I suspect we are in no man’s land here. My son is a good student (not elite) 1400 SAT, 3.96 GPA, 4.27 GPA adjusted. Our 2 household income is $150k. My son is white. Can we expect any kind of financial package from the Claremont Schools?
Have you run the Net Price Calculators for your target schools?
Run each school’s net price calculator (NPC) to get an estimate of what you will be expected to pay. For example, access Claremont McKenna’s NPC via this page https://www.cmc.edu/financial-aid/how-is-financial-aid-calculated
Some schools offer generous need-based aid for family incomes within your range. But assets also come into play for most private schools…so do run the NPCs.
Has your son looked at schools where he might qualify for merit aid?
How do you determine which institutions he might qualify for merit aid?
I did a ball park NPC a while back, and after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I lit some incense, sacrificed a chicken, and prayed to the admissions officer gods that it was somekind of a mistake.
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@CHRuane That means you got the right number. LOL. Yep, the expectations are high given income for private colleges.
On another thread it appears you are divorced and they you, CP, have a much lower income than NCP. It doesn’t work to just add the two incomes because there are also double the expenses to maintain two households.
You might get more aid at FAFSA only schools (but those tend to be the schools that don’t meet full need). With good stats, look for merit aid and then hope some need based aid will stack on top of that.
Why not skip the privates that use CSS and just apply to FAFSA only schools that only use the custodial parent income? I’m in a similar financial situation with my ex making a lot more than me. I don’t know if your ex is planning on helping out with college costs, but mine is not. With similar stats (financial and academic) between merit and financial aid we’ve been getting most of our choices down to 10-15K/year including a few out of state options.