<p>I put my info through the NPCs for a lot of Ivies and they basically say I'd get no financial aid. My family makes about $140,000 and I'd have a sibling in college at the same time as me. I really don't think they'd expect us to pay $120,000 a year, so what gives? I've only noticed that this is the case for <em>universities,</em> while LACs give me much more realistic numbers (around $25k packages on average). I'd like to hope that it's not an accurate reflection of how much they can actually give... Has anyone else experienced this? And why do you think this is?</p>
<p>EYA…what has changed since your October thread?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Your family has very high assets, and high income. It is very believable that you would not qualify for need based aid…even with two in college.</p>
<p>This was all,told t you on your previous thread.</p>
<p>So what has changed? </p>
<p>You need to tell the whole story. Your assets total about a million dollars.</p>
<p>Here is that other thread.</p>
<p><a href=“How much aid can I get realistically? - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1694228-how-much-aid-can-i-get-realistically-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Nothing has changed. </p>
<p>My question is more of why LACs say they can give me more. I use the same information for NPCs from all schools, assets included. Even with those assets, LACs like Amherst and Williams and even lesser-endowed ones like Colby or Bates are giving me estimates of $20-25k in aid, while the universities I mentioned say 0, though they are better endowed. It’s that difference that I’m questioning.</p>
<p>I would personally recommend that you have a good mix of schools on your list (and your sibling should do the same) - have some schools that you guys can afford to pay full price for as well as some schools that you guys can qualify for non-need based aid (scholarships based on your GPA, test scores, or applications). You both shouldn’t necessarily have to pay $60,000 a year to go to school if at least one of you can win some scholarships from schools. </p>
<p>Based on the information you provided though getting need-based aid might be tough. It does sound like you guys have a lot of financial resources available which is good (in that you can afford most schools) and bad (in that need-based aid might be hard to come by even from generous schools). Ivy League schools are very generous with need-based aid but I believe they don’t do merit aid.</p>
<p>Some schools may expect more contribution from assets than others. They may also treat different kinds of assets (e.g. home equity) differently.</p>
<p>That makes sense. I just think it’s really odd that schools without a generous reputation have NPCs that say they can give me financial aid, but Ivies say… nothing. Is it really as simple as “LACs expect less asset contribution than universities?” I can’t imagine that that would be the reason for a $25k disparity.</p>
<p>Do not generalize by LACs versus universities, since other LACs and other universities may not follow the pattern you are seeing from your small sample size.</p>
<p>And LAC’s like Williams and Amherst are known to be pretty darn generous.</p>
<p>On a per-student basis, the top LAC’s are as richly endowed as anyone, and unlike research universities, they’re not spending gobs of money on research (yes, research brings in money as well, but you still need to spend on the physical plant).</p>
<p>I suspect that those two LACs do not use home equity while the ivies you chose, do.</p>