<p>“Find a college which is big and has lots of “cool stuff” and he’ll find his people.”</p>
<p>Blossom’s entire post is great, but I (a believer in big schools) wanted to emphasize this line in particular. </p>
<p>Totally agree with most of your points. For <em>me</em>, without regards for my son’s thoughts (which are basically to cast a wide net):</p>
<p>Close to home is better. Easy access to a major airport is next. In a large city is next. And meets 100% need is weaved through those three things. And my oldest son would love him nearby. I also agree that a larger school might have more to offer him, particularly if he doesn’t need to lock into a major right away, but everyone seems to be advocating for LACs.</p>
<p>I have my personal favorites for him which include all his reach schools as well as UCI & Fullerton.</p>
<p>Oh and Purdue. I don’t know if that’s easily accessible, but when my son saw all the cool activities they offered there, he got really excited.</p>
<p>Since he’s got strong stats and strong music ECs, has he applied to Lawrence and St Olaf? I don’t know whether these would be cheaper than a CSU but the academics would be stronger (with small classes, close interactions with professors, and many academic peers) and your son may get preferential packaging due to few CA kids being willing to traipse to snowlands. :)</p>
<p>You should seriously look at RIT–a heavyweight in the techie design fields. Also the school really understands how to read an app from a kid with history of accomadtions. </p>
<p>What is the f. aid like there? I think I did look into RIT a while ago, but ruled it out for some reason. I do have a deaf young friend, very smart and very aspie, who went there, so I am a little familiar with the school.</p>
<p>I don’t think “everyone” is advocating for LAC’s- I think you are confusing people with the specificity of your wish list.</p>
<p>On balance, for a kid who is undecided and interested in lots and lots of stuff, I think a university is the best “educational value” (not talking dollars and sense value here). Lots of departments. Lots of professional schools and grad students. etc. Which is not to disparage the LAC environment at all- but if a kids interests are crossovers between graphic design and computer science and engineering and music - to me, that spells university. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find most of what your son is looking for at St Olaf – just that if he gets there and doesn’t find his “tribe” right away, it will be harder to switch around social networks at a smaller school.</p>
<p>Your son getting excited about Purdue says a lot. And I think you guys (this is a family discussion) need to revisit the loan idea. If your son graduates from a place like Purdue with a techie sort of major, that does suggest more “payback” power than graduating from a small directional state U with a degree in early childhood education. I think getting realistic about the trade-offs you may be looking at in April is as important as throwing more schools onto the list at this point. Better academics/some loans. Worse academics (or not as strong on the engineering/gaming side)/no loans. etc. I’m not trying to spend your money- but if the “meets full needs” schools don’t come through and you are assessing the relative value of some of the more educationally rigorous environments (which may mean some loans) vs. the no loan options- well, you get to have the conversation again.</p>
<p>And your son may love his music and decide that for this coming summer, he’s getting a job waiting tables with tips, and can practice in the mornings before his shifts. That’s also a trade-off, and he won’t be the first kid in America to slog away at a job for cash the summer before college.</p>
<p>I think your son does have superstar stats- just don’t complicate the college decision with a lot of extraneous (no drinking, not politically liberal, needs to be able to major in game design) factors and you should have some very exciting options come April.</p>
<p>Help me understand a little- Is your son getting some outside scholarship $? It seems to me that he will be in the same situation as his brother at MIT if he goes to UC or CSU; that is, Fed Grants+Cal Grant will be given; then EFC+Subsidized loan+Work-study; and the rest will be a UC or CSU scholarship. So, without the NM Commended Student $6K corporate scholarship, he would have to come up with EFC+Subsidized Loan+Work-Study. Is that about right, or am I missing something?</p>
<p>Full need covered, but includes loans and work study, in addition to FAFSA EFC?</p>
<p>Great post, @blossom . His major at Purdue is Industrial Design. I think it’s a great fit. </p>
<p>I don’t know why I get so paranoid about loans. I have been completely spoiled with oldest son, and my loans way back when were so paltry and easily paid off. The idea of debt scares me, I confess. But I know it seems to be the “norm” these days. And my son has now come to the place where, while he would like no debt, is willing to reconsider.</p>
<p>Yes, a “normal” summer job would be good for him. He’s only ever earned income as a cellist or cello teacher, with a little tutoring thrown in. Last summer, he applied for two tech internships, but neither came through. It will be fun to see where he ends up working. He did have an offer for a good paying cello gig during the semester, but the hours and travel were prohibitive. </p>
<p>Still, I think we’ll try to tap into our network of people in game businesses, and see if he can do something in that field. My sister used to work for a game company, but I’m not sure she has any connections locally. He’s taking Java in the spring, and wants to continue working on his own projects. </p>
<p>You’re right-April will be exciting, I hope!</p>
<p>I think that’s right, ItsJustSchool.</p>
<p>I don’t know if he’ll have outside scholarships. He’s competing for the Corporate NM Scholarship, but I think we don’t find out until March. And he’s applied to at least two other outside scholarships and plans to apply to some diabetes scholarships that open soon. But so far, nope, nothing yet. He’s only gotten a far as semi-finalist for some biggies. Close, but no cigar.</p>
<p>The media likes to find kids who owe 200K and are living in mom’s basement while trying to find a job with a BA in Anthropology, oh- and the kid has to live in Boston, SF or NYC.</p>
<p>The reality is a lot more prosaic. Kids graduate from college; kids get jobs. Kids live modestly while paying back their loans. Kid gets a raise after a year and then gets to decide- should I get a cleaning service every other week? Take a vacation next summer? accelerate my loan payment? Nice problem to have. And then again next year.</p>
<p>I have nieces and nephews in their late 20’s and early 30’s who have good jobs, have either paid back their entire loan or are close to it, and live lives that are reasonably similar to their peers who don’t have loans. None of them own cars (public transportation, Uber, and the occasional zipcar) which has made the process much easier. All of them had roommates until they were 2/3’s of the way done with the loan payments. One of them ended up getting an employer pay for grad school (would likely have left that job except the tuition plan was too enticing to pass up). And I think most of them are incredibly averse to any sort of consumer debt- nobody is skiing in Aspen over Christmas and putting the tickets on a card “to be paid back down the road”.</p>
<p>None of them make good copy for the news. They aren’t indigent, they don’t live at home, they don’t live hand to mouth from jobs as office temps or baristas. And they all (at least they claim!) are putting the maximum into their employer-sponsored retirement plans.</p>
<p>I’m not advocating that you guys sign on for a 20 year albatross around your necks. But you should run the repayment schedules for modest amounts of loans and decide if any of the options are “worth it”. And if not- take the best financial deal you can get and don’t look back.</p>
<p>A summer job is a good thing regardless.</p>
<p>My kids have “skin in the game”. 5k per year plus misc expenses (movies. off campus eats, manicures etc)</p>
<p>If he goes to Purdue, could co-ops help him reduce the need for loans?
I second the idea of applying to UA Huntsville. </p>
<p>Maybe, atomom. Good thing to find out.</p>
<p>You know, we’re so used to So Cal culture. I’ve never been to the South (kids haven’t, either). A lot different than our multi-cultural So Cal that we love so much? I think he’d be interested in applying if it’s not a bunch more essays.</p>
<p>I would guess that UA Huntsville represents “Alabama/The South” about as much as UTD represents “Texas” 
</p>
<p>“Game design” in my opinion is a junk major, particularly for such an able student. He should major in something real, like computer science.</p>
<p>Purdue is not too accessible to major airports. It would be an hour drive to the airport, and limited (fairly expensive) shuttles. OTOH, it is a great school. The school also has a fairly large drinking culture among its students, with the colorful “Breakfast Club” and Big Ten sports culture. Still, there are always plenty of kids that don’t drink.
I would also check your health insurance options in Indiana and look for doctors. Our state has great doctors in Indianapolis, but the rest of the state can have more limited options. We are, after all, 43rd in infant mortality for a reason. </p>
<p>How is he not recycling his essays by now? I think it’s great he wants to put his best foot forward for every application- but I can’t imagine that most of the content needs to be generated from scratch at this point- isn’t it a cut and paste effort with one or two new topic sentences?</p>
<p>I’ll answer your Profile question.</p>
<p>There is NO family contribution generated by the a College Board when you submit the Profile. The Profile is submitted to the colleges. The schools that use it take the information you provided…and put it into their financial aid formulas…and the SCHOOLS decide what you can pay per year. That is why you can see huge variation from one meets full need school to the next…their formulas vary…wildly.</p>
<p>ETA…I’m very unclear on your priorities. On one hand your search has focused on programs that meet the diverse interests of your son that have the potential to be affordable. OTOH, you are NOW searching for additional schools where he will get full aid without loans. </p>
<p>And really…do you plan to have him completing applications again…for the next two weeks? </p>
<p>I’m up with our old, ill, blind, deaf dog (ugh-this is not the time to have to put him to sleep since he’s my 2015er’s dog-ugh-and what that will do to him when we put him down…bleh), so I guess I’ll answer the questions.</p>
<p>Blossom, my son has definitely recycled essays and has dozens to choose from, but school specific ones are hard for him simply because they are school specific. Of the apps still to be submitted (three at this point), he has one short and three long essays still to write-all will be need to be new, as two are school specific, one is a new topic, and one is extra info that he’s not talk about before.</p>
<p>thumper1, I don’t know. As I said upthread, not getting the higher level of merit aid at UTD threw me since I had assumed (incorrectly) it would be one school that we could afford based on his stats. Also seeing other kids get early acceptances to SDSU, a school we could afford, has caused me to doubt.</p>
<p>At this point, he has 5 reaches on his list; all meet need and would be affordable, but all pretty impossible to get into. The other affordable schools are the two locals. </p>
<p>Thus, I wanted to make one more sweep of schools that might be affordable and decent fits. I’ve gotten some ideas from people who’ve posted, so it has been very helpful to me.</p>