happymomof1

The college financial aid presentation at Happykid's HS was given by the head of the financial aid office at our local community college. Lots of solid info about all of the federal and state programs, and no sugar coating whatsoever. Really scary, but really solid.

kelsmom

So wonderful to hear of GC's and aid officers who tell it like it is. We always hear about the ones who don't tell the whole truth. I love to hear the good stories!

momtotwins

I think a point worth mentioning is how important grades and especially test scores are. Kids need to realize starting in 9th grade that it is important to keep up their grades. I see too many times kids who slack off in freshman or sophomore year, and then realize too late that it is much harder to bring up their GPA than it is to keep it up had they done better early on. Same with test scores. If you study, most times you can improve your test scores. It would be helpful to show one or two schools that offer charts with the range of merit scholarships based on grades and test score combinations. (example: university of Dayton or Ohio University) For kids who don't qualify for much in the way of need based financial aid, working hard in high school will garner merit money in many instances to lower the bill to an affordable rate - even at private schools.

beolein

I agree with the basis of what cptofthehouse and Kelsmom say. Most sources say you can drastically cut the cost of college through various means, but don’t say that those are available only to a few students. For example, for students I have read about here and elsewhere who applied for a scholarship through a search engine that returns thousands of results, I have seen less than 1% actually win one. And then, it only for an average of $1000 – hardly a drastic cut in your expenses. Then again, if you look at any issue of Money magazine, you will see lists touting the top ten ways to make lots of money doing one thing or another. Yet the last time I checked, not only does Money not go back and tell readers how their lists perform, but independent analysts say those Money’s lists for investments don’t do as well as just buying an S&P 500 index fund (which also outperforms the majority of stockbrokers).

standrews

Sadly, there's no Rosetta stone for fin aid. I'm still learning after 5 years and 3 kids. I can't think of one source that stands out, but the ones mentioned thus far are all pretty good. I will be quite impressed if the Money article gives people a decent overview and lets them know where meaningful help is to be found.

maggiedog

Really great input from so many of you. My impression is that colleges do whatever the heck they want! They will find aid for students they want, and ignore those they want to leave out in the cold. I agree that there is a lot of upbeat misinformation and parents need to be aware of the cruel, hard facts, and let their kids know starting in 9th grade about the importance of grades, ECs, and realistic expectations.

I've seen a lot of threads on CC from students who are resentful that they can't get really good fin. aid when their families make well over $100,000 a year. One might assume that adolescents don't have much perspective about finances. So as parents, we need to help them understand what is realistic. The reality is, in my opinion, that most colleges are absurdly overpriced AND they are under no obligation to give aid to anyone. It's great when they give aid, but you don't have to consider going there if you can't afford it.

kelsmom

My impression is that colleges do whatever the heck they want! They will find aid for students they want, and ignore those they want to leave out in the cold.
*****
This only applies to the few colleges with money to give away. The vast majority of colleges do not have money to give, and they are quite predictable. I worked at a state U, and I could easily tell you what you would definitely get IF you completed all finaid requirements in a timely manner ... how much you "might" get, if you were a top student or if you might be SEOG-eligible ... and I could certainly tell you what you would NOT get. Truly, most schools are transparent when it comes to available aid.

Sally_Rubenstone

Keep in mind, too, that "colleges" are made up of people. I have been in many meetings where an admission officer (or several) fought hard for a particular candidate but eventually got overruled. Sometimes money was indeed the deciding factor (e.g., it can be hard to justify taking one deserving candidate who needs $50K when there are two who need only $20K). Sometimes there were other factors (e.g., the applicant had surmounted overwhelming obstacles but still might be eaten alive in a highly competitive environment if admitted).

So I wish that all disappointed candidates could realize that there may have been one or more individuals who really went to bat for them behind closed doors but ultimately did not prevail.

weatherga

I believe this and wonder why so many people apparently don't.

I have had a couple of email exchanges in recent months with acquaintances who have mentioned their offspring's college plans which have sounded to me like they would likely not be affordable. In both cases I tried to gently hint or offer information (sent link to the CDS for the school in question) and in both cases I think my correspondents were a bit offended. However, I truly can't see how their kids would be likely to be financially able to attend the schools they have in mind, and my intention was to open up the idea of investigating alternatives, while there's time to do so.

If anybody else shares with me some financially unlikely sounding college plans, I don't know what I'll do. It's no fun being Debbie Downer, but I hate the thought of saying "Cool!" while thinking "Almost certainly not going to happen." But then, maybe I'm wrong, and the schools in question (very expensive private performing arts school that appears ungenerous with aid in one case; OOS public for academically middling student in the other) will mysteriously (to me) be forthcoming with generous offers.

maggiedog

In terms of transparency, I do agree that some schools are fairly open, particularly state schools. However, just as with admissions decisions, I do believe that colleges can decide whatever they want.

We have found that some schools were much more generous and some were much less generous than expected. None of this could have been anticipated ahead of time. The EFC calculators were not all that accurate. Merit aid offers were quite varied, from full tuition to much less than expected. And need-based aid was quite different across schools. I agree that families need to be realistic, but ultimately, if a school wants to admit someone or offer the student aid, the school will do what it wants. I am saying this cynically, though, and not to imply that anyone should have unrealistic expectations that they will get a great offer.

cptofthehouse

I have been to more admissions presentation, you know, the ones given when visiting a college, and they have been uniformly upbeat about financial aid.

I am wary of anyone who need financial aid applying ED unless someone who really knows what s/he is doing is guiding the person. I've seen some real messes over that. SChools that meet full need don't always truly meet full cost. Even a student contribution can be more than some kids can handle. Someone with a chance of getting into a school like Wesleyan has a good shot at getting some nice package, maybe that are full ride +, and being able to compare is important. SOmetimes there are misunderstandings as to what assets are out there, or that there is truly no NCP in the picture. And getting out of ED is not always that easy. It's also a real downer to have to deal with the ED situation and keep on top of the other applications. ED is set up for kids who have families and support to keep things rolling and have the money to pay cost of the college. I've just seen too many nasty surprises with ED.

spunk61

I'm a newbie to CC and have already learned so much from so many posters my head is spinning. My D will be starting college in the Fall of 2014. She is super talented All State singer who of course wants to go to music school .Her music teachers have all said to me that any school she auditions for will want her . That all sounds good but nobody ever says how to pay for it all. We are just basically getting by financially and there is no college savings or any other savings to speak of and I really don't see much changing in the next two years. I guess what I'm looking for is maybe a top 5 or 10 things I should do to be prepared if that's possible. I'm feeling somewhat up against the wall and the clock is ticking. Any thoughts out there?

BobWallace

CollegeData is very useful. It contains a lot of the Common Data Set information in more accessible form.