@comtnmom welcome. Another Cate parent here. Is your daughter applying to Cate?
Hopefully the weather is kind to you during your trip. We are in the Southeast and are going to be missing the warm temps of last week.
We are going Boston to DC for the college tour, my daughter applied to Cate, Mercersburg, St. Andrew’s, Episcopal and 2 hometown schools. I have a 7th grader and 5th grader, too, so it’s going to be a busy few years!?
I was just reading through the beginning pages of this thread. Such an illustration of how far we’ve come in just a few years! We’ve lost some along the way…like the creator @sadieshadow where’d you go? We’ve gained some…?
We’ve all grown a lot along the way! So thankful for my CC folks!
Welcome @comtnmom! And best wishes to your 8th grader.
Yeah, it’s crazy how far these kids have come in what seems like a flash. It’s mind boggling that just 3 years ago right now they were finalizing applications. Seems like a lifetime. Three years from now, and they’ll be well into the next phase.
How well do y’all know the whole ED process?? My understanding is that if you’re accepted ED, you commit to attending that college & withdraw all other applications. BUT if the FA is not sufficient, you can walk away.
The other side is talking about the evils of ED and how they need FA so they won’t even consider applying ED. Am I misunderstanding the FA caveat? If so, I need to sit down and have a heart to heart with DS (who’s meeting with his CC today) because I don’t think we will be able to even come close to affording even his next two choices without FA.
ED is binding. You are expected to enroll. If the FA is insufficient, you can make the case for not enrolling, but it isn’t automatic or as easy as just walking away… and, frankly, you have NO idea whether other colleges will offer you more FA in the RD round. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. That’s why ED is better for FP kids.
Right. But we aren’t full pay by any means…but most of the quick cost calculators don’t take into account BS tuition for siblings and families and only look at gross income (before expenses) of self-employed/business owners. So, they are estimating we can pay much much more than we can.
Does that mean if the ED school accepts and gives minimal FA, even after we contest, we are still bound?
That doesn’t make sense.
Just saying that there is a difference between “contest” and “you can walk away”.
Most FA families avoid ED because they want to be able to compare FA packages.
In theory, you could contest and turn down the ED offer only to discover come RD time that it was the most generous of your offers. Does that make sense?
Also: Remember that while private school/BS FA offices take into account that you are paying private school/BS tuition for siblings, that’s not necessarily the case for college FA.
Paging @cameo43 who may know more 
@cameo43 has given me similar guidance re what colleges will consider for FA need and what they won’t. I guess my main concern is how binding is binding if we figure out we can’t afford it?
And do I just need to tell DS forget it…no ED for you…?
@buuzn03 If you’re looking at T20 privates, ED is viable even with high FA needs. First, there is no merit aid, so nothing to compare. Second, you can run the NPCs on the colleges’ websites and get a fairly good idea of what FA you can expect (and yes, they do consider siblings in private schools, assets, etc.). Third, after you do this, you’ll realize that FA packages across these specific institutions are very similar, within $2-3K. The question then becomes, is that difference important enough to scrap the ED altogether. In our case, we decided that it was not. For added certainty, I completed CSS Profile as soon as it was released, on October 1, before any applications were submitted. At that point, I knew exactly what to expect in terms of FA if my D is accepted ED. Based on all the NPCs and CSS Profile, I had a target dollar amount of family contribution that, if surpassed, would trigger an ED decline due to insufficient FA. Our D knew ahead of time what that amount was. We also communicated these needs to the FA office of the ED school prior to applying. D was admitted ED and the FA package was just as the NPC/CSS Profile said it would be (maybe a tad more generous).
Another thing: since your H is self-employed, the NPC may not be as accurate as normally. Others may disagree, but I would reach out to the ED school ahead of time for clarification. Some schools do financial pre-reads, others don’t, but I have found the FA officers uniformly helpful and friendly. I think that open, honest, and respectful communication is key, just as with everything else in life.
I hope this helps. If he has a clear first choice school, I would say go for it. Just do all your homework ahead of time, and chances are you won’t have to deal with unpleasant surprises.
@GoatMama Thank you for that!! That’s very helpful. Right now he does have a clear #1, although it could change after we look at other schools. It’s private, not sure T20 but very close. ED would likely boost his acceptance chances per past stats, which is why I’m struggling with what to do.
I just don’t want him to plan ED for months and then we say no and upset the Apple Cart.
We are both planners and don’t handle change in plans well. So, I’d rather figure this out sooner than later.
It’s good to know we can contact the school FA office, too. I’ll definitely have to do that if this is the path he wants to consider.
On the off note…I realized my alma mater would be $4k per year if he chose to go there. ???
Also: Remember that some schools will include loans in the FA package, while others will not. That’s something worth checking re: his first choice school?
^The loan info is in the NPC.
I had heard that the FAFSA does not ask about siblings’ private school tuition.
So if the school relies on the FAFSA only, (and isn’t one of the 250 colleges that ask for the CSS, too), you need to write to them directly and ask them to take it into account.
Is that right?
Yes, FAFSA doesn’t take private school tuition into account.
My D applied only to CSS Profile colleges. I don’t have advice for non-Profile schools. To clarify, I didn’t suggest to ask a school to take into account private school tuition when their policy is not to take that into account. I can imagine it would be futile.
Full disclaimer: My D is a recruited athlete. When she was offered a roster spot with the expectation that she is to apply ED, we told the coach we are concerned about ED with FA needs. The coach connected us with the FA office to ask questions. So it wasn’t a cold call. However, the FA we got was in line with the NPC.
@buuzn03 My D didn’t have a clear first choice until September or so of senior year. She took her time deciding but once she did, she was in it to the bone. Didn’t even apply EA to other schools.
Well, I guess the good news is 8 of the 9 schools on DS’s list are CSS schools.
The quick calculator at his #1 tells us we should be contributing more than double what we think we can squeeze out (and that’s with rearranging our budget).
This is stressing me out. I’m almost tempted to quit my job just for the FA.
That’s not going to help - FA for next year is based on your last year’s tax return…
If all NPCs look similar and what you see is not feasible, you may want to look at schools with merit aid. But also may want to check how accurate the NPCs are considering your special circumstances as self-employed.
What I have seen is that families who are comfortable with the numbers they are getting from the NPC ,(sometimes with a conversation with the FA office as part of that) are applying ED and are happy to attend if accepted. @GoatMama 's story is the one I generally see playing out.
The families I see bypassing ED are the ones who need merit aid because they cannot qualify for as much FA as they need. They need to compare offers because it generally isn’t possible to predict awards in advance. There are plenty of ways in which they way you calculate your needs and the way schools do can launch you into this space (like a school that doesn’t factor in private school tuition for other dependents.) If you are in this category with your top choice school, applying ED is a bad idea.
I’m sorry your situation is not clear cut and so stressful.
Has anyone else had experience with KickStart? It apparently is giving DS a kick in the keester.
Any insight would be awesome-I can’t figure out what they’re using to grade but DS got a D+ ? and that was with my input. ?