Collge search is done!

[txex86]

Congrats to your daughter on her scholarship offer. What does she plan on majoring in at Rider?

[kv968]

DD had her 2nd college interview today and got her 2nd acceptance. She is officially accepted into Rider University Class of 2018! This was her first choice school so she is all set. As expected, they also gave her a very nice scholarship ($19,000/year).

Congrats to your DD on getting into her first choice of colleges and getting a decent scholarship to boot!

Coincidentally, that's where I'm currently going part-time. If I may ask, why did she pick Rider as her first choice and what was the acceptance process like? I came from a community college so there wasn't any real acceptance process and I'm just curious.

Congrats again.

[disneysteve]

If I may ask, why did she pick Rider as her first choice and what was the acceptance process like?

The real value of doing the whole college tour process (which didn't happen years ago when I went to college) is that you really get a feel for what you like, what you don't like, what feels like a good fit, and what doesn't. The campus, the facilities, the people, the attitude, all of that plays into it.

There were 2 schools we visited that we actually left early, not staying for the whole program, because it was immediately clear that it was not the right place for her. At one of those schools, we didn't even stay for the tour. We left right after the welcome speech from the admissions officer.

Rider was the one that had the best mix of what she was looking for and what felt right. Right size for her; good academic program without being overly competitive; nice facilities - not stuffy or pretentious; friendly, outgoing, and sincere staff; happy students quick to offer assistance or answer questions (not just the ones who were tour guides); good distance from home; college town (Princeton and TCNJ are close by); a good merit scholarship program; all of that and more.

As for the application process, they are a Common App school. She submitted that online. Rider sends admissions officers to her school for onsite interviews. She had her interview on 11/20 and was accepted on the spot.

[krantcents]

Congratulations! A scholarship certainly influences your choice. My son received a full scholarship to University of California which beat a partial at a private university years ago.

[sblatner]

We have a freshman at Berkeley. Two summers ago, we went back east and toured schools. One was Princeton. Our son decided against Princeton when the admissions officer said something to the affect that everything happens on campus. He took that to mean that nothing happens off campus because it is a small town. We left soon after. Also, it was so hot! Not used to that coming from California!

[sblatner]

Also, congrats on her decision. She (and you and your wife) can now relax while the other kids wait for their acceptances. She can enjoy the rest of her senior year!

[kv968]

Rider was the one that had the best mix of what she was looking for and what felt right. Right size for her; good academic program without being overly competitive; nice facilities - not stuffy or pretentious; friendly, outgoing, and sincere staff; happy students quick to offer assistance or answer questions (not just the ones who were tour guides); good distance from home; college town (Princeton and TCNJ are close by); a good merit scholarship program; all of that and more.

As for the application process, they are a Common App school. She submitted that online. Rider sends admissions officers to her school for onsite interviews. She had her interview on 11/20 and was accepted on the spot.

All true and consistent with what I've encountered since I've been going there. I was just curious since Rider seems (at least to me) to be a very overlooked school especially since it seems as if everyone goes to Rutgers. Most likely due to the fact that its a private school but I just don't find many alumni from there and I work right down the road.

And again, just curious about the admission process. Mine consisted of...get your transcript from MCCC (assuming they then reviewed it ) and pick a class. No interviews or anything.

[kv968]

We have a freshman at Berkeley. Two summers ago, we went back east and toured schools. One was Princeton. Our son decided against Princeton when the admissions officer said something to the affect that everything happens on campus. He took that to mean that nothing happens off campus because it is a small town. We left soon after. Also, it was so hot! Not used to that coming from California!

There's stuff to do around the Princeton area. Its not a bustling "college town" like some state universities may have but there's things to do. And on the weekends you're only a 40-45 minute train ride to NYC or Philly so if you're up to it, you can't find much more to do anywhere than there.

As far as coming in the summer...yeah it gets a little hot here. You should have come in the winter when the classes are and held I'm sure it would have been WAY too cold because its definitely that also

[Like2Plan]

I realize that I'm talking about private schools, not state schools, but the difference really isn't as big as people seem to think. For example, I looked at the big state school in our state. It would cost over 25K to send DD there. They do not have the merit-based aid that the private school has and we probably don't qualify for any need-based aid, so we'd be paying that 25K which is almost exactly what the private school will cost after the scholarship.

I wonder what percentage of students receive merit based aid, though? The price difference would be huge without the scholarship. Or, do most students receive some sort of scholarship from the school?

[disneysteve]

All true and consistent with what I've encountered since I've been going there. I was just curious since Rider seems (at least to me) to be a very overlooked school

That's good to hear from someone currently attending. I totally agree that it is an overlooked school (though not by the 5,500 students from 41 states and 77 countries currently attending). To be honest, my wife and I had some reservations about it when DD first mentioned it. It definitely doesn't have the name recognition that some of the other schools on her list have (Bucknell, Franklin and Marshall, etc.). However, we were very pleasantly surprised when we went to visit. We both came away with a totally different impression than we had going in. Subsequent to that visit, the more research I did on line, student review sites, college rankings, etc., the more good things I heard about Rider. I guess with nearly 3,000 4-year colleges in the US, there are bound to be some good schools that just don't have the familiarity.

[disneysteve]

I wonder what percentage of students receive merit based aid, though? The price difference would be huge without the scholarship. Or, do most students receive some sort of scholarship from the school?

That's always a tough question to get a straight answer to but I think the percentage is high. According to their website, 96% of students receive gift aid. They also say the average assistance package is $29,000 but that includes loans and jobs so that's a little deceiving. Merit scholarships start at $8,000/year which is a lot lower than the $19,000 my daughter is getting. There are five levels of merit scholarship. DD is in the top category (all based on GPA and SAT scores) and is $2,000 short of the maximum award of $21,000. The lowest category (8K) has pretty low requirements: GPA of 2.7 and SAT of 950 (not counting writing score). So that should cover pretty much everyone who is going to college.

[FrugalTexan75]

Congrats to your DD!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I gotta ask though how do people expect kids who have no parental help to pay for $28k themselves when their parents income count against their financial aid but they have no financial support. Either because they can't (maybe they make a lot but spend a lot) or because they won't.

Is this why people get into student loan hell?

[disneysteve]

I gotta ask though how do people expect kids who have no parental help to pay for $28k themselves when their parents income count against their financial aid but they have no financial support. Either because they can't (maybe they make a lot but spend a lot) or because they won't.

Is this why people get into student loan hell?

I do think that leads a lot of people into debt, though a lot of that is by choice. If DD was paying her own way, I highly doubt she'd be going to a school that cost that much. That's the kid who needs to do community college for at least 2 years while working a job during the school year and full time during the summer while living at home. They may also need to take 5 or 6 or 7 years to earn their degree.

DD has a scholarship for a free ride at community college if she wanted it. That just isn't what she, or we, wanted. We're willing to sacrifice to pay for the college she will attend.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Can it be debt free?