<p>I've heard some great things about Princeton's financial aid program, but I want to hear from students if they received generous packages or not. Also, does anyone know how accurate the aid calculator is on their website?</p>
<p>Princeton is very generous with their financial aid! The aid calculator was very accurate in my son's case.</p>
<p>I received a very generous financial aid package. Although I don't remember the exact number, it was over $40,000 in grants.</p>
<p>When I had to take care of my sick dad this summer, the financial aid guy actually called me and talked about a summer grants to make up for not working during the summer.</p>
<p>Yes, quite generous. $0 family contribution. The numbers they use to estimate expenses are generous as well, considering every possible expense (and from what I've heard, and then some), including transportation, unlimited meals, recreational expenses, and books. The work expectations are very considerate of a student's life. They offered a low-interest subsidized loan so I could get a laptop for college. My family may actually have slightly fewer expenses since I'm going to college, so yes, I would say this is more than I could have ever hoped for: I don't have to take out any loans while my sister at a state school does.</p>
<p>wow that sounds excellent......one thing though, my friend showed me a chart that they gave him while he was visiting which showed how much aid you can expect to get based on your family's income.... the range between 140000-160000 received almost full tuition....then i go onto the calculator on the website and it told me that if you have 140000 annual income, you're eligible for about 9k in aid per year....so anyone want to clarify that? thanks</p>
<p>It's not just about income as it also depends on if you have siblings in college and other assets.</p>
<p>For example, I just completed the estimator using $150,000 income, a random guess of $16,000 in income tax paid (I'm really not sure what's appropriate for this income bracket), $250,000 in real estate equity, $800 student savings, and $10,000 in parental savings with two children but only one in college and I was estimated a package at $11,000 in grants + $2320 campus job.</p>
<p>If I change home equity to $100,000 and keep everything else equal my award jumps up to $19,300 in grants + $2350 campus job.</p>
<p>If I keep everything equal from my second one and add another kid in college, my awards becomes $33,700 + $2320 in campus job.</p>
<p>If you don't know how to properly fill out the estimator for your parents' financial situation, try to keep in mind that Princeton will make it so that you can attend college without any dramatic lifestyle changes (unless you're living well beyond your means). If the award package you end up receiving is exceedingly difficult for your family to meet, a phone call to the aid office might actually give you some more aid.</p>
<p>If you don't work in the summer, they give you half of the amount you're supposed to earn in extra grant money. </p>
<p>Princeton is known for its generous aid and most people will graduate debt free.</p>
<p>thanks for the input, i hope i get in, lol</p>
<p>for the calculator on their website, i put that i have 140,000 in family income, 5k in family savings, 0 home equity, 0 investments, 0 student savings, 20k income tax paid, home owner (we just bought a house which depleted most of our savings)..and it told me i would get 8600-9600 in grant money...which doesn't correlate with what everyone's been telling me, so i must be doing something wrong here?</p>
<p>These numbers are all estimates btw</p>
<p>Oh and my family's income just recently rose to this level over the past 2 years, previously it had been around 70000-90000, and before that it was even lower at one point</p>
<p>That's weird. I put in the info you gave(except I had to make up some stuff like family size and state residency that I don't know) and the calculator was estimating about 25,000 in grants.</p>
<p>Weird, I put in my info and I only get 7K in grants...I must be doing it wrong.</p>
<p>I probably messed up somewhere since your estimate seems to be closer bicyclekick's.</p>
<p>wait...I think i'm the one that messed up since I keep hearing about how generous Princeton is with financial aid...i don't consider 8k a year that generous...lol</p>
<p>this is really strange....i just did it again and got 0 in grant money..lol....however, i tried it again and i put 0 for untaxed income and got a grant of 24000....</p>
<p>I checked a site that said your income tax for $140,000 income is $27,944. I put in the information you gave and made some assumptions (your parents didn't pay for your education, 3 family members total, older parent is age 50, $0 medical expenses, married filing jointly, dad made $90,000 while mom made $50,000).</p>
<p>Putting in that information, assuming you lived in California, your aid is $30,000 grants + $2320 campus job. Parent contribution is $20,000. Changing where you live had minimal impact, usually 0 impact, on the score.</p>
<p>Tax site: [url=<a href="http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm%5DTax">http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm]Tax</a> Brackets (Federal Income Tax Rates) 2000 through 2008<a href="there's%20a%20calculator%20below%20the%20rates">/url</a>.</p>
<p>ok, what did i do wrong here?
<a href="https://sweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/FinAid/any_year_finaid_form_calculate_new.pl%5B/url%5D">https://sweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/FinAid/any_year_finaid_form_calculate_new.pl</a></p>
<p>oh...i think i see what i did...i put 160000 for untaxed income....which is not true...lol...</p>