If you read my post, I was not referring to myself. I said I know of specific people who have unmet need. These are people who had some financial need met freshman year and then the next year the student contribution went up in one case over $8k where the student had no change in their assets, nor did the parents have any change in assets or income. This actually just forced the mom (not me) to get a job to help pay the student’s unmet need. The school also did not notify many families of their financial aid packages until late summer so there wasn’t much they could do. In another case, a family with an out of work parent had their unmet need go from 0 the first year to $30k the next year. Apparently this is what the school does. Gives you a good aid package in year 1, and then not so great in subsequent years. But again, not 100% unmet need and they don’t declare that they do provide that anywhere anyway.
Since you felt the need to see what other posts I commented on, you would know this had nothing to do with me as my kids fortunately do not have any financial aid or loans. I am there however to listen to my friends and help them come up with solutions to help their kids finish school with the least amount of debt as possible and hopefully no debt which should be the goal of every college student.
If your daughter gets into Brown, I sure hope they meet her full need. I have too often heard of kids reaching for the stars, getting into those schools and then finding out that they cannot attend because their need is not met and their parents have no money to pay. It isn’t pretty. As for the NPC, be overly generous in what you put in there, because that’s another issue I have heard parents say, especially freshmen. It comes back with a number, so does financial aid and they aren’t close and again a child’s dream is burst. My kids know they can apply to schools where we can afford to send them. Many do not get that message. Like you, I have 4 kids and this is my last one. I will have 3 in at the same time and while it’s exciting for them, it’s going to be a fun tripple whammy. But nothing like seeing your kids happy and thriving.