<p>Alright, so today I got an e-mail about need-based aid at Harvey Mudd. One thing, which doesn't seem to make sense to me, is that it says that they haven't received my CSS:Profile stuff yet, which I submitted on the 15th (I checked the receipt). The other thing, though, was that I needed my parents' federal income tax returns sent in also, which I hadn't even seen or heard about before. Before I get that stuff, though, I wanted to make sure that there actually is a chance that I might get need-based aid. On salary alone, my dad makes over $200,000 before taxes, and my mom doesn't work. Is there any chance for it?</p>
<p>Not to discourage you but our family makes much less than $200k/year and the only "financial aid" my son received were loans. Fortunately, he got the $10k per year merit so that helped a little.</p>
<p>Well, if I could cross out Freshmen year, I'd have definitely gotten the 10k per year. But my school is too competitive with my Freshmen year in there that I don't have top 10%. My dad has specifically said he's going to pay whatever it takes for me, but I still would like to make it so that he doesn't have to pay as much.</p>
<p>No need-based aid for you with that kind of paycheck!</p>
<p>Need-based aid seems unlikely, which is probably appropriate given that you've indicated your dad can/will cover you... that means you have no need to fund your education by raiding other peoples' pockets.</p>
<p>Going full-pay can be a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that you're paying more tuition so the school can afford to let others pay less, /and/ your family has paid a big chunk of income taxes that pay for all those need-based federal grants for other students. But the blessing is that you know your way is paid, without strings attached and not subject to Congressional whims.</p>
<p>There are other factors besides income... expenses, business losses, number of siblings in college... but still, that income is pretty high, and there are probably assets (e.g., real estate, home equity, retirement accounts, trust funds) that will get counted against you as well. When we ran the numbers ourselves (significantly less than $200k/year income, 5 figures not 6), it clearly wasn't worth applying for aid.</p>
<p>But the college isn't the only possible source of funds, and need-based aid isn't the only kind out there. Have you looked into outside scholarships and fellowships?</p>
<p>I figured that getting need-based aid wouldn't be likely, but I was told to apply for it anyways because you never know. I've done some looking into some scholarships, but haven't found too many that I'd be interested in. The word limits are way too short a lot of the time.</p>
<p>We were told the same thing... halfway into it, we looked at each other and said, This is ridiculous. All the personal/financial information you have to leave sitting on CollegeBoard's servers is downright scary (well, at least it is for someone who works in IT), and all the worksheets we filled out were telling us there was no way we'd see a dime in need-based aid. And we felt like creeps applying for it, even knowing that through taxes and full-pay we're subsidizing other folks who may be no worse off than we are.</p>
<p>So we just killed the FA application. While his classmates are finishing their college apps, geek_son will be applying for every merit scholarship he thinks he might have a shot at, whether he finds the topics appealing or not... the money all spends the same way. :-)</p>
<p>Good luck with whatever you do, Cider!</p>
<p>Even if you get only loans, I think going for FA is worth it. There is always a good shot you will get some Subsidized loans which are pretty sweet since its paying today's price in the hyper-inflation future.</p>
<p>Sorry to drag this up, but does anyone have a sense of how good Mudd is for those who do require significant need-based aid? I got into Caltech and UChicago Early Action, and their aid packages left us with about half the cost, which is at the very upper limits of what my family can afford (a little beyond, really). I do qualify for the Harvey S. Mudd Merit Award, but that will just cut into the aid money, not reduce our contribution. So I need them to come up with a good package for me to be able to attend. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Didnt they change some policy this year such that need based aid wont dig into the merit scholarship as quickly? I might be thinking of something else though.</p>
<p>I will say that when it comes to matching financial aid Caltech has us pretty outmatched. However, it might swing differently in different income brackets. On the other side, my first year Mudd offered me $10,000 need based and UChicago offered me roughly $300, with the rest being loans. So it could go either way I guess if you got roughly equal offers from Caltech and Chicago.</p>
<p>@Seiken: The National Merit award is now stackable. Maybe that's what you were thinking of?</p>
<p>Looks like prime is right about the merit-based scholarships --
[QUOTE=<a href="http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/typesofaid1/scholarshipsandgrants1/hmcmeritbasedawards.html%22%5DWhile">http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/typesofaid1/scholarshipsandgrants1/hmcmeritbasedawards.html]
While</a> these awards are granted independent of financial need, if you receive a merit-based award and are also eligible for need-based aid, your merit award will be included in the aid provided to meet your need. Thus, the amount of other aid you receive may be reduced. A merit-based award will not reduce your family’s calculated contribution.
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<p>I couldn't find anything online that indicates whether HMC will apply the Mudd merit scholarship first to loans, but it seems doubtful. Here's how they apply private scholarships:
[quote="<a href="http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/typesofaid1/scholarshipsandgrants1/outsideandprivateawards1/outsideawardsfinancialaidawards.html%22">http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid1/typesofaid1/scholarshipsandgrants1/outsideandprivateawards1/outsideawardsfinancialaidawards.html"</a>]
* The first $500 you receive in outside awards will reduce your need-based student loans and/or Federal Work Study funds.
* One-half of the remaining amount from your outside awards will reduce need-based Harvey Mudd Scholarship
* The other half will further reduce need-based student loans and/or Federal Work-Study funds.
* Once need-based student loans and/or Federal Work Study funds have been completely eliminated, any additional outside scholarships will reduce need-based Harvey Mudd Scholarship only.
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<p>Translation: With outside scholarships, you get the first $500, then the college will split the rest with you 50/50 until you have no loans, then the college takes everything after that. (On the upside, this probably makes HMC pretty aggressive in helping existing students get scholarships -- on the downside, maybe not so much for full-pay students.)</p>