NJWrestlingmom - we are in the same boat! My daughter also wants a bigger school with school spirit. She also is super neg about Rutgers but with the hefty instate pricetag it bothers me less than it did originally!
Hence we are running around the country looking at other mid-to-biggish state schools (with spirit, presumably!).
@âJolynne Smythâ Ahâok. Got nervous that aid for NB had been released and we missed itâthx!
I think weâre in a similar position in that our kids would rather not go to state flagship, but state flagship is pretty decent, but weâre trying to make OOS affordable to make dreams come true, yes?
My son doesnât want to go to UConn for a variety of reasons. Itâs not cheap in state, and even if he gets in he will likely get no merit, but it will end up cheaper than any OOS even at full pay.
Heâs got merit $ currently at UMass Amherst, College of Charleston, URI, and Salve Regina. He has acceptance to Rutgers at RBS and SAS, but waiting in possible merit, and still waiting on UMD and UConn. No guarantee he will even get in to UConn. This process is nuts.
Is your DD first choice still Boulder?
We crossed UConn off when we saw the. OOS price and seemingly small merit. Sheâd prefer the northeast but affordable, football and spirit it much easier to find further south,
CTCape - your scenario sounds exactly like ours. Except that our instate flagship is not really cheaper than OOS (ugh).
My daughterâs first choice is still Boulder, but Iâm in the midst of planning a trip to 1) bunch of New England schools & 2) Back to Colorado but visiting Colorado State and U of Denver this time.
Colorado State offered $10k merit off a $45k ticket price so itâs actually about the same as Rutgers NB instate. Whereas Boulder is about $54k and gave just $6k merit. Not a huge difference (abt $50k over 4 years), but I know from my own grad school bills that continued for decades that even a $50k can take a long time to pay off!!
NJ Wrestling mom - we probably should have applied to schools in the south. Which ones fit your bill? Maybe too late now but wondered.
The bottom line is whether or not you can afford to send your student to Rutgers without merit or to an OOS public or other school with or without merit. We have written on CC about a parental choice application - be it Rutgers or Rowan or other affordable school the student is reluctant to attend at this point in the cycle. When April comes along and there are no other affordable options besides living at home and going to a CC or taking huge loans, those schools may look better. There are lots of kids at Rutgers or other state schools that may have wanted to go to somewhere else, but who have ended up happily getting a good education.
It is really important to lay out the financial facts of life to your student now. This is how much we can afford, find a school that wonât bust the budget. Good luck to all.
Exactly! Grateful but trying to be realistic.
@âJolynne Smythâ we are doing southern visits this coming. April, but weâre looking at James Madison (borderline too expensive depending), but she really wants to see Appalachian State in NC. $31k out of state, so doable if there isnât OOS money (which I donât know about yet). And Towson is also on the list. They do give OOS merit but it will still be in the 30âs. She doesnât want Deep South, so I think those are the 3 main ones weâll look at.
NJWrestlingmom - my D also applied to James Madison (same - borderline expensive - my standard is Rutgers NB total cost and itâs not a lot more than that!). Towson my D also applied to and they gave her some merit (not a ton) bringing it to less than Rutgers. We havenât visited Towson but Iâm trying to encourage D to do it. She has friends at James Madison so is moderately interested.
Debated about NC and SC schools but heard so much about how hard it is to get in or get $ OOS that did not go there.
Lots to think about - best of luck!!
Late to the game, but somehow I stumbled across this thread. If I can help out at all from our experience last year, I will.
My S (#3 in class) was admitted to RBS with $3500 merit, no Honors, although almost every other school he applied to included an invite to the Honors programâŠ#1 and #2 in class were admitted to SOE.
Hope this helps for anyone still wondering what their package might be!
This is an interesting thread as we wait for the Honors Program/College decisions to come out. My son applied to schools from Massachusetts to Alabama and the schools in the south are FAR more generous with merit. He has 35 ACT, top 5%, Eagle Scout, certified EMT, tons of philanthropy including a humanitarian award. The schools in the northeast have awarded him between 5-17k (although one invited him to compete for a Distinguished Scholar Award that could be up to a full-ride). The schools in the south have awarded him between 23K up to full tuition.
Update: D invited into Honors College SAS at RNB, with 10K merit. I think ECs were a big factor. As we await to hear back from some southern schools, Rutgers is def. looking like the best education for the best value.
Same boat here. My son got accepted to Rutgers and we just got the offer letter online.
Bottom line is still about 20K per year even with Aid.
Please search for and read my post and lets see if we can give each other support/advice.
JohnnyLama
My daughter got $10k in merit for SAS and nothing for nursing. Which means If she chooses Rutgers she would have to pay an extra $10 for the major of her choice which is crazy. So $20k OOP for SAS or $30k OOP for Nursing.
My S got into HC for RBS (NB) with 13K University Scholarship and 6K Henry Rutgers Scholarship (Total 19K) In-state. So we will end up spending ~13K/year (Housing+Meals)
Ok I can chime in here, my d graduated Rutgers NB a few years back and her brother just got accepted. She got merit aid , do not think he will. But w my D there was additional merit aid in her years 2,3,4. It was only for a year at a time, she was in the honors program, pre honors collage, so it you seek it out there is some additional merit aid each year, I think she got about 8 k a year for 4 years and a additional 1-2 k in one year merit. TCNJ for instances gave her no merit. Most instate schools save their merit for OOS and hope they take it. Rutgers still makes more money off OOS and international than in state even by offering OOS merit.