<p>There are a few private colleges with no merit aid that I'm interested in.</p>
<p>Lets assume my parents total income is middle-upper middle class (gross pay I estimate is 85-95 thousand, assuming my mother works a lot of overtime).</p>
<p>EFCs pretty high (around 30k, without even calculating random other bits of income such as savings, interest, etc.)</p>
<p>Assuming my parents don't have some insane savings (they only have around 10k for my college fund) is it even conceivable that they can actually pay 30k+ with said income unless I get mad outside scholarship money? Forgive me, I know little about finances.</p>
<p>Well - without knowing more, such as ratio of income to debt and expenses, other children at home, other types of assets, etc., on surface, I would have to say that on combined gross income of $95,000, assuming this is earned via traditional employment, paying $30 K year for college out of pocket is impossible - and even if possible - unadvisable. There are soft costs that go along with cost of attendance that don't show up in that $30 K. </p>
<p>When you say the private colleges you're interested in offer no merit that you're interested in, what do you mean by that? Do you mean in terms of qualifications to keep the scholarships, or (????). Often colleges give grants, etc. for students they really want. </p>
<p>Can you find the same programs/areas of study that interest you, or the same type of environment that feels like a good fit, in colleges that offer generous merit aid?</p>
<p>When I say offer no merit money, I mean insanely high ranked private institutions. I've heard the talk about better fits, specific program rankings, etc., but this particular college has the environment, resources, and degree reputability (engineering in this case).</p>
<p>I have schools on my list that I've already applied to, ranging from merit-giving private institutions to very generous public institutions. As far as environment and sheer resources go, the expensive private is on my list at the top. I can make compromises, but it'd really sting to not be able to go thanks to money, but that's life I guess.</p>
<p>Do things such as ratio of income to debt expenses go into the EFC? If so, I might not be as effed as I originally thought. It's kind of a paradox if the EFC is an outrageous number. Our income isn't nearly low enough to qualify for some generous financial aid options, but at the same time it's not nearly high enough to not have to make serious financial plans to finance college. An unfortunate position indeed . . .</p>
<p>With your parents income it would be very burdensome (if even possible) to cover the full cost of private colleges. </p>
<p>There are many places you can get high quality education that does not cost 45K a year. Take a look at your instate schools, UNC (hard to get into OOS though).</p>
<p>To get the best answers, you need to name the colleges that you're considering. What you've posted is too vague, so people won't be able to give you the most useful answers. Colleges vary widely in their financial aid and merit scholarship policies.</p>
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Our income isn't nearly low enough to qualify for some generous financial aid options, but at the same time it's not nearly high enough to not have to make serious financial plans to finance college.
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<p>Well, join the club. Costs matter to those of us not in the "over $200,000 salary" club.</p>
<p>I don't expect not to get any financial aid, just not as much as I'd like. My parents EFC isn't anywhere near 45k. Specifically, I'm looking at USC, Vanderbilt, Princeton, Cornell, Stanford, UMiami, UPacific, UArkansas, UCLA. I know I don't have to go to a 'name brand' college to get a good education, but it'd still be nice to--I'm just trying to see if it's a financial possibility. The more selective non-merit schools on my list meet 100% of demonstrated need, but the problem is, demonstrated need is generally not very nice to my income bracket.</p>