<p>Hi, I am new to here. And would like an opinion regarding if applying financial AID would decrease the acceptance chance. My family income is about 150K with one kid. In fact, I am told by the people around me that there is no chance for my kid to get AID if applying top schools.</p>
<p>The people around you are not you. Do they know all the details of your financial life? Do they know the track record of the schools your kid is considering? At many schools in the "most generous/most expensive" category, some students will receive some aid at your income number.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you spend hours working the calculators at the schools' websites and those at collegeboard and at finaid.org until you keep coming up goose-eggs. </p>
<p>Remember that you have to do a Fafsa for the student to get an unsubsidized Stafford and that even Bill and Melinda's kid can get that.</p>
<p>you should give the EFC calculators a try
if applying to a school that is $40,000+ inc room and board- families do often find themselves eligible for aid
Additionally, some merit scholarships require applicant to fill out aid forms
<a href="http://www.finaid.org%5B/url%5D">www.finaid.org</a></p>
<p>We had a similiar question a year ago. I think the answer to this may vary by school. Just because you apply fo rit at one school doesn't mean you have to do it at another. For schools which require it for merit aid apps or those who may give you aid such as some of the privates, yes, apply for aid. If you do the specific college's fin aid calculator and get an efc below the student budget for that school, it may make sense. Some of the schools will tell you the chances of an award at a certain level of income, and you can get some idea of award levels from the u.s. news profile. </p>
<p>One thing I looked at closely was the % of need each school met-- to me, that was an indication of how strong the offers were. In our case, merit awards were definitely more important than fin aid, as we are not in the range for most fin aid awards. I also looked at the average debt of graduating student.</p>
<p>However: look at the school's fin aid policies. The non-need blind issue is a factor at some colleges on this question. If its a really selective school (not ivy, but still really competitive) and its NOT need-blind, choosing to apply for aid at a high income level is probably reducing the chances of admission. </p>
<p>Furthermore, if you have home equity, you may not think having access to unsubsidized staffords would be important, as the home equity loan interest would be tax deductible.</p>
<p>Theocmom has good advice. An income of $150000 will put you out of the reach of most FA unless there are unusual circumstances, BUT, you won't know unless you run actual numbers through a calculator.</p>
<p>Read the "fine print" for each school very carefully, especially the non-need blind schools. One common scenario is that a school considers ability to pay only for a small percentage of the students, typically the last few percent admitted. </p>
<p>Most of the "top schools" are need blind, so FA doesn't matter one way or the other for admission, but may affect the student's ability to attend if the family feels they need much of the cost covered - because it probably won't be covered.</p>
<p>As a general rule of thumb, families in the 100K-150K range will usually do better with merit aid than with need aid - if the goal is to pay less money out of pocket. Don't flame me, guys I know there are always exceptions.</p>
<p>The bottomline answer to this question is: If you need financial aid, apply for it, regardless of how it may or may not affect your admissions chances. What good is getting into a college if you can not afford to attend?</p>
<p>Bear in mind that even need-aware schools do not factor in financial need for every admissions decision - typically it becomes a factor only for those at the bottom of the admissions pile.</p>
<p>So, if you need financial aid, apply for it. I also want to note that family income alone does not determine financial aid. There are actually many factors that go into both the federal and institutional methodology. While Cangel is correct that <em>most</em> families with incomes over $150,000 won't qualify for <em>much</em> aid, but there are indeed those at all income levels who get some assistance when all is said and done. </p>
<p>Also, while you should definitely run the EFC calculators, you should also remember that colleges and universities also use professional judgement in some cases to assign institutional aid, so if there are extenuating circumstances (i.e., a period of recent unemployment, health related bills, etc.), let each school know about them because sometimes the EFC can be adjusted - but the calculators won't allow you to figure that out, and it will vary from school to school. </p>
<p>Do not, however, assume that you will be able to negotiate MAJOR changes to a financial aid offer just because you have a better offer from a competing school. While <em>some</em> schools will make minor adjustments, it is rare that major changes will be made just because of a competing offer, and then only if your child is truly a student the school feels is worth paying more for.</p>
<p>If paying for college is going to be a major concern, and you are not likely to qualify for enough financial aid to make it happen, the time to plan is NOW, not next spring when your child is trying to make a final choice. </p>
<p>Be sure to include FINANCIAL SAFETY schools in the mix, and make sure they are ones your child likes. Keep in mind that at most schools, the better financial aid packages go to students who are towards the top of the admitted student pile, so a financial safety doesn't just mean "a cheap school," it also can mean a school where your child is likely to be at the top of the admissions pile when need-based aid is doled out.</p>
<p>If you might qualify for some aid, is also not a bad idea to get smart on the various forms of student loans (because very few students get "free rides - unless you are extremely low income, most financial aid packages will include loans). Figure out how much you and your child might feel comfortable taking out in student loans, and then ask each school for information about the typical student debt load. Also look into other financing options, and just research how the process of applying for financial aid works, even if you are not yet sure if your family will qualify. </p>
<p>And, it's NEVER too late to put your family on a budget and start socking away some cash to help pay for college expenses. Most families do have to make some sacrifices to pay for college.</p>
<p>Finally, with few exceptions, the most selective schools do not offer merit money. (All the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc.) So, if you are going to rely on merit money to finance college, you will need to aim at schools outside of the tippy-top tier. But, then, NO student should have a list comprised only of the most selective schools in the country, regardless of their financial circumstances.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I also looked at the average debt of graduating student.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>The figure I would like to see is the average debt of the graduating student's PARENTS. That would be a useful figure, since student debt is capped.</p>
<p>^ So true!</p>
<p>Well, federal student loan aid might be capped. I've seen students where I work with close to 50K in loans by the time they graduate.</p>
<p>Carolyn has covered the subject extensively. If you need the money, and it appears that the need formulas do not work out for your family getting need based aid, looking at schools with merit possibilities and the less expensive schools would be prudent. As the parent, it is likely that you can take out a PLUS or other program loan if you feel it is a good investment. Many times parents have to make the decision about the value of paying a certain price for a certain school. Many feel that Harvard is worth borrowing up to the whazoo. XYZ College with a sticker price way up there may not be worth it unless it has something that makes it a good buy for your child. When the application list is completed, there should be some financial/admission safeties in there, so that cost/value can be assessed when the acceptances come in.</p>
<p>I also thinks it matters if on a waiting list at a school, but others more experienced may add their knowledge</p>
<p>I did the FAFSA in about 1/2 hour after I found our tax return up in the attic. It is really quite simple to complete and you might be surprise with the EFC result depending on your family circumstances. Unfortunately ours turned out to be $80,000+, but perhaps that helped our son on admissions and merit scholarships totalling $370,000+ when they were all tallied up.</p>
<p>I would also encourage you to at least do the worksheets. When we had completed ours, it was clear that under the FAFSA & profile, our EFC was way over the cost of attendance, so we reitterated with S that we needed to have him try to get merit aid. He was able to get into a school he loves with a nice merit aid package that has made his U experience a LOT more affordable for us.</p>
<p>I agree that Carolyn has covered the subject very thoroughly and well. She always gives very sound advice. It is important to have realistic and agreed upon fnancial understandings BEFORE your child applies & apply to some financial safeties that your child will love to attend AND the family can afford so there are good options to choose among come spring.</p>
<p>^^exactly. just try. it doesn't hurt.</p>
<p>You may be a perfect candidate for the so-called "need-blind, no-loan" (merit) scholarships at Princeton. In fact, the the majority of the beneficiaries are in the $100k-$160k range. They do this in order to compete for the same students with schools that offer "merit" scholarships such as Vanderbilt, Emory, etc. Whether you'd get a better education at one versus the other is up to the individual student, and a matter of opinion.</p>
<p>Just applying for financial aid does not lessen your chances for admissions at any college, even the need aware ones. If you look at the USNWR data, you can see that not everyone who applies gets financial aid. And there is a big difference between qualifying for $5K of aid and needing $50k of aid each year. The need aware schools start having to weed out the costliest of their borderline applicants as they inch towards their allocated aid money. With your family income, it is doubtful that you will qualify for a lot of aid, so I doubt you wlll be effected in admissions.<br>
I have found that there is a fear among those who are borderline in the need zone that they will not only not qualify for aid, but will also get rejected for asking. The reason they want to apply is on the chance that they may qualify for something, even if it is for favorable loans but if it is a school that the student really wants, they are willing to forego a chance at school aid and get the loans privately since it is unlikely that they are going to get much anyways.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You may be a perfect candidate for the so-called "need-blind, no-loan" (merit) scholarships at Princeton. In fact, the the majority of the beneficiaries are in the $100k-$160k range.
[/quote]
Mimi,</p>
<p>I wasn't aware that Princeton offered any merit-based aid. Where can I find out more about this? This seems to run counter to what they state on their website: <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/aid/06/appl/12.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/aid/06/appl/12.htm</a></p>
<p>^. If you look at the left column to the menu with "How to Pay for College," You will find a table of family income and FA awards.</p>
<p>Our EFC was $80k+ per FAFSA and our son still checked the finaid request box. Did it help him get merit aid offers in excess of $375k? We will never know. But Oberlin required the CSS which we did not complete and the merit scholarship offer was an insignificant $4k/yr.</p>
<p>We didn't qualify for aid under the FAFSA, but applied anyway. D was granted a 2K award not related to financial need. She would not have been considered for this unless the FAFSA was filled out and we applied to the school for aid.</p>
<p>Also, if there is a possibility you will need to take out a PLUS loan guaranteed by the fed govt (parents' loan), you will need to fill out the FAFSA. Interest on PLUS loans is either subsidized by the feds or not, depending on the parents' EFC.</p>
<p>Many schools will only consider the student for any scholarships, etc. if the FAFSA is filled out. You need to file a tax return regardless, and as originaloog mentioned, the FAFSA only takes a short time to fill out.</p>