<p>My child will be applying to Ivy League schools next year. He has the grades, the scores, and the "other" credentials (Chamber Orchestra, years of Community service, Math and National Honor societies, etc.) that these schools seek. He is African American is ranked #1 in the world for his sport and has set numerous state and school records and will be competing internationally this year for the US, should all go well.</p>
<p>My wife and I currently make around 250,000, but such income level was only attained 5 months ago. For the prior 7 years, there were bouts of unemployment and salary reductions where we had to empty all our savings accounts, deplete our retirement accounts and even declare bankruptcy. What is the likelihood of financial assistance from the Ivies?</p>
<p>Given your salary in 2010 your chances of need-based aid at HYP is close to zero. Note that the Ivy League does not give any athletic or merit scholarships.</p>
<p>*My wife and I currently make around 250,000, but such income level was only attained 5 months ago. For the prior 7 years, there were bouts of unemployment and salary reductions where we had to empty all our savings accounts, deplete our retirement accounts and even declare bankruptcy. What is the likelihood of financial assistance from the Ivies? *</p>
<p>Very unlikely.</p>
<p>When your son applies for aid, you’ll be using your 2011 earnings. As you said, you’re not used to earning that much. Well, then, continue living as if you’re not earning that much and set aside money for college.</p>
<p>If you don’t think saving money this year to put towards college for Fall 2012, then your son needs to apply to some schools that will give him big merit scholarships for his stats. Ivies don’t give merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Agree, pretty much zero chance of aid. Financial aid is much more driven by income than it is by assets (except when assets are very high). With a $250k income even the most generous schools are not going to offer you aid.</p>
<p>If he’s number one at a sport, is it possible he could be a recruited athlete at a Division I school that would give him a scholarship? With an income in the $250K range, you will not receive need based aid anywhere. But your son could receive an athletic scholarship IF he is a recruited athlete in his sport.</p>
<p>If he is accepted to one of the Ivies, and your income remains at this level (or anything above $180K) you will be paying the full cost of attendance at any Ivy League school.</p>
<p>Perhaps your child should consider a well-regarded Division I school that does give scholarships in that sport, or a school with substantial merit aid scholarships that your child is likely to qualify for. If your child is a NMF, be sure and read that thread and the
“What I’ve learned about full-ride scholarships” thread.</p>
<p>This poster put the same query on all of the Ivy League school forums as well. </p>
<p>Hammer, really…the only thing you can do is apply…and apply for financial aid. You either will receive it…or you won’t.</p>
<p>I would, however, suggest that you have a broader list of schools that includes ones that are award aid OTHER than need based aid. If this kiddo really is all that outstanding, there are countless other wonderful colleges who would be delighted to have him attend…and would offer your child money to come.</p>
<p>The Ivies give need based aid only. Your are earning $250K now…presumably next year you will come close to that as well. Remember, colleges assume that costs will be paid three ways…past earnings (savings), current earnings (income) and future earnings (loans). Of course these generous Ivy League schoos do not package loans in their aid for LOW INCOME students. A family with an income of $250,000 a year is in the top 5% of wage earners in this country…hardly low income.</p>
<p>On another thread you said you lived in the northeast and $250K doesn’t go far. I do hope you are joking. I’m sure we are not the only family that was a full pay for private universities on salaries MUCH less than your $250K…and we live in the northeast in the most expensive state.</p>
<p>Do the rules of the forum prevent posting in multiple rooms? I’m not sure what the rules are regarding that. Anyway, context is important here. However , without getting into particulars, suffice it to say that each person’s financial stress, debt and circumstance are unique. We’re just trying to match each school’s expectations of contribution with our particular situation and are looking for folks who have gone through what we have and dealt with the schools. I guess the only real way of doing that is directly with the schools as it is apparent from all the response that there are no situations like ours that we have come across on this forum. Thanks much.</p>
<p>If you have a REALLY big family, or especially if you will have more than one kid in college at the same time, you may qualify for a bit of aid.</p>
<p>Seems like pursuing an athletic scholarship (if the kid wants to continue in the sport) or merit aid would be the way to go (at non-Ivy schools).</p>
<p>Just an FYI…consumer debt (your mortgage, car payments, etc.) is not considered in the financial aid equation at all unless it’s for something unforeseen like high unreimbursed medical expenses. </p>
<p>I’m not asking you to put your specifics here but I seriously doubt that there is anything “unique” about your situation. There are plenty of folks out there with earnings that are higher now than in the recent past (actually in this economic climate, that’s a very good thing !!). Many folks have mortgages or expensive rent bills or consumer debt of some kind. That is not unique either. There are folks who have been quite low income in the PAST but who are not now…and that isn’t unique either (and congratulations to them). </p>
<p>You sound like you have a terrific son. Please just make sure you don’t put all of your eggs into the “need only” schools if financial aid is a significant consideration. Your son has excellent qualities to bring to a number of excellent schools that also offer very good merit awards for very high achieving students…and recruited athletes too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed and considered response, it is most appreciated. He is also applying to a number of top level non-Ivies who have all but said he’s a full scholarship recruit. However, the purpose of this exercise on this forum was to hear from smart and experienced folks like yourself who may know definitively what the chances are of any Ivy-level merit aid. What I’m hearing is that there really is none. This sets our expectations properly. Thanks again. This site is a wonderful resource for parents.</p>
<p>I have no personal experience in this area, but you may want to investigate whether Stanford (or MIT depending on what your child wants to study) offer athletic merit scholarships. They may not be bound by the same merit aid restrictions as the Ivies.</p>
<p>You might want to go to the websites ofna couple of schools and see what their calculators say. I think the Princeton one is considered pretty accurate. Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Alas this poster makes me sad in that he really needed to know how the financial aid game works back when his son was a high school freshman. Too late now, but please do help out other parents in your community with the things you learn. </p>
<p>It is really helpful to start just before 9th grade and sketch out the next four years so that one can get to January of the Junior year with the “ducks lined up”. It could mean socking away dollars for retirement or paying down a mortgage or deciding to replace a vehicle or replace a roof or pay off other debt so that one is “poorer” on paper. </p>
<p>It can be so brutal to try and do a major expense when a child is in college. I would still encourage OP to fill out the FAFSA and the Profile (both should be done now or very soon if the student is currently a senior) just to see what the numbers look like. Also, make sure you inform the financial aid departments if there are special circumstances, like being responsible for Grandma’s nursing home expenses. </p>
<p>I have been helped a great deal by Chany’s “How to pay for college without going broke.” </p>
<p>Lastly it is great to take a moment and reflect on blessings. You may have a lot of money flowing through the bank and not much in your pocket to spend – but it sounds like you have a great kid. I hope he will be pragmatic and apply to a range of colleges because it can be fun to be a big fish in a smaller pond – or at least have that option in his back pocket to choose from. Good luck!</p>
<p>thumper, to my surprise, I was actually asked about debt (including credit card) in one of the supplemental questions for a specific school (Amherst, I think). I just looked at my review copy of the Profile and the supplemental and the supplementals aren’t on there, but it I haven’t sent the Profile to Amherst for a couple of years now, perhaps it’s new for them? </p>
<p>Not that I think it is going to have a major affect on the OPs situation since income is weighted much more heavily than assets.</p>