Ditto. :)

The 40 acres scholarship is a biggie and the odds are much better this year. Make sure she is applying to big outside scholarship also, like Coca-Cola and any others she might qualify for. (Try FastWeb) That way if she is to bank on of those, then she does not have to bank on a specific University coming through.

Have you booked a hotel room yet? Labor Day is tough because it's New Student Orientation and move-in weekend for upperclassmen. Rooms right in Providence can be expensive ($200 is average, especially for in-demand weekends), but you should be able to stay right near the airport for a reasonable rate. I'll be there a few weeks later--we'll just have missed each other! :(

I always considered Tulane a safety. I know its architecture school is booming now, but I'm not sure if the rest of the undergraduate schools have bounced back to pre-Katrina levels. WashU is great.

I'm skeptical on public schools in other states, especially being from Michigan, if financial aid is a major concern. Unless you're exceptional, very few top-flight state schools are going to give an out-of-state resident without a legacy, sports, or diversity "hook" substantial money to attend. As a result, Brown or Columbia could cost you less out-of-pocket to attend than a UT or Berkeley.

Does anyone really have success with FastWeb scholarships? I applied to over 100 scholarships my senior year in college--some through fast web, some local scholarships--and got nothing. Ugh! Such a waste of my time. Also, many private universities use outside scholarships to reduce the aid they're responsible for, so it doesn't reduce your out-of-pocket cost.

Ivies and many other private schools do not give out merit scholarships, only need-based. They also use the CSS Profile when calculating the Estimated Family Contribution. Unlike the FAFSA which only considers the custodial parents' income, CSS Profile will assess the non-custodial parent's income in addition to the custodial parent.

Quite a few colleges have EFC calculators on the admissions portions of their websites so that the applicant can get a rough idea of how much aid will be likely.

Tulane and Loyola are doing great after Katrina. Daughter has a few friends that go to there. Very different vibe than LSU or most big southern schools. Her friends say that most students are from out of state. Not sure if that is northern states. Seems like when she was looking at those schools they actually had the breakdown somewhere on the website.
New Orleans is a wonderful city but I would be afraid there would be way to many distractions. They culture in New Orleans is all about partying and I would be afraid it would be very easy to get caught up in that lifestyle.

Right. Our advantage at the moment is that the non-custodial parent has been unemployed for 22 months now. The Ivies and most of the privates she is interested in will cost about the same as Michigan either way and for some of them, it is a "no loans" guaranteed package.

I'll address Iowa. It is NOT more of a party school than any comparable size school, and less so than a lot of others. It's certainly no Wisconsin. The Writing Program at Iowa is phenomenal, but I wouldn't choose Iowa as an undergrad just for that. There are great summer programs, and the Writer's Workshop really isn't a degree program. However, for a good solid liberal education with a Great English department, I think it's a great choice. It just seems like an odd next choice after the list you've given. If she's overreaching on her choices and has to end up at a state school (nothing wrong with that AT ALL, but she may feel that way) she can at least hold her head high because of the prestigious writing program there.

As far as majoring in Journalism, as a person who did just that, I will both agree and disagree. I think learning the journalistic style of writing is helpful in a lot of careers because it teaches you how to write in a clear and succinct way, which is extremely helpful in all career fields. It's also a common undergrad for people going on to Law school (at Iowa, anyway). But you would get a lot more help in becoming a professional news writer by working for the Daily Iowan. If you have specific questions about Iowa, PM me. And I can probably get you in touch with a recent grad who can address the current climate there.

Go Hawks!

What's nice about the schools with large endowments is that they can afford to offer financial aid in the form of grants-only. A big point in your daughter's favor is that you all are from Michigan as schools do want geographic diversity.

You may want to peruse the forums on College Confidential, especially the Parents' Forum. There are a couple of current GCers who are on CC as well. I didn't discover CC until after my oldest was already admitted but have certainly used it ever since.

Emerson is really known for it's film and theater departments, but it's English program is good from what I've heard/remember. Boston is also a great college town because there are so many great schools there. If she's set on Journalism, she may want to check out Boston University, they have a really good Journalism program too.

The University of Iowa campus is in the middle of Iowa City, giving it a much more urban feel than the other two universities in the state. It draws a lot of students from the Chicago area, and it does have a reputation as being a party school, but I think that will diminish as the bars are now 21+ only (they used to be 19 and up could get in, 21+ could drink, but the 19-20 year olds would just have their 21 year old friends get them drinks. The bars made money on the extra drinks and the city made money on giving out PAULAs.).

That said, I wouldn't choose Iowa, either. Their writing program is excellent, but as others have pointed out, there are other opportunities with summer workshops that may give her just as good as experience. Their Journalism department is decent, but not regarded quite as well as the one at Iowa State. And neither of them are as good as the ones at places like Mizzou or Columbia.

You had me :( with this
But redeemed yourself with this:

I thought as a Wash U alum I should pipe up.

Wash U is an INCREDIBLE school. I loved it a lot as an undergrad (as well as when I was there for grad school).

It has become a very popular school over the past couple of years. If Northwestern is a stretch for her, Wash U will be too and your daughter should be prepared for that. Northwestern actually has a higher acceptance rate. The way to let Wash U know you're interested is to actually visit the school in the Fall; don't wait until she gets accepted. They notice who comes to visit.

Wash U has a good English department, but no real journalism curriculum and no journalism major at all. However, it is strong in PoliSci as well as Psych and they have a couple of interesting interdisciplinary majors like Social Thought and Analysis that may be of interest to your daughter.

Wash U is outside of the St. Louis City limits and the school is a bit of a bubble, but there are fun things to do right near campus and now that the Metrolink goes there, it's easy to do things like go to a Cardinals game.

PM me if she has more specific questions. Although it's been a while since my undergrad days, I wasn't out of grad school there all that long ago...

^^^Go Bears!
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