Yeah, I just told my husband that college will cost money. It’s just a question of how much. =))
Hi everyone! New to the forum, but I’ve been reading and was so excited to see all the amazing results - acceptances and scholarships! Hugs to those hearing some declines but I imagine most kids will have a mix of both. My S18 has two accepts so far - ASU/Barrett Honors, University of Pacific. Next up are GT, CWR, and Colorado School of Mines. Holiday break will be spent finalizing essays for Harvey Mudd and Stanford. Wow, this is nerve racking!
Amen!!
@Kayak24, the FAFSA bases the EFC on income and assets.
The school can award more aid of their own, but federal subsidized loans can only be awarded up to COA-FAFSA EFC-total aid. Since they are need based.
Welcome, @lovespink ! My S18 is also waiting to hear back from Georgia Tech! Already heard no from Stanford and a yes from Mines with an invite to apply for their Harvey Scholars Program, so that’s good. Best of luck to your son!
Had a long weekend. Went to NYC on Thursday evening to stay over for daughter’s Fordham/Ailey dance BFA audition. This is one of her hardest auditions. They have a prescreen and had over 800 applications and 300 dancers passes the pre-screen. After the audition process they will offer about 45-50 places to make a class of 30. She loved everything about the audition and the program so now we wait.
On the snowy ride home she received an email that she passed Elon’s pre-screen with an invitation to audition. Very happy with that, too.
Also received word from Drexel (one of 2 strictly academic applications…just in case) that she was admitted with a $29,000.00 award.
All in all a very good weekend. Thought she and my husband came down with a stomach virus last night that kept me awake cleaning for hours:(
@amom2girls Amazing that any weekend involving puke can still be called a good weekend!! Thats how good the rest of it was I guess. Sounds very exciting to be part of the auditions in NYC. Impressive to make the prescreens and even more impressed that your daughter could dance her way through the next round. Keep us posted on the results - when she is a famous dancer, I’d like to be part of the CC ticket block 
D received a box from Trinity’s admissions office in the mail today. It rattles when I shake it. 
Another FA question:
Benefits to using 529 plans to pay tuition in year one or holiding onto them (and using cash savings)? I’m assuming 529 plans are treated the same re: parent assets but want to make sure they aren’t counted against you once you cash out. The more I read, the more there seem to be fine-print rules many never knew about.
Also, should I consider transferring savings that are earmarked for college into the 529 Plan now for the state tax break on contributions? Along those lines, is it advisable for a student to deposit his/her graduation party money or gift from relative, etc., into his/her 529 Plan first and then use for college?
Boy, I am full of questions today. 
Congratulations to all and positive vibes going out! @ShrimpBurrito , that sounds like some exciting mail to me!! Also, welcome newcomers.
thanks @stemmmm. These pre-screens and auditions add an extra layer of uncertainty to this process. The admittance rate for some of these programs is similar to top academic programs. We have asked her to try not to fall in love with one program until we have everything on the table in the spring, but it is hard.
And, yes, having husband and daughter home today with dueling texts from home detailing their stomach issues has not been fun;) Just hoping that my younger daughter and I miss out on this…blah!
I swear I’ve spent more time on CC in the last 2 weeks than on other social media!! Congrats to @ShrimpBurrito, @amom2girls, @RoonilWazlib99 @Kayak24, and everyone who got their acceptances.
Fingers crossed for DD BF for UChicago!
@Kayak24 if the FAFSA is already filed for 2018/19 then the balance in savings now does not matter.
But if you want to take advantage of the PA tax credit for PA 529 contributions in 2017 you will need to deposit that soon since the year is almost over.
I would probably keep some money in regular savings too. The FAFSA doesn’t differentiate between parent assets in checking or 529, they are all parent assets.
For FAFSA if a student invests in the 529, it is considered a parent asset, but not sure how CSS profile treats it.
If your D gets a lot of money for graduation gifts she could put it in a 529, but she could also spend it on fall semester college expenses before FA forms are filed.
When you use 529 money you will probably want to use it on room and board, so you can claim the AOTC on tuition, fees, book expenses (qualified education expenses for American Opportunity tax credit), if you qualify for it.
We live in a state where don’t get a benefit for a 529 contribution, at least that’s what a financial adviser told me.
I have been thinking of using our savings first and hold off on using D’s 529 which a great-grandparent set up and is now owned by a grandparent. The result on EFC might be minimal but it will be something.
I just want to say D’s GC is the best. She’s already been on the phone with colleges to make sure they consider D’s new scores in their scholarship decisions. :x
Some of these counselors are so awesome how they go to bat for our kids! We couldn’t have achieved as much without our counselor’s guidance!!
@ppst Great to hear that some kids have good GC. At our large 2800 public HS my daughters has been useless. I have learned a ton more on this site than the limited and useless information provided by the GC.
I’m sorry your counselor was not what you’d hoped @burghdad, but some of the counselors at our smaller school of 2,000 were not that great either. True. I did learn more from friends and you all, but we lucked out with her as well. Thank you and the other posters on CC for sharing advice and experience.
@MACmiracle , Careful on grandparent-owned 529 plans. I read that it’s best not to use that money until after the FAFSA is filed for the student’s last year bc it’s weighted heavily versus parent-owned. Double check me on that though.
D18 got accepted to Clemson today (with the OOS waiver). Still pretty pricey compared to UGA with Zell.
D18’s bff accepted into UChicago ED today. Lots of excited tears were shed!