<p>Thanks for the info. It is just too valuable information for us.</p>
<p>Redstar, go to the FAFSA website and try one of the calculators to see what your government EFC (family contribution) is.
<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/[/url]”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/</a></p>
<p>Then go to a couple of the Ivy schools’ websites, look at the FA office and find the calculator. Dartmouth has one, I know, maybe Penn, don’t know about Harvard. These calculators will give you some idea of how they will treat your financial situation. As you are seeing, some of the high endowment schools are more generous with financial aid than other schools. Yes, your son may qualify for merit aid, but you fall into the income category where need based may be enough to make a very selective school affordable. Remember that only the very low income (equal or less than the cost of attendence) will get eye-popping grants, there will be loans involved, and work, this is about making it affordable, not free. You are at the high end of having parental contribution reduced, but every bit helps, and don’t forget that state school won’t be free, just lower initial tuition.
Unless you are, as NSM said, in Ga or Fla for example, you can’t beat free. The other thing for your son to think hard about, while you are crunching those financial aid numbers, is what does he want - big, small, urban, rural, close to home or far away. Does he want to be a big fish, or among students so highly selected that he is “middle of the pack”. Does he want small, intimate classes, or would he just as soon go to class, take his tests and remain relatively anonymous for the first year or so? How important is school spirit and big time sports to him? How important are clubs and intramural sports?</p>
<p>Rice is a top 15 college with a longtime commitment to low income students. It also has good need-based and merit aid.</p>
<p>His SAT II MathII 800, Chemistry 800. PSAT 230. SAT 1480 in 8th grade. </p>
<p>10th grade - 5 in AP Bio, 5 in world history;
Expecting in 11th grade 5 in AP BC calculus, 5 in Chemstry, 5 in European History. School ranks by decile and in top 10%.</p>
<p>ECs sports and debate club.</p>
<p>While no one is a shoo-in for places like Ivies, your S will certainly stand out in the pool as a low-income person with such scores.</p>
<p>Are you and his mom graduates of any 4-year colleges? If the answer is “no,” that’s another plus. It also would be a plus if either of you is in a blue or pink collar field or are small farmers. That’s because relatively few applicants to Ivies and similar colleges come from such backgrounds.</p>
<p>I am not - My husband has a 4-year degree. This information is just so mind-blowing. We were thinking initially about Ivy league but changed our mind when we saw the tuition. Now I think he need to apply to one or two colleges.</p>
<p>Because the admit rates at places like HPY are about 1 in 10 students, they still are reaches for any student, no matter how good the student is. Thus, if a student is interested in attending a school like that, I strongly suggest that the student apply to more than one.</p>
<p>The Ivies differ greatly in terms of type of location and what they are known for. For instance, Dartmouth is in a rural, New Hampshire town, and is known for happy, sports-loving students who love the outdoors.</p>
<p>University of Penn. is known for its excellent undergraduate business school.</p>
<p>Harvard tends to attract students who are intense, passionately pursue extracurriculars, and love big city life.</p>
<p>Here’s a good article from the University of Pennsylvania student paper about Ivy financial aid to low income students:</p>
<p>"Reform at Yale puts pressure on Penn
Other Ivies no longer give loans, provide better, bigger packages </p>
<p>By mara gordon
March 15, 2005</p>
<p>Sweeping financial aid reform at other Ivy League schools is putting pressure on University President Amy Gutmann to follow through with her inauguration promises of new financial aid programs at Penn.</p>
<p>New policies at Yale, Princeton and Harvard universities have improved financial aid packages for low-income students. While Gutmann acknowledged that these reforms highlight the University’s weaknesses, she said that Penn currently does not have the financial resources to make such dramatic changes.</p>
<p>“Our financial aid policy isn’t as good as several of our peers’,” Gutmann said. “We could be better…'”
<a href=“http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/15/423695249e22f[/url]”>http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/15/423695249e22f</a></p>
<p>Thank you all for your help. My idea about college list is totally changed. Northstarmom thanks for giving me a crash course in college financial aid. </p>
<p>By the way few years ago my son joined his football buddies in cub scouting as a fun activity as this was cheap summer program and he has friends who participated in it. His friends drifted away from the scouting but he got stuck to it. He likes it. He is on his way to be an Eagle Scout. He does volunteer work whenever his schedule permits it or when he is not playing sports. He has accumulated more than 500 hours in community service. I was talking to the scoutmaster he said it is good to put it on college application. Should he mention it on his application?</p>
<p>How many school he need to apply:</p>
<p>What are good colleges in economics? Can somebody provide a list of colleges, which offer football and economics?</p>
<p>Is my list okay Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Washington University at St Louis, Rice, Chiacgo, Amherst, Williams SUNY Brockport and SUNY Binghamton.</p>
<p>Very definitely to be listed, and further discussed. If he has not already seen one, he should download a copy of the Common Application which, per its name, is one common application accepted by a majority of colleges, including those discussed above. There is room to list (and later to further discuss the more important) extra curriculars. Schools want to see how an applicant spends his or her spare time. Not just that they do X activity, but that they demonstrate by time committment and by the way they speak of their involvement in a given activity, that they have a real passion for something extra-curricular. My understanding of the Eagle Award is that, aside from the hours of service, he had to design and supervise and fund his project - and those are important elements of the project.</p>
<p>Hmmm…I wouldn’t exactly call Duke “generous with merit aid.” I got into Princeton and didn’t even get a likely letter from Duke. Neither did my two friends who are going to Harvard and Yale (who also got into Duke–I know, dumbies for turning down Duke…) All of us had near-perfect scores and ranks. So…Unless you are the winner of an international contest and almost a shoe-in at HYPS (or unless you are from NC/SC), I wouldn’t count on aid.</p>
<p>Emory, Vandy, and WUStL are all pretty generous though. A lot of kids I know at Duke were offered 3/4 or even full tuition at Vandy/Emory because of merit.</p>
<p>Duke’s financial aid policy: "Duke is strongly committed to its financial aid program and the principle that a student’s financial resources should not be a barrier to enrollment. We view need-based aid as an investment in students and look forward to being of assistance. For U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Duke’s admissions policy is “need blind,” which means that applicants are accepted regardless of their ability to pay for college. Duke will meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need as determined by University calculations. "</p>
<p>Duke also has some wonderful merit aid that it gives to its top applicants. These are students that its competing with places like HPYS for. </p>
<p>Redstar,
Take the time to read the articles that you can link to from the home page of college confidential. That will give you some basic info.</p>
<p>In addition, buy a college guide like the Newsweek or US News guide, which are available on many magazine racks and in bookstores. Those provide a step by step overview of how to apply to colleges.</p>
<p>This includes info about financial aid, merit scholarships, how to write good essays and get good recommendations. It also has basic information about virtually all of the colleges in the country. This includes average SATs, admission rates,testing that’s required for admission, size, most popular majors, costs, financial aid as well as a college’s overall ranking.</p>
<p>It’s well worth $6 or so cost.</p>
<p>redstar, </p>
<p>Perhaps your son’s coach could give you some direction on the level of team that would be the right one for him. You seem to say he is a Varsity player but not a star. Perhaps he’d be happy at a Division 3 school like Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan, Tufts, etc?</p>
<p>Whether Division 1 or Division 3, you probably want a couple of “Financial Safeties” as well as “Safties.” Schools that give merit aid and might be worth a look are in a thread on Merit Aid.</p>
<p>The other possibility would be to see if a financial aid officer at one of the non-merit-aid schools that interests you would be willing to give your financial data a peek to estimate the sort of award you might get.</p>
<p>If you qualify for sufficient need-based aid, then the field of possible schools really opens up.</p>
<p>redstar,
You’ve been getting a lot of great advice on financial aid, and I’m sure the more you look into it, the more you will realize that elite schools might be financially attainable. However, no one seems to have addressed your original question about the athletic recruiting.</p>
<p>One of the first things you need to do is download and study the NCAA booklet “Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete.” Here’s the link: <a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/library/general/cbsa/2004-05/2004-05_cbsa.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ncaa.org/library/general/cbsa/2004-05/2004-05_cbsa.pdf</a></p>
<p>If your S is a Junior, then the emails from the coaches are fine. Your S should definitely respond to the coaches from schools he is interested in. He can call the coaches, but they can’t call him except once this month and then not until September. Your S should also actively pursue any other coaches from schools where he is interested but who have not contacted him. You should be aware most athletes are pro active throughout the process and get themselves recruited. It is a very rare individual who can sit back and let it all happen to him.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but I don’t know all of the specifics about football recruiting, but the above info can get you started and there should be some other threads that can help you further.</p>
<p>corharcol , Northstarmom, nester, ohmadre, clayleas:</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your help</p>
<p>Followthe suggestion from Clayleas and refer to the ncaa web site. It really is the best place to begin. Hopefully any questions you may have can be answered by your s high school coach.</p>
<p>Much depends on the Divison and the college sport.</p>
<p>If your s does decide to participate in his sport, he must register with NCAA clearinghouse. I believe my d will apply at the end of the year when her final transcipt is available. (junior)</p>
<p>Clayleas:</p>
<p>You should be aware most athletes are pro active throughout the process and get themselves recruited. It is a very rare individual who can sit back and let it all happen to him.
This is true!</p>
<p>Have your son e-mail the coaches. My d has been proactive and the results have been been very positive. I believe your son would experience the same type of reaction. </p>
<p>Each college website has a recruiting form that can be filed on line, but she decided to e-mail the coaches as well. My d made it much more personal. She would ask about the athletes and congratulate them on their success etc… (She learned all the information on the school’s athletic website)</p>
<p>My d communicateswith some of the coaches three or four times a week. Short messages…about her training and her competitions. </p>
<p>She has already developed a great “im” relationship with two of the coaches. (The coaches are on her aim buddy list)</p>
<p>There are many threads about athletes that contain a wealth of information. Dizzymom is one to who has so much to share. Thank you Dizzymom you have been a great help to my d.</p>
<p>We have found each school is unique in what is available for scholarships. </p>
<p>We met with two of the coaches on campus just recently. It was well worth the visit.</p>
<p>Hope these “bits” of information help.</p>