She can dig her heels in, but that may mean she has no where to go. I told my kids what the budget was ($15k, the cost of a Florida instate school) and then we worked from there. They both wanted to go to school in California, so I told them to go ahead and find a school, here’s the budget. Oooh, those California schools were too expensive. They picked very different schools, one a private engineering school where the sticker price was over $50k and we made it work with financial aid, merit scholarships, state aid, and her athletic scholarship. The other picked U of Wyoming and it came in under the $15k.
Both understood that was the budget, that I wasn’t taking parental loans (they did take some student loans). The athlete did look at other schools (including Smith) and really didn’t like them. She loved the engineering school. California schools forgotten.
Both are very happy to NOT have huge student loans to repay. The engineer had about $15k and I think her payments are $150. The history major had about $22k total and her payments are a struggle ($250/mo). I help make payments when I can but the loans are their responsibility. I’m retired, and I can’t imagine having $100k (or $200k for two kids) in parental loans to repay. The suggestions to figure out what the loan repayments would be, and to ‘practice’ paying them now by putting $1000/month into a savings account are good ones.
You said your daughter agreed to go to the cheapest college once all the acceptances are in, but I think she’s NOT going to want to take Salem State over Yale or Smith or NYU YOU tell her what the budget is now. My daughter did not love U of Wyoming the first time she visited in Jan when it was -10 degrees and no one was on campus but loved it when she visited in the fall because she got some individual attention on a tour, went to a football game, saw students on campus, participated in some fun activities. She stayed for 7 years. Would she have preferred Smith or Harvard or UCLA as a 17 year old? Of course. Would she like making student loan payments of $700/mo? No.
One thing you need to keep in mind is transportation costs. Especially if you are going to a college in a small transportation hub, or live in a small transportation hub. I have spent 1,500 to get a kid home to an NYC airport over Thanksgiving. Winter break is not as brutal, but still about 800. Some schools like Ole Miss are about 2 hours away from Memphis, which is where most fly out of. So you need a friend to get a ride with or pay an Uber for about $200.
Another cost hazard is rent. Southern schools have become a bit over enrolled. This means that you are only guaranteed housing freshman year, and even that is sketchy. Rents off campus are not cheap… even in MS monthly rent is 900 per month.
So when doing your financial planning, look at what your tuition is as well as transportation and off campus housing.
Fair point on overall transport costs but just an fyi it’s 1 hr 15 from Oxford to Memphis.
Colleges often costs more than the colleges list.
Not suggesting ole miss other than its renowned for English and if the SAT comes way up it’ll be under $10k. That pays for a lot of Uber trips vs $30k elsewhere - likely not $200 for one person and likely shared for reduced cost. Or perhaps there’s a shuttle.
Since OP is a fellow mainer, I also know that transport costs from here are even MORE of a cost burden! Almost any flight will have a connection, we do have southwest but only in Portland / southern Maine (I am in central and 2 hrs from that airport) or you take a bus to Boston/Logan - another expense. It is certainly not something to dismiss. Students who live near hubs and go away to school definitely have it easier logistically and financially when it comes to travel.
I think the living expenses and travel are shocking the first year and then the student figures it out. My daughter went to school in Florida and I was shocked at how much the school charged for room and board for freshman, in a rather low COL area. The shuttle to the airport was about $80. She never took that shuttle because she found friends who would drive her for about $10 (gas and tolls). Even sophomores who live in the dorm paid about $1000 less per semester for the meal plan than Freshmen (because the school found sophs weren’t living in the dorms because it cost so much more). She figured out how to get cheaper air fares by leaving a day earlier or staying a day later, or flying to a friend’s and driving part way.
So be aware of the costs, but there may be work-a-rounds.
I want to extend a sincere thank you to all of you. So much good advice and a few really supportive messages. We’ve added a number of schools to the future tours list and cancelled a few tours at schools that do not give merit and are pricey.
Added: Mass college of liberal arts, Framingham state, Salem state, UMaine Farmington.
Removed: Amherst and Hampshire.
We will be running numbers for a handful of others of her choosing. Likely go to New York this summer to see whichever she wants but I’m happy at least the cost is now being considered.
She’s hopeful that she can get out of Maine at the least.
Thanks so much for the update! Hope you continue to share how your D’s list evolves, how campus visits go, etc. Looking forward to following her journey to college!
You’ve gotten a lot of great feedback already but I wanted to throw out Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. It’s rural so your D might not like it but it’s in a town with the essentials close by. The NPC for my D came back in the high $40’s but she liked the school enough and applied, 3 days later she was admitted with a $44k scholarship that brought costs into the mid $30’s. She’s a musician and was awarded another scholarship and it’s at $31k. What I appreciate is that it’s all merit so if we make more money the aid doesn’t fluctuate unless they raise tuition which is likely. We’re in the donut hole where NPC come back too expensive except at the very most generous schools but once I’m able to work more those schools could become too expensive. Your D is much stronger academic student than mine so I’m hoping you get some great offers!
One other option for kids who want to experience getting out of their home state and living someplace exciting could be a gap year through Americorp’s City Year program. Basically, you get paid a stipend to work in under-resourced schools in certain cities across the nation. I don’t believe it has dorms, but the program does help you find shared housing with other volunteers. When you are done with your year, if you have logged enough hours, you can qualify for some educational grants as well as in-state tuition in a few states (AZ, WV, MD, NE ?) It also looks good on a resume and college application.
Salem State is a by and large a commuter school that draws primarily from the North Shore towns. It’s very different from other schools you say appealed to her. It is largely focused on pre-professional programs like health professionals, education, law enforcement, etc. It wouldn’t be the kind of “capsule” campus experience that she would have at many other places under discussion in this thread (Amherst, etc.)
To answer your first question: Bridgewater is one of the largest state schools (I mean, comparatively, it’s still around 10k students or so, this is no Mizzou), the rest of that post is confusing to me. If memory serves, Salem State and Fitchburg are both larger than Worcester and Westfield (the latter is really small, like 4k students or something like that).
Second: both UMass-Lowell and Bridgewater State are commuter schools, something like 2/3 of the student body are commuters in both cases. Having said that, I personally think Bridgewater State would be closer to a “capsule” campus experience because of how the campus is laid out and situated in its surroundings. UMass Lowell is fragmented/splitered along the Merrimack River, has an industrial vibe to it, and Lowell is not what I would consider a “college town” while Bridgewater comes closer.
I haven’t spent a ton of time in these places, though. I am most familiar with Salem State because someone in my family went there for grad school.
Oh, it’s not an official term, I was just using it to describe a small, self-contained campus – all or most students live on campus, it’s a fully immersive experience, strong sense of community, etc. Basically what a quintessential small liberal arts college campus is like, especially one somewhere more more rural (like the Pioneer Valley schools the poster named in the first post in this thread).
My own preferred term (also unofficial) is “Sleep-away camp colleges.” Everything is provided right there for essentially all the students: classes, housing, food, activities, student supports etc. A lot of students really love this model.
On the other hand, some students actually prefer a model that has a certain percentage of commuter students. I know my kids do. They feel it leads to a wider diversity of student types including non-traditional students (e.g. older students, part time students, veterans etc.) They feel it has a more “real life” vibe, is more flexible, and less claustrophobic.
Like “Sleep-away camp colleges" too! My kids are not “Sleep-away camp colleges" types. One is a first year at a great public school in New Jersey, and D25 will most likely end up at a public school, too. Or at Scranton/Rider/LaSalle/St. Joes/Widener etc. TBD.
UMaine Farmington was a no. I think she’s just being stubborn and made up her mind only because she’s digging in her heels.
Has a vibe she liked. Dorms were decent. Cute college town. Tons of free perks that she liked (lift tickets for example ). Coffee shop in the library and lots of artsy people. No Greek life (she’s anti-sorority). And A PET FRIENDLY DORM so her cat could join her.
BUT she wants to leave Maine and she wants a city. Sigh. My husband is going to have a discussion with her because she tuned me out. We want her to at least keep an open mind. It’s bound to be her least expensive option barring a full ride scholarship.
). Coffee shop in the library and lots of artsy people. No Greek life (she’s anti-sorority). And A PET FRIENDLY DORM so her cat could join her.