I just went through your list of schools to see what percentage of freshmen without need received merit aid, and what the average merit aid award was for those students. The info wasn’t readily available for McGill.
Safety (certain admission and affordability)
- UNH (EA) 75% averaging $5800 for an in-state COA of about $28k
- Wheaton College - Massachusetts (EA) 55% averaging $29,414 for a COA of about $45k
Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
- UVM (EA): 89% averaging $16,884, bring OOS COA to about $44k
- UDelaware (EA) 51% averaging $9k, bringing OOS COA to about $44k
Match
- Hobart and William Smith (RD): 74% averaging $21,800, bring COA to about $56k
- Gettysburg (RD): 84% averaging $23k, bringing cost of attendance to about $54k
- Dickinson (RD): 61% averaging $20,777, bringing cost of attendance to about $56k
Reach
- Dartmouth (ED) - have connections and taken tours - this is my top choice
- Bates (RD) – no merit aid
- Colby (RD) – no merit aid
- McGill (RD)
- Colgate (RD) – no merit aid
- Cornell (RD) – no merit aid
- Brown (RD) – no merit aid
- Middlebury (RD) 1%, $10k
- William and Mary (RD) 4% averaging $10k; bring OOS cost-of-attendance to about $53k
Have your family run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at Dartmouth. If the price is affordable for your family (and there are schools that are very generous with higher-income families), then it remains in consideration. If that price is not affordable, however, take all the schools that don’t offer merit aid off of your list with the possible exception of McGill. As only 4% of William & Mary students without financial need receive merit aid, I would make the assumption that you’d be full-pay and thus that it is out-of-budget, too.
All your Match schools have merit aid, but their average package would still keep them above the $50k threshold. Have a talk with your family. If $50k is the top budget number, then these schools all just became reaches because you’d be needing to get more than their typical merit aid packages to make them affordable for your family.
Wheaton is not a safety unless they have done a pre-read or some such and given you a minimum merit aid number that would bring this in budget. Since 45% of students without need didn’t get any merit aid here, I wouldn’t say this is a lock. At best this is a likely, but probably more of a match.
Would you consider going outside of the northeast? It appears as though you prefer suburban or rural campuses and small to mid-size schools. Is that correct? Is there anything else you can tell us about what you’re hoping to get out of your college experience?
ETA:
For the schools I mentioned earlier, here are the same stats:
- Binghamton: 13% of students without need receive merit aid averaging about $11k, bringing average OOS cost of attendance to about $35k, but even without aid this is within budget I’d call this a likely.
- SUNY Geneseo: 26% of students without need receive merit aid averaging about $3200, bring OOS COA to about $32k, but again, it’s within budget even without aid. I’d call this a safety.
- Macalester: 56% of students without need receive merit aid averaging $19,460, bring COA to about $57k. This one would be a reach.