It’s my dream to go to Northwestern (or another T20 to be honest), but I can’t afford it and the financial aid office has told me there is nothing they can do.
A little background: my parents are divorced and both are remarried.
My issue is that Northwestern (and all other T20s except for Princeton, Chicago, and Vanderbilt) require information from my noncustodial parent (father and step-mom) for financial aid. They are looking at four people, my father, mother, step-father, and step-mother, when determining my financial aid.
I would be able to afford it if they just looked at my mother and step-father, but for some reason Northwestern expects my father (who gives me very little financial support and that I rarely visit) and my step-mother (who just married my dad) to contribute to my education.
Has anyone seen a similar situation and a solution? I’m sure I am not the first person for this to happen to, but I can’t find any help on the internet or from the financial aid office.
All I get from Northwestern (and other colleges) is “I completely understand your situation” but then they proceed to tell me they can’t do anything about it.
Also, my father is not abusive, in prison, or any of the other things that would qualify for a noncustodial parent waiver.
As it stands now, I would have to take out $45,000 in loans each year.
I would appreciate any and all advice! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this
“Has anyone seen a similar situation and a solution”
Yes. The four parent part is relatively rare but does happen.
The “It’s my dream … but I can’t afford it” is very, very common.
The solution is to attend a university that you can afford. It is not unheard of for students to attend an affordable in-state public university for a bachelor’s degree, and then attend their dream school for graduate school. It is more common for students to attend an affordable university for undergrad, and discover that they love it and do very well there.
“I would have to take out $45,000 in loans each year”
This would be absolutely catastrophic. There are three ways that this could turn into a disaster. One is that you would graduate in four years with $180,000 in debt. That is horrible. Another is that you get part way through, and cannot qualify for any more loans. It has happened that students get one or two or three years through their program, and then have to stop because no one will lend them enough money for them to finish. This gets you the debt with no degree which is really bad. The third potential disaster is that it takes you more than 4 years to graduate. The majority of students take more than 4 years to graduate, but students who are strong enough to get accepted to Northwestern are relatively more likely to graduate in four years.
You need to find a university that is affordable. You cannot attend Northwestern.
If you are strong enough to get accepted to Northwestern, then you are strong enough to get into an affordable very good university.
If you are already accepted to Northwestern, I am guessing that you might have applied ED. The inability to afford to attend is the only valid reason to turn down an ED offer. However, this applies to you, and you have already discussed it with financial aid at Northwestern and it sounds like they fully understand your predicament.
To clarify- the college does not expect all four adults to contribute to your college education. The expectation is that your bio-parents will contribute. And as a result of their remarriages, the assumption is that their spouses (not related to you) are helping to cover some of the costs of running a household- food, rent, heat, gas for the car. And therefore- your bio-parents have more $ available to pay for college, since they’ve got someone to split expenses with to cover basic living costs.
Got it?
Unless your situation varies dramatically from this scenario, that’s the logic. Your dad makes 75K. His wife makes 75K. So he’s living in a household with a 150K gross income. Same as your mom.
That’s how it works.
Now to your situation- You need to find an affordable option. There is nothing shameful about having to tell a college “I cannot afford to attend”. You do not want to take out those loans-- even if you could find a lender. You do not want your parents to shoulder those loans.
So you need to find an affordable option. Hugs to you. This is a hard message to hear but you are lucky- it’s November, you’ve got time and won’t have to scramble. Kids who learn this in April have many fewer options…You can figure this out…
I guess I am currently planning to go to a state school and do my graduate school somewhere else, but I really would have loved to attend Northwestern or a similar school.
I still have a chance at Vanderbilt, Princeton, or Chicago though, as they do not consider the noncustodial parent, but they were not my first choices.
I find it unfortunate that schools claim to meet “100% of demonstrated need” but what they really mean is that they will meet a number generated by a faulty formula.
Do you think I could negotiate financial aid at Northwestern? If I show an award letter from another school (one that does not require noncustodial parent info), could I use that to get financial aid from Northwestern?
If so, do you think that ‘other school’ would need to be another T20 school, or could I leverage an award letter from a less prestigious school like RPI or Trinity University?
This is a very common situation among students that don’t understand that the universities have to look at the whole family’s finances.
Even if your father is not currently your primary caretaker, your father is still your father.
Universities have a finite set of dollars. They meet demonstrated need as they see it. No one is going to give you a full ride unless they need an athlete or a celebrity or the next Stephen Hawking. They have to try and fund as many students as possible with their limited funds. The first financial responsibility for a student are the parents. It’s called using the “Bank of Mom and Dad”.
When you are a child of divorced parents, it doesn’t change the fact that there are two individuals that are supposed to be funding their child’s education.
The bottom line is you cannot afford this university. You cannot take a loan for $45,000 on your own. The most that you can take out for a yearly loan is $5500 per year.
Yes, we understand, as parents that you’ve worked hard to get into these schools, but if the money isn’t there, it’s just not going to materialize. Where do you expect them to get it from? A large number of students don’t realize that their parents didn’t save these large amounts of money for college, so they have to find affordable schools.
If you are asking “can I negotiate an extra 2 or 3K in aid from Northwestern” then sure- there is no downside in trying once you have an offer from a peer school. (I don’t think Trinity is going to do it for them…) If you are asking “will Northwestern match Princeton’s aid” then I’m going to advise you “not very likely”. Princeton has the most generous aid in the country-- according to folks who have compared P’s offer to a bunch of other colleges. Northwestern does not try to math P- and in fact- most colleges do not, except for Harvard or Yale.
So go ahead and try- but honestly- the sooner you fall in love with an affordable option, the sooner you’ll be able to move on emotionally from Northwestern.
Does your dad realize what your financial situation is right now?
I made sure to apply to a lot of state schools (7) about a month ago, so I would have somewhere affordable to go. At this point, I will hope that Vanderbilt accepts me because I would be able to afford it there!
Worst case scenario, I attend a cheaper school for undergraduate and apply somewhere else for graduate school. For a worst case scenario, that isn’t too bad at all!
“I find it unfortunate that schools claim to meet “100% of demonstrated need” but what they really mean is that they will meet a number generated by a faulty formula.”
I agree. This has bothered me for years. I happen to know quite a few farmers and frequently talk to small business owners. None of them can afford the cost of private schools in the US. A lot of them have kids who are very strong students.
Fortunately there are a lot of very good universities. In my experience students who are strong enough to get into Northwestern or equivalent schools can also do very, very well at other more affordable very good universities.
@blossom My dad understands the financial situation, and he is going to contribute something to my college, but he is frugal and just wants me to go to the cheapest option. Although, he really likes Nashville so he wants me to attend Vanderbilt, so I could probably get him to contribute more if I went there.
My qualm was that I could afford the net price calculator estimate, but I now realize that the estimate was off by $40k per year, since it doesn’t take into account the noncustodial parent.
Again, thanks so much for the help! I know that by the end of the admissions process, I will end up at the college that is right for me, so I am not going to get too upset or stressed about this situation.
Exactly! You’ll be getting an education which is the most important thing.
Our middle daughter attended her in-state public school, and graduated, and is currently in her medical school professional program doing her rotations.
Yeah, we’re in that small business category. We own cheap rental properties, live off the rental income. Colleges look at us and think, “Oh, they can just mortgage or sell property to pay tuition.” What they don’t realize is that we then lose rental income, too, and won’t have enough to live on. The year after selling or mortgaging rental property, we’d be poor enough to qualify for substantial fin aid, but that probably won’t kick in until the last two years. It’s very much like asking a farmer to sell his land to pay for college.
@Mwfan1921 Thank you for adding that, and I know that they usually require it. However, they do not require it for me because my mother remarried. I contacted the financial aid office, so I’m sure of it.
@parentologist I’m sorry to hear that. The financial aid process is messed up and is in serious need of reform. In my opinion, it should be much more personalized than just a mathematical formula.
@fizzile
I can identify with your situation.
What is your home state? Not all states have a flagship state univ ranked within top 50. You may end up paying OOS tuition if you go to UC or UNC.
I am curious that you are confident to get in schools such as NU, Princeton and Vanderbilt. Those are all reach school even for ACT 34 and 4.0 UW GPA.
I don’t think you are admitted to any of those schools yet as it is still November.
I would suggest you to get the admission letter first and decide when you have options. Right now all talks are academics.
I’m in PA, so my options are Pitt and Penn State which are top 60 or Temple which is top 100.
I didn’t mean to sound confident that I would get into the school, but I know that I have a decent chance. I just wanted to know what other people thought about my financial aid situation to see if anyone had a solution. I don’t mind where I go to be honest, but I would have prefered to attend or at least have a chance to attend a top school. I’m perfectly content attending the schools that I applied to, Pitt, Penn State, Temple, Florida State, U Delaware, Drexel, U South Florida, Vandy
It sucks, my son wanted to apply to Northwestern as a reach school but unfortunately we own a small business and also own a home in CA which essentially eliminates us from consideration for need based aid. Northwestern and a host of other top flight privates (Rice comes to mind) essentially preclude affordable attendance for families who fall into these categories. I guess the assumption is that we can mortgage our assets to send our kids to college.
Interesting to note similar schools in California (Stanford) do not consider home value in their calculations. It’s a good first step, if they are serious about making this affordable. It’s tough to come up with standards that can be applied throughout the Country without these pitfalls. Hopefully they will figure it out in the future. In the meantime merit aid privates and public schools.
45k a year in student loans is unaffordable. If you’re content with Pitt or Penn State, and your parents can afford to send you there without large amounts of debt, then that’s a good wise decision to make. Otherwise you’d be setting yourself up for failure. Also, there’s no shame in spending a year or so at community college to keep the debt down, especially if you’re coming from Northwestern, where you already have debt.
If it’s truly your dream to go to Northwestern, then don’t give up so easily! The truth is that sometimes student loans are worth it. If you think of a degree from NU as an investment, then, yes, there is a steep upfront cost, but, depending on your career aspirations, there can ALSO be a very long tail (e.g. 35-40 years or more!) of a sizeable return on that investment in terms of the salary and other benefits you earn after you graduate from NU.
Yes, NU is very expensive, but everyone knows that including both NU and prospective employers! Here are some ways that NU helps you to recoup your upfront costs for attending:
On-Campus Interview Opportunities - These are amazing! Again, depending on your career aspirations, you can expect that the top employers in your field will recruit on-campus at Northwestern. As a senior, you will have the opportunity to interview with these employers on campus.
Starting Salary & Signing Bonus - As mentioned, employers know that NU is expensive and, know that you will be looking to pay off your loans ASAP. Employers have been known to entice NU grads by offering a higher salary and even signing bonuses to NU grads.
Grad School - Being able to put Northwestern on your grad school application is a big plus, and I’d argue that NU makes more opportunities available to you say you later decide to get an MBA, JD, or even MD from the top programs in the country.
Mid-Career Job Changes - NU has earned a reputation for admitting students who are bright, talented, and “go-getters.” You will benefit from this reputation your whole career. When your resume lands on a hiring manager’s or recruiter’s desk, you can bet that they will be excited to see a Northwestern University graduate who wants to work for their company.
Legacy - If you’re 18, you’re probably not thinking about children, but someday you might have children of your own that also want to attend a top university like Northwestern. Having attended NU yourself, it would make your child a “legacy” admission. NU can change their policy at will, but legacy status is currently considered in admissions decisions. This of course would not be the main reason to select NU, but you can assign some value to it.
It’s a fallacy to believe that there is only “one right way” to achieve your life and career goals. Yes, it’s true that you (or anyone) might find a “less expensive” option than Northwestern and still achieve the exact same goals. However, I would argue that Northwestern offers so much in terms of future opportunities that it expands the number of paths available to you to achieve your life’s goals. In a lot of ways, this “optionality” is what makes a degree from NU so valuable.
Please note that this is all written from my own personal experience, and so the standard disclaimer that your mileage may vary applies here!
Your CC friend,
mrdubya
Northwestern University, BA , 2001
Kellogg School of Management, MBA, 2009
