Some of those schools meet need - like Lehigh. But you have to do the NPC.
If you are not sure you are doing it right, ask the school financial aid office for assistance. Of course meets need schools are tougher admits and may be need aware.
You really need to see if financially these can possibly work.
Close to home ? Just agree not to visit or come home. No need for it to be a hindrance if the fit otherwise is right.
Iâm surprised no one has mentioned University of Delaware, or much of any of the flagships in the Northeast. Is that because they donât offer much merit to OOS? What about James Madison University? Does it offer merit?
Cost trumps sports, so if anyone has other suggestions for a beautiful campus in the northeast without great school spirit, but with lots of merit, Iâll take those suggestions too!
Thanks - I wouldnât have thought of calling financial aid for schools we are just contemplating. I will do that.
We folks from the northeast donât view James Madison or UDel as being in the northeast. But both are terrific options if you are willing to look in the mid Atlantic states.
UDel OOS Direct costs =56k.
The maximum OOS merit is 15k UNLESS admitted to the Honors College, which may bring UDel within possibility (though not certain).
She already has decent rigor and excellent grades so the best way for her to maximize her merit amounts is to increase her SAT or ACT score (to 1400/32 preferably but any increase will help - depending on the colleges hitting the top 25% score may be necessary for merit aid).
SUNY New Paltz and Geneseo are pretty and sure to be within budget.
The ones listed upthread (HWS for instance) do have merit.
By âEast Coastâ do you mean âgeographicallyâ (within a dayâs or half dayâs drive ?) or âculturallyâ.
Can you run the NPC on Lehigh, Muhlenberg and HWS? As a legacy she could get preferential packaging as long as she starts showing interest now (register for mailing list, open every message, click on links of interest and read the page it opens to; register for official visit; go meet rep at college fair.)
Iâm from the northeast too- I agree! But in my original post I did say we would be open to looking as far south as DE and VA to expand our choices.
While I love JMU (my younger S attended, but we are in-state), VA schools are very stingy with merit aid. It looks like the OOS costs (minus books, transportation, personal expenses) are about $45K, so while itâs cheaper than a lot of OOS publics, itâs still fairly pricey. In-state is about $28K.
When my S was there (class of 23) they said only 5% of the students receive merit aid. Iâm not sure if that has changed, but itâs still probably close. But it doesnât hurt to try! Mine did receive merit aid - the Madison Scholarship which is given out from the departments. Although he had strong stats for JMU, Iâm pretty sure he was helped because he requested and had a meeting with the department head to ask questions. Afterwards he was given a tour by one of the seniors. We are also in a URM part of the state which Iâm sure helped also. But his finance also received some kind of merit aid. Sheâs from MA. She mom said it wasnât a lot, but she did receive something as well. So, definitely worth a shot.
How about University of Mary Washington. Not really a sports powerhouse, but a pretty campus, and might meet budget.
Was about to suggest that 
Christopher Newport is pretty and has good merit.
McDaniel might also be worth checking.
What about St Lawrence?
Run the NPC.
Lots of spirit, very pretty, offers need based and merit aid.
Thanks - I didnât realize UDel didnât offer much for merit. We are visiting it this month because weâll be nearby, but Iâll keep that in mind that it isnât likely to be an option.
We are looking to stay in the northeast geographically (to be able to comfortably drive home, not fly) and also because of various laws passed in other states.
We signed up for HWS mailings but weâll be sure to go on a tour this fall and open emails - thanks for that tip.
Yes. @kelsmomâŠis this still accurate?
Yes.
Definitely run the NPC as it can vary wildly. Iâve recently done it for the patriot league schools on that list above and I found Lehigh & Holy Cross to be less generous and Lafayette & Bucknell being the most.
I would also investigate URI and possibly JMU. My friends daughter applied to both a couple years ago (along with our in state flagship UConn). URI gave her a lot of merit aid but she ended up at JMU and is thriving. Not sure about the merit situation at JMU as it is becoming more popular. URI is a place a lot of CT kids go who couldnât get into UConn Storrs.
Also, some SUNY campuses are advertising here in CT that they will match in state tuition with CT â maybe there are schools in surrounding states that will do the same with the SUNY schools?
@EMH you mentioned merit aid in your subject as well as on the thread. Yes, do the NPC to see if you might qualify for need based financial aid from the colleges.
Are you looking really only for merit?
Here is the latest 529 guidance for FAFSA: For a dependent student, an account is reported as a parental investment if the account is designated for the dependent student (accounts designated for other children in the family are not included). If the student is the beneficiary (but not the owner) of the account, the value is not reported as a student asset. CSS Profile may require all accounts to be reported, but Iâm not sure.
I think at $28k, unless you have need, no way HWS or URI or UDel or JMU. I think these are false hope.
Millersville is $36k. They have the Marauder Award for $7k but donât list the terms to get. Some NPCs will ask for SAT and GPA and tell you.
@AustenNut mentioned other PA schools.
E Stroudsburg tuition for NY residents is $13430. So will hit budget.
These are the kind of schools I think you need to find. The bigger name schools are not realistic.
CNU is $45k with merit at $5k. They have other awards but $28k is not likely. Mary Washington is $44k with $9k merit possible. You can ask if thereâs more but you can easily glean these figures from the COA (using only tuition, room & board) and max OOS merit - which the student may or may not qualify for.
A school like C Michigan meets budget but is too far.
There is a strict budget. Short of having need, and they might, the family needs to be realistic.
Many schools listed above simply arenât.
OP - unless youâre able to be guilted into paying more, checking out schools like UDEL run a huge risk because your student may fall in love.
Good luck.
There may be a need component because it doesnât sound like 28k is âoptimal budgetâ but âreally stressed about budget, can make 28â.
But NPCs would let us know.
Just quickly noting that hockey can be by far one of the funnest sports to watch in college. It really benefits to be as close to the ice as possible.
In this case OP needs trade offs. The NC promise colleges are $20k ish all in but too far and maybe OP finds the state too restrictive. NY has TAP and other programs for low income - if they are.
Most OOS wonât have significant need aid if public.
OP doesnât have an SAT yet and we donât know what kind of score theyâd get - but how many get a 1400 or 1500?