Need help picking best schools for daughter

MACmiracle
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 18:26:57 +0000

I’m in NJ and my D’s first SAT was a 1320. Her rank is top 3%. So when I first started looking we were in a VERY similar place.

I wanted total costs lower than $25K at first. Then I started hoping for below $20K.

(We have a lower income but can’t count on enough FA because we lived abroad and did not get a chance to put saving into retirement accounts like other US families.)

What I found was Lycoming, Baldwin Wallace, DeSales, and St. Vincent got us close to $20K, in terms of privates.

The non-flagship public colleges in Ohio also gave good results, close to $20K. (Look at U Toledo for their new scholarships.)

Stockton gives $9-11,000 automatically for those stats, which will get you close to $15K total. Stockton is growing and moving up, so don’t discount it. It’s very bio science oriented.

@NJRoadie said Ramapo also offered around $10K from what I remember. Maybe she will correct me.

Rowan seems to award merit much more holistically. So I think a #1 ranked student could do very well if she has some nice ECs, with leadership maybe? I’ll guess that the net price might get to $20Kish, maybe better. It’s a good bet for STEM and the honors college might be an option.

TCNJ is also very holistic for merit but they’d like to see a 1360, according to what an admission staff member told me.

Drew, in my opinion, will not get you enough merit. Nor will a lot of the other private colleges mentioned, though I got a good result from Beloit and Lawrence. Wooster unfortunately caps merit at $32K. I’m betting most privates will only get you to $27K or $28K.

I also called F&M to explain our circumstances and ask if we could get a break and the answer was no. But you should try.

And if you have a home with a lot of equity, that could hurt, too, if it’s a school that requires the CSS Profile.

I wish you the best! I really spent so much time running NPCs and calling colleges but I still think D will get the best deal at Rowan or Stockton.