Woah thank you so much 
I actually used to want to go to school in Canada. I did some digging and a couple of these have my program(s) of interest.
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It’s all on the tax returns. My parents don’t do stocks/bonds/the like so I can already cross those off.
Yep.
Oh don’t worry, that’s not what I was looking for. The “Programs” section on the website listed all the majors and I went through them.
Their tax returns don’t cover the entire story. Sorry. There are other inputs.
If they are not investing, surely they have cash or a rental home or gold or something. I’m guessing you don’t know the entire picture, even if you think you do.
Unless they are spending every single cent they earn, there’s more to the story.
This is why, I believe, kids are shocked when the NPC result doesn’t match what they saw.
When I ran the NPCs, I had pretty much all the info I needed. Though I am unsure about what their savings are. I have my mom’s by accident, but not my dad’s. I just doubled it since my dad either has that amount or more. And no, they don’t have a rental home.
I suggest you run it at a whole bunch of colleges. Net prices can vary widely.
But treat the numbers as very rough estimates, since you don’t have reliable numbers. But I still think it’s good to do, to open you eyes to possibilities.
When people hire “in the real world”, the primary question they ask is “can they do the job well,” not “where did they graduate from, what was their major & GPA?” All those things will be considered (at least when you’re fresh out of college) but if you’re a great writer or editor or communicator who happened to have a degree in biology it won’t matter. After several years of working, very few will care where you got your degree and what your major was. They’ll care about your most recent performance/productivity at work. That’s my experience.
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Can you ask the couple to explain Harvard’s financial aid policies to your parents?
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It’s also possible that this other couple doesn’t know that their kid received need -based aid and not merit aid. They may just think that they submitted the financial information because they were required to and, independently, their kid got a scholarship (merit in their mind) that enabled him to attend. Unless you are tuned in and read the aid award carefully and with understanding, they may not review or parse the aid award terms the same way that a knowledgeable person would. That is, a grant versus a scholarship, etc.
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This makes it all pretty clear, from the horse’s mouth: Are there any merit-based financial aid awards at Harvard? | Harvard
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Personally I think all this Harvard talk is red herring. So few get in, even when you have 4.0 and 1600. And UMich is a fine school. IMHO all this is empty/uninformed propaganda from the parents.
I don’t suggest the OP should battle his/her parents on this point. If it were me I’d probably say to the parents “yes I’ll work hard and try my best and apply to Harvard, but given how few are admitted, let’s also figure out some alternatives,” and get them onboard to supporting a portfolio of schools, you know the old reach-match-safety approach, hopefully filtered through NPCs.
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But this goes back to OP needs a budget.
They started off with - my parents saved no money for college.
That’s very different than - my parents won’t/can’t pay. So that’s the first thing OP has to suss out. Just because they make $300K doesn’t mean they plan to spend but they very well might be planning to.
So at some point, those conversations have to happen. There’s a family dynamic involved but they’ll have to overcome that.
Of course, students can apply anywhere - but it’s always helpful to only apply to places you can necessarily pay for.
There’s so many different family dynamics out there, that this one will have to resolve first - to have a real discussion.
thx
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EVERYONE should take an intro econ class. Everyone should have a basic understanding of the concepts. I would say the same for an intro accounting class. Life skills.
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I think every teen should take Housecleaning 101
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Sorry, I meant to say that I run the NPC for every college I see. It definitely does vary based on the school.
I see. I would’ve thought they’d consider the GPA, but I guess experience & skill really are the most important things. Thanks!
We’ll see 
No, they definitely know that it’s need-based.
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Many have a GPA cutoff for first job. Like many engineering jobs want a 3.0. But when one is writing, it’s more likely they will ask for writing samples as a filter. They’ll care little about grades or major - more about your article in the school newspaper or story in a literary magazine. Grades don’t answer the question of writing ability. And a writing major or journalism major doesn’t portend knowledge in other areas.
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