<p>I'm looking to apply to an Ivy League school or two, but my family cannot afford any of them. My parents make too much money for me to apply for need-based financial aid (we're upper middle class, but upper middle class can't take on $40-50 K in tuition). I'm definitely applying for other non-need based scholarships, but they're hard to come by.</p>
<p>So my question is: How accommodating are the Ivies? If I get accepted to one, will they stretch in order for me to go?</p>
<p>The Ivies tend to have the best need-based aid. But if your family income is $200k, don’t expect much aid, if any.</p>
<p>Blue, there are many students in your situation that have decided not to apply to Ivy League schools due to the cost factor. There are many good schools in this country that will give you very good merit scholarship if you have the stat to get admitted to an IVY.</p>
<p>It’s pretty simple, you either qualify for need based aid or you don’t. They don’t stretch. HYPS give some aid to families making as much as $180K. The others offer strong aid, but not as good. Use the calculators on their web sites to see if you qualify.</p>
<p>The Ivies give only need based aid. If you won’t qualify for need based aid, apply elsewhere. They will not bend their financial aid awarding criteria for you.</p>
<p>The ivies do not give merit money. But if you have the stats to realistically be a candidate for the ivies, there are many other schools where you would have a shot at some merit money. There are also some very select, prestigious scholarships that are very competitive at schools that have similar academic and reputation rankings as the ivies such as Duke, Johns Hopkins , U Chicago, UNCChapel Hill, Georgia Tech, Rice, Vanderbilt, Emory, Wake Forest and a number of others. </p>
<p>If you run your family financial info through some of the calculators, you can get an idea of what certain schools expect your family to pay. Harvard, for instance, has a very generous financial aid policy for families making under $200K.</p>
<p>You really won’t know until you 1) apply and 2) fill out the Fafsa and Profile. Once you are accepted, in April, you will finally get a letter that lays out YOUR cost. </p>
<p>The Admissions office will play their cards close to their chest. They will make encouraging noises but no promises. They can’t. They are building a class and they and the Fin Aid department simply cannot make promises until close to the end of the admissions process. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to try your best. Do the college applications to the best of your ability and make tons of appreciative noises to your parents for their work on the financial aid forms (which are a bear). You really need both the stellar application and the neat, complete, on time financial aid forms to get the best offer. </p>
<p>Dartmouth has been very generous to our son. He loves it there. We have still had to cut corners and scrape together our share – but there has been enough support from the college to make the journey possible. It has ended as a win-win. The college is investing in a great kid and I think he will be a devoted alumni. </p>
<p>Hand wringing and pipe dreaming do you no good. You can use some college calculators to get some general estimates for your family – but also know that the devil is in the details. That is why you are NOT going to get any promises or forecasts for your specific situation until you apply and provide the financial aid forms. Only then can the college figure out your particulars. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to do your best – and also be pragmatic and figure out some Happy College that would be an affordable delight (see many threads around “Love thy safety.”). This is life in a nutshell. Work like crazy. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best. Smell the roses along the way. Don’t wait around for the Fairy Godmother to see your inner worth and save you from cleaning floors by providing you with clothes, transportation and a Prince Charming. Get going.</p>
<p>Olymom has some excellent advice. I just want to add that when you make up your college list, put in a variety of colleges with different financial options. Just be aware if the numbers on the calculators of the need only schools show that you are going to get much or anything, that you may not be able to afford to go there. My son had no trouble just discarding those schools that did not give him merit money and were high cost. Didn’t even give it a thought. I did the same thing years ago. But I read posts here of ever so many kids moaning that they got into their dream school, got no financial or merit aid, and they can’t afford to go. They sound like this is an incredible surprise to them. It should not be.</p>
<p>Have a number of financial safeties on your list. Most kids should have a couple of those because you never know what the financial situation may be for your family. If Dad loses his job during the year, the market plummets and some catastrophe eats up the savings, while Mom’s job is downsized or she needs medical attention, the financial picture is not going to be the same as it was at the beginning of the app process.</p>
<p>One of the difficulties of being an upper middle, upper income family that is not so wealthy to withstand a financial hailstorm is that these things can happen. The money spent for colleges can be coming from the buffer from these very happenings. We got hit pretty hard a few years ago and have gone from a family that had planned to pay for whatever colleges our kids want to having to have some financial limitations. That did not mean that my kids did not apply to some expensive schools. But when it came to the final reckoning, the money did come into the picture.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies and comments. It’s appreciated.
I’ve thought about it over the past couple days and I don’t think the ives are worth massive debt. After a series of flash floods that wiped out everyone’s basement in a mile radius (State Farm is NOT a good neighbor), it’s looking like there would be no way for me to attend.
I will look elsewhere as suggested, and hopefully I will get better accommodation.</p>
<p>Well, you can apply to the ivies. Probably they won’t consider you for a large amount of aid but they may give you a small percentage in aid (probably $10k or something).</p>
<p>Anyways, if you get a certain amount of aid then it would bring down your debt a little.</p>
<p>Though, its a better choice to look elsewhere</p>
<p>You can apply to some ivies/elites just to see, but don’t expect them to work out financially.</p>
<p>Also…do NOT rely on outside scholarships to pay your costs. Outside scholarships are often too small, only for one year, and often have a “need” component. they are also very hard to get. Students do not pay for 4 years of private college with outside scholarships. I’ve seen a few very lucky kids cobble together a few thousand dollars in private scholarships for the first year, but then get little or nothing for the following years. </p>
<p>Protect yourself from disappointment next spring. In addition to applying to a couple of elite schools, be sure to apply to some schools that you KNOW FOR SURE that you can afford - either by paying all costs or by getting an ASSURED scholarship for your stats.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year? If you don’t know, ask. That answer will likely determine where you should apply.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Blue…Sorry to hear about the floods.</p>
<p>If you have the stats to be considering ivies/elites, then you probably have the stats to get some big scholarships from various schools.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>What is your likely major?</p>
<p>*I will look elsewhere as suggested, and hopefully I will get better accommodation. *</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by that. Schools that only give need-based aid probably aren’t going to be that accommodating. You need to consider some schools that will give you merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Did you try out the FAFSA Forecaster? It’s a preview of the EFC you might get. It’s not the official, final determination and, to my knowlege, is not shared anywhere. “My parents earn too much” is too vage for you to make this decision.</p>