State School vs Harvard: Any Middle Ground?

haavain
Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:12:31 +0000

My brother doesnt contribute, my parents pay it all.



He doesn’t have a summer job or an on-campus job or anything? Wow. That means the parental contribution is significantly less than 11k. Anyone know what Harvard’s expected student contribution is?



And pay over 20k a year really doesnt seem like an option, so im trying to think of some good schools that are either inherently cheap or give enough financial aid so that we are only excepted to pay <20k. I know that <20k/year is possible at my state school and at Harvard, but i dont really know about anything beyond that or inbetween those schools, hence the OP.



Basically, your choices are: get into a full-need school that will give you an EFC of <20k–and we’re still working out which schools that might be; get a stacking merit scholarship at a full-need school; get a major merit scholarship that gives you full tuiton or a full ride. To do the last you might have to dip into schools that are significantly weaker than your in-state flagships (UGA and GT).