Post admit etiquette

Applying to College
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There you go - so with a 3.9 and 1500, they need to apply to Alabama (they’ll get $30,500 off and be right there).

UAH is another.

MS State is another.

Maybe UNM if they want to be further West but they have East too. That’s a maybe hit - not assured.

Central Michigan (the first two years).

Very few, without need aid, will hit $20K.

So I don’t want to say it like this to OP, but it’s the truth - their entire application process was wasted. First off, with a 3.9 and 1500, given the schools mentioned, ASU was safe and the rest are reaches / high reaches.

But forgetting that, even if they got into all, if they only had $20K, they’re not attending.

People continue to build based on perceived rank - but you can’t. You have to build on cost.

Lucky for OP, kids at those $20K schools apply for and get the same jobs as the $80K schools - just like my Bama kid who turned down Purdue and works with kids from some of the schools on their list, but also Akron, W Michigan, Buffalo and more. Yep, the kids at W MIchigan sometimes get into the same jobs and programs as the kids from Michigan.

I always hate when it happens - but people have to realize, budget is criteria A, B, and C when it’s limited.

And now I read their questions, I’m thinking they thought they can get into $80K+ Michigan, and convince them to knock 75% off the total cost…..ehhhh - that’s not how it works. You have no need. You are not a tax payer of their state. You can negotiate exactly - $0 off their cost.

They are talking about alternative housing, etc - and I’m not sure what that is, or where that is - but their costs will still be far beyond $20K unless they go to a school that’s $20K all in - because they buy them in based on stats.

Well, good luck to OP - but they need to pivot - and quickly. Or their student will be on a gap year to redo the process correctly…..or they’ll be in serious debt. Take your pick.

That said, they have ASU and reaches (some reaches galore), and UNC which is a reach galore but also doesn’t have engineering (they noted science too).

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100%

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With a target to spend $20K, most of these - other than ASU - aren’t an option unless I’m missing something.

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How would ASU be an option?

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Whether it’s a vialble financial option is unknown

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The only schools that we found that would fit this budget, or were even remotely close to this budget, were in-state public universities and universities in Canada, and the latter was only because we (my daughters and I) have dual citizenship. We did not look at a few universities in the south or west that are known for very good financial aid. One friend of a daughter with a similar or even lower budget started at community college, did very well, and then transferred to an in-state public university with very good merit aid (and continued to do very well and graduated with a very marketable major and very little debt).

With a budget of $100,000 per year you can ignore cost. With a budget of $80,000 per year a few universities might run over budget, but you would be fine at a lot of schools. With a budget of $40,000 per year (or perhaps $45k with inflation) cost will come into the equation, but there are still multiple options including some out of state public schools. With a budget of $20,000 per year, cost might become the most important factor, or at least equal with getting admitted at all. Some of this however will also depend upon to what extent a student qualifies for need based aid.

Going all the way back to the original post, in terms of negotiating terms, one daughter did negotiate being accepted to the honors college at one university (after she had already been accepted to the school as a whole). She also was able to change her intended major before even deciding whether to attend one particular school. We did tour some schools after being accepted and before deciding where to go, and did meet with admissions officers and/or professors in a few cases. This was definitely quite helpful. One daughter with a languages major did negotiate the ability to take freshman year “biology for biology majors”. After doing well in this class she then switched her major to biology (but had to apply and be accepted into the new major – it did not seem like a big deal but that might have been based on doing very well freshman year in related classes). We have never appealed a rejection, and I have heard that this hardly ever works unless there was some clear error.

Also, the students drove all of this, with the exception of anything related to paying where we as parents got involved (but only discussed this with the kids in private – even a hint that we might be helping with the bill was not to be mentioned with other students around).

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At $20K and no need, it’s known - not an option.

Hopefully OP will come back with more color.

I’m guessing this is why OP asked about negotiating.

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OP- a quick suggestion.

I think you want to replace the word “negotiation” in your head with “reconsideration” or some other neutral term. It is VERY difficult to negotiate. It is somewhat easier to have a cordial discussion around merit aid, what is required to keep it in subsequent years, is there any wiggle room on the initial award, etc. College financial aid officers don’t like having their backs against the wall- you aren’t buying a used car.

I would also caution you against focusing on freshman year and assuming “we’ll figure it out down the road”. I know a lot of folks with a bachelor’s degree from U Phoenix and SNHU because by junior year their family had run out of money. Nothing wrong with those two options if your kid WANTS a remote learning degree. But to default to an online experience because you only budgeted for year 1, you stretched to the max for year 2, and then the resources were gone by years 3 and 4 isn’t a great place to be in….There are some very, very expensive places to live in the US and no amount of careful budgeting can make those numbers line up.

Good luck.

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My friend at Syracuse came because her parents sold the house and moved into a trailer. That’s how they were able to afford it….for two years.

Ended up at U of Montana, her last two - and I should say has done very well for herself, a lot better than I did out of prestigious Syracuse….both were broadcast journalism students.

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Just to put some meat on the bones of this point, we qualify for no merit aid and have not even focused on budget and D26 already has multiple private school offers that come in around or just under $35k for freshman year. With inflation, it seems likely those will be in the $40-45k per year range max. So, it seems there are lots of options that can get you to this range. The difficulty of finding less expensive four year options than that as a full pay family likely increases exponentially as you go to $30k or $20k or less. The field narrows quickly.

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Narrows but they exist and OP simply didn’t apply (nor I assume have them consideration.

UAH is outstanding for engineering. Surrounded by defense companies and the Federal space Command is moving nearby.

Direct costs this year are $39,578 (tuition, room and board.). Auto merit for a 3.9 / 1500 is $19,000. There is also competitive merit but $20,578 is yiur worst case this year (just tuition, room and board).

U Alabama is $50,458 - $28k automerit. I believe the competitive merit app has closed.

C Michigan is $28322 the first two years. Like U of M, it goes up the last two, currently about $1600. Your student qualifies for either $7500 or $8500 automerit, depending on where they see the gpa.

MS State is $42250 for tuition, room and board. The student would likely get $24k off ( if they weight your 3.9 as a 4.1). If not $21k.

These are the kind of schools you need and you can likely get cheaper room and board in later years as kids move off These costs are this years - and don’t include travel, health insurance, books, spending money etc which you’ll have at every school.

Then there’s maybe - maybe Texas Tech gives you the Presidential because you qualify but not sure it’s guaranteed. Depending on GPA (how they see your 3.9), you’d get $8k or $9k off plus in state tuition. Since it’s $24-25k in state if I’m reading right, you could easily be under $20k - and Lubbock has lots of flights.

So these are the types you need to find - not the big names where your student is - average. They get full - payers. Given all will need to meet ABET standards, you can be assured your student will receive a rigorous education.

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