Hi All, My son is very interested in AU and plans to apply ED this coming fall. Based on his profile, he stands a good chance of getting accepted. We, his parents, are worried about being able to afford it on an annual income of around $130k with a mortgage, another kid who will be in college in 2 years, and so on. The net price calculator says the cost of the school is $59,438, and that the estimated grant aid is $15,500. For those in a similar boat, how realistic is this estimate of aid?
The NPC was pretty accurate for us. It estimated $13,000 in merit/aid and our package was $15,000 which included the $5,000 student loan. My son got a Dean’s List scholarship of $10,000. It’s hard to say if he gave up additional merit by going ED. (This had been particularly difficult for DH who likes to get the “deal” and spends a lot of time wondering “what if” we had gone RD.) We knew we would be full pay except for merit and the student loan. ED acceptance is over 80% and RD is around 25%. So I caution the use of “good chance” of acceptance in the RD round. It’s pretty much a roll of the dice in RD and reading through that the RD thread will show that the acceptances often make no sense to those of us on the other side of admissions. If you are from VA I would reduce that 25% RD acceptance as the bulk of students come from the Northeast, so it is more competitive for your area. For ED if the financials do not work out, you will have to be prepared to negotiate and then walk away if AU does not increase the package. My advice would be to apply to a rolling acceptance school, so you would have an acceptance in hand to compare the financials with and it does give peace of mind that you have something to fall back on.
Shop around. Sometimes colleges lower on the food chain will give more merit aid to attract a student, which is why other colleges like to lock students in with early decision. Your price with financial aid at American is higher than typical in-state university costs as well.
Early decision when the net price calculator is unaffordable is not wise. Either talk to financial aid in advance and see if you have any specific circumstances they would consider, or skip ED and compare aid offers among EA, rolling, and regular decision schools, or apply where the NPC is promising. At your level of income plus other kids to put through college, I think it makes more sense to apply to a wider range of colleges and compare financial aid offers.
I agree with the other responders…shop around, apply early (action) to several almost-sure-things, only ED to an absolute favorite you can afford…and hope. Our twin sons are going to AU in the fall with a little bit of merit aid. Our income is slightly higher than yours (though not much)…and…twins. We have some sturdy 529s, but it’s still a stretch. It’s the best fit, and about the same net price they were offered elsewhere, so we’re pulling the trigger. Interestingly, I think boys have a bit of an edge, because it’s a female-heavy school.
Don’t apply ED if the net price calculator indicates that costs won’t be affordable.
You may encourage him to retake the sat/act as better scores may yield better aid (American doesn’t meet need so it doesn’t care that you need more time attend - however they can be incentivized by high scores).
It is stressful & painful to turn down an ED school for financial reasons. Believe the net price calculator. Figure out what you can spend and tell your son, and keep your son within those cost parameters. Don’t apply ED.
I really appreciate the responses. My son wants to focus on international relations, thus the high interest in AU. He’s sitting now at a 1440 SAT and around a 3.95 UW GPA, so according to the sites he’s got a good chance of ED acceptance into AU, and probably no chance in Georgetown or Hopkins (his other top schools). We’ve visited most of the top VA schools (W&M, UVA, JMU, etc) but so far nothing has enticed him like AU, especially the potential of being in an active campus and the proximity to D.C. At this point the thought is to apply ED1 to AU, while applying RD to other schools (W&M, UVA, JMU, GMU, and possibly St. Joes) with the idea being that if we get ~15k in aid we can swing AU, and if not, we’ll likely have to back out and look at the other programs. Thanks again for assistance!
I noticed GWU was not on the list. They are known for better aid both merit and need-based. Has he ruled out GWU out? It does have quite a different feel as it is a city campus, but their Mount Vernon Campus is more traditional. GWU has a much larger graduate population than AU, but the undergraduate population is pretty similar 7,900 AU versus 11,500 GWU. FWIW AU’s ED 1 notification date does allow for an ED2 to GWU. This was our plan if DS18 was not accepted ED1 to AU.
Yes, was also going to suggest Dickinson. They have better need based aid than AU and give decent merit as well. They have a great Washington Semester program, too — better than most other colleges not right in DC. Lots of Dickinson grads end up in DC after graduation, too.
I get that. It was not my favorite campus either. But DS was willing to sacrifice to be in DC - just glad we didn’t have to! There are some colleges that have semester exchanges with AU for the IR & Poli Sci majors. I know Furman is one as my DD keeps threatening to go there and join her brother for a semester. I’m sure there are other schools too. So that could be something to investigate. Although honestly with your son’s stats, I think he will get merit at AU.
My D was offered $20,000 a year grant aid in addition to $5500/year student loan. In the end she chose another school, but the aid was among the highest she was offered.
Hi. Would you mind sharing your daughter’s stats? My daughter was accepted to AU with a 1450 and 4.0 with stellar EC’s and received the Dean’s Scholarship of 10k. I am just wondering what it takes to get better Merit Package for my next child the following year. Thank you for any help!
I wouldn’t rule AU out yet. I will be a freshman in the fall and when applying to AU my family considered ED but we were advised not to due to our worries about financial aid. In the end, it worked out just fine, if not better. The financial aid office is known to give more aid to families who apply RD and it makes sense why. The Office is the most busy at that time and they really need to give away the money to students. They are more conservative with giving out large packages for ED when they don’t know what will happen with RD. When I got my package, I was actually given more then what the Net Price estimated. They estimated 40,000 and we recieved 52,000 in grants/gift aid.
With our need-based award and a merit scholarship of $10K/year, and a work-study award and the federal loans, this widowed mom with a high five-figure income and a new mortgage and New York expenses and taxes found AU do-able. I had to adjust my lifestyle a bit, but these years have flown by, and my kid, a Political Science major, International Studies minor, absolutely LOVED AU, found “his people” and he has thrived there.
He had a better award package from Dickinson, and we both liked Dickinson, but he LOVED AU. When we visited AU it was all over. He told me, “I think I’m supposed to be here.”
When coming up with a list of colleges to apply to I would say communicate to your child what your financial parameters are and only apply to schools that you can afford if accepted. The worst thing would be to apply ED, have your child receive an acceptance, and then you having to tell them that they won’t be able to attend because you can’t afford it. List should comprise of reach, match, and safety schools. These are not just academic safeties but schools that the child will be happy to attend and that you can afford to pay. It would probably be in your best interests to caste a wider net and then assess all options after the results have been received to determine which school is most feasible. Instead of utilizing ED it maybe better to apply to more schools that have the option of Early Action so that you can assess different financial aid offers. If money is no issue then by all means apply ED. Don’t get hung up on a dream school because that can lead to disappointment if the student is accepted and it is not an affordable option. They are many schools where you child can get an excellent education.