<p>^^^</p>
<p>Right all the univs know that HYPS could let everyone go for free and still survive. Everyone knows that HYPS are in a class by themselves money-wise.</p>
<p>Ugh. Makes me feel very powerless.</p>
<p>Disneydad…there are some wonderful merit awards for high achievers that help soften the financial blow for college. If your kiddo REALLY is a competitive candidate for the Ivies, that same kiddo is a great candidate for merit awards. The stickie threads above should be helpful…if your kiddo is a HS junior!</p>
<p>Oh dear…you’re not powerless. You have sons with stats that can garner high merit - which is what you need.</p>
<p>Believe me, the powerless folks are the ones with unaffordable EFCs, but their kids don’t have the stats for merit…or the ones who have very low EFCs but their kids can’t get into the schools that meet need. Those folks have no choice but commute to the local state school or CC.</p>
<p>Thanks. I have looked at those threads and subscribed to them. I’m just trying to make sure we know all our options and optimize his ability to choose.</p>
<p>This has been a very interesting thread and I’ve contemplated not posting. However, I find myself in the same boat as Disneydad. All of my results from NPC show that I will have to pay full price for educating D1 at HYPS. Knowing she wants to pursue medicine (things can always change) after college, there is a potential for $500,000 in education cost for one child with 2 others to follow.</p>
<p>So, as I read this thread, several questions came to mind. Can I justify spending close to $250,000 for an UG tuition when merit scholarships at other schools could potentially reduce the cost to nearly $0? Do I even have the right to complain about the cost knowing that many other families may struggle to pay for COA that are much less? I have to say it, $60,000 per year is A LOT even for someone who earns $150,000 per year. That’s easily 2 years of retirement for a frugal family. $250,000? Well, that is 8 years of retirement. Once the money is gone, you can’t have a do-over.</p>
<p>I am looking for high quality schools that provide Merit Awards to bring the price down to a valuable option. Options like Case Western Reserve, UVA, and a few other high quality schools. The HYPS schools offer so much in terms of freedom in their curriculums. Name recognition means nothing in medicine. And at those prices, they are out of my radar screen.</p>
<p>So, Disneydad, whatever you find, let me know.</p>
<p>* Knowing she wants to pursue medicine (things can always change) after college, there is a potential for $500,000 in education cost for one child with 2 others to follow.*</p>
<p>Frugal…I’m assuming that you’re a physician from your posts in the premed forum. If so, then your D is more familiar with the profession than most premeds so her determination to be a doctor would seem (to me) to be more real than the avg premed…especially if she has the stats to be HYPS-worthy. </p>
<p>That said, even if she were to opt for the lower-cost (not necessarily free) school with merit scholarships and then not choose medicine, it’s not as if her other career chances will have been blown. Any good school is “good enough” for 99.9% of careers. I think really only the Wall Street careers seem to expect/require a tippy top undergrad. If your D would never be Wall Street bound then there’s really no fear.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of schools between paying full freight and getting a free ride. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.</p>
<p>*
Ugh. Makes me feel very powerless.
*
Consider the students who don’t live in a good school district and who barely get accepted to directional schools that do not attempt to meet need and only offer small scholarships even for NMS. </p>
<p>I told my kids, we would pay as much of our FAFSA EFC as we could.
This was roughly the equivalent of instate university, but it still was about 1/4 to 1/3 of our before tax income.</p>
<p>A student who is eligible for admittance to schools that meet100% of need, also are likely to be awarded merit at " lesser" schools.
For many families, they still will be paying out 1/4 to1/3 of before tax income, because the merit award will decrease need based aid. But for families who " don’t have need", merit aid does reduce their costs.</p>
<p>update on this thread. My son applied to Harvard. At the campus visit info session they describe their policy as asking for 10% of family income. My son didn’t really like the other Ivies but is applying to Duke which seems pretty generous also. Beyond that, I am hoping for Merit money. I will report back next spring.</p>
<p>Good luck to him!!</p>
<p>Several years ago, one of my kids got a $30k a year merit award, and were we ever impressed! Yes, indeed, we were as happy as could be. But then when we looked at the COA, it was a downer that the cost was still over $30K as the cost to go there was in the $60K range. It was a sobering reality check as to how much these private schools can cost. That my son got that award put the school into the running as a possibllity, but it still was not a huge break from the $35K ceiling we’d put on annual college costs.</p>