S25 took the total number of hours per year and divided by 52 for the hours per week. E.g., 10 weeks times 30 hrs/wk in summer is 300. 36 weeks times 5 hrs/wk school year is 180. Total 480. So 480 divided by 52 equals hours per week.
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Thank you for all the suggestions. D25 decided to make it two separate entries. Her summer duties are mainly water safety instructor while during the school year it is only life guarding.
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This is obnoxious and gaming the system and misleading to the point of possibly evil, not just hypocritical. If they continue with this, they will guarantee themselves better and better test scores for their entering classes (since they’re only reporting the scores of those students who sent them in), even if the test scores of their entering classes have not changed (or may even have dropped).
It’s a way to use bad (like, really bad) data to inflate their own prestige. I absolutely loathe such moves.
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The question is whether Duke will remain test optional while many/most of the other highly selectives seem to be moving back to requiring tests from next year? I’m not sure if Duke has said anything about that.
We did the same. Separating the two is not bad if you have the space but we did not.
So I just went back through and updated my chart for cost of attendance for each of the schools to which S25 is applying. And while it’s not as scary as when S22 was applying (he had several private schools that start crazy high but also give large merit awards), it’s still a lot. S25 wants big sports schools, which means, generally, big state schools. And state schools don’t generally give much merit. Everything on his list is doable, or it wouldn’t be on his list. It’s just that looking at the in-state costs for what is, essentially the same education, I’m really struggling to not push him towards the state school.
I didn’t “make” S22 go with the least expensive school, and I don’t intend to require S25 to pick the least expensive either. But the difference was really obvious for S22 - he wanted a small STEM school that really focused on engineering. The privates (WPI, RPI, CWRU, Lehigh) were a much better fit for what he wanted than our state school (Va Tech).
But S25 wants Big School, Big School Sports and his first choice major (Construction Management) is just as good - if not better - at Tech than it is at the other schools on his list (Clemson, UTK). And I’d say that the three schools are generally peers academically, one doesn’t have appreciably more cachet than the others, and all three offer similar big school sports experiences. So - assuming perfect world and he gets into every school and has all choices available to him (I know, big assumption, but I’m starting there) - if he doesn’t get merit aid from Clemson or UTK, the idea of spending an extra $21k/year (Clemson) or $12k/year (UTK) rather than attend Va Tech just stings.
Ironically, his first choice school doesn’t have his preferred major - he fell in love with UNC Chapel Hill, where he’d major in Geography. Chapel Hill is also about $20k more than Va Tech, but it stings less - I don’t know if that’s because I think of Carolina as a “better” school, or because the vibe just feels more different so I can draw those distinctions? But here the question I have is more like - why spend the extra $$ if that’s not your first choice major? (And forget comparing Carolina to the VA school that has the strongest Geography program and that he also applied to - that’s JMU - that’s a $28k/year difference. But there are other reasons that JMU isn’t the right fit for him.)
So all that to say, I need to work on honoring the commitment I made to S25 to not push him towards the cheapest school. Clemson is on the list with the hope that he’d get some merit aid - I’d really like him to drop the COA under $50k, but everything else is in a place where we could/would do it as is. Frankly, I’m hoping that once he sees the cost differential at the end of the day, that will influence his decisions.
Sigh. He won’t even hear about potential acceptances for months, let alone potential merit aid, so I have time to get my head adjusted so that I can work on not being pushy. I think I’m going to need it.
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It’s also a way to try to decrease their application numbers and circumvent the “holistic review” they supposedly provide each and every application. 
. So disingenuous.
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We sort of had this quandary with D25…until we told her that if she’s comparing 2 schools with little difference in the quality of education provided and “personal fit” and she picks the cheaper of the two, she can pocket the price difference. There are caveats - she has to use it for grad school or supporting herself in an internship etc. She will certainly need grad school given her major, and we have always said that the cost of grad school is on her, so for her this is a no-brainer. The decision is still hers, but sharing the financial incentive with her helped her fully appreciate cost vs value.
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I agree. It is also incredibly shortsighted. They did make it clear that the information was only relevant to the seniors in the room and that juniors would have to wait for them to announce their testing policy for next year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they shift back to requiring them next year.
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I have struggled with this issue too.
D25 is focused on biological sciences (albeit a relative niche subfield not offered many places), but her number one choice is a private at $92k and the remainder are state publics ranging from $20k (not including the guaranteed merit she will receive) to about $50k’ish. The difference in price between #1 and #3 schools is eyewatering (#2 school is also a private that is similar in price to #1).
I’ve proposed something similar to Wahoo00, but without the use stipulation.
We are prepared to spend the money for #1, but is it wise to do so? We have it to spend, but an extra $40k to $70k (x4) in D25’s bank account upon graduation is highly impactful.
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Well, it sounds like you have a commitment you are not likely to forget. You clearly have it top of mind, and if your S25 hears and sees you standing by that commitment, that’s not a small thing.
As for your question about spending the extra money on Chapel Hill if it doesn’t have the first choice major…well, that’s also giving space to your kiddo to explore an area he might not have otherwise. And if he gets into UNC from out of state, that’s a BIG DEAL. At least, it certainly seems like a BIG DEAL for someone here in NC. So might as well let him give it his best shot, right?
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This is essentially what we’re doing. If S25 does construction management, he doesn’t need grad school. If he does geography, then it’s with the goal of urban planning and he will need grad school. We’ve told him how much $$ total we can give him and he can spend that on college and whatever is left can go to: (1) grad school; (2) Roth IRA; or (3) a (reasonably priced) car. All three are things that he would otherwise be responsible for funding/buying. I’m hoping that when he sees the final numbers it will provide some clarity about pros and cons.
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Speaking as a biology major (from a long time ago), I see grad school in your D25’s future as well. Oh the joy 
This is a really tough topic I think, and I’m glad we’re sharing approaches. I’m learning as I go!
Edit: This was all very nebulous to my D25 until I sat down with her with a spreadsheet, put in dollars saved minus COA for every school. When she saw the number there in black and white that she could have in her bank account compared across schools… It wasn’t until then that she fully got it.
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You’ll get more money with Private schools. They always tend to give more than what FAFSA says you can afford… For example, if FAFSA says that you can afford that $92K, many private schools will still give you some money in the form of a grant.. at least that’s what we saw with our D23.
If it’s an OOS school, going with a Private school is probably more economical than a state school, IF FAFSA says you aren’t eligible for any grant… State schools go by what FAFSA says… Private schools not so much…
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@fuschiachop - I agree - if he gets into Chapel Hill from OOS, then definitely feels like a big deal. Sort of like the equivalent of those people who say “I would pay for an Ivy, but not for whatever.” If he gets in there, we’ll pay it. And if he tries geography/urban planning and it’s not the right thing, he can pivot to construction management - if he majors in CM then he doesn’t need a masters, but masters programs exist, so if he decides during college to go that route, then he isn’t precluded. (It’s such a random major, that a lot of schools - including Carolina - don’t have it, so he can’t switch during college if that’s where he goes to school.)
@MidwestPack - that question - I can afford to spend the money but is it wise - is where we ended the decision process with S22. He got into his top choice school, and it offered some things that other schools didn’t that really appealed. But he didn’t get any merit aid and it was a very pricey private school. We, and he, ultimately decided that it didn’t make sense to spend an extra $25k/year more than the next (still expensive) choice. If his second choice wasn’t also a really good fit and had some other things that were really exciting for him then it might have been a much harder discussion.
@VTMom03 - yeah, I think the spreadsheet will be an eye opening thing for him. He knows in a sort of fuzzy way that some schools are more expensive than others, but I don’t think the reality of what those numbers are has sunk in.
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May I ask why he wouldn’t get the BS/BA in urban planning somewhere? I’m an urban planner, and I have a DS who recently graduated with his BS in it and he has a job. He may go back for the masters at some point, but it isn’t necessary.
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I agree with your take on Duke. There are a lot of things that are coming to light via lawsuits about how they’ve been operating, especially with regards to rigging the financial aid system, that leave a very bad taste in my mouth as a parent and educator. I attended a session where they basically admitted that ED was only for people who did not need financial aid and you shouldn’t apply using that option if you do. My kid is in love with this school for some reason and she is applying ED and sending in her test scores, which are exactly at 1400. We aren’t low income but we aren’t wealthy either, so aid matters. I don’t expect her to get accepted–frankly hoping she doesn’t as it will be tough for her to turn down–but it’s her #1 reach school so I am just trying to be supportive.
Thankfully, she has a good mix of a handful of reaches, a few targets, and lots of safeties.
We have so many great schools in state that I know would be a better fit for her. She submitted ten applications in total, so now the waiting game begins. Good luck to all of the other families during this application period!
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This is 100% identical to our situation. S applied for ED at a school where the NPC is doable, but it would hurt a bit. However, it’s a looooong shot for acceptance. I am letting them shoot their shot. A bunch of financial and academic safeties and a handful of targets are on their list (and a few more meet need and need-blind reaches too).
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Of the schools that he’s applying to, only one (Pitt) has a degree in urban planning. The others (Carolina, JMU, UCONN) have majors in Geography and under that you can do a concentration in Urban Planning. Because he’s still so wishy washy on what he wants to do professionally, he wasn’t particularly interested in looking for more schools that offer a BA/BS in Urban Planning, or the ones we found didn’t fit for other reasons. That said, if you happen to have a suggestion for a school that has a BS/BA in urban planning that is: (1) within 8-9 hours drive of DC metro area; (2) has big college sports; (3) is likely to not cost more than $55k (after merit if a private school - he’s got a 35 ACT and a perfect GPA, so merit is a reasonable hope); and (4) (forgot this earlier) - at least 5k students (he wants bigger than his HS), then I’d be happy to see if he wants to add something to his list.
So I think he’s figuring since most of the schools he’s thinking of don’t have it as a stand-alone major, that to get a job he’d need a masters. But I’d be happy to be pleasantly surprised if that wasn’t the case. 
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Since we’re talking about possible grad school plans (Hello, 2029!!), here’s where C25 stands at the moment: Double major in math and linguistics (for Fordham replace with math and econ, them not having a lx major is one of the negatives to that school), then get a master’s in library science, and then figure out whether further graduate education is in the cards—the dream job at the moment is working at the Library of Congress (particularly in the Congressional Research Service), where a subject-field master’s or even PhD would be a plus.
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