When I apply to colleges a year from now, I am concerned mostly about how I will pay for school. However, these are not conventional reasons. My parents make over double the $110k threshold for need-based aid at most schools, yet due to the high cost of living of where I am from (NY) can realistically contribute about $25k each for me and my twin brother, who will also be attending college at the same time as me. My question is, do colleges put aid for students over the income threshold under merit aid, or do they just not give it at all? My parents say that they simply repackage aid under merit, but that seems highly unlikely to me.
What is your EFC?
No merit aid is simply based on your stats. Needed or not.
It is quite common for families to have too high an income for need based financial aid, but still not be able to afford to be full pay at many or most US universities. Living in a very expensive location (such as NYC) is one of the things that can contribute to this situation.
Fortunately there are usually affordable options which are academically very good. As one example: You have very good in-state options in NY.
As @gearmom has said, getting merit aid is typically based on your stats (GPA and SAT). Some schools do not give merit aid, some give very good merit aid.
Your situation is very common. Sit down with your parents and fill out the NPC’s for the schools you are interested in. If your twin will also be in college that will help lower your EFC… but that lowered EFC will only help at certain schools … and you still need to pay your EFC. For example, if your EFC is $35,000 a year and you attend a school that meets full need, you will pay your EFC of $35,000 and the school will “meet” the rest of your need through grants, work study, and possibly subsidized/unsubsidized loans. If you apply to the U of Delaware ( example) and your EFC is $35,000 a year, you will be expected to pay full cost which is closer to $45,000-50,000 a year… Unless you happen to get some merit. You will be offered an unsubsidized loan if you fill out the FAFSA.
Merit is based on stats. NYS has the STEM award for top 10% students which is in the amount of SUNY tuition and can be used at the Cornell land grant school which gives a discount to NYS residents ( still pricey). What are your stats?
You are very fortunate- your parents can afford to cover the cost of SUNY/CUNY schools for you and your twin.
Your parents are certainly misguided about how aid works. I agree with posters above that SUNYs and auromatic merit schools (if you have high stats) are going to be your best bets.
Even in high cost of living areas an in come in excess of $220,000 will not get you any sympathy as a “needy” student. Many parents make sacrifices for their kids’ education.
If you have high stats, above the 75th percentile of admitted students, you will likely get merit aid if a merit college. Note that most top 25 colleges do not give merit aid at all.
You should primarily look at SUNYs or apply to colleges where you can get merit (are in the top 10% applicants). Some merit is automatic, some merit is competitive, depending on the university. Not all colleges give merit aid, since it is an incentive for top students to enroll and many top schools don’t need any incentive for top students to enroll.
What are your stats (GPA and test scores)?
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My parents make over double the $110k threshold for need-based aid at most schools, yet due to the high cost of living of where I am from (NY) can realistically contribute about $25k each for me and my twin brother, who will also be attending college at the same time as me. My question is, do colleges put aid for students over the income threshold under merit aid,
My parents say that they simply repackage aid under merit, but that seems highly unlikely to me.
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Your parents are very wrong. Schools that give merit (and many give no merit at all), only give merit for high test scores combined with a high GPA. Merit is used to recruit high stats students.
There are some schools that have purposely over-inflated tuition so that EVERYONE is given a token fake scholarship to flatter them in hopes that they will enroll.
What are your and your twin’s stats? What type of schools do you want to apply to?
So…what are your stats? Your SAT or ACT score…and your GPA. Those are what droves the awarding of merit aid…not your parent inability or willingness to pay college costs.
If your parents can contribute $25,000 a year towards your college costs, you are VERY VERY fortunate as that will pay theninstate cost of attendance at a SUNY school, you instate public university.
You need to also let your parents know…some schools don’t award merit aid…at all. Not a dime. They give need based aid only.
Schools don’t really consider your parent willingness to paynwhen awarding need based (or merit) aid.
Hopefully you are looking at colleges where either you can get some merit aid to being the costs down to $25,000 a year…OR you are looking at schools that cost $25,000 a year…or less.
You are currently a HS junior and wrote this…
Truthfully…for significant merit aid…get tippy top grades this year…and prep for the ACT well.
Once you have the standardized test scores on hand, it will be easier to give you options for merit aid. But really, as it stands right now…the SUNY schools are your best financial bet.
Are you in the NYC area? If so, you are in good shape. The $25,000 your parents will contribute for you plus $5500 in Direct loan you can borrow gives you a budget for $30,500 for your first year. More than enough for SUNY and CUNY schools. If you have good test scores/grades and cast a wide net with respect to rankings, there are also good private school options available to you. $30,000 per year is a good, solid amount of money if you are smart about it. My son, who did not look at top tier schools, had 10 very good options below that number, some substantially below that number. There is almost nothing that you can’t study well at a SUNY and have the full residential experience. So you should start looking there and see what appeals. Congratulations. You do have the money available to you to attend college. Start from that perspective and you can’t go wrong. Lots of young people would give a great deal to be so fortunate.
Can your parents contribute $25,000 a year for you and your twin… which means $50,000 a year/$200,000 total for 4 years? Or … can they contribute $50,000 total for you and your sibling- meaning $25,000 each in total for all 4 years?
I just went back and read what you wrote and now I am not sure.
@apost12 I would not worry unless there is a need to worry but I would plan. Can your parents pretend that you two are in college now and put away money for you guys for the next two years? If their combined salary is 220k then your EFC is probably around 55k. For privates that could be (with a 60/60 split) around 30ish k per kid. If the college meet full need, with parents contributing 25k, federal loan ($5500, $6500, $7500, $7500 per school year) and some summer earnings you could be fine. But you’ll have enough to attend college. So don’t worry about that.
My school doesn’t provide an UW GPA, but I will most likely end up at around a 93-94 weighted GPA). My school doesn’t weight very hard (3.3% for Honors, 6.6% for AP/IB), so for a normal weighted scale my average would probably be a 94-96. I had an 87.5 average freshman year, a 93.2 average sophomore year, and I expect to get a 95-97 this year. I don’t really have an excuse for freshman year. I simply didn’t put in enough effort - the high school workload took me a very kind time to adjust to. Anyway, I will have taken at least 3 AP courses - AP World History, AP US History, and AP Spanish. I got a 5 on the AP World Exam, and I fully believe I can get a 5 on my exams this year. I may also sit for a few AP Exams for honors classes that I take, simply out of curiosity and to possibly alleviate my college courseload. My ACT score could come around to a 31-33 or higher (I got a 28 on the PreACT with no prep), and I am taking the PSAT junior year. I’ve taken practice SAT’s recently, and with no formal prep got around a 1400.
25k each for 4 years. Meaning 100k each.
My twin has around a 92 average, and I think he could realistically get a 26-28 on the ACT. His course load has been far easier than mine, so his grades come from >95 averages in regular courses. He’s probably a tier lower than me. We’ll see.
I agree that I am far more fortunate than most in terms of my opportunities. I posted solely to give myself and my parents a reality check on how far our money can really go. Thanks for the input.
@apost12 Yes, I assumed that is what you meant. For a meets full need private, you could be looking at something in the 30s. If your parents can put away some money in the next two years. Even 10k a year per kid. Your affordable amount could be 40k per year. I’m not sure you will get a lot of merit. It’ll depend on your final numbers.
Suggest you and your parents read the two very informative articles about how college financial aid works from Forbes magazine at the links below.
We live in a very high cost of living area, too so we can sympathize with your family’s concerns. During our D’s college search, we looked for colleges that guaranteed to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. Of course, that’s according to their formulas, not those of your family. Good luck!
If your parents have $25,000 per year, you save from summer earnings, they continue to save some money each month, and you take the Stafford loan… you may be able to afford a school that meets need. Of course acceptance will depend on your scores …among other things.
I think you can get merit to some schools… but it may not be enough. Getting $10,000 to a school that costs $50,000 or more will still be expensive. The good news is that your parents can afford to send you to a public school in NYS.
Go to a SUNY and let your parents save money to help you through graduate school.