. if you go someplace that’s less than Holy Cross or Skidmore full pay) and apply that toward law school. Law school is very expensive, and for some of these schools, there’s some significant differences in price. Having $100k (or more) of debt is a lot, which means that NOT having an extra $100k in debt is a big gift. Law school is likely to cost way more than $100k in loans, so any reductions you can make, the better. For business school, it’s often best to work for a few years, but the number of companies willing to pay for an MBA are getting fewer and fewer…the funds could be used for that, too.
In terms of cutting your list:
- Eliminate the 7 schools on your waitlist.
- Eliminate the 5 colleges that you’re very unlikely to choose.
- Eliminate Brandeis as a January start is usually very hard to do well.
That leaves you with your top 4:
- Holy Cross: $77k COA
- Skidmore: $82k COA
- Connecticut College: $55k COA
- Fordham: $50k COA
And… #5-9:
- Kenyon: $60k COA
- Franklin & Marshall: $70k COA
- Binghamton: $30k COA
- Clark: $50k COA
- Union: $60k COA
In terms of visits I’d look at Connecticut College (CC) and Fordham to see if you think you’d be happy at either one of them. If so, then I wouldn’t bother looking at Holy Cross or Skidmore, since your parents would prefer not to pay full price and you might be able to use the “savings” for grad school or perhaps something else (including helping your parents to have a more secure retirement).
If CC or Fordham aren’t your cup of tea, then I’d look at Binghamton (which really has an excellent reputation, and for $30k!..frankly, I might have this be a visit with Fordham and CC) and Clark. If none of those seem appealing, then look at Union and Kenyon.
You are blessed that your family is willing and able to be full pay at any of these colleges. But if you’d be happy attending a school that is less than the maximum at one of these others (and the school seems to provide good supports and services), then I don’t necessarily see a reason to pay more. If Holy Cross and Skidmore end up being the only ones that feel like a good “fit”, then you’d want to pick one of them, but I suspect that a good fit might be found among the others that are less expensive than those.