Tepper school of business

Vanderbilt is especially concerned with test scores but I think you’re okay. Your senior course rigor and first semester grades will be scrutinized.
The issue is that, if your family can’t pay 20k, it doesn’t matter whether you can get in : you can’t afford to go. If you win scholarships, they will reduce your need and will thus decrease your financial aid - external scholarships do not reduce your efc.
You need to figure out your efc, talk with your parents, and draft your list with these criteria in mind.

@MYOS1634 how will my senior year rigor be scrutinized? I am taking 4 ap classes, 2 honors classes, and a dual enrollment stats class. Also, I am taking ap micro and macroeconomics online. How will my first semester grades be scrutinized?

@MYOS1634 doesnt vandy meet full need?
So, with that being said, i dont think that ability to pay is a factor in admissions. Why would it be? Vandy meets full need which means that it can afford to support my ability to pay with scholarships, grants, and work study. Vanderbilt does not give loans. I even called and talked to Mr. John Gaines and he told me that ability to pay does not factor into admissions decisions. I got a letter about opportunity vanderbilt and in that letter they explained to me that they dont give loans. If admitted to vandy, my financial package will be 97% scholarships and grants and 3% work study.

But what the school believes you can afford to pay does not always match what you and your family’s financial circumstances dictate you can pay. They meet full need according to what they believe you can afford.That is an important distinction and why the NPC is important – it gives you a ballpark estimate of what you would be expected to pay, according to the school’s formula.

Yes, they didn’t use it against you of you can’t pay much, and don’t favor wealthy applicants over lower income ones, unlike what so many colleges do. However, if they estimate your parents can pay 20k, you can appeal but overall it means they expect your parents to pay 20k.whether that’s doable is another matter. That’s why knowing our efc vs. your parents ’ budget is essential, then running the NPC. On top of it, each college decides, with their own criteria, how much ou’ll have to pay. Their formula’s different from other colleges '.
Good news is that since Vanderbilt doesn’t package loans, that 19k is really 14k. Then, frugal choices can cut costs by 1-2k, and a summer job can cut that down too. Let’s imagine your parents have to pay 10k for Vanderbilt : can they?

@MYOS1634 A loved one’s funeral costs are eating up our budget as you and I speak.

My condolences. I hope your family is holding on.
I don’t know if funeral expenses are accounted for in financial aid, or judged 'a choice '. Contact Mr. Gaines / Vanderbilt and run the NPC again.

@MYOS1634 okay, thanks. I am just saying that the cost of the funeral is eating up the budget.

I’m really sorry. It’s twice horrible: the grief and mourning… And the disappearance of your college funds.
Be prepared though : it’s quite possible colleges won’t care. Some even consider caring for a disabled child 'a choice ’ :(. They really count whatever they want, that’s why the NPC is invaluable.
Look up ‘100% need, no loans’- only a few elite colleges do that. I know Haverford, Davidson are among them .

@MYOS1634 I am by no means poor- meaning that our house, cars, bills, taxes, clothes, food are paid for. We do not uses government assistance- food stamps. But I go to a school with free lunch that happens to be good enough to offer ap classes. Majority of the students are poor whether ap students or not. We do have a few upper middle class students. I would like to say I am roughly middle class since my father earns 32,000-$34,000 a year and I am an only child and he only takes care of he and I. When my mother was alive, our income was 40,000-$41,000 and I was still an only child and it was a two parent household. However, due to funeral costs and loss of income, I am expecting to see my budget shrink. I NEED to go to an elite school because I WANT to become an i-banker very much. I have small funds and I use them to trade securities- stocks, commodities, bonds, futures, etc. I really want to go to an elite school because I NEED the edge in the job market to raise my economic status from 99% to 1%, which is my dream - become a multimillionaire ( assets of $50,000,000+ ). Going to an elite school, I believe is going to get me a head start.

At many of the elite schools, Diego the socio economic make up of the class, 75k for family of 4 is considered lower income, although it’s clearly middle class.

I may have missed d it, but are you a Questbridge applicant?

I am so sorry you lost our mother. (hugs) to you. This is such a terrible, terrible thing for a child (of any age, but especially when one is young.)

I understand your financial situation very well.
Your efc is zero by the way, and you’ll get full Pell but that won’t get you far. When Pell was created, it was sufficient to cover the full costs of public tuition, room, and board. No more. Nowadays, Pell pays for community college tuition, perhaps, if you’re lucky to live in a low cost cc state. So, I understand : your only chance to afford a good college is to get into an elite college, preferably one that doesn’t package federal loans. Your best costs are likely to be at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Vassar, Brown, Cornell, Penn (Wharton), u Chicago, Vanderbilt, Middlebury , Davidson, Duke, Northwestern, Haverford, plus especially for IB beside the above Notre Dame, Colgate, Hamilton, UMichigan Ross, UVA, etc, etc.
So you’re kinda stuck, you have to apply to lots of schools that deny most students, because they’re the ones that’ll be affordable.
But don’t forget matches and safeties - all of these schools are lottery schools and it’d be horrible if you got shut out due to hubris - humiliating and sad. Having a college degree may not lead to directly being a multi millionaire but it does help in having a good salary and a stable job with benefits, from which you can go to an MBA at a target. Getting shut out leads… Nowhere.
So, you need to find colleges where you’re sure to get a merit-based full ride or close to it (IE., for your test scores.)

I suppose you read Wall Street oasis and Poets&Quants. Be aware that a lot goes down behind the scenes (IE., Middlebury is known for foreign languages… In New York more than one college grad has been surprised by their power in consulting and ib - but head hunters wouldn’t be surprised at all).
That being said, nowadays, the path to a sustainable path to wealth is computer science and its various applications (see the " CS+" Northwestern video, it’s very clear why).
Few people last more than a couple years in IB.

@MYOS1634 In fact, my college tuition fund may go up. We are pressing charges and will receive compensation if we win. We are suing the insurance company.

Your EC’s are excellent. ACT score is good enough. I think that your AP scores are on low side. Based on your GPA and EC’s you have a fair chance.

Let us know if you got in