<p>"To the OP--college finaid assumes not that your family can afford $45,000 per year on their current income, but that they have been saving since your birth for your college education."</p>
<p>They also assume that college is as wortwhile as a car or a house, things that people take out large loans to fund.</p>
<p>Caltech, Duke, Chicago, Washington U., Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Emory and Vanderbilt. Top 20 schools that give merit aid.</p>
<p>Merit aid at NU?</p>
<p>I believe that NU debuted a new merit scholarship - "Founders Scholars" - this year.</p>
<p>For in-state Maryland residents who do well on the PSAT and have a 3.7+, there's the Maryland Distinguished Scholar award -- $3K a year to attend a Maryland college or university, public or private (but one must apply junior year). It's automantic for in-state NMFs who stay in-state. There is also a Fine Arts Distinguished Scholar competition.</p>
<p>The Banneker-Key at UMD is a sweet deal. We know kids who have turned down MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Wash U, JHU, CMU and Emory (off the top of my head) to attend. Maryland loves on those kids! Correct me if I'm wrong, folks, but I thought MDS piggybacks on top of B/K, too.</p>
<p>Thanks, I'll check it out!</p>
<p>While Ivies do not give merit aid, they generously meet family needs. Harvard and Princeton give full and free tuition, full and free room and board, full and free books, etc. with no loans or student contribution required for all families that earn less than $60,000. All eight Ivies provide financial aid to families with up to six figure incomes, sometimes well into the six figures. If your son or daughter can get in to Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, et al. and your family qualifies under these aid criteria, you can often do better than a "merit scholarship" elsewhere, which often does not fully cover tuition alone.</p>
<p>
redcrimblue, and sometimes they don't. Each family is different and each school calculates assets and income items by their own formula and exercizes professional judgment when they choose to do so. I know of occasions where they have been generous, and some where they haven't even been that reasonable. If your family's income/assets is/are at all complicated (anything other than W-2 income, a house, a car, qualified retirement plan) don't count on a good result. Need based aid can vary school to school by $10K or more a year. Be wise and wary. JMO.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, I agree with you. It is a case by case decision, but the 60k floor is set at H and P, and Yale and Columbia are close to that. As Paul Simon once said, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, and what seems fair to one family may not seem fair to another. My basic point is that a student should not be deterred from applying to an Ivy because of financial considerations. It might turn out to be the place that is least expensive to attend, less by thousands than the local state u.</p>
<p>Yes, redcrimblue, but your tax return may show $60K, IRS may accept it without question, but after FA gets through with adding back in depreciation, certain expenses, real losses on businesses, etc , etc ..well...sometimes $60K ends up looking like $90K. Or $90K looks like $120K.</p>
<p>And the big "if" is getting accepted to the Ivy in the first place!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ain't that the truth. LOL</p>
<p>Nope. My son is going to Duke next fall. He's graduating from high school tomorrow as Valedictorian. National Merit Scholar, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, All-State Tennis, Eagle Scout, etc.</p>
<p>Amount of money Duke is offering: zero, zip. Likewise, Dartmouth and Cornell offered no money. Now, Vanderbilt offered full ride, and Rice, Virginia, and William & Mary almost full ride.</p>
<p>The very top schools in the country don't have to offer merit-based aid. Everybody they let in is a superstar. Valedictorians are a dime a dozen.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Great job by your son. Congratulations You'd have thought Duke would have given him at least something in merit aid even in this competitive year. But schools are quirky that way.</p>
<p>We weren't surprised, curmudgeon. Having now completed the whole application ordeal with our oldest, I can see a definite pattern on how applications are processed by top schools. You can almost take the US News & World Report rankings, draw lines separating them into groups, and predict fairly accurately how a student's application will fare. </p>
<p>Example, my son's eleven applications:
Tier 4: Virginia and William & Mary: Yes, come! We'll put you in a special "scholars" program, special dorm, special registration, and give you lots of money. </p>
<p>Tier 3: Rice & Vanderbilt: Yes, come. We won't put you in any special programs or dorms, but we'll pay you lots of money.</p>
<p>Tier 2: Duke, Dartmouth & Cornell: You can come. No money; no favors.</p>
<p>Tier 1: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford: You cannot come.</p>
<p>Rather than believing that top schools are engaging in some kind of antitrust behavior (i.e. sharing applicant data), I just think they have the whole process down to an art. They know exactly what they're looking for, they know how valuable a particular applicant is to that school, and also know pretty well what they will have to offer, if anything, to successfully attract that applicant.</p>
<p>A fascinating process....</p>
<p>Darius, remember that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, and Dartmouth don't offer any merit money.</p>
<p>darius - Congrats on your son going to Duke - great school & great choice. I would however disagree with your statement of "The very top schools in the country don't have to offer merit-based aid." They might not have to - but they do. Two years ago mine turned down an almost full merit ride at Duke for a full merit ride at WashU. Very happy with the decision. I know of several other kids with similair circumstances. May not happen often, but it does happen. Good luck to your son, I am sure he will have a great 4 years.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, redcrimblue, but your tax return may show $60K, IRS may accept it without question, but after FA gets through with adding back in depreciation, certain expenses, real losses on businesses, etc , etc ..well...sometimes $60K ends up looking like $90K. Or $90K looks like $120K.
[/quote]
I see that my esteemed distinguished colleague from Texas has been through the same wringer as I have. I'm just waiting to say what THEY say the numbers are for the final year...and I think I'm going to feel like a metaphor for Stillwell's walk out from Burma by the time it's done, financially speaking.</p>
<p>My son got a half-tuition merit scholarship from one school and nothing from another-- they are pretty much tied on US News rankings. He happened to prefer the one that gave him money--coincidence, or both sides seeing a perfect fit?</p>
<p>darius: Do Rice and Vanderbilt have special dorms and programs? I'm not certain the special dorms thing applies to schools like that.</p>