^^ I think that was pretty much the strategy of the Crouches (the Yale Quads): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/education/19yale.html?emc=eta1
Another quad family, the Sciannantenas (which included a younger sister), whose four females were members of the HS Class of 2014:
Not sure where they all ended up, but it just demonstrates that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this unusual challenge.
Quads graduate from Virginia Tech.
This set to attend Duquesne.
That Hokie family was originally from my area. The dad is a CPA, so I’m sure he weighed all the college options carefully. They also have an older sister and a younger brother (who has Down Syndrome).
I think all these stories illustrate really well how every family is going to have different needs to weigh when making the decision about college. EFCs and whether or not there are other children to put through college (and/or with special needs) is going to impact options.
http://articles.philly.com/1993-10-15/news/25935812_1_quadruplets-babies-multiple-birth
http://www.people.com/article/quadruplets-attending-college-together-thank-mom
Okay, thanks for giving me examples to look at!
I don’t think it’s been mentioned yet – please don’t depend on the net price calculators without actual numbers in front of you, and make sure you’re adding those retirement contributions back in as income, especially as it sounds as if they’re maxing their 401(k)s. So many people think retirement contributions shouldn’t or don’t count because it’s money they “never get” but IT COUNTS.
45k/year grant aid each could be overly optimistic as need-based aid for an income of 200k, with 1 million in savings (is it ALL sheltered in retirement savings?).
That being said, you’re on the right track, you’re going to have some great options, and congrats on looking into this early and having safeties in the wings.
Quadruplets attending Depaul: http://www.depaulnewsline.com/debuzz/munoz-quadruplets-all-choose-depaul
@pheebers my parents have a very small amount of money in a savings account (they have told me this, its around 10k). The rest is in 401k plans or similar.
You’ll have to apply to some schools with merit, and some schools with need based aid, and see where chips fall. It’s going to be complicated because you have varying interests and needs.
For me: Major in Int Relations and Economics, Minor in Arabic and French. Hope to be in Intel/Diplomacy
=> (beside Georgetown) run NPCs on Macalester, Middlebury, Tufts + Princeton Woodrow Wilson, because why not? Apply in November to American’s Frederick Douglass Honors Scholarships (mostly full tuition, but they also have a handful of full rides for high-stats URMs). For a wild card, NYU (you may be the lucky one that gets awesome financial aid, but be ready, if they don’t desperately want you, they won’t lift a finger to make this affordable for you).
Bro2: Neuroscience major, he wants to be a researcher or doctor
=> If ACT 33-34+, Pitt, UTD McDermott; Case Western, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Brown, Emory (Woodruff /Emory scholars apps due Dec1st I think).
Bro3: Computer Science Major, Cognitive Science Major. He wants to work with artificial intelligence
=> Norhwestern, Case Western, CMU, MIT, stanford, HarveyMudd, Waterloo, Cornell, umd-college park, UMass Amherst
Bro4: Aerospace and Bio medical Engineering
=> rarer at undergrad level, a bit too specialized, and unlike cs/cse, requires grad school.
Not sure what colleges would work.
Would work for all: Tufts, JHU, Brown, Penn, Columbia.
Thanks for the college recommendations @MYOS1634. Most of the places you mentioned are reaches, but for sure are going to look into the programs.
And luckily, already Brown is on all of our lists.
Aerospace and Bio medical Engineering
=> rarer at undergrad level, a bit too specialized, and unlike cs/cse, requires grad school.
Not sure what colleges would work.
USC would…
ditto for bro #3 and #2
We are thinking about applying to a service academy, i.e., West Point. I know it is super hard to get in, but if we do, the only payment will be a few years of military service.
Well, 5 or 6 years. And each congressman and senator has a limit on how many people can attend at any one time so it’s doubtful all four could all get in. Not to say it’s impossible. I knew a family with twins in one year at USAFA, a brother in another year at USMA, and a sister in another year at USAFA. I’m not sure any of their kids went to civilian schools.
I would NOT choose a service academy for the scholarship. Serving should be a vocation. It’s not “just a few years” - you’ll be 28 when your service is over, if you aren’t killed; you may be maimed or disabled. You must be willing to be killed or maimed, to withstand more than discomfort but exhaustion, thirst, heat, cold, hunger, to have feet that look that ground beef from forced walks with backpacks as heavy as boulders, to throw up every day for weeks because of the physical exercise, to have 5-hour nights because you have to do everything AND be a college student at the same time. You can’t choose your mission or your job after that.
It is NOT ‘college’ in the usual sense - I’ll never forget when I was told that cadets expanded 5 to 6,000 calories a day and so there was only whole milk if I wanted milk. (Cadets were ordered to follow us around with large fans, because it was in a deadly heat wave, and I felt very bad for them, but we were not allowed to comment or dismiss them.)
Practically speaking, it’s probably impossible, as I doubt quads would all get into a service academy or would get the recommendation for it, as it’d probably use up too much of the senator’s recommendations number.
Would only suggest applying to a service academy if you want to be an officer in the associated service (Army for the USMA, Navy or Marines for the USNA, Air Force for the USAFA).
I do think having quads, all with good grads and hopefully good ECs and community service, is a unique hook that many schools would like.
If you all would be interested in a service academy, apply, but it takes a long time so start early. There are even summer camps to ‘try out’ the lifestyle, but you have to apply and be accepted to those too. There are some areas of the country that have a lot more students at the academies than others, usually areas with a military presence. My brother went to an all boys high school in Maryland and on the alum magazine there was a picture of 12 grad who were currently at the various service academies (mostly at Navy), and most of those kids lived in the same congressional district. My daughter was interested, visited, but she just didn’t push hard enough and time got away from her. She has friends who attend and did say recently “I really should have gone there.”
It won’t do you any good to all have the same top school list if one of the sibs has a 28 ACT, though. Sure, it is an avenue to try, but don’t count on it. I can’t think of ANYPLACE someone could live in Ohio (and I am from the Midwest) and need a full $200K to live on per year when their kids are off at school (assuming you don’t have other siblings). Colleges would expect your parents to pay SOMETHING – and that seems reasonable to me. They should have some ability to pay out of current income. Maybe $10K/kid?
That’s what I was thinking @intparent. And yeah, the one with the 28 (it’s not me) is working hard to get his score up to at least a 31.