Which of these schools offer financial aid appeals?
My family's finances are very complicated so I will probably get little to no aid initially at these schools however the way the CSS Profile is set up it overestimates equity in some property and complicated stuff and whatnot but we should be able to prove that we deserve more aid.
Anyways the schools in question are: Duke, Northwestern, Rice, WUSTL and Vandy
IMO If you're finances are very complicated and you have equity there is not much chance you will get much movement in an FA award from a Profile school. I hope you have a safety you can afford outside of the schools listed.
Well, from what I've heard is that the estimated equity is not the real value of the equity because it's based on prices from when they were purchased (near the height of the real estate market 5 years ago) but now the market sucks and the houses aren't worth what they were. Also, I do have a 3 or 4 safeties I'm applying to.
When assets are valued for purposes of reporting on the Profile (or anything else for that matter), it's the fair market value at the time of the report, not the purchase price that's used, regardless of whether it's real estate, stocks and bonds or other assets being valued.
The purchase price, mortgage balance and the current market value are details you enter on the Profile. Rental income can complicate financial aid, as well. You need to clarify your parents' situation.
Some Profile schools will re-estimate the value of your real property based on the purchase price and year of purchase you enter, possibly ignoring the current market value you enter. They don't tell you if they do this. But if you have reason to believe they may have done it, you can ask and possibly be permitted to provide evidence to support your claimed market value.
