xferring between GLADCHEMS & Financial Aid

ExieMITAlum
Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:02:17 +0000

A few schools are still need blind for full FA students - it’s worth casting a net. And if you split that initial $50,000 over three years (or four) you could be a partial pay. That would make you more attractive than a full FA candidate for last minute slots. It means less funding the school has to find for you.

The reason why the checkbox is for four years is because parents have already tried that strategy - get the kid in as a full pay to make them more attractive and then ask for aid in subsequent years. Never underestimate the lengths other people have gone to to secure a spot for a student. But the school factors tuition payments into their long-term projections. If the strategy worked, everyone would do it and the school would find itself heavily burdened with low tuition revenues and high draws out of it’s endowment.

I will warn you, however, if the student was admitted under full pay, they may or may not have been as attractive under the FA formula. There’s a lot more leeway in the former than in the latter in terms of what a school looks for when building a class.

Reapplying is an option - but not a guarantee of a spot as is evidenced by all the families on FA waiting lists this year. Consider if you can pay half for two years, and use that time to scrape up additional funding for the remaining year or two at that level.

I’m with @ChoatieMom. 100% of my income goes to tuition, we downsized, stopped eating out, live on less, postponed my retirement contributions. You do what you have to do. Have never regretted it.