<p>I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who isn't excited about my acceptances. Because my parents are like, let's wait and see how the money goes.</p>
<p>We are not poor. But for all the celebrating ED this and that on here - well all I can figure is that most of you must be LOADED if you don't even have to think about the cost.</p>
<p>WTH?</p>
<p>That's pretty much why our daughter applied RD to her colleges. We wanted to see what the financial aid packages look like before making a final decision.</p>
<p>well, a lot of the top schools are need blind, and tend to be pretty generous with financial aid</p>
<p>i'm in pretty heavy need, but i got into amherst which has some of the best financial aid, so i'm not all that worried</p>
<p>although my parents are making me wait to withdraw my other applications until we see the package...</p>
<p>so while people may in fact be waiting for their financial aid package, it's hard not to be ecstatic when you get into the school of your choice.</p>
<p>hope it all works out for you ;)</p>
<p>I applied EA to several schools and my decisions are going to be mainly based on financial aid. It's still worth celebrating over acceptances though, becuase you can't get money from a school you aren't accepted to!</p>
<p>Generally speaking, when does a college that sends you an acceptance send you a financial package?</p>
<p>Most students on this site applied to ivy-league and ivy-caliber schools that meet 100% of need...so applying ED isn't really a big deal. Even top schools that don't meet 100% of need tend to be much more generous with ED applicants. In short, you're not going to get screwed for applying ED, especially at top schools.</p>
<p>haven't you heard the saying... an education is priceless... i mean if it's a good school...</p>
<p>it just means that maybe you can't take that vacation to the bahamas or go out to dinner and the movies...it's all about cutting back.</p>
<p>and if you consider it, middle class parents spend about 20,000 on one kid each year, food costs, if they drive and pay insurance, cell phone bills, school fees, living in the house you live in, family vacations, spending money, buying clothes for them. if you think about it life in general is pretty expensive. Plus, a lot of our parents have been saving up so that we can attend top notch colleges without having to worry about costs, so...</p>
<p>a. cutting back
b. consider the expenses they won't have to pay when you are at college
c. you are independent, and you shouldn't have parents pay for social expenses anymore
d. you aren't driving so, a. they can sell your car and b. insurance will go down cause a teenager isn't driving it anymore if they take you off the plan
e. SAVINGS
d. it helps if a relative has died and left you money
f. maybe they can even rent your room out to someone (haha jkjk)</p>
<p>but i'm not incredibably rich, but i am going to a 40K school a year, probably with no merit aid because my sats suck, but it is a really great school and i'm lucky to have been accepted and will go no matter how much the cost... </p>
<p>even if you aren't rich, it is all about the financial planning.</p>
<p>Don't good colleges meet all your need and won't accept you if they can't meet your need ???????</p>
<p>Comfy:</p>
<p>Nope. They can admit you, but not meet your financial need. Some schools guarentee to give you all the aid you need (based on your EFC), while others gap you (met a percentage of need, but not all of it). Depends on the school. For instance, NYU, BU, and JHU do not gurentee to meet need. While, Yale, Amherst, and Williams do.</p>
<p>they're plenty of options out there for paying for college, grants, loans, ect. Just because you're not loaded doesn't mean you don't go to a good college. Getting accepted the college of your choice is a big deal, don't try to minimize it.</p>
<p>Wow. These posts worry me. </p>
<p>You guys do know that what your parents might consider their NEED is apt to vary greatly from what a school considers their NEED - right? </p>
<p>I mean, they've all run the FAFSA calculator, right? </p>
<p>Also, are you braced for possibly big loans?</p>
<p>I mean, I'm just saying...</p>
<p>My financial aid estimate is right what we believe our need is. I think that for the most part this rings true for people, within say 10%</p>
<p>Beware of schools that look at home equity as an asset. Value of your home can make a big difference in EFC, trust me I know.</p>
<p>let them celebrate - they've after all, just gotten into their dream college. (most of them, anyways)</p>
<p>I enjoyed one day of glorious celebration before I started worrying about fin/aid. I've been worrying ever since, even though my parents have assured me multiple times that they'll be able to make it with loans and stuff.</p>
<p>My ED school says that it's committed to meeting 100% of students' need, so according to the school, even if I barely get any aid, my parents should be able to afford the 40k price tag. </p>
<p>We're by no means rich, so I'm a little worried. My parents keep on insisting that they can afford it, but their insistence is a little scary.</p>
<p>Also, how much impact will the FAFSA have if my current fin/aid package is just based on the CSS Profile, the school form, and 2005 tax returns? Because I receive my final financial aid package sometime in April.</p>
<p>mycrazyhazeleyes - I had to smile when I read your reply. You make it sound a lot easier than it is. We are well off by most standards. We saved. None of our 3 kids ever HAD a car so taking that expense off the the list is not an option. We never took fancy vacations. We were able to take other expenses that we had been applying to the kids and put that towards tuition. However, we have never felt in the position that we could let any of the kids apply ED without regard to what the colleges felt our EFC should be. A big part of the issue is that due to the spacing of our children, 3 kids with 2 years between each, the middle child is always in school at the same time as one of his brothers. And we have a total of 3 tuitions to pay over the course of 8 years. Many other folks who are also well off also have other issues such as health problems. My youngest would likely have been accepted to his first choice school if he had applied ED, (he was ultimately waitlisted) but we were not in a position to make a commitment without knowing how the school would treat us financially. </p>
<p>Making sacrafices is one thing, jumping into financial unknowns is completely another. In order to make good financial decisions you need to have all the information on the table.</p>
<p>Demeter - If your parents say that they can afford it, trust them and don't worry about it.</p>
<p>In general, you have to worry if your parents are slightly upper middle class (>100 K < 150 K combined income, and have home equity or savings). They are the ones that pay the biggest fraction of their incomes. The lower income people have their needs met by most schools. The really rich people don't care anyway. They probably spend 25 - 50 K just to prep the kid for college admissions!</p>
<p>Don't worry so much, Demeter. Your parents undoubtedly consider you very much worth the investment. I certainly feel that way about my own two daughters, both of whom are or will be attending expensive schools. It's going to be very difficult for us financially over the next few years, but we'll gladly do whatever is necessary to handle it. Sounds like your parents feel the same way.</p>
<p>... and that is the difference between my family and yours... i have a sister who is now self sufficient and i am an only child. </p>
<p>so i guess i'm kinda referring to if you are an only child.</p>
<p>haha in a way i'm trying to make myself feel better by listing those things... my parents say they can afford this college even if i don't get any merit aid, and i really don't know a lot about financial stuff i just kinda put it in view that when i am off at college paying 40K a year w/ food included, they won't have to pay for food anymore because i'm basically the only one who eats a lot in this family and likes to go out to eat and that covers family expenses of like 10,000 a year with buying food for like my lunches and such- so my mom and dad will downsize and save money that way... I JUST FEEL SO BAD because we aren't in debt or anything and are very financially secures and even so I feel like I should be paying for this "dream school" of mine, and i offered to put down like 1,000 for summer work, and they won't let me, we go to college to be self sufficient, and i just don't feel that way with having my parents pay for it...</p>
<p>i mean i just hope maybe 10,000 - 20,000 of the college education is what they are paying for my current living expenses and school fees and driving a car and gas, etc.... and that would make me feel a little better.</p>
<p>as my aunt likes to say it when she put her son through clumbia w.out any fin. aid or scholarship.... it's like writing a check for a car each year, and leaving the car at the dealership for them to enjoy...</p>
<p>p.s. this doesn't relate at all, but like if you can, pay for college with one of those credit cards instead of writing a check that you get points on and rewards for. then, atleast u know u might get 10 nights free in the bahamas or like 2,000 cash back or something... i know my parents are doing that.. haha.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reassurance, shennie and Hindoo. That really did make me feel better.</p>
<p>mycrazyhazeleyes - Exactly. I offered to contribute, but my parents told me that if I was intent on slaving away at a minimum wage job, then it wasn't worth going to my ED school because it wouldn't be an efficient use of time. I'm still intent on contributing, but I guess I have a better perspective of things now.</p>