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Obviously one needs to apply and to take the SATs or ACTs. No one knocks on your door, c'mon!
They do in this state. A number of schools sent me letters saying they'd pay for everything. They're schools you've probably never heard of and would be affectionately referred to as 'Podunk State' here at CD if they weren't 15 miles away from NYC. It's an automatic thing for being above a certain numerical threshold. I know the state of VA does that too.
One of my friends took the deal and didn't pay a cent for college.
I mean, honestly, for parents who know they can't help, I'd push their kids towards that threshold. It's not really that high. In real life, it doesn't really matter what school you go to anyway, unless you want to go to medical school, dental school or a Top JD or MBA program. CC or not, no difference.
Nobody gives a sh@t about your shiny little diploma from Dartmouth University.
Schools will send literature to all graduating seniors after getting names off lists for sale. Nobody is offering anyone a full scholarship, even Podunk-U, without some grades and test results. SAT, ACT, or other. State schools are fine for the majority of students, I agree with that, but they aren't giving things away for free as far as I know unless you COULD be doing much, much better or have a hook of some sort. And not all public schools are cheap. Some private schools will give you financial assistance that some public schools won't.
People put too much stock in the "college experience" or even the "freshman dorm" experience. My daughter went away but skipped the dorms, met lots of different people, older people, transfer students, graduated students, a few who left before graduating, some locals who didn't even go to her college (due to her involvement in the community), friend of friends who lived out of town..state..country. There were also some scary, shady things that happened that parents do not want for their children, and I won't even lie about that. 100% that will happen. But that's their life right? They are (usually) adults who learn from their own mistakes.
THERE IS NO SINGLE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE. Every single experience is unique. To say someone missed the boat is ridiculous.
Schools will send literature to all graduating seniors after getting names off lists for sale. Nobody is offering anyone a full scholarship, even Podunk-U, without some grades and test results. SAT, ACT, or other. State schools are fine for the majority of students, I agree with that, but they aren't giving things away for free as far as I know unless you COULD be doing much, much better or have a hook of some sort. And not all public schools are cheap. Some private schools will give you financial assistance that some public schools won't.
They have your grades and SAT from some dorky statewide honors program thing.
Had you looked around, you could have gotten all 4 years paid for....if you had done well in high school, which is sounds like you did not....big difference there if the money isn't available right out of high school--again, for above average students...that being a B+ student or better, or even a B student with good test scores. The numbers are all there in black and white on every college website...run the numbers and see for yourself....add in some financial aid if you qualify and it's pretty easy to find schools where the next cost is under $6k/year.
Full paid scholarships are hard to come by. Very few students will be offered them and I would expect someone who is to take it. In my case, even if I'd had the grades in high school, the 4 year version of my scholarship was half paid so my cost would have gone up.
If you are not on a full scholarship, and most students aren't, cc is a cheap way to get your first two years done. As I said before, It's also a second chance at scholarships for those whose grades weren't good enough in high school to get them.
Personally, I found the education at cc better than the education at university. It seems my peers at university were put into a sink or swim situation for the first two years while I had teachers who worked to help me succeed. For example, calculus is the backbone of engineering yet they too 3 credit classes that met 3 hours a week while I took 5 credit classes that met 5 hours a week. I had 60% more face time with my teachers. Not surprisingly, I knew my calculus better than my peers when I transferred.
My experience is that while universities use classes like calculus to weed out students, ccs are trying to weed them in by giving them a strong foundation. IMO, cc is a great choice both financially and educationally. As I said, my dd will be attending cc for 2 years and then moving to university at a considerable cost save over going straight to university.
Schools will send literature to all graduating seniors after getting names off lists for sale. Nobody is offering anyone a full scholarship, even Podunk-U, without some grades and test results. SAT, ACT, or other. State schools are fine for the majority of students, I agree with that, but they aren't giving things away for free as far as I know unless you COULD be doing much, much better or have a hook of some sort. And not all public schools are cheap. Some private schools will give you financial assistance that some public schools won't.
People put too much stock in the "college experience" or even the "freshman dorm" experience. My daughter went away but skipped the dorms, met lots of different people, older people, transfer students, graduated students, a few who left before graduating, some locals who didn't even go to her college (due to her involvement in the community), friend of friends who lived out of town..state..country. There were also some scary, shady things that happened that parents do not want for their children, and I won't even lie about that. 100% that will happen. But that's their life right? They are (usually) adults who learn from their own mistakes.
THERE IS NO SINGLE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE. Every single experience is unique. To say someone missed the boat is ridiculous.
And that freshman dorm experience, whatever it may be, just isn't worth a lifetime of student debt.
So my dd doesn't go away to school until grad school. So what? She wants to be a vet and that's expensive. The cheapest route she can go is cc for two years then a local branch of a major university for two more before she goes off to vet school. This will be her unique experience. It just isn't worth $80K in student loan debt to have the "freshman dorm experience". Doing things the way she is, she may get through her bachelor's with zero debt. Of course, she'll incur debt in grad school but it will be a lot less than it would have been if she'd gone for the "freshman dorm experience".
You are correct that every college experience is unique. I'm happy with mine. Cc then university. To be honest, I don't think I would have made it through the weeding process in university if I'd gone right to university. Going to cc first and then to university allowed me to graduate #1 in my major, #5 in my class. IMO, CC is a good investment all the way around even if you don't get the freshman dorm experience. Cc was it's own experience and it was a good enough one for me that I'm recommending it for my kids.
Interestingly, I know several kids who went away to college only to come back home either mid year or the next year some not even going back. IMO, that's a waste of money.
If your top 10% students were that good, the most they would be paying at St. Ben's is about $20K, and should be less with the scholarships available....our D had a net there of 15K but she wasn't top 10% but had a good enough GPA and test scores to get the highest automatic scholarship and also was offered several smaller ones. She has several friends going there and none of them are paying over 20K....with a retail value of 47K, heck of a bargain and STILL less than any state school...
Re: the UofMN costs. We covered that in another thread. Most UofMN kids don't get big scholarships $$'s because it is already heavily subsidized by the state of MN. That said, the top 10% usually get another $2K-$4K per year minimum. My DD got another $3K or $4K per year on top of that which is common for UofMN Duluth students (I forget the exact name but it was a northern MN "mining scholarships"; it was a surprise). So the better students are paying around $10K for tuition and books at the UofMN. Less $4K at UMD. Less their own local scholarships. The UofMN Duluth diploma says UofMN. IMHO, that means a whole lot more than "St. Ben's" as she has no interest in living in MN. So even though every smart student that we know that went to St. _______ paid thousands more, we wanted a name brand school. They thought they stumbled onto a superior school by going to St. Thomas. I am glad they think they got a better education. After all, being delighted with their selection is everyone's goal.
That said. I'm confused... In another thread you said your kids didn't apply to any MN colleges. I also thought your out of pocket was around $60K for both (I'd have to look). Earlier in this thread, you said they paid $2K per year each. That's $16K for 2 kids for 4 years at a private college.
Re: the UofMN costs. We covered that in another thread. Most UofMN kids don't get big scholarships $$'s because it is already heavily subsidized by the state of MN. That said, the top 10% usually get another $2K-$4K per year minimum. My DD got another $3K or $4K per year on top of that which is common for UofMN Duluth students (I forget the exact name but it was a northern MN "mining scholarships"; it was a surprise). So the better students are paying around $10K for tuition and books at the UofMN. Less $4K at UMD. Less their own local scholarships. The UofMN Duluth diploma says UofMN. IMHO, that means a whole lot more than "St. Ben's" as she has no interest in living in MN. So even though every smart student that we know that went to St. _______ paid thousands more, we wanted a name brand school. They thought they stumbled onto a superior school by going to St. Thomas. I am glad they think they got a better education. After all, being delighted with their selection is everyone's goal.
That said. I'm confused... In another thread you said your kids didn't apply to any MN colleges. I also thought your out of pocket was around $60K for both (I'd have to look). Earlier in this thread, you said they paid $2K per year each. That's $16K for 2 kids for 4 years at a private college.
Yep, now that all the numbers are in, that is what they ended up with--it's great No, our kids didn't apply to any MN state schools, they are just too dang expensive! There is one scholarship they each got for $1000 that I'm not sure if it carries over for 4 years or if it's a one time deal so they might have to come up with $3000 next year--but I doubt they will really have $2000/year in "personal expenses" so they are basically going for free with a combination of various scholarships that are renewable for 4 years!!! Love these "expensive" private schools!!
Yep, now that all the numbers are in, that is what they ended up with--it's great No, our kids didn't apply to any MN state schools, they are just too dang expensive! There is one scholarship they each got for $1000 that I'm not sure if it carries over for 4 years or if it's a one time deal so they might have to come up with $3000 next year--but I doubt they will really have $2000/year in "personal expenses" so they are basically going for free with a combination of various scholarships that are renewable for 4 years!!! Love these "expensive" private schools!!
Congrats. You are the only person I have ever heard of that got $45K (retail) education for free x 2 $90K). Not one kid in college but two and not academically in the top 10%. I'm still looking for another person in the same boat. Do tell... What the name of the school that is so "well endowed" and 100% medical school placement?
Yep, now that all the numbers are in, that is what they ended up with--it's great No, our kids didn't apply to any MN state schools, they are just too dang expensive! There is one scholarship they each got for $1000 that I'm not sure if it carries over for 4 years or if it's a one time deal so they might have to come up with $3000 next year--but I doubt they will really have $2000/year in "personal expenses" so they are basically going for free with a combination of various scholarships that are renewable for 4 years!!! Love these "expensive" private schools!!
So, what you are saying is that B students in the Top 25% of their high school class and with 80 percentile SATs can go to college (private school no less) for virtually free if they just 'shop around'.
Yep, now that all the numbers are in, that is what they ended up with--it's great No, our kids didn't apply to any MN state schools, they are just too dang expensive! There is one scholarship they each got for $1000 that I'm not sure if it carries over for 4 years or if it's a one time deal so they might have to come up with $3000 next year--but I doubt they will really have $2000/year in "personal expenses" so they are basically going for free with a combination of various scholarships that are renewable for 4 years!!! Love these "expensive" private schools!!
You'd be surprised how fast these "personal expenses" can add up. I don't recall if your kids are boys, girls or one of each, but they both will need haircuts (boys more often, girls more expensive usually), shoes at ~ $50 a pop, clothes (jeans at least $30 a pair), etc. Personal expenses also includes movies at ~$10 a pop, restaurant meals, computer expenses, yada, yada. $2000 can be spent before you know it's gone.
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And that freshman dorm experience, whatever it may be, just isn't worth a lifetime of student debt. 
After all, being delighted with their selection is everyone's goal. 
