<p>I just got into EDII at Tufts University and their FinAid package was not a dime....</p>
<p>my dad retired last year and got a decent retirement bonus that was used to pay off credit card debt, but it shows as a large amount on our 2007 income...we live in a small 2 floor house with two loaned cars, a very middle class lifestyle</p>
<p>we have about 80k saved for college, and only one parent working full time. My parents calculated that we would only be able to afford about 20k per year, as the savings took a large hit from the recession.</p>
<p>We have no other assets... (My total knowledge of the situation is kind of limited, but I can answer questions that I'll ask my parents)</p>
<p>Any advise? Any hope that we can get a real FinAid package? Anything at all? This is really a worse feeling than getting rejected, cause i know that I could have gone...</p>
<p>When you apply for things, you should know how the system works. Your financial aid is based very heavily on your family 2008 income. If he used it for something else, that is not the college’s concern. </p>
<p>You can get a Stafford loan. Your parents can get a PLUS which is a parent loan. Next year if their income is much lower, you may qualify for something more.</p>
<p>well obviously we are not taking the colleges offer and backing down from the ED agreement (which is the only way we would be able to), but obviously if I applied there ED it is my first choice. I am really trying to find if there is any hope that I can get some relief, otherwise Ill just pass my golden ticket to the underqualified rich kid…</p>
<p>If you have $80k saved, $20k a year would mean you are only spending down your savings. There is an expectation that you would use some current income and perhaps take out a loan. Your 2008 income would not reflect the retirement bonus (correct?); does the school have your 2008 numbers?</p>
<p>Well if he just retired, then his income will be 0 for next year, right? So that should give you some money for that year and the years to come…</p>
<p>Tufts is not bad with financial aid. You may not get much from other schools either. You might want to sniff around to see what you can get. Use some of the online calculators and talk to financial aid at your other prospects. Unless you have some merit money in the works, you may end up with the same elsewhere.</p>
<p>If your family income is going to go way down next year, you will get financial aid commensurate with it. Do run numbers through Tufts’ calculator (ask them for it) to get some idea what you would get with what you expect to have next year. If that $80K is in your name, you will want to spend it down as 20% of it will be hit otherwise. If it is in your parent’s name, no more than about 6% will be hit, and that’s if they have other income as well above the protection limits.</p>
<p>In your situation, the events – father’s retirement, 80 K college fund were all predictable. Using the calculator early would have tempered your expectation of Aid. If you got no aid, then your EFC exceeded Tufts COA. Which means your father’s retirement bonus put you in the 150 K ++ category. One thing though, next year your EFC will be much lower and you will qualify for aid.</p>
<p>Having said all that, why didn’t you wait for RD?</p>
<p>So after a talk with my parents, I guess this situation is becoming clearer.</p>
<p>My dad works part time and collects a pension, which counts as income, making our overall income not change at all from the pre-retirement number. The 80k savings is part of the overall pension plan, which is needed to last for the rest of my parents lives. As of right now, my family makes 150k a year, which is stretched through credit card debt, sisters college loans, and other expenses that support an “adequate” life style (some basic cable, a yearly vacation).</p>
<p>Essentially, if I wanted to go to Tufts, our family would have to lose our mortgage, house, cars, and our other middle class lifestyle amenities in order to support one where I go afford to go to an elite college that doesnt give merit based need. Essentially, theres no room for the middle class in the most elite of colleges is the way I am seeing it. The way I see it, I have already proved that my academics are enough to get into the best of schools, but my fiances are too… middle. </p>
<p>My main question is- so now what? Will the majority of elite colleges follow Tufts path and offer me nothing, with the knowledge that my admittance would essentially ruin my family? Or should I go to a safety school and possibly compromise the educational value (Im not one of those who thinks that they “need” an elite college education, but my self-competitiveness wins over every time)?</p>
<p>If anyone has any input to help me understand this better I would love to hear it, as I am going to compose a well detailed letter to the Financial Aid department</p>
<p>First, 150K is barely middle class - it’s well above. Second you should ALWAYS have a safety for such occasions. Life does not guarantee you can attend the school you most want to . You must go where you can afford and to a place which will give you a good start.</p>
<p>To provide some context-- the average family income in the US is a tad under 50K. So you’re at about 3 times the average-- probably in the top 5% of family income nationally.</p>
<p>With that income level and substantial savings, you’ll find that your EFC will exceed the Cost of Attendance just about everywhere- so need-based aid isn’t gonna happen this year, and not in future years unless your family income situation changes substantially for the worse.</p>
<p>Here are some thoughts and advice:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Merit aid and scholarships- you sad that your academics are good enough to get into the best of schools- so you should be worthy of significant merit aid at schools that give merit aid. That may mean adjusting your sites down a bit to some great private schools or maybe your state public university. Many of the top “elite” universities only give need-based aid, not merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>You might have to let the housekeeper go (est 4K annual savings), let the gardener go (est 2K annual savings), get rid of one of the two leased (you said loaned, but I presume leased) cars for an older transportation ride (est 3K annual savings), decrease dinners out (est 2K savings), sell the boat or RV (est 3K annual savings), and take a shorter local vacation instead of the longer international vacation (est 4k savings). Maybe skip the ski trip. Heck, that’s 18K right there-- add in your summer and school year income from work (4K) and the 20K that the family said they could afford, you’re in the ballpark.</p></li>
<li><p>Your dad could go back to work full time.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Seriously, you’re in a pretty good situation financially, and from what you say, you won’t have any problem getting into many good schools. Many, many less fortunate students would love to be in your situation, with your options. Don’t focus on just one school-- and next time, do your homework and plan ahead so you don’t end up in a bind. There is no one “dream school” for any student.</p>
<p>Romeboards, sorry it didn’t work out for the aid you need at Tufts. It is good that you’re writing them a detailed letter. For one thing, there may be some hope they can make an adjustment and get you some amount of aid, but even if that’s not to be then it is still very important you let them know you need to be released from your EDII agreement. It’s something you must do now rather than wait and let Tufts assume you’re attending, while you assume you’ll be attending one of your RD schools.</p>
<p>I hope you were cautious and got in some applications to other good schools. If your grades/scores/ECs were good enough to get into Tufts, you would probably be a candidate from some decent merit-based aid at other colleges. Also, don’t discount your state U. If they have an honors program, all the better.</p>
<p>You will in all likelihood have a terrific experience wherever you end up going to college. Do be in touch with Tufts right away though and explain that with no financial aid you need to be released from the ED agreement. You don’t want to create potential problems for yourself by neglecting that. Good luck!</p>
<p>My family has a similar financial situation and I expected my college applicant to get no aid so she applied mostly to public schools. I totally understand that 150K annual family income may not be enough to pay for private college. You’re in the same boat as a whole lot of other seniors. But if you accomplished enough to be accepted to Tufts you’ll do very well at whatever school you end up at.</p>
<p>Ok so, I dont have a housekeeper, gardener, am leasing 2 hondas, almost never eat out, have never even been on an RV and dont own a boat, and I dont ski. Your perception of 150k a year is idiotic especially in the tough economic times. Ill repeat: we do not live any sort of extravagant lifestyle. We had to put 2 through college already and have had this house for 18 years. Nothing fancy.</p>
<p>romeboards, you’ve run into one of the folks on these boards who think everyone whose income’s $150k must be living large. they don’t realize that people in this income bracket have risen to that level slowly over time. they are usually 2-income families (teachers, nurses, engineers, police, etc.). they started out 20+ years ago in entry-level jobs, and thru hard work and sacrifice (and the power of compounding), small annual raises have added up over time. if you’re parents have set aside $80k for college, and are in a position where dad can retire, your family has not been irresponsible financially. </p>
<p>that said, your family is in better shape than most. and, as others have said, you’ll do great whereever you end up.</p>
Colleges don’t give a hoot about credit card debt. Period. Credit card debt was a choice - your family purchased things they could not afford. Why should a college help you out of that? Financial aid assumes that some of that money that your family used to pay for things they couldn’t afford would have been saved to help you and your siblings go to college.</p>
<p>Financial aid is not designed to help you maintain what you consider an “adequate” lifestyle. It is designed to help you go to college, but it expects that there will be sacrifice on your part or on your family’s part as well - i.e., give up the yearly vacation, etc. (And yes, I know whereof I speak - I’m in a similar financial category, living in an expensive region, am squarely “middle class” around here, and get no FA. But we have no consumer debt, which is what is saving us in this recession. And we hadn’t taken a “yearly vacation” in about 10 years - that money was saved for college.)</p>
<p>A school that gives only need-based aid was unlikely to give you signficiant financial aid - did you run any of the FA calculators before you applied? Tufts is unlikely to increase your aid at this point; your only options are to pony up the money and hope something comes through next year, defer for a year and hope you get more money next year, or break your ED contract and go somewhere that gives you merit aid or that is cheaper than Tufts.</p>
<p>Romebooards, I am sorry you are in this predicament. I have 5 kids, with 3 in or done with college. With the first one, we went gangbusters to meet the cost, and are now not in as solid of a position to continue to do the same with the others. Like your parents, we now have loans that we owe from the older kids that will not be paid for a while. Also investments are down, and we can’t sell our house in this market unless we have a firesale. It puts a whole different look on the college picture for my remaining kids. </p>
<p>Our third one is going to a private LAC that costs close to $50K. He did get merit money which chisels the cost down about 20%, and got an outside scholarship that further reduces the cost. He also worked each summer and during vacations so he has saving that he has put towards his college expenses. He is also working 10 hours a week on campus which helps a lot. He borrows his books and spends very little outside money. He also has taken the unsubsidized Stafford loan. </p>
<p>We are also paying for his costs out of current income, out of our savings, and have taken a loan as well (PLUS). We’ve also cut our living costs down tremendously in the last year or so. Hopefully the housing market recovers so we can sell this house, which would really make a big difference. Till then, we are in a tight situation. I am worried about how we are going to pay for the next one’s college. His choices will be limited by fianances. We did not do ED for our son in college for financial reasons. He got merit offers from zero to full ride plus and we did take cost into consideration. Fortunately his first choice was not the one New England LAC that didn’t offer him a dime.</p>