Ithaca vs Adelphi vs Cortland vs Geneseo vs Iona for Communications

ye she got 33k

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yes coach is very supportive.

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Can you list the colleges’ net prices after scholarships and how much you can afford without debt?

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For film, Ithaca is a top 15 film school so that is the direction I would choose, especially with her scholarship, making it about $10k more than the SUNYs. My D23 is at another top film school, but was very impressed with Park’s alumni network and their film facilities. The other schools aren’t going to have the same connections for communications. If I remember correctly, they also promise that the costs will not increase more than 3% annually.

Yes and I think it makes a difference that Ithaca has a school of communication versus just a department of communications. Adelphi gave her more money but that’s because it is D2 and got athletic money but major don’t believe major is as good as Ithaca and swim facilities :frowning:

will have debt regardless. Qualified only for student loans thus far. If DD gets additional scholarship money then will go for it. If not, will have to rethink.

I originally failed to mention the merit money.

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will still be tight with merit money but offers best of both worlds sports and major

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will ask for work study and income is 155k

Congratulations to your D on this large merit award! That brings the costs down to these:

  • Ithaca: $64,210-$33k = $31,210
  • Geneseo: $24,346 in-state, $34,586 out-of-state
  • Cortland: $22,470 in-state, $32,380 out-of-state

Are you a New York resident? That’s a $10k swing in price for Geneseo and Cortland, depending on the answer.

If you are not a New York resident, I can see how Ithaca would be quite appealing as it would be your least expensive option of the schools you mentioned, in addition to being a great program. If you are a New York resident, the SUNY schools would be $7-9k/year less expensive, so $28-36k over four years.

For right now, I’m going to assume you are a New York resident. If Cortland at $22,470 would require loans, Geneseo would require about $2k/year more and Ithaca would require about $9k/year more.

Student loans are capped at about $5500 for the first year. So if you need some of that loan for Cortland, there could be enough in the subsidized loan for Geneseo, depending on how much was needed for Cortland. But there would not be enough loan to cover Ithaca. So how would your family pay for Ithaca if the student loan is insufficient to cover the costs? Additionally, for all of these schools, this doesn’t cover books, transportation costs, personal expenses, etc. Obviously, that will just add to the total cost of attendance.

SUNYs are good schools, especially Geneseo. When debt is involved, paying $7-9k/year more for Ithaca does not seem like a financially prudent decision, when it appears that your family will need loans for the SUNYs.

Does your family have any options that would not require debt? Could your D attend a local community college for two years and live at home and then switch to a 4-year school for the last two years?

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If large loans are necessary to attend Ithaca, I would cross it off the list.

If you do some research on Geneseo and Cortland you will find very impressive internship opportunities at both schools, within the major.

You can email Ithaca with further financial details, explaining medical expenses or other “necessary” expenses, explaining they’re your kid’s 1st choice but even with what loans you can get, you’re a bit short, wondering if there is a scholarship for about 3k she can apply to (perhaps add new academic information, test scores, expected AP scores, awards received since she sent her app?..) and if she can be considered for 3.5k work study. You can add the Adelphi offer to show what they offered, though they’re probably not a peer, just a competitor (yes Ithaca is topnotch for that field).
3k+3.5k work study is typically doable for a college, especially if you give them a reason to justify it, so it’s worth trying. Doesn’t mean it’ll work but it’s not impossible.

Is SUNY Geneseo affordable without loans ?

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OP have you had the chance to visit these schools?

yes did official athlete visit for all schools. visited IC twice -loved it from day 1. as an athlete did broken leg test so academic is priority just not sure where communications will take her or what specific area she really wants which makes the pathways so amazing because there are so many options versus the other schools which have limited options or pathways for communications.

I would choose Ithaca if it is affordable. Ithaca is known for the major you are interested in.

If it isn’t affordable, I would compare Geneseo vs Cortland. Geneseo overall has a stronger student body (academic). Both schools have a distinct vibe, different environments on/off campus, and both will have opportunities for film/communications. Did either SUNY give merit/honors? Are they affordable?

Good luck!

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Iona gave honors and good merit but there would no swimming so she said a hard no to that. No honors for any SUNY only private but same deal no swimming.

So she will only be swimming if she attends Ithaca? Take a look at the post above and see if they will give additional money.

I agree, go back to Ithaca and tell them your daughter will commit if they can get the offer down to $X. It’s worth a try.

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All except iona recruited dd. I asked for more merit (5k more) to match another school that offered more but don’t have a swim team and they said no. Waiting to hear about another 7k a year scholarship from the school that she applied for. Communications major at geneseo is very limited and she actually met with professors from the department. It didn’t even come close to ithaca

she loved the vibe, campus and town and swim team better at geneseo than cortland for sure but the major has limited pathways in communications