<p>Hi I am a senior finishing her last batch of college apps.
How generous is the financial aid for someone in my income bracket(150-160K)?
Also, how selective is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship?
The money decides where I will apply.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about that income bracket, but I know that Vandy is very generous with aid. For us it was about 10K more than the finaid.org EFC calculator predicted. For us it put it at the same cost as an in-state public school. Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship is very competitive, but give it a try.</p>
<p>And, of course, Vandy has that deal where they cover your federal student loans, which is very nice.</p>
<p>The only issue that we’ve seen is that any outside merit scholarships you get are credited first toward your expected student contribution (it was around 2K for us), but after that they are taken away from your aid from Vandy. Your EFC stays the same no matter how many scholarships you get. I’m not sure how other schools do this, but we found that frustrating. </p>
<p>But definitely apply everywhere and then compare packages. My guess is that Vandy will be very favorable.</p>
<p>Here’s how you figure how much aid they will give you…<a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator; (it’s been said that these are very accurate)</p>
<p>At the very least, you can expect Vanderbilt’s finaid to be equal or better than any need-based financial aid you will be offered from other schools.</p>
<p>^even HYP?</p>
<p>I would estimate Vandy’s finaid is equal to theirs, considering they also pledge to meet 100% need. But personally my offer from Vandy beat other schools that claim to meet 100% (Rice, Cornell, etc).</p>