Looking for help with son's college list

aquapt
Sun, 26 Sep 2021 15:34:25 +0000

Pitt is not going to come in under 15K. As suggested above, look at Case Western, which has a lot of attributes in common with Pitt but is private and meets need (and has the kind of low-key, friendly/welcoming Greek life you’re interested in). And Rochester, also suggested already. These are both reaches, but not unrealistic ones.

Lehigh might be a fit. It has just over 5K undergrads and a lively Greek scene, and it’s very good academically and meets need. It would be a match school for your son. (And if your family income is under 75K, he would get no-loan aid.)

Tulane seems like potentially a nice fit for your criteria, but it could be hard to get in without applying Early Decision, and you can’t risk applying ED because they don’t guarantee full-need-met aid (except to Louisiana residents). Still might be worth floating an EA application.

Syracuse would be another in this category - full-need-met aid isn’t guaranteed, but they meet 95% of need and might well make a good offer. (Their aid was very similar to Miami’s until Miami upgraded to full need met in 2016.) It would be a safety (or at least a low match) admissions-wise and he would likely have the option of the Honors program - could be a good option if the aid comes through. See what the NPC says. Some would say it fails to meet your “not cliquey” criterion, and others would disagree, so that’s something to look at.

There are several LAC’s in Pennsylvania that sound like what you’re looking for in every way but size. Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall, and Lafayette all meet full need and match what you’re describing, but have about 2500 undergrads each. Could be worth a look in spite of the smaller size. Others that also match in every way but size but have between 2000 and 2500 undergrads are Union (NY), Trinity (CT), and Denison (OH). It really could be worth applying to some of these; if it came down to a smaller but otherwise good-fit school vs. UMass, he might decide to flex on size. (Not that UMass would be a bad choice at all, but it sounds like it’s not his preference.)