Thanks @paveyourpath, it’s been very helpful to hear the comments made here. Fordham has already offered her full tuition awards for being NM semi-Finalist and she got a nice (need based) grant from UNC, but other than that there are several schools on her list that she will not hear from until end of March.
I think staying undecided will be the way to go until we know for sure.
@robNNN Welcome! Good to hear your perspective on a couple of schools, especially USC.
@SincererLove I really respect your D for trying to decline Case and giving another kid a shot. It is someone else’s dream school and that was very generous and kind.
@robNNN Welcome! Thanks for adding your thoughts on McGill. I agree that not knowing French would indeed put a student at a disadvantage in the city of Montreal. Fortunately my D is quite fluent in French so perhaps that would add to her experience if she chooses to attend McGill. Out of all her safeties I think Fordham is her current favorite, though. 
@itsgettingreal17 yep, Croft. Now we (continue to) wait.
I have a question for the knowledgeable parents on here. My H and I just finished doing our 2016 tax returns and are planning to file sometime this week. Once we do, should we send them to D’s colleges? I don’t see these listed as requirements on the colleges fin aid pages, but I would assume that they would want these numbers.
There is also a fairly major change in our income from last year, so I think these will increase her financial aid at her top choice. If we do include them, would we just upload them to the IDOC, or do we have to send them to all the colleges separately? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I couldn’t find any information about this!
@BusyNapping - Your 2016 income taxes will be used when you file the 2017 FAFSA/CSS and will determine the amount of aid for your DC’s sophomore year (the 2016 FAFSA/CSS determining aid for the 2012018 school year was based on your 2015 data). What you upload to IDOC should correspond to the FAFSA you submit.
If there was a significant change in your circumstances, you can ask for a reevaluation.
Should I let D17’s guidance counselor know about the scholarships she received?
So far it’s been crickets from the school regarding graduation, honor cords, etc. I did independently discover that GHP has its own honor cord that you can order, so I did that for her, but that was not through the school. I don’t know if the various honor societies she’s in do honor cords, or what she should expect?
I just found this thread and hope you very knowledgeable parents will offer me some insight/guidance. My DD
is interested in attending a top business school. At this time she has received the full ride Morril Distinction scholarship at OSU with direct admit to honors and Fisher business:completely free education! She was also accepted to IU Kelley direct admit with 17,000 per year. Miami Ohio with full tuition. Fordham with full tuition.Northeastern honors with 30,000 per year. UNC-ch with a 30,000 grant which I am sure will decrease next year.
Am I crazy to think that a full ride at OSU is the beast choice? Any thoughts would be much appreciated:)
@cubanmom - depends on your budget and what your family can comfortably pay. Everyone’s line on the sand is different.
Does she like OSU? If she does and it’s a good match then take the awesome merit scholarship!
Sounds like your financial need will not hold steady over the next few years so UNC may end up costing a lot more, right?
@Cubanmom3 ^^^ above was intended for you. I would add to check the requirements (GPA) of keeping the scholarships to make sure you are comfortable with what is required. Sounds like there are many great options on the table. Congrats!
Welcome @Cubanmom3, and congratulations on your D’s great options! I don’t have much to add to the previous comments, but has your D been able to visit the colleges she has been accepted to?
@MotherOfDragons They mentioned some scholarships on award night in the spring but most of them were outside scholarships or scholarships to the school they decided to attend. You could ask the GC.
@BusyNapping you might need to contact the schools to see if they would adjust aid based on significant income changes from 2015 to 2016.
@Cubanmom3, the Morrill Distinction at Fisher OSU would be a great opportunity!
Fordham has very high room and board costs, so could still cost $20k after free tuition.
I think the location in Columbus would also be better for internships compared to IU.
Yes, if need based aid would change a lot, it would be better to rely on merit.
@Cubanmom3 That is the type of discussion that goes in nothing but circles on CC. Honestly, my suggestion is not to ask a bunch of strangers, but sit down and look at each budget carefully in comparison to your actual ability to pay, your child’s personality to fit on the different campuses and her individual goals, and the types of careers each school’s grads are pursuing.
(Deleted my snarky comments)
Our kids attend lower ranked schools, work hard, and have great jobs. Our very talented, gifted young adults find peers on their lower ranked campuses bc the inability to afford top educations is very real across a large population of people who don’t frequent CC. Those kids do go to college and are found everywhere their families can afford. My kids have great friends, professors who mentor them, and end up with solid job offers.
The Morrill Scholars program also isn’t just a scholarship. It looks like it provides mentoring and support and special benefits
@Cubanmom3 That’s a personal decision for each family. Fisher is a top business school and tOSU is a great school in a great city. That would be a no brainer for us. Congrats!
@Cubanmom3 - I also agree that it’s a personal decision for each family. For some prestige is more important, for others fit (academics and/or activities) are important and for majority cost is a big factor. Whether it’s Ivy league or state school, there are opportunities for kids to shine. However members in this group can share information about each school your DS interested in and hopefully that helps.
Not sure if this is helpful, but as our daughter is getting acceptances and scholarship offers we enter everything into a spreadsheet- net cost, faculty ratio, forbes ranking, etc… then we can compare apples to apples. I’m not very familiar with all of those schools. We visited Fordham last summer and my daughter fell in love, that would be an easy choice for her.
@Cubanmom3 Welcome! I agree that picking a college is a very personal choice. What is important to one student may not be such a big deal to another, etc. You might try to compare these schools on Startclass and see if any of the metrics there sway you one way or the other. At the very least, it may prompt some deeper thinking about what would be a good fit for your student.