Advice Please: Narrowing Colleges

calmom
Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:55:22 +0000

Obviously, the posts about “making it work” were from a person ignorant of the vagaries of need-based aid. The problem that is faced by families in the $75K range is that even the most generous need-based aid generally leaves them paying out a large chunk of money (maybe $15-25K) – and many simply aren’t prepared for that amount. Now, paying $25K annually to attend Yale is a good deal – it’s almost a 50% discount. But it is a lot of money to a family that may have only about $10K annually of discretionary income after all their other expenses are paid. Some are going to be willing to borrow the difference for the sake of the prestige or perceived quality of the school – many are not.

The big problem, of course, is that the merit-aid schools are almost by definition a huge step down in prestige, though the objective difference in the quality of education may be none – and in many cases an argument could be made that the personal attention afforded at the smaller, award-giving college really affords a higher quality of education to the individual, especially if there are extra perks that come along with the receipt of a name scholarship (research opportunities, etc.).

The Ivies all have so many qualified applicants that they end up each year with huge wait lists. On April 2nd their phones are ringing off the wall from disappointed students and parents who are making it clear that they want a coveted spot. Not much motivation for the schools to make adjustments in financial aid. Especially since many need-blind schools are not so need-blind when it comes to their waitlist; it’s very likely that when the disappointed financial aid recipient turns down the school, their “spot” will be filled by a full payer from the waitlist.