When we ran the CSS numbers I knew we wouldn’t be getting any aid when it asked “what is the tax assessed value of your home” followed by “how much do you still owe on your mortgage.” We’ve owned the house a long time and been lucky enough to have the value increase. So sure, if we SOLD IT we could pay for a super spendy college, but who wants to do that?
Anyhoo, just wanted to pop in to say hi, from another W&M grad near the same time ('97) I wholeheartedly agree with the vibe back then. I do hope it’s changed for the less stressful.
Same!!! We have no mortgage and our home value has increased exponentially, but we have no plans to sell (we live on my family’s ancestral farm). Nor do we plan to borrow against it—not at our ages!
Hello to a fellow tribe member!!! I am class of ‘99. Philosophy!
Haven’t read all the comments yet so this may already have been addressed, but you may want to rethink his senior year schedule. He MUST have English. And taking Stats instead of Precalc shows a low level of rigor. Many, if not most of the schools discussed in these comments will not be realistic for a student who only has 3 years of English and stopped the typical math progression after Algebra 2. What sciences does he have? At an absolute minimum, he should have Bio, Chem, and Physics. Good luck!
He’ll have 4 years of English….there’s a class that could be counted as English or elective that will likely find its way into the English spot for the #4 if we don’t sign him up for an additional lit class next year. No worries! The credits are there, it’s just in how they’ll be classified.
He’s not sure—which is why I suspect a well-rounded liberal arts education will be essential. He likes philosophy, international politics, and environmental policy—I could see him working for an NGO or possibly joining the foreign service, but at 17, that’s definitely still an open question!
Full immersion study abroad is a definite requirement, for a whole year if possible.
Keep in mind that when colleges say they want 4 years of English, most mean they want the student to actually be taking English every single year. If a student did a DE English class in the summer to get the credits for a fourth year of English for h.s. graduation purposes, many colleges will still want to see a rigorous English course on the senior year schedule. This is in contrast to foreign language in which most colleges are okay with the student reaching level 4 at whatever grade that might happen. You’ve got a lot of people concerned about your child’s English and math sequence. Listen to them - they’re giving good advice.
I second Bishop’s in Quebec. The sticker price is actually about USD$30K (including room and board), but your son can also apply for scholarships. Better yet: It’s on the Common App.
I ran all the colleges available through collegeboard’s NPC webpage, and found that 90% of small colleges returned similar values ($35-45k), but there were a couple that were a little bit low – I think that’s because their calculator handled some of our assets a little differently – and then a few more that were exceptionally low. I think those exceptionally low ones were because they are high endowment, ultra-competitive colleges (Williams, Johns Hopkins, Yale, MIT, Caltech).
If you find some below $30k … would love to hear about em.
did you run each individually or used the MyIntuition calculator which allows you to do it quickly?
If you have significant assets, then yes, it will impact you. It’s 6 years ago but I spoke to Cornell and they told me if you had a million dollars in assets, you’d get nothing anywhere.
And at W&L, at my income, 88% of people qualify for aid - and my daughter didn’t. I asked why - and they said assets. I asked what’s the limit. They said 2x income - that was under $400K.
Colleges expect you to spend.
Some appear richer than others in regards to merit but home school may change that - schools like DePauw, Kalamazoo, Allegheny, - all of whom have French.
But then you have distance issues which is why you need to work with the great publics you have in VA or schools close that will be low cost like Marshall (has French).
You might look at SUNYs who have big merit but again too far - but Oneonta, Oswego, Geneseo, New Paltz are often inexpensive - but very NY student centric so coming from VA, you’d be an outlier.
So if you have assets that are valued at more than 2x income, you’re not qualified? Does that include primary residence and retirement?! Man.
I have decided not to worry too much about this element anymore, and to frame it as an investment. That’s how I’ve framed the significant monetary and time resources we’ve put into homeschooling—which has been well worth it in our case! When I can reframe something from “spending” to “investing,” my thrifty side is more easily satisfied!
My understanding is that colleges exclude IRAs, 401k/403b/457b and other retirement-specific vehicles, but if you have a regular taxable investment account, that colleges would count that as an asset.
With respect to the primary residence, it varies based on the school which is one of the reasons why running a school-specific Net Price Calculator is so important.
You’d have to ask W&L. I know know 88% got $38k on average per their table. We were the 12% who got nada.
But when I asked that’s what they told me.
This is what they say today. Does that meann$300k in assets - I can’t say. They’ll tell you though. Or use the NPC.
$0 in tuition — Undergraduate students with a total family income below $150,000 and assets typical for their income will receive a minimum grant equal to full tuition.
