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Ok, my oldest is a junior...tons of extra curriculars...top 3 class rank (Good school 450ish in class), will be natl. merit finalist, taking SAT soon but PSAT equates to 1530ish. Solid extra curriculars etc. Caucasian from the state of KS, single parent family, family income 125k.
He's considering a couple of majors, one of which a public university in the area is as good as anybody in and that would likely be a full-ride (or close enough). It's also in a field where you don't go to gradschool so no concerns about that aspect.
I'm naive to what (if any financial help) you can get at some of the top private schools (very rough idea, ball-park) if he were to look at them for something like a business or finance major.
None. Your income is too high, his test scores are too low, nothing interesting as a candidate (that you have mentioned). The top private schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc) do not offer undergrad business or finance majors.
Bear in mind that there are many very good private schools that are not Ivies, and handle admission and financial aid differently than Ivies. While some schools may not offer merit scholarships, focusing only on need-based aid, there are others that do. There are also scholarships from outside sources that take merit into account, even if a school does not offer them.
Last edited by TabulaRasa; 12-11-2014 at 11:17 AM..
One of my nephews attended Columbia on a full academic scholarship even though his father makes a very good income. His major was in a language. Room and board in NYC was very expensive though, my brother said. (As you should know since you live in that area.)
Another nephew was offered a full ride academic scholarship to Northwestern, but turned it down in favor of attending his father's alma mater (a smaller private liberal arts college.)
Both have done VERY well after graduation - one got a Fulbright scholarship and went on to study at Oxford and seems to be having good success in starting his career, the other is at one of the elite law schools now.
The only negative to the above that I can think of is that I believe it is good for kids to work at least a little while attending college, and they didn't.
So I guess I'm saying that full ride scholarships are available at elite universities for the academically gifted.
Columbia does not directly offer academic (or athletic) scholarships. Their grants, scholarships, financial aid packages, similar to other Ivys, are all need-based, like someone else mentioned. If merit-based, it must be coming from another organization.
None. Your income is too high, his test scores are too low, nothing interesting as a candidate (that you have mentioned). The top private schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc) do not offer undergrad business or finance majors.
Unfortunately I have to agree with this, especially for a white or Asian male. There are some private schools that offer merit scholarships. I'd recommend my alma mater Washington and Lee, great liberal arts schools with a great business program as well, several merit based scholarships and being from Kansas would be a plus. Southern and somewhat conservative though if that would bother him, although conservative compared to other liberal arts schools isn't saying much.
Your son does seem like a run of mill applicant for the top colleges, except that he's from Kansas. That will make him stand out a bit as there are preciously few students from Kansas at the top universities on the coasts, and the schools do try to achieve some kind of geographic diversity.
Another poster is correct when he mentioned that most of the "top" colleges don't offer a separate finance or business major. Penn does through Wharton. Economics would be the closest at most schools. This is obviously not a detriment considering so many graduates of the top colleges go into finance/banking/consulting.
As for money, I cannot tell you how the financial aid will be allocated and what the package will amount up to other than that it will probably vary greatly among the schools he applies to. But you will only know until you apply. A common complaint in the admissions office at the nation's top private colleges is that too many prospective students they'd love to have immediately write off these schools due to the perception that they're too expensive without realizing how generous the financial aid packages can be. Families that understand how the system works have been able to get package offers that make a private college cheaper for them than a local public college. After you receive the acceptances and the aid packages, it's still feasible to go back to try to negotiate a bit more money.
I would also apply to a wide range of schools. Not just the Harvards of the US, but the next rung such as Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon and even the better liberal arts colleges such as Amherst and so on. They may have smaller endowments and less money for financial aid, but they may also want your son more badly than Harvard or Stanford due to the geographical factor, and may give him more money than you might expect. Then you have schools such as WUSTL or Tulane or Rice, which are all very good colleges that routinely lose the best applicants to the better schools, so they offer more financial aid to retain the better candidates.
A financial asset donation made to a non-profit group or institution in the form of investment funds or other property that has a stated purpose at the bequest of the donor. Most endowments are designed to keep the principal amount intact while using the investment income from dividends for charitable efforts.
Thanks for the chart. I know there are some big endowments out there I just know Harvard for example is dedicating a chunk of theirs to mens sports at the moment.
Not quite sure what the goal there is but maybe they can hire some of the staff UNC fired to help them set up custom classes for their new athlete-students.
Your son does seem like a run of mill applicant for the top colleges, except that he's from Kansas. That will make him stand out a bit as there are preciously few students from Kansas at the top universities on the coasts, and the schools do try to achieve some kind of geographic diversity.
Another poster is correct when he mentioned that most of the "top" colleges don't offer a separate finance or business major. Penn does through Wharton. Economics would be the closest at most schools. This is obviously not a detriment considering so many graduates of the top colleges go into finance/banking/consulting.
As for money, I cannot tell you how the financial aid will be allocated and what the package will amount up to other than that it will probably vary greatly among the schools he applies to. But you will only know until you apply. A common complaint in the admissions office at the nation's top private colleges is that too many prospective students they'd love to have immediately write off these schools due to the perception that they're too expensive without realizing how generous the financial aid packages can be. Families that understand how the system works have been able to get package offers that make a private college cheaper for them than a local public college. After you receive the acceptances and the aid packages, it's still feasible to go back to try to negotiate a bit more money.
I would also apply to a wide range of schools. Not just the Harvards of the US, but the next rung such as Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon and even the better liberal arts colleges such as Amherst and so on. They may have smaller endowments and less money for financial aid, but they may also want your son more badly than Harvard or Stanford due to the geographical factor, and may give him more money than you might expect. Then you have schools such as WUSTL or Tulane or Rice, which are all very good colleges that routinely lose the best applicants to the better schools, so they offer more financial aid to retain the better candidates.
Excellent post. I'm aware of some of this but some of my information is dated so I'm all ears.
What is your son considering, school-wise? Is he exclusively shooting for Ivies, or is he considering other schools with rigorous academic programming as well?
None. Your income is too high, his test scores are too low, nothing interesting as a candidate (that you have mentioned). The top private schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc) do not offer undergrad business or finance majors.
Not that it matters much as I'm mainly asking generalities around cost.
I meant 1530 out of 1600, not out of 2400.
The PSAT pro-ration to an SAT of 2270 is around average at Harvard and Yale in recent years so I think we are just miscommunicating.
They have other *hooks* besides the state angle that goes beyond your normal band, chorus, abc club but again it's moot.
Wow. I just saw that Harvard's students.....14% have household income >500k. That's interesting.
Columbia does not directly offer academic (or athletic) scholarships. Their grants, scholarships, financial aid packages, similar to other Ivys, are all need-based, like someone else mentioned. If merit-based, it must be coming from another organization.
It doesn't even matter if you get a merit based scholarship that comes from outside the school. If the financial aid office knows about it, they will reduce the need based financial aid by exactly the amount of outside scholarship you are getting.
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