<p>I am from the state of New Jersey and am entering my senior year of high school. My parents will not tell me my family's income but I know that it is over $180,000 a year and very likely tops $200,000. I have a younger brother who will be a sophomore in high school, but he attends a public school in a different town due to personal reasons. My parents pay upwards of $15,000 a year for him to go there. Is it possible that I will get any reasonable amount of financial aid from top schools and Ivy League schools? I may want to apply somewhere Early Decision but the fact that I will not know about financial aid may make that impossible. What do I do?</p>
<p>With that income do not expect much FA except perhaps at HYP, but good luck getting in. How much will your parents pay? Can you afford college in NJ or perhaps attend SUNY ( they are quite reasonable for OOS)? Do you think you would qualify for merit aid which is not based on need? It is possible that some schools may take into account the tuition that your parents pay for your younger sibling. </p>
<p>You are in the donut hole. Your parents appear to make too much to get FA at most schools and make too little to easily write out checks for $60,000 a year even if they started saving early. If you are considering Ivy League then you may have the stats to get some nice merit. </p>
<p>You will have to ask your parents how much they will pay each year so you can search for schools in that range. If you parents don’t want to share their financial information, you can give them a list of colleges and ask them to run the Net Price Calculator to find what the college will charge you. This way you and your parents can see what they will pay for. There is also a list of automatic merit scholarships at the top of this thread, if you qualify for one or two that could be a safety. From what you describe it doesn’t sound like you wiill qualify for need based aid with possible exception of HYP.</p>
<p>@twogirls @BrownParent I could certainly get a lot of merit aid from other schools, but I really am aiming for the top. However, there is absolutely no way my parents could pay for college without some type of aid. Say I am accepted to Princeton but receive no aid. (Princeton is my dream school). Then what? There is always the option of student loans, but I don’t want to cripple my family (and myself) financially. I need to have my parents run Net Price Calculators soon, but they are very unwilling to talk to me about finances, and although I know it’s a private matter it’s also a big factor in my college decision. If I get into a top school, I’ll be devastated if I have to say no because of the money even though I will receive good merit aid elsewhere.</p>
<p>You are in the exact same situation as I am. My daughter will not be applying to an Ivy League school because we can’t pay full price ( if she gets in) and will not get FA. She will be applying to several highly selective colleges that give merit ( getting merit at these schools is very hard), as well as several schools below those that give merit. She will also be applying to our in-state school and a few schools that will give her guaranteed money based on stats. I feel for you because we are in the same boat. My daughter is a high stats kid but we simply do not have the money to spend on an Ivy - should she happen to get in- remember, it’s not easy. It took me well over a year to come to terms with this, and I have spent well over a year researching schools that would be a good fit for her. She is now helping to narrow down the list. To be honest with you she recently told me that she is no longer interested in an Ivy League school. Good luck!! There are plenty of excellent schools out there who would love to have you. </p>
<p>Does your family have any assets as well?</p>
<p>both of my kids were high stats but they accepted full merit and it didnt hurt them at all. </p>
<p>ask your parents how much they will pay each year. with that income, they will be full pay at 99% of schools without merit.</p>
<p>You may get a tiny bit of aid from HYPS, but not much.</p>
<p>YOU can only borrow $5500 for frosh year, so not much. doubt that your parents would borrow the rest, so come up with a reasonable list.</p>
<p>what is your major and career goal?</p>
<p>Your income is likely too high to qualify for need based aid, but you won’t know until you apply for aid. </p>
<p>Since finances ARE a significant consideration, I would strongly suggest you do a few things.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You need to have a talk with your parents ASAP regarding college finding, how much they can and will contribute, and any financial limitations they might have for funding college.</p></li>
<li><p>Look for schools where you will qualify for merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>Unless you are prepared to pay full costs…and don’t care about comparing potential financial aid offers, don’t apply ED. Discuss this with your parents! </p></li>
<li><p>If you decide to apply ED someplace, please do NOT miss the deadlines for merit scholarships at other schools should you be denied admission in the ED round.</p></li>
</ol>
<p><<<
4. If you decide to apply ED someplace, please do NOT miss the deadlines for merit scholarships at other schools should you be denied admission in the ED round.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Thumper’s advice is right, but her 4th pt is something that every ED student needs to be aware of and not wait til a bad FA offer comes. By the time ED FA offers are sent and evaluated, many/most large merit offers are past deadline.</p>
<p>Are you interested in engineering? Olin is half-tuition and Webb is free. Cooper Union may be cheap enough as well.</p>
<p>Otherwise, is your PSAT good enough for NMF?</p>
<p>I’ll be commended for the PSAT, but my SAT is much higher than my PSAT. I won’t be getting any national merit money.</p>
<p>@mmj133 </p>
<p>ok, so you wont be NMSF/F. </p>
<p>then you really need to have a well-thought out strategy in regards to ED application, and safety/merit applications since they need to be submitted around the same time.</p>
<p>Have you yet asked your parents how much they will pay each year towards college? With their incomes, they will likely be expected to pay all costs at many/most colleges.</p>
<p>I sense that since you really want a top school, you dont want any bad news now about how much they will pay. If so, then you really need to rip that bandage off quickly and know what is what. If your parents will only pay - say - instate rates at a NJ public (or less!) then you need to know that now instead of prolonging (and growing) any delusions. The longer it goes on the worse it will be.</p>
<p>
But they can tell you the maximum they can contribute per year without revealing their income. </p>
<p>
DS has the stats to be a competitive candidate at any school, but he will not be applying to any ivies-- only merit schools. We just don’t think any UNDERGRADUATE school is worth it to pay fullpay private.</p>
<p>The range of schools DS is considering is VERY broad in selectivity. We want him to be willing & comfortable about attending every school he will apply to; therefore, we are visiting ALL of them, including the automatic full-ride financial safeties. </p>
<p>You need to get off your high horse of only aiming for the top, and start being pragmatic.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help everyone. My parents ran some net price calculators and Princeton would give us $25k a year which is insanely generous. We would have to contribute $33k a year which according to my father is feasible, but things will get complicated when my brother attends college two years after I do. In comparison Cornell would cost my family $50k a year, but I love Cornell as well and am a legacy. It seems most reasonable to apply Princeton EA at this point. @GMTplus7 @mom2collegekids @thumper1 </p>
<p>When your brother attends college the Financial Aid calculators will take that into account and the expected contribution should be about half of you alone. </p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>The cost isnt split in half…it will be a 60/60 split (if both kids attend a full need school). </p>
<p>but if his brother doesnt attend a full need school or attends a school far less generous than P, the family may find that paying for two difficult. </p>
<p>If your family’s income and asset figures are such that you do not qualify for financial aid, then you won’t get it. It’s that simple. With the income you are specifying, it is highly unlikely you will get much if any financial aid. You have to talk to your parents about this. You can check out the NPC (Net Price Calculator) for Princeton and such schools, plug in some numbers, guessing your family income/assets, and see what the NPC says your family is expected to pay. You can also run the numbers through the FAFSA EFC (Expected Family Contribution) which is usually the minimum your family will be expected to pay before getting any federal aid. Most schools have institutional EFCs that are more stringent than the FAFSA one. </p>
<p>Some schools do take a sibling high school costs into account. If there is a need for that school do to some medical or other special situation, that might be taken into account, but I stilil don’t see a whole lot of financial aid forthcoming with the numbers stated.</p>
<p>You are correct that if your parents, you , can’t come up with what a school like Princeton says you should be paying, you will not get the financial aid . For all the bragging that HPY might do about “no student should let cost stop him/her from applying” there is that category of students whose parents are deemed able but can’t due to a number of factors or won’t, who cannot afford to go to colleges with even the most generous financial aid policies.</p>
<p>OP…what are your stats?</p>
<p>Can you apply RD to Cornell and get legacy consideration? </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids currently 2260 SAT but I expect over 2300, just gotta pull up my writing score a bit. 800 Chem subject, 750 Bio M, 750 Math, my school doesn’t do unweighted GPAs but I do not have a single B on my transcript. 4.45 weighted. Most rigorous course load all four years and top 10% (school doesn’t rank). I’m not sure if cornell will consider my legacy in the RD round. I also attended an engineering summer program at Cornell. Also, I’m a girl in engineering (790 SAT math section).</p>
<p>OP, you don’t need to take the SAT again. You already qualify for significant merit aid with what you have. Increasing to 2300 or 2330 will probably get you the same amount of aid at any school as a 2260. So don’t waste your time on that, especially if it is to increase your writing score. At this point, all you can do it maintain your GPA and write a great essay.</p>
<p>I suggest that you apply to Georgia Tech, RPI, Case Western, Vanderbilt and other schools that have good engineering depts, and merit money. You do have a shot at getting some such award. Good friend of mine, actually two, come to think of it , with no need got some good merit at GTech and some other schools,with daughters in engineering. </p>
<p>Mom2colle, the issue for OP is going to be getting the fin aid or any money if parents can’t or won’t pay over $X and the cost for the schools is going to be much more. Cornell does not have merit money and they are every bit as pricey as Princeton.</p>
<p>My son’s close friend did end up going to Princeton --this was some years ago, and his parents said that some consideration was made for private school tuition for a sibling, but it was a limited amount. Williams also gave some consderation at one time. It is a question that shows up on PROFILE, but how much consideration and which schools, I don’t know. </p>
<p>You do need to talk seriously with your parents about costs and explain to them that you are likely to get little or no aid from those schools that have no merit money and you do not want to be in the situation or put them in a situation where you get acceptances and end up not able to afford a number of the schools. Tell them you want some sort of cost commitment up front from them, and some idea of income and assets to run estimates. They are going to have to “tell all” when they fill out their part of the fin aid forms early next year anyways.</p>