I agree with mom2collegekids. Prior to the whole college application process, I sat down with my kids and straight out told them exactly what we can afford and what we can’t. I made sure that they fully understood the financial perimeters were prior to applying to colleges. Although my older son was admitted to a top private school out of state, because its EFC was higher than we expected and out of the perimeter, he opted to enroll at our in-state flag university with President’s scholarship. Never gave me any issues about it.