Hi, I am applying to Cornell ED, but my parents just told me that they will only contribute 16k per year because I have two siblings that also need to go to college that are younger than me. One of my siblings is a special needs child, and they will need to support him for the rest of his life, which is going to be pretty damn expensive (Close to 60k per year for the rest of his life). However, my dad makes around 250k per year in income and my mom does not work. How would I be able to afford Cornell with an EFC of 16k? Is it even possible? Could I get grant money from them if I explain my situation with my special needs sibling, because I am assuming I do not qualify for any financial aid? I know I can get out of the ED decision if the financial aid package is not good enough, but Cornell is my number one choice. Also, I’d like to get out of college loan free if that’s possible.
Your “EFC” isn’t $16k.
Are your parents currently paying $60k per year out of pocket (no insurance) for your sibling? Are any of those costs optional?
If insurance and/or disability is covering some/all of those costs, then that will be looked at.
I’m guessing that at some point, if not already, your sibling will be receiving some sort of permanent disability payments and some of his/her healthcare will be also be covered.
Your dad’s income is probably too high for you to end up with a net cost of $16k…even with any allowances for sibling’s care.
Since merit scholarship deadlines are mostly before ED decisions, be sure to ALSO apply to some schools that will FOR SURE give you large merit …otherwise you may not end up with ANY affordable schools.
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nd 1.0 is added for an honors or AP class)
SAT: 2150 (CR: 680, M: 750, W: 720 11 Essay
Want to go to medical school
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Why would someone with those stats want to go to a top school as a premed??? That would likely be the quickest way to get weeded out.
With $250K in income only the most generous schools (HYPS) will give you $ for school. You’ll need to target merit aid.
With $250,000 income, even THE most generous colleges won’t give need based aid with only one student in college.
The family might be able to seek professional judgment to have $60,000 of their income not considered because it goes for the care of a special needs sibling. But that would their income to $190,000 or so…and even there…need based aid with only on kiddo in college is going to be hard to impossible to get.
Plus, this does not even include assets.
Is this income before or after taxes?
The student needs to clarify if any of the $60k is covered by insurance and whether that sibling is receiving disability payments. Often disabled children are receiving several hundred a month in payments, and schools know that…so they would be subtracting those dollars and subtracting anything paid by insurance. The school will also look at whether some of those expenses are optional.
The school would have to see actual unreimbursed bills.
Even after retirement, my parents will still have to pay for him. Will this matter to financial aid officers? I phrased the $16k per year wrong. I think I should have said that they are unwilling to pay more for me because they are unsure of future costs for both my younger brothers. My dad believes that unless you’re going to HYPSM, the school is not worth the money and the same as every other school in a larger bulge bracket below those 5. I think he says this because anyone he works with or has accepted for a job has come from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Wharton. I don’t entirely agree with him on this, but is he right in some way?
@mom2collegekids The SAT is probably my weakest score. I should have taken the ACT, where I got a 31 on my diagnostic. Im pretty sure I can handle myself at any school for pre med.
Does your dad NOT know that Cornell is also in the Ivy League? It is an excellent university.
HYPSM do NOT hold the quorum on smart, high achieving students.
@thumper1 Of course he knows that, but he works on Wall Street, and unless you are from HYPSM, you are treated the same as every other university graduate. This does not mean that you will not be hired, but it means that a person who went to Cornell or Brown, has the same chances of getting a job as the student who went to Virginia Tech or University of Dayton. I know this might come as a hard truth to some people, but that is how it is at his company, and many others around the world.
That is just plain BS. There are a large number of high profile Wall Street firms that recruit extensively at Cornell.
@thumper1 I’m not saying that they don’t recruit at Cornell, I’m just saying that they will recruit at every other university in the same way. Believe what you want mate.
You get to have a sit down with your parents. You might want a spreadsheet in front of you when you do.
With the sum that they are prepared to contribute, it is unlikely that any of the schools you have just mentioned are going to be affordable. Yes- you could get professional judgement to shield some of the income they are now paying for your sibling to provide for a modest amount of aid (or additional aid- run the NPC’s to see) but I don’t think the 16K contribution from your parents is going to get the job done.
That’s reality.
How you all deal with that reality- that’s on you. Merit only schools? Service Academy (if you are qualified to serve and want to serve)? College in Canada with a lower sticker price? Live at home and commute?
I have a lot of empathy for parents of a special needs child trying to plan for college and the future. It’s not easy. But it is unrealistic with a high income to think that you are going to get a huge need based aid package at a school which satisfies your dad. So start doing your homework.
And on the subject of loans- of course you don’t want loans. Do you really think that every other kid in America who takes out loans WANTS loans? Nobody wants loans. Wake up and smell the coffee. They take out loans because that’s the only way to make the numbers work. If your parents own a house and can tap their HELOC (which many people do) that’s a loan. If you take out the maximum federal loan- yes, that’s a loan. Nobody takes these because they are too dumb to figure out a better plan- they take them because that’s the only way to make the numbers work.
Your intended major is chemistry. What does this have to do with Wall Street anyway?
Pre med is your intent. Nothing to do with Wall Street at all.
My older daughter went to Cornell. Many WS firms and consulting firms recruited on campus. My kid had 4 or 5 offers from top tier WS firms when she graduated. She is doing very well at her firm (youngest VP).
I know young woman who went to Northwestern is now working at Goldman.
My good friend’s son who graduated from JHU is also an associate at Goldman now without an MBA degree.
I could go on and on about number of graduates from top 20 schools working at those firms.
At the same time, if you are interested in going to medical school, why would you care going to those top tier schools.
Your father works at a WS firm and he makes 250K? Are you sure? Associates (2-3) years out of school make that much money, base + bonus. You should look at your parents’ tax returns. I wouldn’t be surprised if you wouldn’t be eligible for an FA at all. If that’s the case then your ED at Cornell maybe “more binding.” It is also very unlikely you will receive any FA at any top 20 schools or schools that give need based aids.
I have sat down with my parents, and they are adamant that I should not take out a loan for undergrad. This does not make sense to me, because 16k per year contribution will not even pay for 50% of the tuition at most schools. I am positive that they could put another 10-15k more towards my college education, but they are unwilling to and I don’t want to force them to pay more. A loan looks like my only option, but since I want to go to medical school, I am not sure if this is a smart option.
You are right- loans (and you can’t borrow enough to afford Cornell anyway) aren’t smart if you are planning on even MORE loans for Med School.
Do you live within commuting distance of any four year universities?
If you have the stats to get into Cornell, you could garner enough merit aid elsewhere that the $16,000 would cover your remaining costs.
Look at the automatic scholarships at University of Alabama.
ETA…why are you applying ED to Cornell?
Also, you are a NY resident…$16,000 is well more than half of th tuition cost at your SUNY schools, many of which have excellent track records with med school admissions.
I was thinking I could get merit at Case Western and University of Pittsburgh. Pitt does on site admissions at my school, where you talk with the admissions officer, and they offer you ALOT of money if your stats are decent. I’m not really interested in the University of Alabama, just because it is pretty far away and any school that has their football coach as the highest paid state employee is not for me. I’m pretty sure he makes upwards of $7 million in a year.