<p>I have recently received a Dartmouth likely letter, and would really love to attend. I also applied to Duke and Yale. My EFC on FAFSA is currently around 20k, with my parents income just below 100k (no additional assets or anything), I think that will be hardly affordable. However, my mediocre state school option (with admission to honors college and other top programs within the school) is full paid. The decision is a big one... Ivy League with pretty big loans or free (likely with stipend) state school??</p>
<p>What is the state school?</p>
<p>University of Mississippi, with Honors College, Croft Institute and Lott Leadership admissions.</p>
<p>Well, I think you need to wait to see your FA package.</p>
<p>Does Dartmouth only use FAFSA? If not, then you really don’t know what they expect from your parents.</p>
<p>Does Dartmouth include loans in their FA packages to go towards “need”? If so, then you may have a hard time coming up with loans to cover your parents EFC.</p>
<p>how much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>You can only borrow $5500 your frosh year and that may already be in your FA package. It’s not a good idea to borrow much for undergrad. </p>
<p>Dartmouth probably also has a “student contribution” from summer earnings.</p>
<p>for you to borrow more than $5500 per year, your parents would need to co-sign. WIll they do that?</p>
<p>Did you apply to any other schools that give merit?</p>
<p>What is your likely career?</p>
<p>BTW…are you a National Merit Finalist?</p>
<p>You should wait and see what Dartmouth (and Duke and Yale, hopefully) offers you. If you and your parents can afford it, then it would be great for you to attend a school like that. Are there younger siblings in your family who will also need support from your parents for college?</p>
<p>You’re right, it’s a tough decision, but wait until you get an aid award from your other colleges. If it’s just a little out-of-reach, ask for a review and see if you can get enough more aid to make attending workable for your family. You may have to decline, ultimately, for financial reasons, but by all means play it out.</p>
<p>Dartmouth uses the Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Their financial aid is fairly generous. I would wait and see what your financial aid package is…then decide.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m definitely waiting to play it out. I mean the Likely Letter was nice, but it got me thinking earlier. I had planned on just chillin’ until April and see what happened, compare, then decide. I was just trying to get a feel of what kind of aid to expect from the institutions. </p>
<p>“BTW…are you a National Merit Finalist?” - No, I am not :(</p>
<p>Yes, we have done a preliminary FAFSA and CSS, as my parents aren’t able to officially file for another 4 or 5 days. </p>
<p>“Are there younger siblings in your family who will also need support from your parents for college?” - My younger siblings are 9 and 6, so they won’t be in college or needing any other major expenses soon, thank God.</p>
<p>Like I said, we are right under the 100k income threshold, with no additional real estate or investments, etc. Has anyone gotten FA from these schools and can maybe attest to how much they received?</p>
<p>Have you used the dartmouth cost estimator? It should give you an idea of what to expect .</p>
<p>[Cost</a> Estimator](<a href=“Home | Financial Aid”>Home | Financial Aid)</p>
<p>When you do get your financial aid award letters, make sure you add up just the actual costs (tuition, fees, room, and board). Subtract just the free money (scholarships/grants). This will give you an idea of exactly how much money you will have to come up with.</p>
<p>Definitely wait to get your FA packages from all your schools. D is pretty generous and IMO Y is more so. Three years D1 was accepted to both, my income was about the same but I have substantial home equity and savings. D said that we had no financial need and Y gave us about 22k in grants plus WS.</p>
<p>And, while you are waiting to hear from all your other schools, read up on one student’s experience at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/905843-top-student-3rd-tier-school-four-years-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/905843-top-student-3rd-tier-school-four-years-later.html</a></p>
<p>*D is pretty generous and IMO Y is more so. Three years D1 was accepted to both, my income was about the same but I have substantial home equity and savings. D said that we had no financial need and Y gave us about 22k in grants plus WS. *</p>
<p>Isn’t D’s aid about the same as all CSS schools that meet need (with the exception of HYPS which have super aid and unusual formulas)?</p>
<p>Too bad this student didn’t apply elsewhere with big merit because if D is unaffordable, it’s unfortunate that he only has his instate flagship as his backup when he doesn’t really like it. Kids need to have “back ups” that they really like!</p>
<p>I agree with HappyMom’s post. High stats kids who end up at 2nd/3rd tier schools can emerge with great success and promising grad/professional school futures. My son will be graduating in May from our flagship…he’s getting recruited by all the top schools for grad school because of his GRE scores and GPA. Going to a state flagship hasn’t hurt him at all.</p>
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<p>When I said that “D is pretty generous” that was a general statement, it was not aimed at full need schools in particular.</p>
<p>Maybe I gave the wrong impression!! I really do like my state school, it’s just more of a consolation prize. I would just rather go to Dartmouth, Duke etc. My state school is fine, and I know I’d be happy there. It’s just a matter of that I’ve worked really hard, and I could have gone there even if I hadn’t.</p>
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<p>Actually Dartmouth is more generous than the “usual” Profile schools. They offer some better than average need based aid for low income students. I’m not sure what they do with students whose incomes are just above the threshold for what they consider “low income”. This student will have to wait and see what kind of package they offer him.</p>
<p>“It’s just a matter of that I’ve worked really hard, and I could have gone there even if I hadn’t.”</p>
<p>Yes, you could have gone there, but you would not be in the Honors Program, and you would not have access to all the perks that your hard work has earned you!</p>
<p>So the results came in (fully). Out of Duke, Dartmouth and Vanderbilt, the latter actually gave me the best financial aid. The package has no loans and the largest grant component compared to COA. However, at Duke and Dartmouth, I’d be paying roughly 15k+ per year for school, whereas at Ole Miss, I’d have a 4k per year STIPEND. I’m pretty bummed right now, as I thought my financial aid would be at least a little better than this. Is it worth the appeal? Or is Ole Miss pretty much the best option at this point? What does the CC community think? lol</p>
<p>Can you swing the cost of Vanderbilt? Take out the fluff in the COA. Add up tuition, fees, room, and board. This is the real cost. Subtract the grants. How much is left to pay? You can borrow $5500 in unsubsidized Stafford loan (you just have to request it). What’s left? Is this an amount your family can manage?</p>
<p>If not, then Ole Miss it is.</p>
<p>Financially Ole Miss is the best option. Makes sense. It is your state school, the sticker price is the lowest, and you are probably among the very top kids there. At the other schools, you are talking high priced, privates with a very select crowd. They are offering you mainly aid packages, not incentives to come there. They don’t need to offer them because they can fill their class with those willing to pay full price. So this is the choice you have and you have to make the decision as to whether a private college with the name recognition and selectivity they have are worth the premium you have to pay.</p>