Will you be starting college in fall 2026?
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Conn is co-ed now. Just sayinā.
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Iām not personally as familiar with your region and the type of schools youāre looking at, but no worries, you will get great help with your studentās list as long as you answer questions asked, and keep an open mind. There are a lot of very helpful and well informed posters here 
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Ok this is very helpful. Adding st joe and Syracuse to the list and will explore UMass other majors. Discussion around criminology or marketing
Agreed. Quinnipiac and Ithaca too.
Here are the NPCs for those 3 schools, plus Bryant and Syracuse (note OP should use 2024 financials):
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Would you consider some colleges in the south? You might be able to reach your price point with merit aid at Alabama, or Mississippi. Both are flagships, like UMassā¦but have more favorable costs for out of state stusdents when merit aid is considered.
You might also want to look at Miami University (Ohio).
And I know you said you werenāt considering state schools in other statesā¦but you have a price point that could be met by some of theseā¦
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Probably good because George Washington University is VERY expensive and does not meet full need for all accepted students.
You say you need a college that is about $30,000 a year, but could go up to $60,000 a year for the right school.
So are you saying you could double the amount you can pay annually without jeopardizing your family finances? You donāt have to answer here, ut please think about this.
Do you qualify for need based aid!
Since youāre considering Catholic colleges, Iāll pass on the advice from our local public high school school principal, himself a Providence College alum (a good target for your daughter) which is to look at the Midwest Catholics. His reasoning is that they love kids from New England because they believe theyāre well prepared and because it broadens the geography of their student body. Makes sense. He went on to say that in his experience, they make it affordable. His kids go to Xavier (Cincinnati) and that his tuition et Al cost is the same as going to our local State U. At a college fair, I was told the same thing by a rep from Quinnipiac, that they try to make the cost competitive with the cost of the state university for their typical student.
I know that your focus is on the Northeast, but our chances of getting money increases the farther away from home you go because colleges like having a national profile and the farther away you are, the fewer applicants there are, so thereās less competition and a greater incentive for the college to give you an inducement to come.
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I would suggest applying to UMass EA. That way you will know by Jan if she was admitted into Isenberg. If so, youāre done. If not, she would then know her choices were UMass (non-business) vs. business somewhere else.
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Syracuse, Hofstra, Providence, American University, Quinnipiac.
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Iām not sure any of these will come in at a $30,000 a year price point.
If applying to American University, they do highly consider demonstrated interest.
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I also think you have several reaches. Your kid has similar stats to my unhooked kid, but a stronger extra curricular profile and a lower SAT than mine who was waitlisted at Bates and did not bother with Colby or Bowdoin. No one else has suggested this, but Iād invest in some test prep to see if you can add 100 points or so to that score.
I agree with several suggestions above. Mine would be Dickinson in PA (perhaps not a preferred area), Union & Hobart William Smith. I think UMASS -especially Isenberg- will be tough because it is much harder for in-state students. If she gets in there though I would go. My older kid is there and itās an excellent education.
You might also consider some SUNY schools. Ursinus about 40 minutes from
Philly gave my kid lots of love and merit, but itās a really small school so Iām concerned how it will weather the demographic cliff.
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If you are going to look at Xavier, look at University of Dayton as well.
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Fairfield, Sacred Heart and Quinappiac are all within 45 minutes of each other. I predict acceptances at all three. Iām not sure Sacred Heart could get down near 30, but highest merit at Fairfield might. Plus, they have a nice honors program. About an hour from there is Marist.
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iāll look at the calculator. i have another kid at a state school (not in MA) and they gave zero aid except for $5k. will pay for another school but NOT a big state school with no aid b/c the in state school is just as good or better. need to figure this outā¦
you all have given some great insight
EA Isenberg
adding 'Cuse, St Joe, Dickenson, hobart , maybe lehigh, bucknell, lafeyette
removing Maine LAC (wonāt get in and probably wouldnāt like) .
going to re-rank b/c BC is now a reach school along with others.
Thanks all!
- List item
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Yes, but then you have to consider if she can get into the big OOS state school for business if Isenberg is a rejection.
UMass didnāt have my S23ās major (which actually meant he could do the New England exchange, but he didnāt want to stay in New England). He attends an OOS large state school with merit and pays what we would have paid at UMass (without merit, not sure what they would have give him, but it didnāt seem like they gave a lot).
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There are a lot of Catholic schools in the northeast with strong business programs that give money. From far to near, Loyola-Maryland, St. Josephās, Scranton, Siena, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, Stonehill, Merrimack. My son got into the $35k-$40k/yr range with some of them (different profile and major). You also asked about team fandom. Half of these donāt have football, but many have popular basketball programs, and Merrimack is huge in hockey. First three are urban edge, the rest are suburban.
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The southern schools like Alabama and Mississippi will likely give you the aid you need to get to your price point. It sounds like the OOS university the sibling attends didnāt give decent merit aid to OOS students.
@Mwfan1921 @ucbalumnus could you post the stats needed to get aid at University of Alabama and Mississippi , for exampleā¦and what the net cost would be for this student?