College financial planner advised do not apply ED. Thoughts?

Midwestmomofboys
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 20:09:19 +0000

I sympathize with the OP’s worry, as we hit that with our first kid applying – full pay according to the schools, but without full pay resources. Kid #1 wanted big university, not fazed by large lectures, having to be independent and a self starter. He attends an OOS public flagship which, tuition plus room and board has cost us (with tuition increases and pricier housing choices as he got older), between about $36k to $42k a year. That we can pay, from college savings etc. We could not have afforded $60k as full pay at private university. He has had phenomenal experience, and is beyond happy. Kid #2 looked at his sibling’s large university and knew he wanted a LAC. Again, knowing what we could afford vs. the now $65k a year price tag for full pay, we researched merit and learned NESCACs and a number of other top LACs don’t give it (Haverford, Vassar, Swat etc). So, his list began around US News 35 and continued to around #80. He got 1/2 tuition merit from every school he applied to, most of them EA. Our actual price is something we can manage from 18 years of college savings.

The point is – many families are in the full pay spectrum without the resources to manage that comfortably. Their kids can have a robust, meaningful college experience, surrounded by motivated students and superb faculty – without requiring a second mortgage or never retiring. Did it make me a little sad when kid #1 couldn’t go to Michigan as an OOS student or kid #2 couldn’t go to Haverford or Vassar (if admitted). Maybe, briefly. But each kid is in a wonderful school, learning, growing, developing great friendships with life long friends and great mentoring from faculty. They will graduate without debt and the affordability of each school means there is some flexibility to manage unpaid summer internships etc. rather than pressure to maximize summer earnings.

I was grateful I stumbled onto CC in the junior year of kid #1, so that we learned about finances early enough that kid had options.