<p>“You hear this argument so many times on CC, but it’s not accurate. The majority of financial aid is determined by your income. You’re better off saving than just spending it all, thinking you will get a much better package.”</p>
<p>I respectfully disagree – my parents saved huge amounts of money when they were both working ridiculously long hours. They don’t have expensive cars or the biggest house in the neighborhood; we take very modest vacations and visit/stay with family. Now my dad works for the government and my mom works part time, and I’ve run the NPCs at several schools I was looking at – I qualify for a lot of “need” aid based on their income, but once I input their savings, ALL of it vanishes. Other kids at my school who own their own cars and have been everywhere and live in big houses, but whose parents didn’t put money in savings, will get “need-based” aid and I won’t. That doesn’t seem fair. Maybe they won’t get full rides, but why should they get a cushy lifestyle now as well as a lower net price?</p>