I just filled out Vandy’s NPC and it said that my net price is $7577. How accurate is this, assuming that all my information are correct?
I believe the more straight forward your financial position, the more accurate but remember it’s an estimate. Any real estate besides primary home, rental property, business income, etc. make it less reliable.
^ Good summary. Vandy is well endowed and fairly generous. If your family’s finances are simple (mainly income and some assets) it should be very accurate. The more exotic your family income/assets are, less accurate.
Bio-parents married to each other? Income mostly wages (ask your parents if they file a K1, have a lot of investment income, partners in a business or a sole proprietorship)? Are you a US citizen who lives in the US? And very important- do your parents file taxes every year ?
If the answers to these is yes- than NPC’s are likely to be pretty accurate.
My parents are divorced. Only my father and I are US Citizens as my mother resides in our native country–she will not be contributing anything. Income are mostly wages yes and my father files taxes every year.
Her income will be considered.
Divorces though can be tricky. Most colleges expect the non-custodial parent to contribute, regardless of the reality of the situation. They will thus want to know that parent’s income and factor it in, even if they are technically and realistically out of the picture.
Net price calculators can be a good leading indicator, but they can also be off by 20-25% easily too. Until you get that actual financial aid offer officially presented to you in detail, you cannot be fully sure of where you stand. It is thus good to have a few options when comparing financial aid offers.
Schools like Vandy, who are committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need, should be well-positioned to cover your true needs (but that will always be as they see it). Even they may want to know your mother’s income. Without knowing it, they may estimate it and lessen your aid, unfortunately. They may deduct for a # that they will she should be contributing toward your education.
Good luck…
Does the net price calculator ASK if the parents are divorced? If not, it probably won’t be as accurate as you would like it to be.
My understanding about Vandy (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong)…the school is a Profile School, but I don’t think the NCP Profile is required. BUT the school reserves the right to inquire about NCP income and assets if they choose to.
My mom can’t afford to contribute. She earns about ~$10000 usd a year (converted from our native currency) as a physician and she just bought a house a couple of months ago on top of my 3 siblings who reside with her. I know it seems rather low for a doctor (pediatrician), but you can actually live quite comfortably with that salary in native country.
Yes, it asked if my parents’ marital status
Did it also ask for the income of both parents? If so then the NPC estimate should be fairly close.