You would think the third time around would be a breeze as far as getting a kid into college. Not true.
Caleb has a tad higher ACT score than his sisters. According to the offers we've received it seemed like he was going to get a much better deal on the price, but not so fast. Colleges are very tricky when it comes to what they are offering and how it is worded. For example, Huntsville offered him 100% tuition. Great! However, there is still room and board and FEES! There are fees for everything. Would you like to breath while you are on campus? That will require a $5,000 breathing fee. I may be exaggerating a bit. Just a bit. Also, they list expenses for the semester and scholarships for the year. So at first it seems that the $13,000 scholarship will cover the $11,000 tuition and some books, but then you realize that it is a $13,000 scholarship toward $22,000 tuition. Gee thanks.
We have narrowed his choices down to three. In alphabetical order, not necessarily his preferred order, are Auburn, Huntsville, and Tennessee. You can see in the screen shot above what Auburn expects us to pay per year. I could switch my direct deposit from work over to them and just barely be able to afford it. Incredible!
After all the math has been done, Huntsville is the cheapest option, followed by Tennessee, and then Auburn. Of course he has his heart set on Auburn at this point. Of course he thinks Huntsville is "a tiny school without much accreditation". And we do have to take all that into account. But we are running out of time. He needs to make a decision by December 1 for scholarship deadlines.
To be continued.
