Slightly off topic but on the subject of kids not understanding how much it costs to live, etc… One suggestion - make sure your student is paying ALL the bills themselves, even if you’re giving them the $. Tuition, room, board, etc. so they actually see how much is in their account before paying and after. And when they move off campus, try setting up a budget with them - food, electric, rent, etc. - and give them 6 months worth of that at the beginning of the semester. Let them learn to pay each one, watch for due dates, and see how much electric goes up in the winter lol. Then at the end of the semester, they update the rudimentary spreadsheet with actual costs and you jointly discuss if you need to adjust any categories for next 6 months. This has been a huge help to my son learning the basics of how to deal in the “real world”. That and having his own CC and seeing how much basic expenses of gas, nights out, and assorted expenses actually add up, even if they feel like they’re being frugal. Very enlightening!
Help – with the search of safeties… and the top heavy list of a stubborn daughter and her increasing
“That and having his own CC …”
Do you mean open his own community college or just run a site competing with collage confidential? 
Kidding, but we should try to have max 2 meaning per acronym:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52585-abbreviation-thread.html#latest
I trust you all when you say she probably does not know how money matters actually play in the real world. Still hard to believe - she has been budgeting a restaurant one year on her DECA projects and a charity camp another year. She has been receiving a pay check for a good 3 years now (granted the money are going direct deposit to savings “for collage” and never spending a dime from it) and has been doing the payroll accounting (among other stuff) on her job for about the same time - so she must be remotely familiar with a lady called FICA .
lol @Percent99 - point taken. CC= credit card, my bad for not making that clear.
Her choices seem a bit all over the place. Does your D know what areas she’s interested in focusing her undergrad studies?
UIUC, especially OOS would be an odd choice unless she’s interested in engineering/CS or one of the few strengths in the arts-sciences like English lit and she’s prepared to deal with Illinois’ budget cuts and impact on the state university systems.
And Syracuse? While it has notable programs like Journalism, there’s a separate highly competitive application to get into the major/school beyond admission and for most tri-state parents I know of, this college draws many students who are enamored with its strong Div I teams.
Also, compared to 3+ decades ago, its academic rep isn’t what it was when some teachers/older cousin attended in the '70s and before. If I was asked by an older relative for their kid and said kid isn’t giving him/her and me a compelling ACADEMIC reason why Syracuse is a great choice and I’m on the hook as a full-pay parent…the answer would be a firm NO.
While I’m not a parent, I do come at this as someone who manage to attend and graduate from a respectable private LAC without needing or having his parents contribute one red cent to his undergrad thanks to near-full ride FA/scholarship packages from the college and part-time/summer work before and during undergrad.
That is a very odd statement considering NYU’s undergrad tuition and fees is among the most expensive of all American universities atm and provides very little FA or scholarship money unless your stats are high enough to be a viable contender for Ivy/peer elite admission*.
- Everyone I knew from my HS days in the mid-'90s and currently who received a full-ride merit admission offer to NYU were also offered equivalent admission/FA packages from a few Ivies/peer elites.
While Columbia College and SEAS do have workloads on the higher end of the elite/respectable college spectrum, it’s odd to hear Columbia being viewed as “cutthroat.”
That’s not the impression I’ve heard from dozens of Columbia alums including many HS classmates*, colleagues, and a few relatives and not what I’ve observed while taking grad classes there and sitting on some undergrad classes at invitation of TA friends.
- Including ones who were pre-med and ended up going to med school.
UIUC - it is the state school. That is the only reason it is there. Neither I nor her think it will come with any substantial aid merit or FA but it is a water under the bridge - app submitted, will see what the result and financial package is… On the other hand I have info from at least 3 big Chicago downtown firms treating business related (my D’s choice at least as of this moment) undergrads of UIUC very favorably.
Re: NYU - Sorry!!! it is my stupid English writing skills - It should read UNaffordable
Syracuse - My D went there to visit, I do not know what they told her but ever since the school is on her list. Also the app is already sent, so will not spend my energy to argue about something already done, while having more pressing battles - like what to add as safeties now,
Columbia - I am pretty happy with every top school she drops off her list. As it is her list is way way top heavy anyway.
You need to make clear to her how much you’re able to spend per year without taking on debt. Have you set a limit yet?
@Midwest67 You are right of course – being on #5 I have gotten somewhat immune to the attitude! 
I just noticed this, as well as your daughter’s interest in business/economics. I think your $25K a year for UIUC is low (unless you’re talking tuition and not COA). COA at UIUC for a business major is almost $36,000. Economics is not within the College of Business and would be $5K less.
Just not true. OP says he and his wife are “underemployed” due to language issues. Need based aid is based primarily on income. I doubt the young woman will be admitted, but H and Y are among the most generous schools in the nation for need based aid.
OP’s current income seems to be ~$60k/year.
Agree with jonri on all points (including “the very very small chance of acceptance”), At least based on the NPC’s Harvard and Yale are one of the most generous with need based FA with our income and assets.
But hardest to win admission.
But that brings up the question – outside of the Ivies/elites – would your daughter qualify for significant need-based aid if she attended a college which guarantees to meet full need. (None will meet FAFSA EFC – but if your combined gross income is under $100K and you don’t have too much accumulated in non-retirement savings and home equity, you might qualify for fairly generous need-based aid at some schools.)
If your daughter is interested in majoring in business, UIUC (if it is affordable for you) is a strong option. I am the parent of 2 current students. Both were high stat high school students. Both have received a little bit of merit money. Both had enough AP credits that made a double major and time consuming ECs possible.
Now, I understand if finances make it less desirable, especially if you have a comparable option that is less expensive. If so, skip the rest of this post. However, if your other options are about equal or more expensive I would encourage you to re-evaluate your feelings.
I’ll just give a quick list of some of the things we like about UIUC’s College of Business.
- the number of students in the business program. (not too large or too small)
- the job placement for undergraduates (96.5%)
- nationally recognized accounting program http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/accounting-rankings
- strong study abroad opportunities https://studyabroad.business.illinois.edu
- excellent Business Career Services https://business.illinois.edu/bcs/
- the Technology & Management program http://www.techmgmt.illinois.edu
- AP credits!! https://admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman/college-credit-AP
- something we under-estimated was the quality of the RSOs. (Registered Student Organizations). Both of my children have gotten involved in organizations that, not only look good on a resume, but have helped/are helping them develop useful skills.
And finally, my eldest, who is a senior, got a post-graduation, full-time position that quite frankly, people go to UPenn, Michigan, etc, hoping to get.
However, op also talks about minamally having a second home ( post number 8).
This and the primary home will both be counted on both the FAFSA ( ok the primary is not counted on the FAFSA but the additionalhouse(es) will be) and the profile
Any rents collected from the second home ( or additional properties) will also be considered income. Op also did not mention whether they are self-employed or receiving income from a traditional job)
The net price calculator may not be totally accurate for Op’s situation.
Financial safeties with some predtige/good reputation:
Denison (international commerce) , Dickinson (international management), U Miami (top business school, often chosen by upper middle class students who wanted a top private college.)
U Minnesota Twin Cities has pull in the upper Midwest, has a good honors program, is located in a thriving city. Deadline has passed but it’s worth it to try.
Indiana Kelley is a nationally ranked business school. Getting 'direct admit ’ is a big deal.
Villanova has a superb business school, is upper middle-class, may give her merit.
Look into University Colleges in the Netherlands; if she speaks French Sciences Po Reims and the dual program sciences po /ubc, as well as ESSEC BBA International (Essec is very highly ranked, I think top 5 in Europe, their program is in English and they’re trying to attract more international students). If she speaks German, Germany and Switzerland have possibilities for financial safeties.
Canada’s big three would be happy to have her - McGill, UBC, UT.
You might want to rethink BC too. Your home equity and your second home will definitely hurt your EFC. The school is known for heavily counting home equity. If I am not mistaken they only award 15 merit scholarships but eligible students are only EA applicants.
I read this entire thread, and I’m still unsure of what the OP can afford without having to mortgage his homes and postpone retirement. OP’s situation sounds complicated. An income of $60,000 a year, but you own more than one home, plus you said you have some savings. Your income alone would probably get her lots of aid, but it’s hard to know if your assets will change that. I see lots of advice here, but you never actually said what you can pay each yr without mortgaging your properties. The question I have is: can you afford to send your D to Edinburgh or Illinois without hurting yourself financially? If you can’t, then she really needs to apply to full ride schools like Alabama. Even if she gets into Syracuse, how much will you be expected to pay and can you pay it? I guess what I’m saying is that people can only give you suggestions if they understand what the dollar amount is.
I think the answer to this was that no. They’d have to mortgage the properties and endanger their retirement to pay ~$35k/year. @Percent99, how much can you pay per year without borrowing? You need to figure that out if you haven’t already.
If you have a second home and/or equity, Boston College is horrible. They basically consider that if you want their college, you can sell the house. Cross it out, it’s not worth the time spent on the application.
If your income is 60K/year, your ability to pay would be 10-15K. Add 5.5K federal loan, what’s in a 529 or a percentage of savings (outside of retirement savings), and whatever your child can earn during the year and the summer.
while i know i’m in the minority, threads like this illustrate WHY the college process is a family process–one that is parent heavy at that…even when kids know there are financial constraints they have some magical thinking. there is just so much money at stake that i just believe that parents need to parent, and say NO when it is unrealistic to even proceed. i wouldnt even be allowing my kid to fill out apps for some of these schools unless she has a significant chance at 4 year merit that can be sustained with a reasonable amount of effort (as in, anything can happen-if the requirement is a 3.9 gpa, that is scary and not something i’d bank on).
in my world, the money is really one of the first criteria, not an afterthought.
i wont presume to spend someone elses money, but it seems to me that the kid is not the only one with some magical thinking.
here is my best suggestion…if you think you are going to be able to afford $35,000/yr on a $60,000 income, start saving what you think will be your monthly payment (roughly $3000/month is a good start) and live on the difference.
at best you’ll find you can do that with ease, and at the end of the experiment you’ll end up with a nice nest egg for next year.
at worst, reality will show you exactly what you can and cant do and you can all adjust your expectations accordingly.