<p>What are the thoughts on how to answer this? We've had conversations with our kids about what we are willing to pay, which will be less than most schools calculate our net price to be... should we state this amount, or should we be conservative in our number in case our finances just don't play out the way we expect?</p>
<p>Put as down a low amount. The question is there just in case you have some stash or source not addressed in the other question, or if you are willing to bring your finances down to the bare bones to pay more than you have to.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a definitive answer to this. Does a college really look at this? I kind of doubt it, to be honest. One school of thought is that if you low-ball it, you might get more money … another is that if you low-ball it, you might not be accepted because you need too much aid. What I did when I completed it was put the amount I felt I could pay. I don’t know if they looked or cared, to be honest. D got aid packages from several CSS schools, and they were all over the map, anyway.</p>
<p>I’ve known people who have put down zero. I don’t know anyone who has put in a high amount so I don’t know what would happen if someone put down an amount higher, say, way higher that what the contribution would be.</p>
<p>The advice I’ve heard is to put down what you can contribute without taking any loans, even if you are ultimately willing to take some loans. </p>
<p>I always feel like if I put a number that is <em>too</em> low the school will think we’re not willing to take a reasonable amount of responsibility for our child’s education. But of course you do not want to risk putting down more than they would have otherwise asked you to pay. So I usually just err a bit on the low side.</p>
<p>Reasonably low is also what I do. We’re pretty straight shooters about both college applications and financial aid. The kids generally “like” the colleges where they choose to apply and I tend to want a pretty good idea of what the whole four years is going to look like especially as the freshman is applying when the junior is becoming a senior so I really don’t want a low ball package that skyrockets in year two. I’d rather take it on the chin one year and have some consistency over four years.</p>