<p>So I had a meeting with my guidance counselor today. Brown is my first choice, and we were discussing financial aid. I was surprised to hear that she said Brown does NOT give much in financial aid. She said last year’s valedictorian was accepted but couldn’t go because of finances. I had always heard that Brown met all demonstrated need, so I was wondering if anyone else had some verification to this. Hopefully my counselor was mistaken. My family’s annual income is around $120,000 if that helps.</p>
<p>Have you used Brown’s net price calculator? Brown meets expected need, but the calculator might be able to tell you more about what your EFC would be.</p>
<p><a href=“Net Price Calculator”>Net Price Calculator;
<p>Yeah I saw that a while ago and forgot to go back to it. I guess it’s worth the time to fill out.</p>
<p>While Brown will meet “expected need”, they do tend to be a bit on the “skimpy” side with aid packages. It does tend to appear that there is a very small difference (increase) in “generosity” if a student is a underrepresented/ high recruit, but most of that can be explained by some scholarships specifically for first generation/ poverty levels kids etc. Brown does not award “merit aid” otherwise, so the package Brown will offer will often be disappointing to a student whose parents can afford (even if it pinches) some of Browns tuition, in comparison to other schools who will give "Presidents/ Dean’s award "etc scholarships to entice the more qualified applicants. Some of the other Ivies etc. also have a bigger pool of “outside” named etc scholarships to apply over the FAFSA calculations to be “more generous”. Usually the financial numbers are still very close between those schools.</p>
<p>ealdi94, you need to fill out the net price calculator for EVERY school you are considering. </p>
<p>The key phrase is “demonstrated need.” Colleges all have their own definition of how much need you have, and it often is very different from what YOU think you need. Yes, Brown meets 100% of demonstrated need, but Brown determines that need, not you (or last year’s valedictorian). </p>
<p>Brown’s financial aid philosophy is to direct its financial aid resources primarily to low income and middle income families. With an income of $120,000, your family is affluent (even though you might live in a high-cost area, you are still considered wealthy). A handful of other schools, mainly Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford, are more generous to families with incomes over $100,000. </p>
<p>How much money you would get from Brown depends on whether you have other siblings in college, how much equity you have in your house, how large your savings accounts are, how old your parents are, and a bunch of other factors. That’s why you need to complete all those calculators. And you need to have a heart-to-heart talk with your parents about how much money they will spend each year on your college education, and see how that number matches up to what your EFC is.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch guys. Will definitely be having these talks and filling out these forms/calculators soon.</p>