I think so. She’s still in the low rung for scholarship $, so I’d say a good chance:)
My opinion…let your daughter choose her college major. She is going to college. Not you!
Carry on.
As someone who attended school in Md and now lives in the Carolinas, I can tell you that U of Md is not a southern experience. In terms of University of Miami Ohio , OPs daughter’s current stats that is a reasonable question.
I for one agree with OP that college costs are shockingly out of the range of reality for many people. But what’s the solution? Colleges are burdened with so many administrative obligations (governmental regulations/compliance/reporting) and then there’s the cost of keeping up old facilities, bringing them up to new code standards, fending off lawsuits, the list goes on and on.
Many years ago, facilities were newer; there weren’t as many onerous codes/compliance laws/administrative bloat/lawsuits/threats of lawsuits. Now we need a dean of this, a dean of that, an officer of this, someone to oversee that, etc. or else the college will get in trouble for not doing something it was supposed to do.
By the way, OP, this isn’t the fault of the “poor” kids. In the scheme of things, they really aren’t sucking up the resources you think they are.
So, OP, unless you have a good solution (I don’t, and I’ve put a lot of thought into this), you’re just going to have to get in line with the rest of us and decide how much you are willing to pay for a college education for your kids. You don’t want to pay “caviar” prices for a chicken dinner, but the fact is, the caviar schools aren’t on your menu anyway.
OP is looking for what I like to call the “hidden gems.” In D’s stats range, I’m sure there are a few gems out there (come on, a 3.6/1250 is a decent, college-ready student). I think he’s gotten some good suggestions so far. Problem is, OP, you aren’t the only one looking…D’s stats put her in a fairly large, unremarkable applicant pool and she will face lots of competition for these gems.
The best thing she has going for her is that her family CAN pay…but you don’t want to pay…so you are back in with the hoards of people looking for the needle in the haystack.
However, it does not look like the student has the stats to have a reasonable chance of admission to a rich private school. The not-so-rich private schools may not necessarily live up to expectations of personal attention, etc. that one may associate with the rich private schools.
@prospect1 I hate to be the “stereotypical conservative” but I blame government for the high price of college. The unintended consequences of government loans, government grants, laws and all of the things they hope to help with don’t do us any favors. When there is more money available, prices go up… simple as that. Of course another problem is the believing that everyone should go to college - this is the biggest lie we are told. There are plenty of graduates that have debts that are beyond what their degree is worth. I would hate to put rules in place but an art history or gender studies major shouldn’t be offered at a school that costs $50k or $60k. How long will the typical (not all) graduate need to pay this back? The more I talk to people, the more I find this. The solution is the free market - agreed it needs its limits but competition is very good…I 'll say it again… a college needs [1] a classroom, [2] reasonably priced books, [3] a white/black board and [4] professors that inspire. That’s it. We have students who expect beautiful dorms, manicured lawns and gardens, sports programs that cost too much, gothic buildings, gourmet food and the occasional study abroad. (really?) This is fine for the people who can afford it (the rich) but it isn’t needed for the majority of students.
We should demand less! 
We’ll end up with more!
(sorry I ranted again)
I won’t pay more than about $30k (I previously said $26k) but you get the idea. I don’t want my kids in oodles of debt, especially if she does get the biology degree That;s the idea of no loans. She’ll likely go to TCNJ or Rowan or even R. Stockton. I don’t think Rutgers will work - I respect the graduates of Rutgers (I went there for a little bit) but I think the overall experience is just bad - it took me quite a long time to get to this conclusion but I am happy I did.
Thank you!
But @wppdf2, the very things you think a college should be (i.e., just a classroom, books, blackboard, professors), is are the very things that turn you against schools such as Rutgers…maybe too barebones and rough for some people’s liking, including yours.
I would love to see college the way it was…free from an excessive amount of costly bureaucracy and governmental interference, accessible to most people, lovely, well-kept campuses with decent amenities.
Guess what: in my day, we DID have nice dorms (maybe not beautiful, but not three to a room like today in many places), manicured lawns and gardens, sports programs (and, in some places, the sports programs pay for themselves, fyi), gothic buildings and OK food. It didn’t cost an arm and a leg like today. So, that’s not the stuff that’s costing all the money. It’s the administrative bloat that, in my opinion, is the result of way too many governmental/liability obligations forced on colleges.
I do not agree with you about major. Cannot force somebody into a career for which they have no affinity. The critical thinking skills that can be gained from what some people think of as “soft” majors can be highly prized even in the corporate world.
Feel free to rant. It’s an anonymous board.
<< I would hate to put rules in place but an art history or gender studies major shouldn’t be offered at a school that costs $50k or $60k.>>
So, a full-pay student shouldn’t have these choices because others are overburdened by loans?
I loved my Art History class and I’m so very pleased that my daughter earned an Art History Minor. All without loans.
An art history major from Williams has better career prospects than a bio major from a second tier college, all things being equal, unless the art history major insists on working in London or LA (he or she will need to be flexible) or the bio major from second tier college has the stats (and the money, or the borrowing capability) to become a neurosurgeon.
Really OP- we get that you dislike Rutgers and think that studying business is the way to go. But it’s not necessary to bash the student populations of every college you don’t approve of or don’t want to pay for (or don’t know anything about) in order to get your query about your daughter answered.
Some people don’t care that the caviar is overpriced (in your view) because at the end of the day- it’s still caviar. We were full pay- and there were dozens of colleges that were on my kids lists at one point or another that I told them I wasn’t willing to pay for.
But I had very different criteria than you do. Academic rigor was the single most important item on my kids lists- private, public (Rutgers made the list by the way- and we are not NJ residents). Urban/Rural- no opinion. The idea that a college needs a classroom, reasonably priced books, a blackboard and inspiring professors is a little 19th century. Who is going to finance the nanotechnology lab? Who is going to create the affiliation between the materials science department and a major academic medical center to test new composite materials for prosthetic devices? Who is going to sponsor and lead the study trying to determine how many veterans suffering from PSTD have actual neurological damage vs. a psychotic disorder?
I get that you make a nice living after a bare bones college education. But the “frills” you decry are what advance discovery and move society forward.
Do you want your cancer treated with a 1985 protocol instead of something developed two years ago which could prolong your life with fewer side effects at less cost? I doubt it.
So stop bashing the “caviar” universities. That’s where this stuff gets developed- not some rebranded teachers college with a blackboard and cheap textbooks. Your D may not want to be at a tier one research university (public or private) , but that doesn’t make them dinosaurs for those who choose that experience.
edited
The government is to blame, but the cause is the erosion of public subsidies for universities. Spending per student in real dollars at public universities has been mostly stable, but the public funding has been continually reduced and colleges are forced to make up the difference with tuition increases.
BTW, you asked if anyone is with you - I definitely am. I will not pay $60K/year for undergrad either.
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Wouldn’t Rutgers (as your describe it) or a typical commuter-based school be more like what you are looking for (although Rutgers in reality may have more luxury features than that, like dorms)? Of course, some academic subjects need labs or other facilities as well.
@wppf2, I’m also with you. My family income is more than yours and I dont like to pay $60k either. I only pay $21k-25k for in state.
…
Gosh, I’m really, really feeling for your daughter the more you post. Best of luck to her.
(For clarification, I’m not saying anyone should pay $50k or 60k for school for any major. I think it’s outrageous and I wouldn’t do it. BUT to say that a major shouldn’t be offered is pretty ridiculous.)
Why have you moved from “name brand” to bare bones? I’m just not following your logic.
And I get it that you don’t want to pay $60,000. Fine. Don’t pay it. I can’t imagine what your daughter must be thinking about all of this.
I know a lot of people who choose public high school (free) rather than private schools that offer smaller class size, wonderful facilities, others from the same SES, individual attention from guidance counselors, even when they could easily afford a private school. The public school most of them want (and thus must live in the correct district which of course is pricey) has 3500 students. Many feel the public is just as good (or better) as the privates or parochial schools which are also highly rated, a lot smaller, but don’t have as many offerings. This public school has everything - about 7 languages, orchestras and bands (plural), every AP you can imagine, every club, usually wins several state championships per year (used to win almost all of them, but there is more competition now, even from the private schools). Wealthy parents from other school districts which don’t have a good public alternative do find the private schools worth it and shell out the $25k or more necessary to go to the privates.
Some school districts have a good public that offer a lot, so no need for the private unless the family wants a smaller school, individual attention from GCs, individual attention. Some states have a good public college but some don’t. For some reason NJ residents don’t respect the public schools and want to go to ‘higher ranked’ schools no matter where they are or what they offer. I don’t get it because I really like universities that offer more choice, usually have more diversity of SES and where I better identify. One of my children attends a private school that is very racially diverse, but she’s on the low side for income. She wasn’t looking for a lot of variety in majors or electives, so a smaller school works for her. One school we looked at had 5 math professors. I saw that as very limiting (and so did she).
I was expecting a higher level of criticism for what I had wrote. Wow I am liking this site more and more.
@prospect1 I would like to explore what you mean that these “soft” majors are prized in the corporate world. I work at a medium sized company in an engineering atmosphere. Our sales and marketing are required to have engineering degrees (no kidding). I know a good group of my colleagues children who think they made a mistake when majoring in “soft” studies. The one that sticks out the most is the interior design major from Syracuse. Please tell me in what roles these sorts of major fit into the corporate world. I do know a VP of HR originally from Lucent/Bell Labs who does very well - she had a degree in Psych. However I think but she is definitely the exception to the people that I know.
@romanigypsyeyes I know you feel for my daughter because you think I’m a nut or something. But I feel for my daughter too and I want to make certain that if I am funding her education, she gets one in which she will be financially sound. I wouldn’t tell her what to major in but I would tell her what she couldn’t major in. My oldest will graduate with a degree in Chemical Engineering this coming may. It has already yielded a $70k offer with a pretty reasonable sign on bonus (which kind of surprised me). I helped her choose the right major and she did. Ignoring reality by letting children major in what makes them feel good is not a smart thing to do unless it can yield them opportunities … you guessed it … a return on the investment… they are making lots of decisions at 18 years old without any knowledge of the world… its our job as parents to help them choose wisely and I feel I did. For some parents who say that they will pay half, for example, and let their children take out loans for the remainder could yield them $125k in debt which may not be too bad as long as you didn’t have to live at home and wait tables when you graduated because they chose the wrong major.
A few recent anecdotes of majors prized in the corporate world: D1 works at a major tech firm in Silicon Valley. Her social circle includes a college friend who majored in Italian and who is working at Google. Another friend–a psych major–is at Dropbox on the business side. Both of these individuals are very well paid. Both (like D1) attended name brand schools of the $60k a year variety.
Another: a young relative who finished up a Poli Sci degree last year and is now a director of operations for a major US presidential candidate; this after a number of internships including a stint at the White House while attending one of those pricey schools.
@wppdf2 given your d’s interest in biology maybe nudge her to give environmental engineering a look. We know several folk in that area who are doing well and really enjoy the work. Lots of bio in the curriculum. I guess I am a bit confused by your focus on “name brand” since the analysis for engineering is different - the key being ABET accredited. Plus public universities are strong in this area. We know successful engineers who went to a whole variety of schools. If your d wants to get out of NJ and is willing to go west of the Mississippi there are some interesting and comparatively affordable options, starting with Missouri Science and Tech in Rolla.