Picking the Right College for You -- and Your Wallet (For Parents of College-bound kids)

For many college-bound students, choosing just the right school can be even more stressful than taking the SAT exam. How do you choose, from among more than 3,500 American colleges and universities, the place where you'll live and learn for four years?

Savvy students and parents should start by pinpointing what they most want and need in a college. Make your own customized list or check a few Internet sites for ideas.

Specifications for schools

Some sites, such as The Princeton Review, allow you to plug in specifications and get a computerized list of schools that match your criteria. Some factors you should consider:

• Two-year or four-year school: Two-year schools, such as community colleges may offer smaller classes, professors who are better at teaching since they're not hired to do academic research and a chance for less-than-star students to wipe out a not-so-great high school record. Financially, two-year colleges can be a bargain, too. Four-year schools might be a better choice for students who want to be surrounded by mostly A- and B-grade students; want a college with great resources, like a big library and lots of cultural and athletic activities; want a school where most students live on campus; and enjoy a college with a strong sense of community.

• Academic strength: Colleges usually disclose the average SAT scores and high school grades of their incoming freshmen. Families can use these statistics to decide whether the school is academically challenging enough, or perhaps too rigorous, for their student.

• Price: This information can be hard to find on a college's Web site or in their admissions brochure, especially for private colleges. These institutions know that tuition prices tend to scare off incoming students and their families. So dig a little. Some Web sites, such as The College Board, let you search for colleges by their price tags. You can also find out which colleges in your price range offer need-based financial aid and outright monetary grants in areas such as academics, athletics and leadership skills.

• Size: Is the school small or large, based both on number of students and acreage? If it's a large school, does it offer any living/learning programs? These are like small colleges within large universities.

• Surroundings: Does the student prefer a school located in or near a big city? Or would a rural area be a better fit?

• Specific states or regions: Some students might want to live reasonably close to home, so they can visit high school friends or go home to do laundry. Other students may be interested in a totally new living experience -- a warm climate if they've always lived in a snow zone or a big city if they've grown up in a small town. Keep in mind that travel costs during summer vacation and on breaks will vary significantly, depending on how far the student must travel to and from school. Be sure to work that into your annual college budget.

• Majors: Does the student prefer a school that offers a wide range of fields of study or one that specializes in one or two high-profile programs?

• Attitude/religion: Is the school known to be conservative/traditional; diverse; or liberal and/or unconventional? Is the college secular or does it have strong religious ties?

Early decision, early action

Some schools offer what are called "early decision" and "early action" programs that give students the chance to apply -- and get an answer -- before the regular admissions deadline.

This may be something you want to consider if you have one school that's your top choice. The problem is that with early decision you are making a commitment to attend that school if accepted. By making that commitment, you are giving up your ability to compare financial aid packages you might be offered otherwise.

Most schools acknowledge that you have a better chance of getting in early decision rather than regular decision, so if you think you're on the cusp of admission to your dream school, it may make sense to apply early decision. And the whole college-decision thing is a nail-biting process, so some might think it's worth it just to have it done with months earlier than other students.

In some cases you also have a better chance of getting in "early action," which is similar but doesn't require that you commit to attending if you're accepted. "Unrestricted" early action means you can apply to other early-action schools; "single-choice" early action means you can't.

These scenarios may benefit the college more than the student. After all, if a student applies early decision and gets admitted, there's really no incentive for the college to offer a spectacular aid package or extra scholarships, because the student is bound to come. There is still some chance to do some negotiation, but a student isn't in a strong position if he or she applied to the dream school and a very similar school regular decision, and used their respective financial aid packages as a negotiating point to get the best possible deal for the dream school.

In any event, keep in mind that early-action or early-decision applicants are usually highly qualified, so if you're a less-than-stellar student, you may be hurting your chances and wasting time by applying this way.

Think twice about high-priced colleges

After you've narrowed your list of preferred colleges, a simple way to save money on tuition is to choose a school that isn't overly well known and expensive to begin with.

Many of the so-called "brand-name" colleges earn their reputations from professors who do a lot of high-profile research. But research-heavy universities can sometimes end up compromising the quality of their undergraduate education. Consider, for instance, the prestigious schools that offer auditorium-sized classes taught by graduate student aides, rather than actual professors.

Another drawback of expensive schools: They leave students with big loans to repay after graduation. It might not make sense, for instance, for a student who will pursue a modest-paying social work career to pay back loans for a prestige-school education.

The bottom line: As long as students are clear about the qualities they want in a college, they can get a top-quality education without paying top dollar.

Prestige without the price

Many public colleges are actually equal to or better in quality than some of the best-known private colleges. Public schools are cheaper only because they are subsidized by our tax dollars, not because they are inferior in some way.

In fact, some public colleges actually are considered as prestigious as Ivy League schools, but are much, much cheaper. Examples include the University of Virginia, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Michigan.

Other public colleges are smaller than average, and offer a great education. Examples include Mary Washington (Va.); California Maritime Academy (Calif.); and Evergreen College (Wash.).

Additional places to get a top-quality education at a bargain price are the military service academies; honors programs within public colleges; and even Canadian colleges. Canadian schools are heavily subsidized by the Canadian government and can be a great deal even for non-Canadians.

Final step: Choose a "financial safety school"

Even if you have a handful of great schools you're sure will accept you, it's always smart to apply to a school that fits your needs AND that you can afford, such as a good state college. That way, if you get financial aid offers from all of your top schools and find that you still can't afford any of them, you'll still have a safety net.

The college advisor at my daughter’s school had a questionaire that the student and the parent had to fill out separately. One question addressed location. Kids would say anywhere is fine and parent’s would say one tank of gas from home.

And let’s not even think about what the money questions looked like! LOL

Very good screening process, in our opinion.

I have already told my 13 year old daughter [Nicole] that she is going to have to pay for her coll. on her own by doing the student loans & grants ,ect.. We do not make enough money [We only get va disabality & ssi to live on] to send her to school, and she will work harder to get through it better. Unlike [IMHO] if we paid for her to go to school, it may get blown off and partied all of the time, [like I seem to see all over the place]

Trimom,

After looking at a couple of private colleges that refuse to receive Federal aid and comparing the quality of their undergrad education, placement service and tuition plus board rates with some of the more “celebrated” private schools in the country, I have concluded that Federal aid is NOT NECESSARY for families that want a good college education for their kids. It in fact is becoming an impediment and in the long run, encourages colleges to raise their tuition rates wayyy above inflation rates.

I recommend looking at the US News Report on what the average SAT scores are for a particular school. Students should try to find a school where they are better than average (so they can succeed without killing themselves) but not so far up that the school will bore them.

Also, because of the way financial aid works, it can sometimes be cheaper to go to a private school than an public one.

TMSuchman

If your daughter is smart and on top of her class and is able to get a scholarship to a top notched private college, by all means go for it.

However, don’t sweat the fact that state colleges offer in many cases, similar education without the big bucks associated with it. Hence, if she can’t get to a “classy” private college, I won’t sweat it.

Also, if you are a religious person (e.g. a Christian), I know of several outstanding Christian colleges with tuition fees comparable to government colleges.

Finally, remember this -— 70% of the jobs in this country, many of them paying quite well, DO NOT REALLY NEED A 4 YEAR DEGREE IN COLLEGE.

I have already told my 13 year old daughter [Nicole] that she is going to have to pay for her coll. on her own by doing the student loans & grants ,ect..

Don't forget the numerous scholarships that are available. I would think that at age 13, that's a good time to be gearing her up for good study habits and expectations for decent grades. She doesn't have to be a 4.0 student, but generally anything above a 3.0 will open her up to lots of "academic" type scholarships.

I worked my way through college, and I would recommend it for most students. She'll be more likely to use student loands wisely, and less likely to rack up unnecessary debt, knowing she'll eventually have to pay them back.

Good luck to your daughter.

I went to Michigan. I would NOT suggest going there for all 4 years worth of undergrad credits (stock up on CC courses for prerequisites and electives) unless you KNOW you’re into engineering or if you’re leveraging your first two years in an attempt to gain admission to the B school.

I also noticed a lot of schools require a certain amount of upper division credits (especially online) as it necessitates going to that school for a longer period.

I don’t think it’s worth the debt you accumulate and I had significant amounts of grant money.

It is actually the semi-’guarantee’ of student loans for students which is responsible for higher education’s rising costs. It creates an artificial price support and in some ways resembles (though we are much more familiar with the actual numbers for schooling) the health care system in that there is often little price competition.

We also think our degree means something because of the name but unless it’s professional or you’re transitioning to grad school, the undergrad degree isn’t worth that much anymore.

Gone are the days where an English major could settle into middle management and work his way up. No, you’re working at Starbuck’s or something now while you figure out that you could have gone into property management or some other field that doesn’t require a college degree AND that you forewent all that extra income you could have had!

because of the way financial aid works, it can sometimes be cheaper to go to a private school than an public one.

Now this is interesting.

I can only see this happening if your kid is so smart that he/she gets close to a full scholarship ( e.g. National Merit scholarship ).

I can also see this happening if you happen to come from a family that's not far from the poverty level ( just above ).

If you are middle class ( as most Americans are ), the chances of private college financial aid beating state schools are quite slim IMHO.

Case in point --- State of New York ( where I live ).

Consider Binghamton University ( AKA the poor man's Harvard around these parts ). The tuition for in-state students are a mere $6,000. If you can demonstrate some need, they'll cut it by half. Now consider private college, New York University... the tuition fee is $35,000 ( not considering board and lodgings which will add another $15,000 to the tab making it a total of $50,000 at least ). Most middle class smart kids get "aid" from NYU ( they have a very generous endowment fund 0. How much is the aid ? Well, they go from $10,000 to $15,000.

$35,000 minus $10,000 is still $25,000. That means even with their "aid", you still have to find a way to cough up the rest.... $25,000.

Multiply that by 4 and that's $100,000 you have to consider in loans if your kid will graduate in 4 years.

Is it worth going in debt by 100K for a 4 year degree ? I can't answer that for anyone else. For me, I know the answer is NO.

There was a poster here on FR not too long ago whose child could not take advantage of the top 10% rule. The reason - their child went to a very competitive science school and just missed the top 10% cutoff. His SAT’s were extremely high as was his GPA. Others got the scholarship who went to non-competitive schools where English was a second language.

It’s redundant, but I post this on every thread talking about college expenses. We’ve done it without paying any tuition through programs available in many states...here’s how.

1. Dual credt or dual enrollment. This can be done at any state U or community college in our state. The student takes college classes, tuition free during high school, and they count as college and HS credits, so they graduate high school and receive their AA at the same time.

2. State merit scholarship for state universities. Our state (and many others) offer tuition free merit scholarships for those earning a certain SAT/ACT score. So Junior and Senior year of college are covered tuition free. (actually, the scholarship covers all four years of education at a college if you maintain a 3.0 GPA, so you could avoid the dual credit and still get this scholarship so your BA would be tuition free.)

3. Grad school, score high enough on the GMAT, keep a good GPA in college and a graduate assistantship will cover your tuition for full time grad school students.

Thank you all for your responses..

Nicole is going to be a special education teacher [musical therapy]. Her brother [our son Lance has Down Syndrome] and has taught Nicole a thing or two already about her calling, for her future. she is trying to be a professional singer, but if that fails that is going to be her back up plan. We as a family worked this out already, and she has pretty good grades & does community service by making & doing musical shows to raise funds for different charities in our area.[These are are battered women & kids, & disabled and homeless Vets in our area] She is going to go to the community coll. for the basic stuff, so she can get ready for the bigger things when they come along.

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