<p>For a student who plans on applying into HYPSM + Caltech? And my family makes about 137k a year, and I’m concerned about the grants and loans I have to take out. What are some things I should know and prepare for?</p>
<p>Have you calculated your EFC yet? Even without that year sinformation, you can plug in your parents info into a calculator and get a good estimate. Depending on your EFC and the results of what these colleges call the CSS profile (Which adds your assets) - they will tell you how much you need.</p>
<p>See, Normally you won’t qualify for anything apart from the unbubidized stafford loan of $550000, but because of Harvard, Yale, and princetons more generous policies even higher-income families like you might get some more money. be warned; these colleges only have needbased aid and no merit aid so people like us wont be getting as much aid as someone who was on food stamps, for instance.</p>
<p>Do your parents have savings for your college or are they planning ? get an estimate of how much they will set aside of your college or how much they have to pay each year so that you can guage your gap that you will fill with loans, personal income and and outside scholarships</p>
<p>The very first thing you need to do to prepare for financial aid…sit down and have a conversation with your parents about how much they can and will contribute to your college education annually…it is the single most important component in preparing for the finances of college. </p>
<p>For the OP…Harvard, Yale, Stanford have very generous need based aid for families earning up to $180,000 a year with “typical assets”. However, you also need to know that the schools you list have very low acceptance rates and their generous financial aid does you NO GOOD if you are among the 90% of applicants who do not get accepted.</p>
<p>If you have a competitive application for HYPSM, Cal Tech…and finances ARE an issue, you should look at schools where you might garner significant merit aid. There are many schools with fine educational programs that would welcome you and perhaps give you merit aid to support your studies. HYPSM do not award any merit aid…all is need based.</p>
<p>As pointed out…plug your family numbers into an online financial aid calculator…use the institutional methodology. With your family income, you will not qualify for any free federally funded need based money. Any money you get will be institutional money, meaning it is awarded by the schools.</p>
<p>You should know that MOST schools do not award need based aid to students with family incomes of $135K per year…with only one student in college…the numbers just won’t line up…except at places like HYPS…I don’t think MIT has as generous a policy as the others.</p>
<p>Ok… I see. The problem is, my parents are hardheaded and basically want to throw it all in one go. And don’t want to talk. They seem to never have time. And I know for a fact that I can put together one competitive application, but not guaranteeing I’ll get in.</p>
<p>I actually do not know if they are saving up for my college.</p>
<p>You should really ask them. Too many people dont and then they get into a great school like UVA or MIT or Harvard and cant attend because they have a high EFC but their parents didnt set aside enough income for school that they couldnt meet their cost no matter what they tried.</p>
<p>MITHopeful…you need to talk to your parents about college. It will do you NO GOOD to get accepted to a school where you can’t pay the bills. This is a VERY important conversation. </p>
<p>What year are you in High School? If you are a freshman, or even a sophomore, perhaps your parents aren’t thinking that far in advance. </p>
<p>However, I will give you some free advice. When you are creating your college list, be certain to include some schools that you would like to attend that are also likely affordable for your family. This might include your instate public universities, or private schools where your SAT/GPA would automatically give you scholarship money that would make the schools affordable. Do not put all of your eggs in the HYPSM basket…apply there certainly if you want to…but have a variety of schools on your list…both in finances and admissions selectivity,</p>
<p>There is NO way I am only applying to the HYPSM. Luckily, I live in a state with solid Universities. Btw, I am a sophomore. I have Virginia Tech, UVA, VCU, and GMU as safeties.</p>
<p>MIThopeful16 – VTech, UVA, VCU, and GMU are only financial safeties if your family can afford them without having to take out more than the Stafford Loan. Since these schools range from $15K - $20K/yr (tuition & room/board), and the Stafford Loan is only $5500/yr for freshman, these are not true financial safeties for you unless your parents will pay at least $10K/yr. If you could live at home and attend one of these, it would bring the cost down significantly, and you might be able to afford it on a Stafford Loan and part time jobs.</p>
<p>You really, really need to find out what (if anything) your parents will pay towards your college. If it is nothing, then as Thumper1 said, you need to find at least one or two schools where you would qualify for full ride (tuition + room/board) scholarship. If you have good enough stats to potentially get into HYPS, then you should qualify for at least a few of these guaranteed scholarships. Check the other thread on this forum about schools that give a lot of merit aid and schools with guaranteed scholarships for people with certain stats. Good Luck.</p>
<p>*
See, Normally you won’t qualify for anything apart from the unbubidized stafford loan of $550000,*</p>
<p>Boy, some need to proofread their posts! LOL jk</p>
<p>That should have been written as…unsubsidized loan of $5,500 (certainly not $550000!!!)</p>
<p>To MIT hopeful…you need to ask your parents how much they can contribute each year towards your college costs. Many parents have NO IDEA that many privates are costing $55k+ per year (more when you go).</p>
<p>The problem is, my parents are hardheaded and basically want to throw it all in one go.</p>
<p>What does that mean? “all in one go”??? </p>
<p>You need to find a time when things are calm and nothing’s going on and ask.</p>
<p>All in one go means, Wait until my senior year.
Also, they said they’re contributing very little. And GMU Instate for me my parents would be willing to pay(Only about 3.5k a year). Tech they can pay for. UVA is a somewhat of a stretch.
In addition, my parents think I should get rid of my high college aspirations and settle for GMU></p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Senior year is too late to have “the discussion”. </p>
<p>Well, if your parents have made it clear that they will contribute very little, then unless your family is very low income, you need to assume that their EFC will be higher than they are willing to pay.</p>
<p>If that’s the case, you need a strategy.</p>
<p>Yes, MIT might be “out” because it’s aid isn’t as great as the top ivies. MIT does put loans in their packages and does have a high expectation of student and parent contribution. MIT and ivies do NOT give merit scholarships.</p>
<p>However, if your stats are high (GPA and test scores), you might be able to get a high scholarship somewhere.</p>
<p>Take the SAT in June. Pay the extra for the detailed report. Use the results over the summer to work on any weak areas. You might score high enough on the PSAT to become a National Merit hopeful 
(be sure that you take the PSAT!)</p>
<p>I do have to say, my GPA is high, and I’m taking the SAT as a sophomore. Only got a 173 this year on the PSAT, have one more shot.</p>
<p>well I say apply Early Decision to MIT and get it over with but don’t get your hopes up. It is very difficult to get into…apply at normal schools that you are interested in. You have plenty of time to research them. Also make sure you have all your scholarship applications in by Dec of your Senior year. Especially with the economy colleges are not giving as much $$ as years past. Good luck with your process. It can be very painful or a great process, depending on the school.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Absolutely do not apply ED to MIT.</p>
<p>His parents may have NO intention of paying the amount that MIT determines is their contribution.</p>
<p>Gtmom944 - terrible advice! The last thing the OP should do is apply anywhere ED.</p>
<p>A book I always recommend is “Paying for College Without Going Broke” from the Princeton Review series. Buy it for your parents and suggest that they read it cover-to-cover. There are great suggestions in there about how to maximize your financial aid eligibilty (legally and ethically), how to choose colleges most likey to award merit or need based aid to YOU, etc. That way they don’t have to discuss it with you, but their eyes will be opened to the realities of financial aid. Also print out “Cost of Attendance” estimates for the websites of colleges you are considering. Your parents may not be aware that many private universities now cost over $50,000 per year.</p>
<p>If your parents won’t read it, you should give it a try, though much of what is discussed will be hard for a high-schooler to absorb. If they really won’t participate in trying to figure out what schools you can afford, start searching now for schools that will give you lots of merit aid. They not be the ones with the names you recognize, but many of them offer great educational opportunities.</p>
<p>Your parents have offered an excellent back-up plan if the other schools don’t work out, so be sure to apply to the school they prefer as well as others that might offer merit.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>under these circumstances, the op should absolutely not apply ed to mit!!!</p>
<p>*Also, they said they’re contributing very little. And GMU Instate for me my parents would be willing to pay(Only about 3.5k a year). Tech they can pay for. UVA is a somewhat of a stretch.
In addition, my parents think I should get rid of my high college aspirations and settle for GMU> *</p>
<p>You have your tuition costs wrong for GMU…</p>
<p>12 - 16 (Full Time) $3,912.00 Per **SEMESTER <a href=“and%20that’s%20the%20current%20price%20per%20semester”>/B</a> The current tuition is about $8k per year.</p>
<p>[George</a> Mason University Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.gmu.edu/common/UndergraduateTuition.asp]George”>http://admissions.gmu.edu/common/UndergraduateTuition.asp) </p>
<p>By the time you go, the tuition will probably be about $5k per semester (so, about $10k per year)</p>
<p>VT…the tuition is about $4500 per semester (or about $9k per year) for the current year. By the time you’d go, it would easily be about $12k per year.</p>
<p>Of course, you need to add about $1k per year for books. Plus, some $$ for misc expenses.</p>
<p>Unless you can commute to VT and GMU, the costs will be much higher than just tuition alone. You’d have to add about another $10k+ for room and board and misc.</p>
<p>Usually, when parents “put their kids off” and not want to talk about college costs it’s because they are uncomfortable talking about a subject that they’re not sure that they can afford. </p>
<p>I think that you need to assume that your parents are only going to contribute about $4-5k per year (regardless of what their EFC is). </p>
<p>So, you’ll need a strategy that includes getting the best grades and scores, and then targeting schools that will give you the best merit for your stats. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sorry i forgot the period (5500.00). I didn’t mean to render it as 550,000 :D</p>
<p>Well, at worst of the best, I would go to VT. Tbh, I hate this state so much and I want to leave it so bad. I really think though that some of these Ivies and MIT are affordable.</p>