Where to begin with the college search?

[OnMyOwn]

My son will be a senior next year. I'm not 100% sure if it will be in his best interest to head off to college the following year or to spend one more year as a "super senior" taking classes at the CC. At any rate, we have done a couple of college visits and we have 3 colleges that he is interested in. This is a kid that loves history and geography and isn't really sure what type of degree he is interested in, which makes the college search difficult.

 

So far, we've visited Christopher Newport University and Liberty University and he liked both of those schools. We're going to go to an open house at Mary Washington next month because they have some degree options that interest him -- geography with GIS certification and historic preservation.

 

How many colleges should he apply to? Currently, his ACT score is solidly in the middle 50% for these schools, though he is going to take it again and may be able to bump it up a couple of points to hopefully place in the top 25% for these schools.

 

I think we will stick with in-state schools, but is there a systematic way to find schools that are a good match for him or do we just need to look at the website for every school in VA and then visit if it seems like it might be a fit?

[wapiti]

There are whole books on this topic.  My two cents:

 

I would start with the money:  how much can you afford.  Compare that amount to the Cost of Attendance at your in-state public colleges.  Try the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on the websites of the private colleges to see whether you might qualify for financial aid.  The NPC will be different at different schools.

 

If the price from the NPC is more than you can afford, consider whether your student's ACT scores might be enough for merit scholarships at some schools.  You would want the score to be over the 75th percentile of the middle 50%.  In addition, there are some schools that give automatic merit scholarships based on scores.  Very top schools tend to offer more financial aid but very few merit scholarships (i.e., if they offer them at all, they're super-competitive).  The further down in ranking, the more likely the school is to offer merit for high scores.  (Amounts of merit vary widely, e.g. suppose the merit is 2k.  Half-tuition is considered pretty awesome.  Full-tuition is harder to get - depends on the situation.)

One thing I have noticed about prices:  room&board tends to run in the neighborhood of 15k (occasionally a little else, occasionally a little more).  So for example, if 15k were all you could afford, you would have to find full tuition merit scholarships or lots of financial aid.

 

Don't forget GPA - that matters too!

 

There are college search sites where you can search by major and such.  Google to find them.  The one on College Confidential's site has been disabled for a while as it is being upgraded.

 

Reaches/matches/safeties:  note that having average ACT scores for certain schools maybe makes those schools match schools.  *HOWEVER* if they are known to be selective schools (having an acceptance rate below, say, 50%), they may be reach schools.  You also need *safety* schools, that is, schools (1) you can afford, (2) where he is virtually certain to get in, and (3) he would be happy to attend.

 

If you are looking at private colleges, there is no reason to limit yourself to in-state.  Typically state of residence doesn't matter at all for private colleges.

If you are looking for merit scholarships, even at public colleges, you probably shouldn't limit yourself to in-state.  There are  some public colleges that give generous merit money to out-of-state students if their scores are high enough.

 

Test scores can make a big difference.  It may be well worth spending some time prepping before he takes the ACT again.  Also consider whether the SAT might suit him better.

 

And when all else fails, ask the Hive.  The Hive likes to help :)

Edited March 19, 2017 by wapiti

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Think about what limiting factors you would have.

 

Cost as Wapiti mentioned.

Location (ex within a few hours drive or neighbouring states or the whole East Coast or wider)

Size

Extracurricular (sports, professional groups, frats, ROTC, service clubs)

What type of history? Which foreign languages? Does he want to teach or write or do pre-law or work at a museum?

 

My current senior did lists of schools with ROTC that has his foreign language and degree. That left about 20 schools to consider and sift through.

[creekland]

Number of colleges he should apply to depends upon his likes (of the colleges), his likelihood to get in (how many applicants do they accept/reject?), and how certain you are to be able to pay for them (run NPCs and compare to your finances).  The actual number varies a ton among students.  Even among my own kids it ranged from 1 - 6.

 

To find colleges I ran some searches online - putting in desired field, restricting area to what we wanted (though we were open to more than our state), and adding in anything else it offered in options - sometimes changing options to look at other possibilities (online).  We also asked those in certain fields - doing those jobs - where they would recommend checking into and got names from there.  Quite honestly, those provided our best leads as it's tough to know if College A is as respected as College B when it comes to Major X (or if it matters).  When several knowledgeable folks named the same school, it piqued our interest more.

 

As part of our research we also asked where recent grads from each school have gone (in the fields my guys were interested in).

 

In the end, we did visits.  Then we compared actual acceptances and financial numbers to their likes and they selected where they went.  (Well, the lad who only applied to one place just ended up going there - but after he was accepted and finances worked out enough.  His Plan B was to stay home and work for a year if he needed more money.)

[bettyandbob]

Are you trying to stay close to home?

 

Are you focused on small schools. Less competitive but still small you may want to look at Longwood, Radford, and UVA-Wise. I know someone who is a history major and was very happy with opportunities at the very small Wise campus.

 

State schools in WVA have reasonably priced oos tuition.

 

If you aren't trying to stay close to home, expanding the search beyond VA schools and adding in private schools may be a good idea.

[madteaparty]

I'm also curious about this when the student has a pretty general area of interest. I mean, it's not that hard to have a great undergrad English department, is it?

Now if DS decides he wants to double major in, say, Arabic or, French literature, that would narrow it down. But decent undergrad for an English major? Pretty much all of them, yes?

[OnMyOwn]

Thanks. Honestly, most of the state schools that I have looked at seem to be in the $25,000 range per year, so that doesn't help me narrow things down much. I listed his interests, but he honestly has no idea what he wants to do, which seems like it would be the best way to hone in on good schools. Maybe we just need to find "x" number of schools that seem like they might work and go with those? He would like to stay somewhat close to home and we have invested in VA's prepaid tuition program for him, so it would be nice if we could use that.

 

I think he would be most happy at a school that supports conservative views, does not have a heavy partying atmosphere and where the students are serious about academics, but not top scholars. Lol! Maybe we should be looking at more Christian schools with a wide range of degree options, though those may or may not be financially feasible.

Edited March 20, 2017 by OnMyOwn

[Dmmetler]

Mary Washington probably will be a good fit except that it tends to be socially liberal (when one of your long-time faculty members was a freedom rider, that tends to attract students very focused on civil rights). My brother loved it there, then went to William and Mary for Law school.

 

I would suggest looking at Radford, too. My brother also seriously considered George Mason, but it is strongly influenced by D.C. Culture, so probably wouldn't be the best fit for a student who likes Liberty.

[creekland]

Thanks. Honestly, most of the state schools that I have looked at seem to be in the $25,000 range per year, so that doesn't help me narrow things down much. I listed his interests, but he honestly has no idea what he wants to do, which seems like it would be the best way to hone in on good schools. Maybe we just need to find "x" number of schools that seem like they might work and go with those? He would like to stay somewhat close to home and we have invested in VA's prepaid tuition program for him, so it would be nice if we could use that.

 

I think he would be most happy at a school that supports conservative views, does not have a heavy partying atmosphere and where the students are serious about academics, but not top scholars. Lol! Maybe we should be looking at more Christian schools with a wide range of degree options, though those may or may not be financially feasible.

 

I tossed some basics into this search (that some kids like - their descriptions, etc) and came up with this list:

 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/?degree=4-year&state=VA&major=history&scores=SAT1000&sort=best

 

Regent seems to be one you might want to consider.

 

You can play around with other lists, etc, or just in general, see which colleges make which list - then use other sites and/or word of mouth from BTDT folks to find out more - or visits, of course.

[creekland]

Adding to my previous post, if you want to search from their Conservative College list, here it is:

 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/rankings/most-conservative-colleges/

 

Like all other sites, don't worry a ton about specific spots on the ranking list.  Those are mainly based upon opinions when it comes to specific slots.

[TCB]

I need to come back to this thread and read it through properly, but at the moment it is giving me palpitations!! My dd has a good ACT score and when I looked at the scholarships at the big in-state university she is fairly interested in, she should have been automatically considered for one that was $10,000 per year, however, when I called to ask, that one is not open to homeschoolers. As a homeschool grad she would only be eligible for $2000 per year, even though I know she is definitely in the top 25% of that school with her score. This has really made me anxious. Also, she's not sure what she wants to study. She has always been interested in teaching and more recently in special ed. I feel nervous about what's going to happen in education in the future. I'm finding it difficult to overcome my anxiety and figure this out.

[creekland]

I need to come back to this thread and read it through properly, but at the moment it is giving me palpitations!! My dd has a good ACT score and when I looked at the scholarships at the big in-state university she is fairly interested in, she should have been automatically considered for one that was $10,000 per year, however, when I called to ask, that one is not open to homeschoolers. 

 

If this is a state school, why is that scholarship not open to homeschoolers?  Is it a private scholarship?  I think I'd also investigate via my state homeschooling group (if there is one).  Public schools aren't supposed to discriminate against the public.  It took a bit to get PA to come around, but they did - not too long ago - but they did.

[snowbeltmom]

I need to come back to this thread and read it through properly, but at the moment it is giving me palpitations!! My dd has a good ACT score and when I looked at the scholarships at the big in-state university she is fairly interested in, she should have been automatically considered for one that was $10,000 per year, however, when I called to ask, that one is not open to homeschoolers. As a homeschool grad she would only be eligible for $2000 per year, even though I know she is definitely in the top 25% of that school with her score. This has really made me anxious. Also, she's not sure what she wants to study. She has always been interested in teaching and more recently in special ed. I feel nervous about what's going to happen in education in the future. I'm finding it difficult to overcome my anxiety and figure this out.

 

Wow, this is terrible that this school will not consider homeschoolers for its large merit award.  Is this a state school or a private school?  If it is the former, I wonder if discriminating against homeschoolers like that is even legal. 

 

As you are probably aware, many homeschoolers have been awarded big merit awards to a wide range of schools.  Most schools don't discriminate against homeschoolers.

 

ETA:  Creekland and I were typing at the same time. :-)

 

Edited March 20, 2017 by snowbeltmom

[Hilltopmom]

If this is a state school, why is that scholarship not open to homeschoolers? Is it a private scholarship? I think I'd also investigate via my state homeschooling group (if there is one). Public schools aren't supposed to discriminate against the public. It took a bit to get PA to come around, but they did - not too long ago - but they did.

IN NY, our local state U also has an automatic scholarship award- free tuition, it's NOT open to homeschoolers because one of the qualifications is over 90 average in all regents courses, which homeschoolers don't take. I emailed them anyways, got a big fat no.

[TCB]

If this is a state school, why is that scholarship not open to homeschoolers?  Is it a private scholarship?  I think I'd also investigate via my state homeschooling group (if there is one).  Public schools aren't supposed to discriminate against the public.  It took a bit to get PA to come around, but they did - not too long ago - but they did.

 

 

Wow, this is terrible that this school will not consider homeschoolers for its large merit award.  Is this a state school or a private school?  If it is the former, I wonder if discriminating against homeschoolers like that is even legal. 

 

As you are probably aware, many homeschoolers have been awarded big merit awards to a wide range of schools.  Most schools don't discriminate against homeschoolers.

 

ETA:  Creekland and I were typing at the same time. :-)

 

It is a state school. One of the requirements of the scholarship is graduating from an accredited high school. I spoke to the person in the scholarship department of admissions last week. I haven't pursued it any further yet as it threw me into a real tailspin as I had kind of been counting on this school as her financial safety.

 

ETA - It really feels unfair to me because I know her score is good and she may also be a NM semi-finalist because her score in that was 3 above our state's cut-off score last year.

Edited March 20, 2017 by tcb

[OnMyOwn]

I tossed some basics into this search (that some kids like - their descriptions, etc) and came up with this list:

 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/?degree=4-year&state=VA&major=history&scores=SAT1000&sort=best

 

Regent seems to be one you might want to consider.

 

Thanks for doing that. I will take a look at Regents and play around with that website some more.

 

You can play around with other lists, etc, or just in general, see which colleges make which list - then use other sites and/or word of mouth from BTDT folks to find out more - or visits, of course.

[suzanne4]

New York State also offers a STEM scholarship equal to full instate tuition at  a SUNY school to those graduating in the top ten percent of their high school class. This scholarship is not available to homeschoolers.  You must graduate from a public or private high school in NY state. 

[creekland]

It is a state school. One of the requirements of the scholarship is graduating from an accredited high school. I spoke to the person in the scholarship department of admissions last week. I haven't pursued it any further yet as it threw me into a real tailspin as I had kind of been counting on this school as her financial safety.

 

ETA - It really feels unfair to me because I know her score is good and she may also be a NM semi-finalist because her score in that was 3 above our state's cut-off score last year.

 

It is unfair.  You have my sympathy.  If she is a NM semi-finalist, I'd definitely be looking for schools that offer decent awards for that.

 

FWIW, you might find that whoever you talked with doesn't know what they are talking about (emphasis on might).  When middle son applied to Pitt he was told they didn't need anything extra, only to later be told they wanted accredited or no go.  He decided it wasn't worth it, so didn't continue with his application (ie, they never got his highest scores, etc - just the basic app).  Consider us super surprised when he got a letter in the mail approx one month later telling him he'd won a merit scholarship - even without his "higher than they got" scores - and without anything accredited.  They ended up being his second least expensive school choice.

[creekland]

New York State also offers a STEM scholarship equal to full instate tuition at  a SUNY school to those graduating in the top ten percent of their high school class. This scholarship is not available to homeschoolers.  You must graduate from a public or private high school in NY state. 

 

PA used to be annoying with state money for homeschoolers.  That's what got changed in the past few years - quite recently.  Here's hoping y'all have folks working on fixing that gaffe in NY.  Boardies can't do that.  It has to be NYS homeschoolers talking with legislators. 

[Bootsie]

I'm also curious about this when the student has a pretty general area of interest. I mean, it's not that hard to have a great undergrad English department, is it?

Now if DS decides he wants to double major in, say, Arabic or, French literature, that would narrow it down. But decent undergrad for an English major? Pretty much all of them, yes?

I have seen some English departments that I would rank below "poor."

[Sebastian (a lady)]

It is a state school. One of the requirements of the scholarship is graduating from an accredited high school. I spoke to the person in the scholarship department of admissions last week. I haven't pursued it any further yet as it threw me into a real tailspin as I had kind of been counting on this school as her financial safety.

 

ETA - It really feels unfair to me because I know her score is good and she may also be a NM semi-finalist because her score in that was 3 above our state's cut-off score last year.

It is demoralizing to run into this. We encountered it a couple years ago with Drexel, which have very onerous requirements for homeschooled applicants. I traded a few emails with their admissions office, then eventually moved on to other schools.