Has OP mentioned a major? Is med school a possibility? Something like that could change the equation.
Could you also explain in PMs? I would also love to know. Thanks.
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Could you also explain in PMs (in response to the @Ausername321 question) ? I would also love to know. Thanks.
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Yes, just sent you a PM
Congrats on Yale!
As others have stated, most Ivies will offer similar aid with Yale on the generous end. We had a friend who did get better aid from Columbia and used that to negotiate w/ Yale. Other than that, Harvard and Princeton would be best Ivy bets to get better aid, and those are two tough RD admits! Our daughter got nearly identical FA at 2 Ivies, and surprisingly, Wesleyan beat them both by 10K. We were able to use that to negotiate, even though it is not an Ivy. Not sure you have enough time to get together app materials for competitive app at a peer institution though.
I also agree with others about potential FA issues with small business income, non-primary residence real estate, pandemic aid and retirement contributions. These will need to be calculated in. On the flip side, losses, mortgages, health costs may swing things more to your favor. Work that NPC, but there may be some aspects of your situation it doesn’t address. Our COA was 5-10k less at all the schools D was accepted to than NPC suggested. Some get the opposite outcome.
So, hope for the best and be prepared to appeal if COA numbers are high. If current income is less than previous year’s, use that to appeal. If business has not recovered and pandemic aid is gone, use that. Communicate w/ FA office to see what else you might be able to submit to appeal. Some merit admissions may not be a bad idea either.
Good luck!
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Thanks everyone.
I’m making the last minute decision to apply to some peer institutions.
However… I clicked “accept offer” on Yale’s portal a few weeks before. Is this decision binding? Could I get rescinded if I choose to apply to other colleges even though I “committed.”
Of course, I am allowed to change this decision to “decline offer” whenever I want, but I’d need to email my regional officer. Should I let them know what I’m doing or is my situation fine? I don’t want to risk getting rescinded – and if there is even a chance, I’ll just leave it as is and wish for the best.
(Sorry for all the drama)
I don’t know the answer to your question but I personally wouldn’t risk it. Your previous posts hadn’t indicated that you had already accepted.
Given this new information, if I were you I would wait for your aid package and then try to appeal if it doesn’t come in at a price your family can afford, with the UCs as a likely backup plan if needed.
And like others have said, since your parents say they can afford it after seeing the NPC, hopefully you can relax and enjoy your acceptance.
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Thank you.
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I would read the letter Yale sent you closely to make sure you do not have an obligation to withdraw pending applications once you accepted Yale’s offer.
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Keep posts focused on OP please.
Posts asking questions about your own kid warrant its own thread instead of hijacking. Users making posts comparing my moderation to the gestapo deserve both a reality check and a history lesson. Several posts edited or deleted.
I know what seems celebratory is turning into a huge stressor, and I am sympathetic to your plight. The main issue here is that the variables you’re now thinking about were there all along. So many students work so hard to achieve a dream they they often don’t consider what happens when the dream comes true.
We’ve seen this before and we will see it again. Unless there is some magical way your parents can pay for four years at ANY Ivy League school, it’s going to be really hard to pull off the financial aspect without it having a very limiting effect on your sibling.
The RD deadline has passed for a lot of the best colleges. You probably need to rethink your strategy, unless you are totally happy to attend a UC. Why not ask Yale if you can defer for a year? Give yourself time to think about other options and spend time this summer crafting really strong apps to some top colleges that offer good merit scholarships.
I already mentioned Kenyon as an excellent example. Wash U in St.Louis, USC, Vandy, Duke, Notre Dame, U Michigan, UVA, and others offer full tuition scholarships which may combine with financial aid. There are Stamps scholars who are highly accomplished and choose full rides at UIUC or U Oregon, and they are more accomplished than a lot of people who get into Ivy League schools. The Ivy League is NOT the be all and end all. Let me assure you that a graduate from any of these other colleges can fare very well in life. At the end of the day, it’s you who will make your future, not your college.
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I am late to this party, but I’ll join the throng who wish to reassure you: you will be just fine.
If your worst option is a UC, that’s an enviable outcome. The UC’s are wonderful schools, known throughout the world for their quality.
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There’s a way that you can see if all this angst has a purpose, or if you’re worrying over nothing. Talk to your parents. Ask them if they can safely afford to pay for Yale. Ask them if they can safely afford to pay for Yale and be equally as generous for any siblings. If the answers are yes, then trust them. Perhaps they always intended to sell the secondary property and it was a college savings vehicle. Perhaps they have additional resources that you’re not aware of. If the answers are no, then there’s stuff for you to ponder. But you don’t have those answers yet.
There are many stories of people who seem to have “average” or even “below average” lifestyles and then people are shocked to find out that those people have been very frugal and saving at a high rate. The book Millionaires Next-Door has many examples, or there’s articles about librarians, janitors, secretaries (and no, they don’t all have the same income) who end up bequeathing large sums of money to organizations of their choice.
Talk to your family.
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This is great advice. OP may be worrying for no reason. However, I recall a parent who posted last year (I think), who was running out of ways to pay for her kids’ Ivy League schools after selling a property and maxing our borrowing - all in an effort to make dreams come true that they couldn’t really afford. I’d hate to see other parents go that route.
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Agreed, and just a reminder that OP has not yet received Yale’s FA package, so OP’s parents don’t know how much they will be expected to pay
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I did not realize you had already accepted the offer; please check the paperwork to confirm, but I think you may be obligated to withdraw other applications, according to what I can find on Yale(but it could be different this year).
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I am hoping the OP doesn’t have to withdraw other applications until after they receive their financial aid package.
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He should if he already committed to Yale, which is fair to other applicants, who are waiting for their acceptances.
OP’s acceptance does not impact other applicants and acceptances are not due until 5/1. There was zero advantage to accepting early.
The OP’s error was accepting before receiving the FA offer. The other error was not getting the FA documents in on time. But at this point, it is what it is.
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I called and they told me I needed to email my regional AO to re-submit my commitment form.
I think I’m going to save myself the time and trouble and leave it to fate in hopes that my package for Yale ends up being close to the NPC’s calculated price, and trust that my parents made the right decision about paying.
I did ask them repeatedly if they had enough money saved for both my brother and sister, and they were insistent on their answer. The only reason why I’m so scared is because they are both Asian immigrants – with a strong belief in sacrificing everything for a child’s education. A philosophy I very much respect and appreciate… but also one that can’t serve you the best logically in large financial decisions like these.
Thank you everyone!
–
I also learned a huge lesson. I know this situation is more or less entirely my fault – a lot of time could have been saved if I had just sent in the financial docs on time, and maybe not jump so excitedly at the “accept offer” button. My parents also aren’t very proud of my not-so wise decision-making, and I owe up to those errors 
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