As I’ve followed this thread, I’ve wondered why you and your husband aren’t working to earn some income, in addition to your passive income. Wouldn’t that make your daughter’s dreams much more realistic?
@TTdd16 my husband does work, Im the one that doesn’t work now since april of 2016, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which didn’t allow me to work, I was self employed.
Most financial advisors don’t know enough about college fin aid.
Good chance that annuity would not be a Qualified Plan, so nothing saved on college cost calculations.
Get a book like Financial Aid for Dummies. I’m not sure you’re buying what we’re saying.
Smart college decisions, including financial, depend on you being informed and savvy.
Don’t use grandma paying for your older D’s MBA as an example as grad school is funded and the financial aid totally different from undergrad. Grandma Paying toward the MBA has no bearing on her financial aid when most of the aid is in form of loans.
It does not matter where grandma lives. If she pays part of your daughters bills it is untaxable income under monies paid on her behalf.
@sybbie719 can you fix your typos so your post is a little easier to understand? 
I enjoyed sybbie719 post! A post with more typos then I make! Really liked the “mba puke” a Freudian slip???
Happy to know I’m not the only one who has to clean up typos after posting.
@pamelamk I’m sorry that you are having health issues.
Where did your first daughter go for her undergrad degree?
This isn’t true if grandma gives the money to the parents and the parents pay the tuition. It is only true if the grandmother pays the tuition directly or gives the money to the student.
It may not matter at all if the parents’ assets prevent them from getting need based financial aid.
I understand that it is not true if Grandma gifts the money to the parents and the parents pay their D’s tuition. I was just referring OP’s statement that grandma paid for part of the older D’s MBA (Op did not provide any clarification to exactly how this was done).
Either way, most grad school students have low EFCs and most of the funding for MBAs is in the form of loans unless they are in an employer paid MBA program.
@pamelamk Knowing that you have a debilitating illness makes your situation even more tenuous.
I agree with @lookingforward that it appears as though “you are not buying what we are saying.” The recommendation to self-educate on the financial aid process is spot on and should be an immediate goal. It is unfortunately late in the season to just start understanding the realities of how the financial aid process works.
In terms of your older Dd, did she attend college prior to your inheritance? If she qualified for grants, you might find your expected familial contribution is significantly different. The college application process has also changed significantly. My oldest ds graduated from high school in 2007 and helping him through the process was significantly different than for my Dd who graduated from high school last yr. Even between 2014 when our youngest son applied to college and the 2017 application cycle things had changed. Competition has only increased amg top applicants. Acceptance is absolutely a national and international field of competition. What may have appeared competitive in the early 2000s may not be quite on par in 2018.
Read the forums for the schools your Dd plans on applying to. Read the profiles of accepted, deferred, rejected students. (I think you will find a wide range of outcomes of students with 33s at competitive schools with holistic admissions.) See what posters share about FA packages if merit is included. Then, factor in just how much of a differential you might be facing.
Finding an affordable school she likes would be my primary goal would be my primary goal today. Oct 15 and Nov 1st are just days away. But, that is what I would do bc $$ is limited and a good education is available at an affordable price.
OP- sorry to hear that you are managing chronic illness. Big hug.
However, I agree with MOM2 that given your circumstances, having a reality check with your D is really critical right now. If grandma’s contribution is real- and guaranteed for four years- then sit your D down and outline her budget. If grandma’s contribution is a maybe-- or for freshman year but not for four years, or given the vagaries of currency fluctuations, may be a certain amount one year and less than that the year after- then I think you need to go with your conservative college budget- what you can comfortably spend without risking your health or retirement.
Either way- some of your D’s original schools need to move off her list and the sooner you all come up with a list which makes sense given your reality, the happier you will all be.
Just a sidebar- we told our kids that we would pay more to GET more- educational value, academic rigor, access to world class speakers or research opportunities, etc. but were not interested in financing summer camp, social life, cuter campus, easier access to the beach, nicer fraternity houses. Which meant that a couple of schools which the kids had on their lists went off pretty quickly. Not because we couldn’t afford them (we were full pay) but because there was NO reason to pay more for less. No reason. To move down 50 spots in the rankings (they are an imperfect measure but they do reflect something) in order to surf, and pay MORE for the privilege- no, not on my nickel. Or in the case of one kid- to pay for a second tier engineering program at a private U when a first tier state U engineering program (which the kid had the stats for-- and GC said was a lock admissions wise) cost less- this was a no-brainer. Not paying more to get less. Were the dorms fancier at the private U? Heck yes. But college isn’t like choosing between Motel 6 and a Hyatt hotel.
Help your D understand the cost/value proposition.
I’ve taken a quick look through the responses and haven’t seen mention of all of the small liberal arts colleges that dot the Midwest (I know that this is not the preferred location). Many of them give LOTS of merit awards that greatly reduce their annual cost (I have seen many with automatic half, 3/4, full-tuition for the kind of grades reported by this student). Yes, they are outside of the prestigious Northeast, and some may not be the most competitive for admissions. However, their honors departments can add a lot of extra academic rigor. Some are located near large cities. Many have the charm and physical environment one thinks of as traditionally “New England” (green, classic architecture, etc) with the benefit of a small, friendly environment. Just a suggestion…ultimately, WHERE you go to undergrad matters so much less in the rest of your life than HOW hard you are willing to work and go after the opportunities you are granted. That’s hard for teenagers (and sometimes parents) to wrap their brains around, but my very successful, nationally-known-in-his-profession (which happens to be the OP’s daughter’s chosen field), often-quoted in NYT, husband would tell you exactly that. He is not interested in the colleges of the people he hires for his company, only in their motivation and outlook.
@momof2lefties What would be a few school suggestions for her Communications major and 33 ACT?
A school where a 33 is in the top 25% is URichmond. They offer a few large scholarships. http://scholars.richmond.edu/about/index.html
@pamelamk Do you know how to read common data sets? They might help you create a better list. Section C provides the info on stats and H info on financial aid. Compare non-need-based aid numbers at UR and Elon to see why the CDS info matters.
http://ifx.richmond.edu/pdfs/CDS2016-17.pdf
o) Average dollar amount of institutional non-need-based scholarship and grant aid awarded to students in line n
$ 33,299
p) Number of students in line a who were awarded an institutional non-need-based athletic scholarship or grant
66
https://www.elon.edu/u/administration/institutional-research/wp-content/uploads/sites/521/2017/08/CDS_2016-2017-1.xls
o) Average dollar amount of institutional non-need-based scholarship and grant aid awarded to students in line n $7,301.00
p) Number of students in line a who were awarded an institutional non-need-based athletic scholarship or grant
68
ASU in Arizona gives automatic scholarships based on grades and test scores. A quick look seemed to say that she could get merit that nets her to $26,000 or perhaps a bit less. They have a great honors college and a very good journalism school. Not ideal location, I get it.
Don’t let this “dream” turn into a financial nightmare.
Oops. I copied and pasted the wrong lines in my last post. Too much multitasking. You should look at* line n)
Number of students in line a who had no financial need and who were awarded institutional non-need-based scholarship or grant aid (exclude those who were awarded athletic awards and tuition benefits) * on the CDS.
And the usual caveat of not throwing the baby out with the bath water for OOS when you have great instate options. Not just financially, the high auto merit schools are not going to be better than your instate options for almost free. ASU or UA are not better than your instate options. Your DD should have her applications to instate options fully submitted by now.
@gearmom, a few that come to mind are Denison, Viterbo, Evansville, DePaul, Otterbein…I am sure there are many more if you do the proper searches. Not all of them are strictly LACs, but close. Many of them offer to meet full need and also give out significant merit awards.
Which of those schools guarantees to meet full need for all accepted students? I’m quite familiar with the list you posted in post 198. Yes, there are kids at those schools who do receive generous merit aid…but it’s not a guarantee…for anyone.
You will find kids at almost every college on full rides (some with need based aid…some with merit aid). The problem is…these are not plentiful in number…they just aren’t. And they are not all that easy to get.