How common are good students who can find no safeties?
Examples, at least theoretical:
- Student who cannot afford residential college (even in-state public) but does not live in commuting range of a college with suitable academic programs, and therefore must chase competitive merit scholarships.
- Student who can only afford commuting to an in-state public university, but the nearby in-state public university is too selective to be a safety, so must chase competitive merit elsewhere.
- Student who is looking for an unusual major or academic program that is only offered at schools too selective to be safeties (or the less selective ones are too expensive).
Unusual major- no.
Kid insists on a Sports Marketing major? Not necessary to work in sports marketing. Kid needs a degree in Travel and Tourism? no. Major in finance, econ, history, get an entry level job at a hotel company or event planning company (some of these roles require NO college, let alone a BA in a specific degree).
What do you consider “suitable” major? The local branch of our State U system (not the flagship, but it’s close to good public transportation which serves a large region) does not have an engineering program- that’s at the flagship. But it’s got some decent programs, and I’ve never heard of a kid ending up there and being frustrated because they can’t major in engineering. A kid with the stats to get into an engineering program (we’re not talking C students here) is going to have some options.
What kind of safety options for engineering would a student you would consider capable of completing an engineering major have in this situation, if the financial limits are where commuting to your local state university that does not have engineering was barely possible?
I would say there are plenty of good students whose parents cannot afford college tuition.
These students may need to attend community college part time while working part time to save up money and apply for every scholarship they can find.
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There are many students whose parents can’t afford anything substantial toward college and few colleges that meet full need, even fewer who define full need the same way the parents do. Then there are the other costs involved, like transportation and living expenses (not necessarily pizza and a beer on Friday nights).
How are you defining good student? Tippy top students can usually find something. 1200-1400 SAT = very iffy in our state. They can easily get in “somewhere,” but almost always need loans.
For a student in situation #3, I’d tell them to broaden their major/academic focus: one doesn’t need to specialize too much in undergrad, and getting a bachelor’s degree is more important than the specific degree. Having one gives them the freedom to enter the workforce and perhaps get more training or education covered by a future employer.
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