Well, hold on.
Let’s use a plausible example.
Full cost of SCHOOL X is $80,000/yr.
The NPC tells me they are going to ask for $58k for people in my financial situation.
I can’t afford that, I can only do $35k.
But SCHOOL X has an advertised basket of PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS (more than 1 or 2…more like a dozen) for $25k.
The NPC has no way of knowing if my child is competitive for those, its asking what’s on the tax form only. Dropping $58k down to $33k suddenly makes it affordable.
Nobody knows what the applicant pool looks like from outside. Is my kid a top applicant? Can’t know from outside other than comparing published GPAs and SATs for already successful applicants. But this could be the year Wonder Woman applies, we just don’t know.
The kid can’t get the merit award without applying. Nobody will promise a merit award without applying. Private schools will always throw “we want you” money around if the kid is a desired candidate no matter what the NPC says.
Rolling the dice on a $75.00 bet (or a $0 bet for some schools) to win $100,000 in merit aid and make the impossible possible seems rational if the child is otherwise a strong applicant, what am I missing here?