<p>I just want to be sure you know that there is a decision between ED (Early Decision) and EA (Early Action). The latter is non-binding, whereas the former is. So you don’t have to totally rule out applying somewhere early. A lot of top schools have EA now; if you get in, you don’t have to go unless you have seen their financial aid package and like it.</p>
<p>EA is wonderful, in that the student may know early on (mid-December) that they are accepted to a college. That’s what happened when S found out by mid-December that he’d been accepted to Georgetown (his top choice) and Notre Dame. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, their finaid packages didn’t come until AFTER the RD round. EA acceptees didn’t have any priority in the financial aid award timeline. </p>
<p>So there was an almost four month time period where S didn’t know if he’d actually be able to attend his first choice school. </p>
<p>Just something to consider…</p>
<p>Don’t forget, that just because a school is ED and “technically” the decision is binding, you always have an out if the financial aid award is not acceptable. I’ve had many clients who have had ED schools offer them a substandard package, and went to an RD school because their offer was so much better. Also, negotiations, or should I say the appeals process, is the rule of land for most private colleges, especially CSS Profile schools. Something to think about.</p>
<p>Great, can I hire you to get my kids a better package from Harvard?</p>
<p>I always wondered about negotiating until the Boston Globe went inside the BU financial office. Indeed, half who appealed got more money. Many got $500, but the biggest winners got an additional $2K. It’s definitely money, but most had been gaped tens of thousands.</p>
<p>Sometimes the key to the higher end/CSS Profile colleges, are to try to get under the income limits whereby the college picks up the full cost of tuition, sometimes even the full cost of education. Of course, this doesn’t work with all families. Looking at every conceivable way to pay for college today sometimes includes “out-of-the-box” thinking to maximize your potential to get into the college’s pocket.
You’d be surprised how many times people would value assets incorrectly, thereby eliminating them from need-based aid. The FAFSA, and it’s evil twin, the CSS Profile, exist for one reason. That’s to allow college to keep as much of their own aid as they can. If everyone knew the secret about “enrollment management,” which really is nothing more than student profiling, there would be a huge uproar. Those two forms allow the colleges to gather the familie’s information to do just that. I don’t mean to sound cynical. I’ve just seen it in action far too many times.</p>
<p>There are many books that detail exactly how colleges approach enrollment management–no big secret.</p>
<p>But yes, if you just keep your income under $60K and your child is among the sub 7% who get into HYPS, you’re golden. So let’s see, that’s about .01 percent of the college going population.</p>
<p>I know a Canadian international who got Cornell to match a Chicago merit scholarship. (He preferred Cornell over Chicago, and is attending.) Weird things do happen in “appeals.”</p>
<p>hMom, CC contributors like yourself are some of the most well-informed parents (students) out there. And yes, you are correct when you say the enrollment management process is something you can read about. But so is the appeals process, EFC calculation process, FAFSA process, CSS profile… I mean, it’s all out there. Most parents simply don’t have the time to become well-educated enough to know what the “system” is really all about.
Trust me, it’s not just families that are coming in sub-$60,000 AGI that are getting full tuition packages. At the Ivy’s, it’s 75,000-$100,000 that will tip the scales in your favor. Even the University of California system allows for full tuition for parents making $60,000 or less, and they are strictly FAFSA based. The landscape of college financial aid system is changing, gradually, but changing nonetheless.</p>
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<p>Are you sure about this? It does not seem to be the case of many here.</p>
<p>I’ve also not seen a family making $100K get full aid at any ivy without unusual medical expenses. Many with $60-$75K incomes get a rude surprise when their assets are looked at too.</p>
<p>What I’m saying is that folks come to this board and make it sound easy. Just appeal and watch the dollars roll in. I don’t think this is true. Most middle and upper middle class families are shocked by their EFC, FAFSA and Profile. If they have not saved and don’t plan to borrow, for all but the very low income, paying for college will be a stretch.</p>
<p>If I can suggest you check out:
<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/blueandgold/documents/blueandgold_factsheet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/blueandgold/documents/blueandgold_factsheet.pdf</a>
which speaks to the specifics of the Blue and Gold program at the UC’s. hmom, I’m not trying to paint a rose-colored world here. Far from it. What I am saying is there are opportunities out there, sometimes you just have to know who to talk to and what to ask them about.</p>
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<p>Yeah, its pretty common for a family with a $60K income to get a grant to cover the “full tuition” of ~$8000 a year. Then all that’s left is $16K or so for room & board, books, travel, & incidentals. </p>
<p>“Full tuition” is NOT the same as “full ride” and for a California resident, the tuition part is the smallest piece of the pie of the plan is for the kid to live on campus. Commuters, of course, will have their COA calculated differently.</p>
<p>Can’t you walk away from an ED based on financial need?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>However, you might not get any better packages from RD schools, and you lose the ability to compare packages. Thus I would recommend ED-w/-FA only for those who have a CLEAR first choice that everyone is willing to sacrifice financially for.</p>
<p>Can anyone help me? I am a freelancer, doing jobs for various companies out of my home office. Are there any deductions that they will count when assessing my income? Or do they just look at the total of my 1099s as my income? We also have a small rental property where we have put in a lot of sweat equity and have lots of maintenance expenses. Do they look at these deductions at all, or will they look at our rents received as straight income? My son is interested in Connecticut College, but I note that they rank third in the Princeton Review’s list of “Most Dissatisfied with Financial Aid.” Does anyone know anything about how (un)generous Conn College is? He would like to go ED, but we are concerned.</p>
<p>Conn College does not meet need generously, so no way he should apply ED if you’re not prepared to pay in full.</p>
<p>Every college treats what they will allow differently, so you won’t know exactly until you apply. Typically for the self employed, they will add a lot of your deductions back to your AGI. Any mortgage you have on the rental can be deducted, but they’ll also be looking at it as an asset you can borrow against, not just income.</p>
<p>Thanks, hmom5, about the warning about Conn college. Is there any way to get a real idea of how generous (or not) a college is with FA? Most colleges’ statistics claim to meet full need (but no doubt each institution defines “full need” in its own way), and most peer institutions seem to offer comparable grant packages. Is looking at endowments the best indicator of how generous a school would be? Or is there any particular statistic among the reams of school-generated stats that really gives an indicator of how stingy/generous a school could be? (We are also looking at Bates, Lehigh, Lafayette, Colgate.)</p>
<p>My parents make around $50k a year – they have two restaurants under an S-Corp that makes a gross profit of around $750k. Am I in trouble? By no means are we rich; the rent for our stores are ridiculously high. We also have no other assets whatsoever (no home, savings, etc.). Are there any things I can look to to find out how colleges will determine the aid I need? I’m aiming at HYPS, etc. if that makes any difference.</p>
<p>I am me:</p>
<p>I have NOT yet gone through the FAFSA process yet, so I am not sure. But I CAN speak a bit to your S corp question. GROSS profits are irrelevant (I HOPE!). “NET” profits are another story. As an S corp, profits are divided between officers. So, if your parents are the only officers (like me, yuck!)…then that is reported as income and must be taxed (same thing if there are more officers but at least it’s divided between them based on their shares in the corp. The way I understand it is that your parents’ AGI (adjusted gross income) is “the number” you need to worry about (though no worrying will change it at this point, it is what it is, the year is nearly over). </p>
<p>Only “questionable” IRS reporting tactics and surely no one is advocating that.</p>
<p>Like your parents, I am in the “no money” boat…but it LOOKS like there is profit (which, in reality, is just used the next year to pay the horrific taxes!). I believe there are additional forms that “self employed” parents complete, and I noticed a space for any “additional information” (I intend to add the fact I pay all my own health insurance, have very large health bills as I’m a cancer survivor, and the fact that about 40% of what shows as profit, is then paid back as income taxes the following year). Being employed by a corporation is not technically “self employed”, but an S Corp is a different story. Like you…I’m just waiting and wondering. I keep intending to make an appointment with my accountant to suss things out in case there IS anything LEGAL I can do that I’m missing…before the end of the year. (My accountant has 5 kids with 2 in college!). Maybe your parents should start there too. Good luck.</p>
<p>The FAFSA EFC formale subtracts income taxes paid so if you are paying income tax and not self employment tax (FICA) those amounts should be addressed.</p>
<p>[Federal</a> Student Aid - IFAP: iLibrary - EFC Formula Guide](<a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/ifap/byAwardYear.jsp?type=efcformulaguide&awardyear=2009-2010]Federal”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/ifap/byAwardYear.jsp?type=efcformulaguide&awardyear=2009-2010)</p>
<p>Check out the details of the formula at the above site</p>
<p>Also, on the FAFSA, the value of the small business (less than 100 FTE employees) is not included, only the income that filters through to be a part of your AGI</p>
<p>The most common add back expense is depreciation, also some schools will take back the home office deduction not actual expenses, but the IRS deduction.</p>