Lehigh gives merit, but chances for the large awards are very slim. I am also not convinced that it meets some of your other criteria.
Keep it if you want, but consider it to be a very high reach. I would show a lot of interest.
$25k is very difficult. $30k is more realistic.
You should consider smaller LACS with 2k students ranked 50 to 100. They want your student.
I would look at:
-Rhodes (I know it is far and some religious requirements but not religious school. Good for business and great merit).
- Hobart and William Smith ($35k range -apply to scholarships)
- Gettysburg (apply for scholarships)
- Dickinson (not that generous, but should be in $35k range)
- McDaniel
Some regional schoolsâŠ
3 Likes
Iâd have a hard time even at $30K too. But yeah, you could get closer - especially with lower tier schools that are dying for butts in seat and need revenues. That doesnât mean theyâre not great though - in some ways you might get a better focus.
The tradeoff here will be if the student wants business although some LACs offer itâŠor a slimmed down version.
1 Like
Did you calculate his UW GPA?
A+, A, A- = 4.0
B+, B, B- = 3.0
C+, C, C- = 2.0
D+, D, D- = 1.0
Do not count non academic courses such as PE or TA.
Add up total and divide by number of units/courses.
It doesnât fit in all ways, but the first place I thought of was University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
St. Thomas is located in a very cute residential neighborhood in the Twin Cities. The campus is gorgeous. Its lacrosse is only club, but very competitive. The business program is very good, and the alumni network is strong. The Twin Cities has a lot of Fortune 500 headquarters, so many students start with local internships during their student years that become job offers nationwide. About 6,000 undergrads. The MSP airport in a hub, so multiple inexpensive direct flights daily to Boston and other cities. The airport is just a few minutes by Uber from the campus. St. Thomas is a quality school that is looking to gain more of a national draw so Iâve heard that the OOS merit aid is outstanding.
7 Likes
My higher stats kids applied to some if those schools, quinnipiac came in around $35,000, Bentley and Lehigh were too much after merit. Saint Josephâs was the only easy cost school to come close to $25,000.
4 Likes
We had a budget like yours (actually lower, but a few years ago) and my kid was an Econ major. East coast is going to make things very tough. My kid hit your price point with merit at Centre (KY), Knox (IL), Trinity U (TX) and Southwestern U (TX) as well as our state schools (AZ). She applied to Clark but I think they came in at 40k in the end. Centre and Knox are rural, the Texas schools are not. All but the state schools are smaller than your son wants but very good schools. My kid ended up at Southwestern U and we joked that she was âstudying abroadâ in Texas. She also studied abroad in Eastern Europe and South America, did a really cool research program one summer at Norte Dame and graduated in three years. She then worked at the Federal Reserve for a couple of years and is currently working on her Econ PhD. So Texas worked out for her. Southwestern does have lacrosse.
Itâs possible to meet your budget. Do lots of research and donât get hung up on prestige. We were looking for liberal arts colleges that had good study abroad programs and offered at least a few full tuition scholarships and turned up several.
If your son can improve that math score merit chances will improve too.
8 Likes
Seems to me based on reading through the thread that the workable solution most are proposing is to move off the $25K price point.
1 Like
I agree that Lehigh is very unlikely to meet budget. My higher stats kid (higher GPA and 34 single-sitting ACT) was offered only $15K/year from Lehigh.
OP has given us some information about the kid in question. We have the kidâs preferences and we have the budget. The question is where the family is willing to compromise, because it is unlikely to get all of the kidâs preferences within the budget.
Perhaps the family will compromise on cost, as many are suggesting, but maybe they will compromise on the preferences. As it has been mentioned before, nobodyâs giving out loans for retirement. So it can be an entirely rational decision for the family to say that the price is not negotiable. Letting the family know about school options that come closest to meeting their desires (whether the budget or the preferences) is valuable so that the family can then decide on what compromises they are willing and able to make in this process.
With that said, here are a few suggestions:
Check out the SUNYs, as many of them have a flagship match program with Massachusetts, and your son may be able to get additional merit on top of that. I would particularly look at:
- SUNY Plattsburgh: About 4k undergrads
- SUNY New Paltz: About 6100 undergrads
Also, donât forget about Westfield State, a residential public of about 3900 undergrads that runs about $7k/year less than UMass-Amherst, so coming in right around $25k.
Iâll think about some other options and post more later.
8 Likes
It seems as if some of the best bets are catholic colleges. Given the tight budget, I think the student may need to table the âno theologyâ criterion for now. Many schools have options for fulfilling those requirements that are much different from what heâs done in high school.
Agree with St. Mikeâs; their business major is very popular, and nearby Burlington is a great college town. And theyâre quite generous with merit, even to students who donât have superhuman stats. Their DII menâs lacrosse team isnât super high ranking, so he could be a desirable recruit.
Iâd be going down the North Region DII list and evaluating each school on the desired metrics. The NYC metro area schools on this list may be attractive; the question is whether merit+athletic $ could overcome the high living expenses in that area. Adelphi was the top DII school last year; would he be a strong enough player to be recruited there? Maybe Pace? No idea whether getting to budget at such high-COL schools is possible.
There may be some possibilities in the South Region list too. While I agree that 'Bama wouldnât be a fit, UAH really isnât a terrible suggestion. The OOS cost with auto-merit is about 29K/year with his current stats, and that would drop to 26.5K/year if he raised his SAT to 1450. And thatâs before any potential athletic money. UAH is smaller (7000 undergrads) and doesnât have the rah-rah/Greek culture of the large southern flagships (only 7% participate in Greek life). Itâs more STEMmy/nerdy, and located in a STEM-heavy city thatâs a hub of the aerospace industry, attracting a lot of professionals who grew up elsewhere. 27% of UAH students come from out of state. Thereâs a College of Business with multiple undergrad majors, including econ. (16% of undergrads are in the business school.) They also offer a BA in History and a minor in Public History. Housing is reportedly really nice, too. IMHO, I would have this school on the list, even if it isnât the most-desired geographic destination.
5 Likes
Ugh, Iâm feeling like a dunce at the moment, but I forgot to include SUNY Geneseo which has about 4100 undergrads (and someone did mention it earlier) and participates in the flagship match program.
Some other possibilities your son may want to check out include:
-
Loyola Maryland: About 4k undergrads
-
Manhattan (NY): About 3100 undergrads
-
Saint Josephâs (PA ): About 5100 undergrads
-
Salisbury (MD): About 6400 undergrads
-
Susquehanna (PA ): About 2200 undergrads
-
U. of Scranton (PA ): About 3600 undergrads
-
U. of Southern Maine: About 5600 undergrads
-
York (PA ): About 3300 undergrads
There are no guarantees that all of these schools would meet the budget, but I think theyâd all stand a chance of doing so.
6 Likes
What religious requirements does Rhodes have? Just curious, because my daughter was admitted there a few years ago, and that is something that never came up.
To the OP: Has your son thought about taking the ACT as well as retaking the SAT? I ask because some students do better on one test or the other.
1 Like
3 semesters of Bible related courses. There are 4 different tracks. (Looks like 5 now. They add new periodically. )
You cannot get Amherst down to 25k if you donât qualify for aid. They donât do merit.
1 Like
UAH is not as nice as Bama housing wise - but yes itâs why I suggested it - for cost - and itâs actually lower than you show (when factoring out indirect expenses).
The direct cost is, for this year, $38,836. Itâs the indirect costs - and we all know these are often over stated (personal, travel) that show $46,968.
All my figures above were using direct costs - tuition, room, and board.
Auto merit is $18,230 so $38,836 - $18,230 = $20,606 for this year - in direct costs.
Ms State is another - much smaller than BAMA - but harder to get to and closer in vibe to Bama than UAH.
And donât forget W Carolina - perhaps that would âvibeâ with OP ok.
Is this is what you are referring to: Foundations Programs in the Humanities | Rhodes Catalogue