Vibes to you all regarding outlandish EFC numbers. I feel bad that it is causing you some stress. We’ve just been lucky to live below our means, and we socked a lot of cash away when we were both working. Fortunately we’ve paid everything off so we live debt free, which is kind of weird. We don’t travel much, don’t go out to eat much, we drive normal cars and we live in the same house we first bought. So I am personally relieved to not worry about the $$ aspect of school, but it will be a sad sight to watch all of that savings go poof!
I am a bit torn on the ROI regarding expensive schools. I think with some schools it may be worth it if you have a certain focus you want to study and the school excels in that area, but then I also appreciate the semi-afordable state school with a decent rep.
Right now my son’s top 2 school choices are very expensive, but his 2 safeties are not. And there is a good chance he might end up at one of his safeties. I’d like to see him get in and attend one of his top 2 choices, but if not I’ll be secretly happy because it will probably save me $100k in cash over 4 years.
@readingclaygirl, my grandfather never spelled my name correctly, even in his will. We still get a laugh over that. I will admit to being one of the youngest of 15 grand kids, and in the family that lived the farthest away so we didn’t see him as often as the others. He pronounced my name correctly though!
@flatKansas I agree with the judgements. My DD’s number one school is not an academic match, but she loves the school, loves the extras that it has to offer and we can afford it. I can’t come out and say it this to real people, but we don’t want our kids to take out any loans. If we can find a school or 2 that we can pay cash for and avoid loans(ours/hers), then that is our goal. I think choosing a school is about so many things. We just happen to live in an upper middle class area that has a ton of parents who think their kids are the best of the best. Money doesn’t seem to be an issue with many in our area. I want to know how the heck these people can finance $50-$65K a year for 4 years for multiple children. I personally think these people haven’t truly looked at the numbers yet.
@jeepgirl, our philosophy is the same as yours. Find a school that you can see yourself at that does not require loans (excessive loans) to attend. Sometimes I think the kids have more skin in the game if they have to pay some on their own. But frankly, I would not want to see them having more than $5k to repay when they are done. Ideally, they can work in the summer and earn “their EFC” for the upcoming year.
@mtrosemom Totally agree. To us skin in the game means working during the summer to save up for your spending money. We also have our DD saving for her after college life:) She is the type of kids that can’t sit still. I really don’t want her working during the school year once she is in college, that is why we have her saving now. We don’t have rich grandparents that give great gifts, so it is all of her hard work. She also has decided not to run(cc and track) her senior year because she wants to work. She sees the freedom of having a sizable savings for her future. We have also been very upfront with her about what we can afford.
@mtrosemom We don’t live close by either but there are only 4 of us grandkids! I will probably laugh at it as an adult but for now, I have gotten really good at signing checks with wrongly spelt name
Well the SAT2 subject tests confirmed that she is a horrible standardized test taker. Her grades are sooo much better than her standardized test scores. Ugh.
@fun1234 – ACT score reporting timeframe mentioned by @flatKansas is correct but I will add the caveat that last fall, ACT could not get the essays scored promptly so the complete score was missing for weeks. I think the term is complete and not composite. (No experience with ACT in this house.) This caused much stress for the 2016 applicants who should have felt entirely comfortable that their Sept ACT scores would be available for Nov 1st but there were reports of stragglers.
To keep things even, CB had difficulty filling score report requests and refunded money to those who ordered rush reporting as they could not fulfill.
@STEM2017 – it sounds as though Honors is a higher designation than advanced, so I would use honors.
My D had a less than desirable math score on the March SAT (March 2 school day) and spend a lot time with Khan Academy and brought her score up 40 points on the June exam (She is very happy because this puts her in a good place and should be done with testing ) Her EBRW actually dropped 10 points, luckily there is super-scoring.
@SincererLove
The curve on the EBRW was certainly harsher; she missed 5 in March for 760 but only missed 4 in June for a 750.
On the Math section she got 6 more correct but only went up went up 40 points. On the March exam each missed question reduced her score by 10 points but on the June exam each miss costs 12 points.
EFC is just a number. Colleges don’t really care whether you have the money, could have the money, could borrow the money or some combination. And ultimately, they do not need everyone to be able to afford it. Just enough to keep the classrooms full. Between lower income people who get a lot of aid and very wealthy people, colleges at this point are doing just fine (particularly when you add in some people from middle group who are willing to pay full freight).
A couple years back at an admissions meeting at ND, someone asked the ND rep if they were aware that they were pricing the upper middle class out, the response was “yes.” As long as they have the numbers, they won’t care (and from a business perspective, I don’t disagree with them).
@mtrosemom – We didn’t ask for the detailed score report, but he must have gotten 1 wrong on math (790, my math wiz)
Unless CB has changed yet another policy, the detailed score report is available free seven days after scores are posted. It will identify the # of incorrect by type of problem (algebra, geometry, whatever) and the level of difficulty. The report that costs $18 includes the actual responses for every question along with a copy of the test booklet and was offered for Oct, Jan & May test dates only. This may all have changed with the new SAT, but I would hope they would still tell test-takers how many incorrect questions/section.
I actually think that one wrong for 790 is a very lenient math curve. When older son took test, one incorrect math ranged from 750 to 770 but never higher than that.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek oh I don’t believe they intend us to finance the whole thing, but realistically that’s the only place a good portion of that EFC could come from. Our EFC for D is $35k. Our EFC estimates for S (with 2 in college) have been as high as $40k. There’s no way we could sack-lunch our way to that annually, and no realistic way we could have saved all of it. The only place it is left to come from is lots and lots of loans (if we weren’t chasing merit). Its why CSS cares so much about assets in home equity and life insurance. There’s a million places to keep/hide assets, but those particular ones are easily borrowed against.
@carachel2, sorry to hear about such a tragic loss of a young life.
@jeepgirl, Our goal is also for both kids to graduate without loans. We can afford more than the cost of the state flagship but less than the $65k+ for many privates, so merit $ will have fill the gap or S will go to the state school. It’s a hard truth that I’ve been really up front about, but I dread the day I might have to tell S he can’t go to his dream school because the merit offer wasn’t enough.
@snoozn - it’s true that UMass Amherst has amazing food for a school cafeteria. They focus on local sourcing, have nutritional info on everything, and there is an impressive variety of international options. It is by far the best of all the school caf’s I’ve experienced.
Re $ saved, with D15 we saved at least $12k a year when dance & instrument lessons ended Also saved a lot when we took her off our car insurance while she was out of town. Of course, that & more went towards college. We might cancel cable & landline this fall just to see how it goes.
In terms of budget, D had money saved from gifts and babysitting that she used during the year. This summer she has two jobs so she will continue to fund her own entertainment, but I confess to sending care packages with a $20 (or 2) almost every month. We gave her a great computer for HS graduation, and we buy her textbooks and insurance. Last year the cafeteria food was not good, particularly for a vegan, so we bought school dollars that are accessed though her ID. She can use the $ by swiping her ID at restaurants on and near campus and she doesn’t need to carry her debit card. That cost was probably was about $400 over the course of the year, but at least we knew she was getting good, healthy food. This year she’ll be able to cook for herself in an apartment, so we’ll have to provide a grocery budget - thinking that will be about $100/month, plus her grandmother gives her $50+/mo. She has a credit card that she used with discretion and mostly when her debit card was being temperamental.
We do not want her to work during the school year at this point. First, because she takes really hard classes. She’s smart but not a genius and has to focus on studies. Secondly, there are tons of activities and career events that I would prefer she have a chance to experience.
Another problem with EFCs is it not just how much you make but how you structure your assets. We keep a large emergency fund since we high deductibles for health and property insurance. I ran my EFC a couple ways and it appears they think I should spend all my emergency fund on my D’s education. If the same amount was added to a qualified retirement account, the EFC goes down.
I believe the calculations expect parents to liquidate assets or borrow against them to pay for college. Some assets, if they are pledged for an upcoming expense should not be considered wealth.
Congrats to everyone on their fine SAT subject scores! Very impressive students are represented here.
I’m so sorry for the tragedy @carachel2 . That’s heartbreaking.
@itsgettingreal17 My older two say that Cornell’s vegetarian food excellent. It’s good enough to turn both of them into vegetarians, even my formerly meat loving football player! Plus Ithaca is the home of the Moosewood restaurant. Ithaca has a lovely farmer’s market but you have to take a bus to get there. However, they have started another one on the Ag quad on campus.
** Cars **
We have 4 cars for 5 drivers (5 cars if you count the huge work van) but they all have over 200,000 miles . That works for us bc DH enjoys fixing them…he replaced his first head gasket last week and now he keeps pointing out used cars that are on sale for only $500 “and they only need a head gasket!” Honey, we have too many as it is. But old cars are best for us right now because DD’14 and DS’15 go to school too close to not be counted on our auto insurance. Keeping our car lot old keeps our insurance reasonably cheap, and it sure is a convenience to extra cars when 1) there is absolutely no public transportation, 2) everything is several miles away at the closest, 3) too much snow to bike in winter, and 4) everyone is going in separate directions all the time .
) Her EBRW actually dropped 10 points, luckily there is super-scoring.
. That’s heartbreaking.
. That works for us bc DH enjoys fixing them…he replaced his first head gasket last week and now he keeps pointing out used cars that are on sale for only $500 “and they only need a head gasket!” Honey, we have too many as it is. But old cars are best for us right now because DD’14 and DS’15 go to school too close to not be counted on our auto insurance. Keeping our car lot old keeps our insurance reasonably cheap, and it sure is a convenience to extra cars when 1) there is absolutely no public transportation, 2) everything is several miles away at the closest, 3) too much snow to bike in winter, and 4) everyone is going in separate directions all the time 
.