@excanuck99 Okay… So, what, how much higher do you think these schools are going to expect the family to pay for beyond EFC? If your problem is with the FAFSA EFC you should be blaming the Department of Education, not the school. And if you’re living on-campus (which at a school like these nearly everyone does–Princeton has 98% living on-campus) costs should be pretty much on-target given things like housing are pretty cut-and-dry: the university sets a price and sticks to it, it’s not as though they’re taking the cheap run-down apartment in a bad neighborhood as the standard cost of housing.
Outside of tuition and room+board, most of the costs are pretty flexible. Sure, maybe you’ll spend more on textbooks than they estimate. A few hundred. General hygiene products – deodorant, toothpaste, contact solution, etc… Maybe another couple hundred over the course of a year. Maybe you’ll want to go out to eat more frequently, and spend more there. Optional expense. Maybe you’ll want a new shiny MacBook instead of a less flashy, less expensive laptop. Optional expense. Maybe you’ll want to spend more on clothes than you really need to. Optional expense.
First of all, even if you do splurge on those things on credit, it’s insane to compare a couple of thousand in optional spending to the sixty grand sticker price of a year at one of these institutions. Second, it’s not financial aid’s job to give every student a stipend to go live like a king. Financial aid is there so there aren’t students choosing between going somewhere else and taking a quarter million in loans. Third, I think you’ll find they’re likely more generous than they should be expected to. Princeton’s Financial Aid even will help students pay for the Eating Clubs: social clubs completely unaffiliated with the university. Even if you think they “expect” too much, unless they are off by multiple thousands of dollars, they are still doing an impressive job. And the core of my argument is still perfectly valid: wait and compare their actual financial aid offers, not their sticker price.
Sorry, I just get really into this issue.
@goingnutsmom as a deferred SCEA Princeton applicant, what was the “last piece of information about Eating Clubs” that turned your daughter away? Not to criticize her decision, everyone will have their own preferences, just wondering what it is so I can consider it if I happen to be treated to an acceptance in spring.