<p>“I do wish more of the elite schools would just put calculators on their websites so that people could see up-front what a likely range might look like.” </p>
<p>That would be great. Carnegie Mellon had one last fall, but I didn’t find it this year when looking for a friend.</p>
<p>Geez DadII: Why would you possibly write something like that to OP. Your family hit the jackpot and lottery w/ a Stanford admit- it could have gone the other way as you well know, and then you would have had to deal with a top ranked school without generous finAid. You also hit it at the right time. I would think you would write something constructive or nothing at all because you are so grateful to the Universe for such good fortune. Be careful you don’t start thinking you DESERVED this good fortune (and OP didn’t)- because the universe has a way of equalizing things- Might happen in Grad/med school to one of your kids and their dreams and desires are dashed because you can’t come up with the amount of money to pay COA, and either can your kid. Wouldn’t feel very good- on that we can all agree.</p>
<p>“I would like to think a student should be able to make at least 20K in four summers.”</p>
<p>DadII, what have you been smoking? The way things have been lately, a summer job for a college student is very difficult to find & keep going back to, summer after summer, unless said college student has a relative with a family business! </p>
<p>In our neck of the woods, many summer jobs for high school & college students have gone to unemployed adults who need to put food on the family dinner table.</p>
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<p>DadII…exactly what did you “demonstrate” to the finaid office that was not portrayed accurately on the FAFSA and Profile? You don’t have to give the “specifics” but you know…you would be helping LOTS of people if you actually gave some pointers instead of just saying “I did it…and you didn’t”.</p>
<p>I just want to add a note of caution here- FA officers are real people, who earn real paychecks, who also have their own kids to educate. If anyone’s takeaway from this thread is that it is a simple matter to show up, look honest and poor, and get your aid adjusted-- well, I have a bridge to sell you.</p>
<p>IF the school made an error (mathematical);
IF the school was unaware of special circumstances- younger sibling with severe disabilities, elderly parent with dementia who has just moved in and who needs an aide for bathing and dressing and the family is paying for that out of pocket;
IF the school counted an asset as belonging to the kid but which can’t be sold or borrowed against and has no cash flow (I imagine an asset held in a trust, or joint-ownership in a family business where kid is a minority owner);
IF one of the parents just lost their job, and their severance has been counted as income for last year even though it is just a lump sum payment to cover the next 6-8 months that it could take to find another job;</p>
<p>etc.</p>
<p>Showing up and kvetching that band camp is so expensive for younger sibling and how the heck are you going to pay for it given your EFC isn’t exactly going to cut it.</p>
<p>OP- your kid sounds great and you sound great and a year from now, you will all be a great place.</p>
<p>Every April we have heartbroken kids on this forum with admits to their dream schools and parents who have either just realized or just decided that they can’t or won’t pay their EFC. Dad II, it would be a great kindness if you’d share how you approached the finaid office and made a convincing case for increasing the aid offered by a top need-only school. </p>
<p>Some of the posters responding (and I’m one) advised our kids to take need-only schools off the table when starting the college search because of our understanding of how need-only works. I have no complaints about the results, nor do my kids. However, it would be enlightening to learn more about when, and under what circumstances, need-only schools make a subsequent, more generous offer.</p>
<p>Good posts, blossom and frazzled. Posters who have successfully gone back and gotten more aid should kindly share the specifics/ intricacies of what how to present additional information- it would be very helpful to many posters.</p>
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<p>Just a word of caution regarding trusts…if your kiddo or you are beneficiaries of a trust, regardless of whether you have access to funds from said trust, your shares of the values of the trust must be reported…and will not be removed. The reality is ANY trust can be dissolve following the provisions of the trust and trust law. We researched this EXTENSIVELY when a family trust was being established that was a real estate property worth a fortune.</p>
<p>From what I can tell by reading this thread, a lot of people choose to spend their money in ways that then have them counting on the financial aid system to help put their kids thru school. As if there is some definition of having earned it, which is a joke. There seems to be too many who want to game the system, hide assets or otherwise discount them so they can essentially suffer no cutbacks in their daily lives while their kids attend some of the top programs in the country. I am saying this to no one in particular, but a lot of it seems slightly unethical and for that reason I think schools that require the profile are far more responsible with their FA dollars than those that merely require FAFSA. </p>
<p>Granted, my opinion is from the perspective of someone who is a full pay but also someone who doesn’t take vacations, do home improvements or buy new cars. My kid also has to work throughout the summer to pay his expenses throughout the year or somehow make it work that he can earn money while also doing unpaid internships etc. It becomes slightly frustrating that he has friends on FA who somehow have parents who subsidize their monthly budgets, they travel for spring break, go abroad etc etc when as someone who pays full boat cannot do any of things, including affording a car on campus. It just seems absurd to me that a full pay ends up having a less than RICH experience compared to the kid on substantial financial aid. Makes me wonder if we should have just lived high on the hog all these years!!</p>
<p>Yep… some of the disclosures on these kinds of threads make me slightly bitter.</p>
<p>OP, it is frustrating things didn’t work out as you hoped, but I gather Rice released you from the ED agreement so you can move on. Your daughter sounds like the kind of amazing kid who will quickly rebound from this disappointment and land somewhere else that ends up being the perfect place for her! Somehow, these things always tend to work out.</p>
<p>So now, the college fun begins!</p>
<p>We are so lucky in Texas to have great public schools–and as #1 in her class, she has earned her choice of flagships.</p>
<p>And because you said TAMU engineering is your daughter’s #1 next choice, I just wanted to be sure you had February 19 on your calendar–engineering runs its own schedule of events on Aggieland Saturday. See these web pages for more information:</p>
<p>[Aggieland</a> Saturday - Engineering Activities](<a href=“http://essap.tamu.edu/agsat/]Aggieland”>http://essap.tamu.edu/agsat/)
[Think</a> Big - Texas A&M Engineering Home](<a href=“National Fellowships - LAUNCH”>http://thinkbig.tamu.edu/)</p>
<p>That “discovery” day is open to all HS students, i.e., it’s not targeted to admitted seniors. But friends who’ve attended have raved about the experience, and it would be a great opportunity for your daughter if didn’t participate in any of the earlier events aimed more at seniors and admitted students. (She could probably also arrange with Admissions to do all the “admitted student” stuff that Friday before, i.e., tour, info session, sit in on a class or two, etc. It would be ideal if she could arrange to spend that night on campus, too, either through their official host program or a friend she may know.)</p>
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<p>As you said earlier in the thread, TAMU’s engineering program is nationally ranked, and there is really nothing comparable to the lifelong school spirit Aggies posses. And talk about career placement and job networking–Ags have that system down. </p>
<p>(Like others who’ve similarly posted to this thread, I am actually a Longhorn, LOL, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that UT also has a highly regarded engineering school–your daughter should definitely keep it in the running! But as a mom going through this process with my own senior this year, I know how important it is to respect a preference. So if she’s excited about A & M, then gig 'em!)</p>
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<p>I hope not! I would hate to not have control over my future…</p>
<p>Thank you Modadunn. i often feel the same way. But, I have a child on significant financial aid and I’ll guarantee you that my house is falling apart, one car is always in the garage, and I travel rarely not work related. We also have a friends whose child is also on a lot of financial aid and the travel several times a month for recreation. Yes, I often feel to be “struggling” but I can’t assume what is going on with someone else. For all I know, they are taking out significant loans. </p>
<p>Dad II, I am also bothered by breaking a ED “promise” but again, you can’t assume what is going on with someone else. Possibly the OP has a boat (H is a captain) which are impossible to sell these days yet is still an asset.</p>
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The point is that for most families, the college defines demonstrated need in a way that the family CAN afford, and in borderline cases, the loan cap may even make that possible (if the student takes loans anyway to decrease family contribution).</p>
<p>There will always be exceptions. The OP’s situation is one of those exceptions, as was yours.</p>
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Agreed. In fact, I would say that you MUST be in a different frame of mind during ED than during RD–get out of the “comparison” mindset, get into the “can I afford this and do I want to afford this” mindset. Be prepared to take a package that’s just OK, just barely doable, and do so happily because you believe that this school is absolutely the best choice. If the package is undoable, for the sake of any deity that may or may not exist, be prepared to turn it down. ED is not a time when you can afford to let your emotions change your rational decisions.</p>
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But you don’t know what’s actually going on, financially, for those friends. Maybe their parents are fiscally irresponsible. Or maybe the student has outside scholarships that cover workstudy requirements of FA.</p>
<p>I read a few of the new posts and this is our reality; we did $10,000 on home repairs because out sliding glass doors were falling off and falling on our dining room table during a northern. We do not own any boats, my husbsnd works on someone else’s boat. We drive a beat up blazer that my husband had to bribe someone to pass inspection and I drive a sunfire. If we go on vacation we camp. So all this conjecturing of our assets is absolutely absurd. But I am not here to defend myself but to say we got an offer of $27,000 a year at Southwestern and they have a pre-engineering program that filters students to Wash. U and pays half the tuition when they go to Wash. U as long as the kids maintain a 3.5 GPA at Southwestern. So folks guess where we are hoping our daughter will go?</p>
<p>Congratulations! That is wonderful news - I am very happy for you and your daughter. I bet you are sleeping much better now! :)</p>
<p>Congrats on the great offer. One word of caution though, even for kids who have PERFECT HS records, a 3.5 GPA is TOUGH to maintain, especially in engineering. It’s an important consideration to keep in mind. I think it’s generous of USC to have their GPA set at 3.0 to keep most merit awards. Especially in their 1st year & also when they start taking tough courses, grades can dip and having the pressure to maintain a 3.5 can prevent kids from exploring courses that might be interesting and helpful. Our S did not have a 3.5 consistently throughout his engineering studies (even tho he ended up with just above a 3.5 so he could graduate with honors)–this is even tho he had taken a lot of the AP calculus & physics in HS.</p>
<p>Yes we are drinking beer on the porch and breathing sighs of relief. However, girl chick is not as excited as we are. THe other part of this picture is that d feels we have pushed her in the engineering direction all her life so she is a bit unsureif that is what she wants to do. So I think a small liberal arts school with an engineering option is a good choice. She also has an interview this weekend for a potential full ride. So send good thoughts</p>
<p>Side question: is the Southwestern-WUSTL engineering program 3-2? I know very few students who actually go through with 3-2 programs, perhaps because it requires them to miss senior year of “college” with their established network of friends.</p>
<p>You are wise to look for merit-aid alternatives. Given the disaster with Rice’s need-based FA, getting a significantly better offer from other need-based schools is… possible but extremely risky.</p>
<p>Good luck Label. As the parent of a female engineering graduate…who probably will never practice engineering…I understand your daughter’s feelings. Our kid went to a school where she got her engineering degree but also a double major in biology. It was perfect and opened her options in a different way than only an engineering degree would.</p>
<p>Oh my, I never thought about that aspect of the 3-2 program, which it is. Geez, does this ever get easier!!</p>