<<< If your kids both get acceoted to schools that meet full need for all…AND use the Profile to determine need based institutional aid…the family contribution will be 60%-60%, not 50-50.>>>
I don’t understand. Each kid has a worse situation with a sibling?
For FAFSA purposes…when there are two kids on college…the EFC that would,have been for ONE student is divided in half…50% for each student. Total…100%
BUT at Profile Schools…each family contribution is 60% of the calculation…not 50%.
So…using an easy example… if your family contribution with ONE in college was $50,000…than for fafsa purposes each one would have about $25,000 EFC.
BUT for Profile purposes…each would have $30,000…60% of the total…not 50%.
And add to,that the huge variation in calculations for institutional need based aid from college to college.
@mom2collegekids or @mommdc or @lookingforward can you explain this more easily?
Makes perfect sense, thanks.
A student can only borrow $5,500 for freshman year, that increases to $7,500 by junior year. So D2 especially will need to find some options that are affordable with her loan, your contribution, and what she can reasonably earn in the summer. So about $8,500 plus what you can afford to contribute.
D2 can possibly get some merit at some schools like LACs and private schools (for example in PA Allegheny, Duquesne, St Vincent, Juniata), but they are probably not academically better than your instate options.
If your FAFSA EFC is low then they might qualify for state aid too, does NC have a state grant program?
So your kids have a 1200 (your inflation 1420) and 1030 (your inflation 1160). These are your numbers, not some practise test numbers.. You cannot rely on merit with these numbers. How did dream schools and academic reaches and merit awards get into the conversation?
I don’t think you are getting lectured BTW. Better to learn this stuff now than after the fact. Tons of parents here have twins/no need and there is no question that is challenging if your original presentation was correct with a high score and a lower scorer, but that isn’t the situation really.
Did I miss a part where you have a defined affordable amount for both in school? Instate residential would put you at ??40K a yr for both, give or take some $? So you might have one kid live at home and commute? Or both?
Are your kids in private high school?
Dream school is a relative term. State four year university could be a dream school, mid tier private could be a dream school, or HPYS could be a dream school.
There is no such thing as a dream school. There is no dream job, there is no dream spouse, there is no dream house. Adulthood is a series of trade-off’s and compromises and finding the good in most situations you end up- or turning the page and doing something else. Pining for a college which is unaffordable seems to me to be a waste of time.
And OP- you get to ignore any advice here that doesn’t work for you. That’s how a message board works. You post a question- you get back lots of feedback and you then pick and choose among the anecdotes or facts or “nuggets of experience” which seem to fit your situation.
It is admirable that your kids understand the give and take required where one kid goes to Europe and the other gets skydiving lessons. And evidence of a wonderful family life and ethos.
But college ends up being different as many people in your real life can likely attest. When one sibling gets the Ritz and the other is waiting tables to afford the Holiday Inn, that can cause fractures in a family which lasts for decades. Maybe the kid at the cheaper college switches majors and needs an extra semester- more waiting tables. Or maybe she gets mono junior year and has to drop down to two classes which means yet another semester while she watches the sibling graduate on time and move on with life. It’s nobody’s fault of course- and certainly not the sibling who graduates in 8 semesters when the other sibling needs 10- but human beings have a way of personalizing the bad stuff that happens. College is so expensive, and paying off loans or deferring marriage and home ownership or having three roommates into your thirties, or waiting to go to grad school for 10 years until you can save enough money- these are bigger than a trip to Europe in the grand scheme of things. When you’re the kid who got the lowball amount of college savings in favor of the “high potential” sibling- it rankles more and for a very long time.
But I’m not lecturing you. Spend your funds however you wish and best of luck to you.
Nothing has entered any conversation beyond this board. They asked me to check out a few schools plus anyplace I thought interesting. Plus those suggested by their school counselor as potential academic matches. Now that I have some knowledge I’ll discuss with DW first and then them. I will also speak to our financial advisor who built college expenses into our retirement projections but he did that BEFORE the biz took a nosedive. 18 months ago I though need based aid would be great, now it is a necessary.
I asked D1 if she had a dream school and she gave me a ‘how would I know’ look. My wild-a$$ guess would be in-state APP (FAFSA), or NCState (FAFSA) — or OOS Marist (Fafsa), or Syracuse (Profile). She won’t qualify for merit at either OOS so luckily she has APP.
If D2 knew what she wanted to study it would be easier. She knows that she wants a job! Drew is FAFSA and has promised $25 in aid but it’s still too much. Fordham is the dream (I think) but she knows it’s out of reach.
So you have 529 money? Or some other financial vehicle for college savings as per your financial adviser?
<<<so your="" kids="" have="" a="" 1200="" (your="" inflation="" 1420)="" and="" 1030="" 1160).="">>>
Lifting 1030 to 1040 may not happen but D1 has never not cleared a bar that she set for herself. From clicking herself into her baby seat, to doing the monkey bars, to maintaining a 4.0 in classes she disliked and found tough, she’s never disappointed herself. If she says that she’s going to get a 1420 or a 1500 or a 1210 I’m not betting against her.
I bought a bunch of Apple at 10 (2.5 after splits). Sadly I will have to put it to use on things other than college.
Kudos! Still remember the day I didn’t buy Apple at $60 (several splits ago).
I got lucky by total heart-based purchasing of Apple and a teeny bit of Amazon. I have far more failures – remember The Limited? Or a printing company whose name I can’t even remember? Or not selling US Robotics at 50 before it went belly up? Or Fidelity Magellan after its unmatched run? Or the Nicholas Fund? The list goes on but a couple of good ones paid for a lot of dogs.
Yes…and when you sell that Apple stock…or start actually taking money from it…that money will be considered on your kids’ financial aid applications as well.
We’re digressing but it is your thread - Peter Lynch talked about the 8 timer (Apple is more than that) will make up for 8 misses, or something like that. And yes, knowing when to sell is often a bigger challenge than what to buy.
@byadg123 I just wanted to say thanks for starting this thread. We are in the lower income with assets club.
I’ve been making a list for D–who I think is overwhelmed by the college search process–and whittling it down fiercely as I get more input here.
I was just thinking the latest list is small and a bit sad for a bright, hardworking girl. But reading this thread has been helpful to keep on track.
The really great thing for us is that D knows what she likes but is flexible in how she’ll get it and has no dream schools.
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@MACmiracle
HA! That must be nice. Mine mostly know what they don’t like. They are in a very laid back, limited AP, low homework, public charter school BUT their year is filled with competitive overachievers. They hate the competition but love leaving their laptop out in the common area without a thought for its safety.
This was exactly my situation. I remember in a Christmas card/gift, one child got “Lax Travel Team” for the summer and one got “France” on a hs trip. Both were happy and didn’t want what the other got. My kids aren’t twins, don’t always like each other (one is very jealous of just about everything the other gets), and while I try to give them each what they need, there comes a point when they do cry ‘unfair!’ if the monetary values get too far off. Usually they equal out with sports, camps, theater, vacations. They did get the same allowance for high school years. One saved every dime, one never had a dime to her name.
And this is exactly what happened for college. One goes to the Ritz ($58k COA), has her way paid, lives in a very nice house, doesn’t work during the school year (because she plays a sport and got a merit scholarship) and eats quite well for a college kid. Dresses nice too. The other goes to a lower ranked flagship (OOS), must work to stay within the budget, must take loans. She did take a semester away from school to do a Disney internship (where you make no money to speak of), a semester abroad, and will need an extra semester to finish. That’s okay, because it is, after all, the Holiday Inn . I can afford an extra semester. For the Ritz? NO. She can’t have an extra semester (or summer school) because without her scholarships and grants, which run out after 8 semesters, the cost is $58k! NO extra semesters. Luckily, she’s a child who colors within the lines and will graduate in exactly 8 semesters.
The budget was just a guide and the one at the OOS flagship did go over budget by about $2000 the first year. Later years have been cheaper (sorority house living is cheaper than dorm living) so she’s back in the black again. I don’t think it is wrong to end up paying different amounts for two different colleges, especially since one of your kids may not get into a more expensive school, but when you are searching, I think the budget should be the same.
Run a fake FAFSA and see what EFC you get. At least you’ll know if you qualify for federal grants.
The thing is, OP doesn’t have 2 disparate students with one tippy top kid with ritz potential. I am not sure why that point would get traction.
The OP says he has $0 income. ZERO. That being the case…how can he afford anything for college costs?
These kids need to be looking at merit aid offers…or the option of commuting to a local community college where perhaps the Direct Loan and a job can cover their tuition costs.