Texasmama

Agree with Easonh89. Even a little is better than none. And applying through FAFSA may still get you federal loans with better repayment terms than private loans.

ack27

i know that instate public schools are def. affordable but im not really looking at them (except for safeties). i don't know my parents' assests, but i keep telling my dad there is a chance to maybe even get a little something. i'm gonna talk to them about it.

bonnie419

ack,
If your family has lots in bank accounts, stocks, bonds, investment real estate, then your dad is probably right (this is excluding home equity and retirement assets if it's a fafsa school, as those don't count.) But if he's making this assumption purely based on income, he's probably wrong. There are LOTS of kids that get FA with incomes over 100k. With cost of attendance at 40k-50k, incomes of 100k - 150k don't mean what they used to.
Financial aid scholarships seem to be somewhat subjective. If you're in the bottom half (stats-wise) of a school's average admit pool, you most likely won't get too much. But if you're in the top half, and you have some good things going for you, definitely go for it. Personally I have been shocked at what people have gotten, as they have much higher incomes. (It seems that Congress rattling the HYP cages has had a ripple effect of loosening the FA $ down the tier levels.)
Plus you need to fill out fafsa to be eligible for merit awards that you might not even know about.

thumper1

Ack...what schools are you considering? There are folks on this forum who might know more about the specifics of the financial aid at those schools. There are tons of private schools out there that cost in the $40K range, and their financial aid application process as well as the ways in which they award aid vary wildly.

Folks will also folks will suggest that you pay the extra for online access to the USNews info which contains more detailed information about financial aid at the schools that the printed material.

milkandsugar

You have to run the EFC calculator on finaid.org, the EFC is what colleges will expect you to pay. My EFC was High, but we did get some FA. Boston U gave us the most FA, 22,000. So it is possible. But you must submit FAFSA if you are going to get ANYTHING including scholarships, grants, federal loans, private outside scholarships. YOu will not be considered wihout it, regardless of your family's income.

CountingDown

Depending on one's assets, equity, etc., there is hope. We knew were were borderline at best for FA. (FAFSA EFC was close to COA at most of S's schools.) For us, the PROFILE generated a lower EFC and we actually got some FA offers. Not much, but better than nothing. (We also have major ongoing medical expenses.) If your family has unusual expenses (medical bills, paying for grandparents' support, etc.) that can be documented and some schools may take it into account.

My parents were convinced (?!) we wouldn't qualify for FA back when I was heading off to college (five kids, six years apart, $22K in income, zero savings), so they refused to provide info. After nine months of begging and pleading, they finally handed the tax info over -- I had an EFC of zero.

Apply. Can't hurt. Might help.

ack27

i guess i'll try to answer some questions.

- I am going to apply for financial aid.

- I don't know what my parents' assets are.

- Schools considering: UPenn, JHU, Cornell, Columbia, Drexel, Villanova, Lehigh, Penn State, UMCP, Georgetown, Notre Dame, UIUC

thumper1

I believe most of the private schools on your list require the CSS Profile for financial aid applicants as well as the FAFSA. This means that your family's home equity will also come into play in some way for each of these schools. They make the assumption that families can borrow against their home equity.

Are you instate for Maryland or Illinois? If not, you will probably find your financial aid very limited at those schools. They don't meet full need and they have an obligation to their instate students first and foremost.

In fact, most of the schools on your list do not meet full need which means you could face a significant "gap" between your EFC and the cost of attendance. In addition, loans will likely be part of your package, not just grants.

Your parents know their assets. Some families share that information with their college bound kids and others do not.

The most important piece of information for you to get from your parents is what they are willing to contribute each year to fund your college costs. If there are limitations, this might alter your application list.

I always say...apply for the aid. First of all, you might get some. Second, you never know what might happen during the school year (loss of parents' job, high medical expenses, etc) that may make paying the college bills difficult. If you have a special circumstance happen during the school year, the school will be able to consider your request for additional aid. You will be required to complete any finaid forms the school requires. The last thing you will want to do if there is a crisis in your family is complete these forms. Do it when you apply.

cptofthehouse

Thumper is absolutely right. I suggest you apply also, as some merit money is also dependent on filling out FAFSA and the unsubsidized Stafford also requires a FAFSA. Some of the colleges do take into account a sibling's private high school tuition so that may help. However, you and your parents need to talk as to how much they can pay for your education so that when all is said and done, you don't find yourself accepted to a school without being able to pay for it. None of the ivies will give you merit money, no will ND, GT. Merit money at JHU is extremely competitive. Penn State has very little for OOSers even for those it enrolls in HOnors College, usually just a few thousand dollars and OOS tuition is very high. UI and UM are not likely to give much either unless your stats are very, very good.

I suggest you do a run through of PROFILE. Doubt if you will get a dime from the government except subsidized loans, but you will need to do FAFSA as well as a clearing house to get fin aid, and state schools tend to use it as the sole fin aid app.

You have some good value schools there such as Drexel and if any of those schools are in state. You need at financial safeties if your family will be hurting to pay full tab. Look for some schools where your stats will give you some merit money such as UPitt, CaseWestern, Dennison, etc.

ack27

- ok i live in PA so PSU, Lehigh, Drexel, and Villanova would all be in state for me. (oh and UPenn if that means anything.)

- stats (scores): ACT - 33 .. GPA - 4.22 .. rank - top 5%-10%.. merit aid is plausible at some of my schools but certainly not definite.

- i will apply. i will talk to my parents. hopefully i can get something.

However, first i should concentrate on getting into these schools before i think too much about paying for them.

cs08carolina

I was in this situation. My parents were in the 130-140k range and I received no financial aid from my school. They are the type who have saved for a long time, didn't accumulate debt and were responsible with everything they had. I was kind of upset b/c I felt like I had worked extremely hard in school not to receive any help.

I applied for ~20 outside scholarships, and won 7. This year I can use about 10K and then I have about 20,000 to use the other 3 years. Bottomline, if you don't get anything from the school, apply for as many outside scholarships as you can and dont waste time with those that look at financial need if you don't have financial need.

thumper1

>>i live in PA so PSU, Lehigh, Drexel, and Villanova would all be in state for me. (oh and UPenn if that means anything.>>

Re: costs....the only school that your state of residency matters for is PSU. You would be paying instate tuition at that school. For the others in PA...they are private schools and your costs would be the same regardless of your state of residency.

Now..re: scholarships...Since you are an instate student at PSU, look for any scholarships that might be for students with your ACT score and GPA. I'm assuming your GPA is weighted. What is your unweighted GPA? I'm assuming lower as you are not in the top 1% of your class.

I agree..you might want to consider UPitt. Good scholarship potential there, plus good value for an instate resident.

UPenn, Cornell, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Columbia...no merit money at these schools.

Drexel, Villanova, Lehigh, JHU- Check for scholarships at these..may be a possibility. JHU is very competitive for scholarship money.

Penn State, UMCP, , UIUC- Aid for OOS students at Illinois and Maryland should not be counted upon although they do have some.

Have your parents indicated any financial limitations for your colleges?

entomom

We're in that income range and for the past two years (freshman & transfer), only HYP offered substantial FA. We were assessed as having no financial need by Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, WUSTL & Rice (though R gave a merit award).

cptofthehouse

You should make sure you have financial safeties when you make your list and that you and your parents are on the same page in terms of affordability. It seems to me that every year there is a slew of posts from distraught kids who got into schools that their parents can't or won't afford. It hurts.

ack27

no financial limitations.. my dad is all about paying as little as possible.. his speech is that I could get just as a good of an education at school "X", which is much cheaper than at prestigious school "Y". However, my mom wants me to go to the best college possible (that I like of course).

- stats clarification: school doesn't record UW GPA. school doesn't rank. there are ~280 kids in my grade and i'm def. in the top 15 in terms of W GPA (weird i know)

- i actually have started looking at outside scholariships. i think i can start applying in July or August. i like that idea.

- to make things more clear: my situation is by no means desperate like I've read about before on this forum. my parents will pay for wherever i go, but there would probably be financial burdens on them and myself. so i really want to lessen that burden if there is any possible way. because grad school/med school could be in the picture in the future (maybe).

"JHU is very competitive for scholarship money.
- i'll be content with just getting into JHU lol.

thanks for all the comments and advice. anything else is welcome!