DIII and Financial Aid - what's your experience?

[Vertigo]

Anyone with experience with highly selective NESCAC, and financial-aid/scholarships?


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I think most schools in the NESCAC do not offer merit scholarships, as most applicants have very similar academic statistics. They are often extremely generous with FA as they have big endowments, but only for those who qualify. They are needs-based. Always utilize their NPC to get an idea of what you can expect money-wise for NESCAC schools.

 

[Shiloh]

My DD applied ED and got accepted to a DIII, which only awards need-based financial aid...

My DD don’t qualify for need-based financial aid.

I asked for a discount or reduced tuition, and the answer was “no”.

We established a 529 for her since she was in pre-school... still not near enough for the crazy $57K plus a year tuition ($77K/yr with boarding) for 4 years.... feels like we are being penalized for saving...

Anyone with experience with highly selective NESCAC, and financial-aid/scholarships?


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Same. We asked for a discount and was told no. It was the same at the 3 NESCAC schools we turned down. Ivies were similar. The schools seem very focused on needs-based admission, merit hardly exists.

In our case 529 and grandparents will help, but $80k for one year is mind-blowing. With travel costs it could reach $90-100k.

I graduated from a highly selective private college 30 years ago and it was $12k all in.
$100k/year today is 16% CAGR vs $12k/year 30 years ago. Inflation over that period has been ~1% per year.

WTF?

 

[_MIA_]

I think most schools in the NESCAC do not offer merit scholarships, as most applicants have very similar academic statistics. They are often extremely generous with FA as they have big endowments, but only for those who qualify. They are needs-based.

I would off my input on this as I went and played baseball (for a few years) at a NESCAC school but it was so long ago that I didn't get an e-mail account till my Jr. year and never owned my own computer so I don't think my input would hold any value

 

[Strike2]

Very interested in your experience with private schools adjusting price. You got one to do this? Please share more. Thanks!

Strength of HS record matters at most places, but some schools really put value on strong test scores. High student ACT/SAT test scores help those national rankings, and if a school cares about that, they'll do what's necessary to land the best performers. Think if it as something similar to a credit score when shopping for a home or auto loan. A better score usually leads to better terms. An email to the admissions office noting how my kid's improving test scores put them into the top quarter of admitted students resulted in a significant boost to the already decent school-offered scholarship. It also helped that she wanted to study in an area that the school was looking to further expand. It took them about a day to respond.

As I mentioned, enrollments are down somewhat because of Covid. The restrictions existing at many schools are putting even higher amounts of stress on residential students. Some of those won't come back. With longer term demographics working against them, I believe we'll find more schools motivated to compete for the better students. Whether it's softball or academics, look for a school that both fits and really wants you to go there. Just like if you were buying a car, don't be afraid to talk to admissions counselors about the better deal you're being offered down the road.

 

[_MIA_]

Same. We asked for a discount and was told no. It was the same at the 3 NESCAC schools we turned down. Ivies were similar. The schools seem very focused on needs-based admission, merit hardly exists.

In our case 529 and grandparents will help, but $80k for one year is mind-blowing. With travel costs it could reach $90-100k.

I graduated from a highly selective private college 30 years ago and it was $12k all in.
$100k/year today is 16% CAGR vs $12k/year 30 years ago. Inflation over that period has been ~1% per year.

WTF?

Check out how many administrators the schools have and what they are being paid.....

 

[vicimus]

Our experience with D3 and money has been solely based on each specific school. One school offered x amount of merit money and said they could offer even more if the ACT/SAT was above a certain number (yes, even in 2020). Other D3 schools offered in-state tuition for out-of-state students. The majority of high academic D3’s do not offer any merit money because academic-wise, the majority of students have similar statistics.

Also, I somewhat disagree with going to a top school doesn’t matter. It can absolutely make a difference with undergrad research opportunities, internships, grad school admissions, etc. Yes, it can be very major-specific, but it also can absolutely make a difference - especially with alumni networks - which can be very “conference-based,” not just school-based (eg Ivy League). I do agree, however, that the student should want to go there (and can afford it), and not just go there because of a name.

Vicimus - just curious - is your dd pulling all of her other apps since she just committed to a school or is she waiting to see where else she will get accepted?

Good discussion.

Obviously, it depends upon what you mean by *top* school, since that's usually by program/major; e.g. a few of the Ivies are considered in the top 6-10 range for computer science but the top 5 are non-Ivies yet ALL of them have PLENTY of research opportunities and not all research opportunities matter if it's not in your major. ;-)

GMU is the #1 publicly-funded research INSTITUTION in VA, computer science is the #1 major, and they are *in-bed w/ the DoD/IC* which is my daughter's career goal.

That said, UMD is ~ #15 top computer science programs in the country (world?), computer science is one of the top majors, they just opened a $150M+ computer science building, they are *in-bed w/ the DoD/IC*, and she'd get in-state tuition (~$12K/year), but alas, UMD is yet another coach that left in the middle of her recruiting and the new coach seemed to have his 2021s already in mind when he came, so no softball opp there.

As far as computer science goes, whether you graduate from UMD, GMU, MIT, Princeton, Cornell, etc. starting salaries are $80K-$100K in this area depending upon internship experience and whether or not you already have a security clearance.

And at the end of the day, it's what you do with your degree AFTER graduating that matters most. ;-)

As far as DD's other offers, she's figuring out how to decline the other 14 offers she's already received esp., I told her since we already paid the non-refundable application fees, she might as well let the other ones ride since you never know what is going to happen over the next six months esp. after 2020! ;-)

 

[vicimus]

Actually, if you get accepted ED but then something happens where the school is no longer affordable before accepting admission (parent loses job due to Covid, etc) you can back out. This is where the NPC must be utilized beforehand. Some situations can happen financially beyond one’s control (family expected x amount of FA per NPC but did not receive near that amount) and you can back out.

Understood, but my main point was each school (even the Ivies) have a fixed pot of money to offer, and they have no reason to offer you any if you apply early decision since they've already got you on their hook as soon as you hit the *submit* button. ;-)

 

[vicimus]

You also surround yourself with other high achievers when you go to a top school. Depending on how self-motivated your child is, that can make a difference as well. Here at OU, I have run into a lot of really bright kids who, unfortunately, "play down" to the competition so to speak..

With all due respect, there are *high achievers* at EVERY school, although admittedly some more than others. ;-)

I get the alumni network aspect, but as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many MANY others have proven, there are MANY MANY other ways to succeed! ;-)

 

[_MIA_]

With all due respect, there are *high achievers* at EVERY school

Did I say otherwise?

although admittedly some more than others. ;-)

That was my point. If 2/3 of your class is doing the bare minimum, and you are not highly self motivated, it is easy to go with the group dynamics. Like I said I see it here all the time in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering where the 2/3 number is about right..

 

[vicimus]

Strength of HS record matters at most places, but some schools really put value on strong test scores. High student ACT/SAT test scores help those national rankings, and if a school cares about that, they'll do what's necessary to land the best performers. Think if it as something similar to a credit score when shopping for a home or auto loan. A better score usually leads to better terms. An email to the admissions office noting how my kid's improving test scores put them into the top quarter of admitted students resulted in a significant boost to the already decent school-offered scholarship. It also helped that she wanted to study in an area that the school was looking to further expand. It took them about a day to respond.

As I mentioned, enrollments are down somewhat because of Covid. The restrictions existing at many schools are putting even higher amounts of stress on residential students. Some of those won't come back. With longer term demographics working against them, I believe we'll find more schools motivated to compete for the better students. Whether it's softball or academics, look for a school that both fits and really wants you to go there. Just like if you were buying a car, don't be afraid to talk to admissions counselors about the better deal you're being offered down the road.

Obviously, every school is different but many of the elite schools had already gone *test-optional* prior to COVID-19 and many of the *elite-elite* want to see a more *well-rounded* applicant; e.g. MIT usually gets $20K+ applicant per year and only accepts ~1,400 with an *average* SAT score of 1550 so obviously they are looking for MUCH more than the SAT/ACT score which is what the MIT interviewer told my DD when she interviewed her.

As far as enrollments being down this year, that has NOT been our experience; MIT early access/decision applications were actually up 63% (~15K+) and UGA got 20K+ early access/decision applications which were the 2 deferred decisions my DD received.