<p>1214-</p>
<p>West Virginia U.</p>
<p>1214-
NC State University…he might have a better shot applying for the First Year College program than the College of Management.</p>
<p>^^^Isn’t NC State a tough admit for OOS? I know they cap at 18%. Would East Carolina and UNC-Greensboro be more of a sure thing for 1214’s son?</p>
<p>I believe NC State <em>is</em> tough for OOS. Both of dudedad’s suggestions would be easier. Do we know 1214’s home state yet?</p>
<p>Hello all…what an incredible thread! I’m new to CC and have been reading this entire thread over this week…it’s been a very exciting suspense novel! Such amazing information. Just at the start of the search with my 2014 son. He’s in a very small school now but looking to broaden his horizons. Waiting on SAT’s but PSAT was 1880. He is very interested in Computer Science / Game Design / Writing. I’ve researched the schools on the Princeton Review list but all going to be incredibly expensive and extremely competitive. Any suggestions on this level that may be very “giving” with aid/scholarships? He sounds open to leaving NJ. I personally love the sound of Champlain in Vermont. Don’t know how the aid is there. Anyone familiar? Many, many thanks!!!</p>
<p>Tpcrd66 - my s applied to Champlain. I’m guessing FA info will come with his decision. We’re high need, Pell eligible. I’ll be sure to report back regarding aid. My son has very similar interests. Some other schools to take a look at are Ithaca, Elmhurst, Lake Forest, and Bradley.</p>
<p>@reeinaz-I would love to hear your feedback on Ithaca and Bradley. We wanted to get to Ithaca during our visits to Alfred and St. Bonaventure but we will run out of time. Thanks.</p>
<p>BobbyCT, do let me know about your child’s impressions (and yours!!) of Alfred University.
Our D was accepted first, then we went to an Accepted Students Day and that was it!!! Hard to believe that was in April 2009 now… It goes very quickly… :)</p>
<p>@SLUMOM-Will do! It ends up my closest friends wife graduated from Alfred and has been talking it up. My D likes that they have an Early Childhood Education major and is ecstatic that they offer Dance as a minor. She really wants to continue with her Dance, even just for fun. Alfred is actually going to be our first visit.</p>
<p>Would someone mind explaining why I have seen the name is so many schools spaced out like this: U n i v o f a w e s o m e? I’ve seen it on several posts but can’t figure out why. Thanks ;)</p>
<p>coralbrook
I know how you feel, we’ve received 2 fin aid award letters so far.
One college laid everything out and was quite generous-gave DS workstudy, grants,Stafford loans and said we were eligible for 20K in Plus loans, total cost was covered.
The second college (one of DS’s favs) sent a brief 1 page letter-DS received Stafford loans & small grant-no work study, no mention of the PLUS loans. $10k difference between the NPC estimate and the actual aid package. All our careful research was for nothing! I dread what’s coming from the other schools. We hear from our financial safety (SUNY Geneseo) next week so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Has any one on this thread successfully asked for more aid?</p>
<p>BobbyCT - my nephew got his undergrad and grad from St. Bona’s 3/2 years ago. He’s a 5th grade teacher now. He applied for three jobs and got three offers. Their elemEd program is very strong. Everyone I’ve ever met who’s gone to Bona’s has absolutely loved it. It’s very small but they have great spirit and a feeling of community. The surrounding area has little to offer by way of anything. Very depressed economy. I can say this because I grew up there. It’s changed a lot in the 30 years since I graduated high school and left. </p>
<p>Alfred U. is another very good school that doesn’t get a lot of respect. And if you think the area surrounding Bona’s is small, Alfred’s isn’t on the map. </p>
<p>Not sure about aid at Alfred but Bona’s offers pretty good aid - even for those that wouldn’t normally qualify. Same for Ithaca. We actually haven’t gone to visit Ithaca yet but will be attending an accpeted student day on 4/14. If anyone has specific questions about St. Bonaventure or Alfred, PM me.</p>
<p>Dramamamaof4 - People will spell out A l f r e d because they don’t want their posts to show up when people google/search on a college.</p>
<p>Reeinaz, My son is a sophomore at Champlain. Most of his friends are Game Design majors (he is a CNIS major)- it’s the most challenging program to be accepted into. My son loves Champlain and is hoping to get an internship in Burlington so he can stay there over the summer. He did get a good amount of merit aid for Champlain, but he had better offers from other colleges. I believe he gets something like $13,000 a year. We did talk them into upping the offer a bit by showing them some better ones from other colleges and submitting improved grades.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip kathiep, DS is having his best year yet as far as grades go so it’s worth a shot.</p>
<p>Hi. We are finally getting serious about our college search for my less than a 3.0 2014 son. Thanks to this thread, I’m exploring Alfred University. Sounds like it could be a good fit. I have read mixed things, though about non engineering or arts majors…do they get lost somewhere in the middle? Not sure if we’ll have a chance to visit, but I’d like to since it meets our criteria of being w/in driving distance (about 6 1/2 hours according to Mapquest).</p>
<p>My son met w/ his college counselor for the first time this week, and she suggested looking at Columbia College due to his possible interests in video game design and early childhood education (I know…so unrelated, but he really doesn’t know what he wants). Is anyone familiar w/ this school in Chicago? I’ve read very mixed things about it.</p>
<p>I saw that someone (sorry, would have to go back and search to see who) was going to be visiting Hiram. I will be very interested in hearing about those impressions.</p>
<p>Thank-you for all of the ideas that I never would have known to consider if not for reading this thread.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for trying to help. Our home state, because someone asked, is Maryland. I know UMCP considers weighted GPA, but they also seem to have quotas for different counties, urns, etc., and we live in a county with high GPAs and test scores, so he appears to be on the bubble regarding being admitted.
Unrelated to my previous post, but may be helpful to others on this thread - St. Mary’s in Maryland seems like a pretty good school, and they have something like a 60% admit rate.</p>
<p>BobbyCT - Sorry, but I have no real info besides what I’ve researched. We haven’t visited them. </p>
<p>Dramamama - yeah, people try to preserve privacy by doing that. I understand to an extent but it also keeps people from finding out information about the schools. But I think one of the biggest draws of this site is the shared knowledge that’s available by searching.</p>
<p>Kathiep - I remember that your S goes to Champlain. I admit to sometimes searching out your posts to read how he likes it still 
My son just fell in love with Burlington when he attended a writing workshop at Champlain. He’ll likely be a Computer Science and Innovation major with a minor in game programming or a Game Programming major if he goes. He didn’t have any sort of portolio to apply for the game design or creative media majors. But Champlain has fallen off the radar a bit since he’s still waiting to hear from them and they haven’t sent much communication to him at all. Meanwhile, Penn State Erie has been really showing him attention and that’s now his 1st choice.</p>
<p>@bkbmom-Thank you for the feedback on both St. Bonaventure and Alfred. It is always nice to hear good feedback. Looking forward to our visits there.</p>
<p>@reeinaz-My mistake, I misread what you initially wrote. I thought you had said that you were going to take a look at Bradley and Ithaca.</p>
<p>@umich8790, Alfred University has about 2300 undergrads, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Art & Design, and Business students all interact with each other. There is no Greek LIfe, on campus housing is guaranteed for all 4 years, off campus housing is available for upper classmen-it is very affordable. My child is studying to be a teacher and has engineering friends, art & design friends, business friends. Division III athletics, small classes, merit aid, need-based aid, many clubs and organizations to get involved with. My child has gone to concerts in Ithaca, Syracuse, Rochester, done hiking in NY & PA locations, visited Corning Glass Museum and so on. AU publishes a monthly booklet for the students with all the on campus activities. All students may own cars, there are no restrictions on car ownership, of course, due to its location.</p>
<p>Alfred University was established in 1836 as a co-ed university. </p>
<p>Princeton Review’s Best 377
Princeton Review’s Best Northeastern Colleges
Princeton Review’s Best Business Colleges
USNWR’s Best Value
Fiske Guide 2013 Best Buy
USNWR’s Great School Great Price
Fiske Guide 2013
Fiske Small Schools Strong in Engineering
Fiske Small School Strong in Art & Design
Washington Monthly’s Best Master Degree Institution</p>
<p>[Alfred</a> University : Financial Aid : Undergraduate Freshmen Scholarships](<a href=“http://WWW.alfred.edu/finaid/scholarships/]Alfred”>http://WWW.alfred.edu/finaid/scholarships/) Merit Aid @ Alfred University, incoming freshmen.</p>