<p>i live in somerset county nj, the supposedly richest county in the nation and go to a regional public hs with a lot of priviledged peers. My parents (a nurse and a corrections officer aka prison guard) together make about 100k. However, in our area, that is middle middle class at the highest. I understand that in some parts of the country a dollar goes a lot further. I also have two sisters who are going to be attending college, one two years younger. How much can I expect in aid when I , the eldest, am the only child in college? I've heard that having a sibling in college really augments the financial aid given- is that true? How much can I expect from the FAFSA and the school itself?
Here is a rough list of the places I may be applying- i know aid can vary a lot by school.
I will be taking a pie in the sky shot at some ivies, williams, maybe amherst, wellesley, vassar, suny binghamton, rutgers and the college of new jersey (in state), smith, haverford, jhuand possibly bucknell and bryn mawr.<br>
WHen i do get into college, I plan on channelling a lot of energy into looking for scholarships local, natl, on every level. My mom went to college but my dad didin't- will that be enough to qualify me for scholarships on the first generation in college basis?
Thanks</p>
<p>Most of the schools which you are considering only give need based financial aid and will use a number of things to calculate "how much aid you are going to get."</p>
<p>At this time, your sisters are not going to be considered into the equation until they actually start to attend college.</p>
<p>Because your mother did attend college, you would not be considered a first generation college student.</p>
<p>As most of the schools on your list also request the CSS profile, your parents's income is just a small piece of the pie. </p>
<p>The FAFSA and the CSS profile measure 2 different things.</p>
<p>The FAFSA (federal methodology) really only looks at your eligibility for federal aid (loans and pell/seog grants ). All schools require the FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you are attending a school that gives need based FA, they most likely use an institutional/concensus methodology to determing aid will most likely ask for the Profile or their own institutional aid form in addition to the FAFSA. </p>
<p>A school that use the FAFSA long with the CSS profile / their own institutional forms does look at the income assets of both parents: custodial/non-custodial and even step parents. </p>
<p>Your EFC from a school that only uses the FAFSA will look very different from a school that uses the FAFSA and the CSS profile or their own instiutional aid form.</p>
<p>The information from the profile will account for your increase in EFC because your EFC may show that you have considerable income/assets/equity which shows up on the profile that you don't have to indicate on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is requested by all schools and is mainly used by schools that calculate FA using the federal methodology. </p>
<p>The schools that require the CSS profile often distribute their own institutional funds and use an institutional/ concensus methodolody. The Profile is used to get a more complete picture of your financial situation.</p>
<p>Differences between the IM and FM models include:</p>
<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>
<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>
<p>FM defines income as the adjusted gross income on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>
<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>
<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a familys capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>
<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of independence.</p>
<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>
<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not declare independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>
<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>
<p>As a student, there are cumulative limit of $23,000 which you can borrow for an undergraduate education using stafford or perkins loans.</p>
<p>there are a number of FA calculators (college board) including some at the sites of the schools that you are interested in attending. I would suggest running your numbers through their calculators to see what the numbers look like</p>
<p>The problem with living in an affluent place is not only that colleges don't consider the higher cost of living, but most probably your parents own a home that's worth a lot on paper. The colleges you're applying to use profile and they expect parents to borrow against the house to pay for college. Chances are that on $100K, without something like unusual medical expenses, and if they have a home and savings, they will be expected to pay quite a lot. I find most people at this income level are shocked by their EFC. And outside scholarships will not reduce what your parents are expected to pay, they will reduce your loans and then your grants. So if money is going to be an issue, start looking at schools that give good merit money. If you have the stats for an ivy, many schools will give you merit aid. They use merit aid at many schools to get kids that otherwise would have gone to top colleges. See the thread onm the parent's board. Also, you're not first generation if a parent went to college and I've never heard of a first generation scholarship given by a college.</p>
<p>first generation is a slight consideration towards admissions- some schools will consider you first gen if neither parent has a college degree- some first gen if neither parent has attended a 4 yr college- some only consider first gen if neither parent has taken any college courses at all.
Haven't seen it as a consideration for aid.
Making 100K is almost double national average income-and from what I have seen, best time to look for scholarships is when you are still in high school.Best places to look are often local, local companies/ community organizations like Rotary, parents club affliations.</p>
<p>if you have good stats, youll get a lot of merit money at either rutgers or TCNJ, check out the online calculators (that I know they have atleast for rutgers) to see what youd qualify for.</p>
<p>ah, i have a similar situation to yours and i live in somerset county too! except my father went to college not my mother and i go to a private school. it looks like im not getting much aid at all ugh. and it's even worse because my school is hard so im not in the top 5 or whatever for merit aid at tcnj or anything. oh welll.</p>
<p>Yup, those scholarships at Rutgers and TCNJ are lovely BUT quite hard to earn in nj. If you attend a competitive high school, you can have the required SAT needed but lack the class rank because the caliber of the class you are in. So, it's your bad luck to be attending a competitive hs and 'only' be in the top 15%.
Happened at our house.</p>
<p>so can i expect any financial aid (non merit) at a private school?
a lot of places say they are need blind and meet 100 percent of demonstrated need, but i'm concerned that won't help</p>
<p>also, i went on the financial aid calculators but basically the only statistic i have some idea of is my parents combined income (before taxes)
i'm really afraid to ask my parents for help because it would probably scare them
thanks for the advice</p>
<p>You definitely need to involve them in this process. Sit down with them, their 2005 federal tax returns and the online calculator. Plug in your numbers and you will know what is expected of them. Without this knowledge you are flying blind. FWIW, we have income slightly less, but only one other kid. We are able to meet our EFC out-of-pocket by living frugally.</p>
<p>It really is better to have the parent talk sooner rather than later. Just assure them it's a partnership, and you won't ask for a school they can't afford. I think it's hard on parents, they want us to have everything but they do need to think about the rest of the family and retirement. I've worked the last 2 summers to sock away money to help in the best paying jobs I can find and I'm taking a gap year during which I'm going to save like crazy. I'll also work in college. It's worth it to me and my parents are stretching but in a reasonable way. My step brother on the other hand chose a state school because he wanted to play music summers and he's happy with his decision.</p>
<p>Be aware that the merit money situation at New Jersey public colleges is in a state of flux right now. Those students recently admitted have been promised their merit aid will continue, but for next year's applicants, it's not a sure thing. Keep an eye out for further developments.</p>
<p>If your parents have any assets...like a home...in an affluent county (that probably costs big money), I wouldn't expect much, if anything.</p>
<p>/Had to face reality and will be attending Michigan, not Cornell.</p>
<p>You quite likely will receive some need based aid at schools in the $40K range. Run some of the financial aid calculators to see. Everyone's situation is different. Princeton has one on their website, as do many others.</p>
<p>I'll go out on a limb - at the need based schools you'll pay 23 grand plus, average 5000 in loans and the rest in aid.</p>
<p>i don't want to scare you, but i wouldn't expect much aid...</p>
<p>i was (am) in a similar situation myself. I live in a wealthy county of new york, where the standard of living is quite high, and we are probably middle middle class as well (only my father works, he earns probably around 90k). Last year i got into a couple of the schools you mentioned - amherst and vassar - as well as several other private schools. All of them gave me very little money - i was required to pay around 37-38k at least (vassar was about 40k). Ultimately, i decided to go to the only private school that gave me merit money, even though i had hated it when i visited and had had my heart set on somewhere else (which was, at the time, brown... i begged and pleaded with their financial aid office, but to no avail).</p>
<p>Long story short - i was miserable at said school this year, i reapplied as a transfer to vassar and, fortunately, got in. Now i'm in the same money predicament again, and i have a week to decide what to do...</p>
<p>i do suggest looking for scholarships. i did do so last year, and received some but not enough. i plan on devoting a lot of time to looking for them now... also look for schools that will give merit aid. Unfortunately, i ended up hating the one i was at... with that said, be careful. DO NOT apply to a school that gives money but that you do not like. It makes it so much harder to make a choice. Try to find one that gives money but that you know you wouldn't mind going to. (My biggest mistake was not visiting schools before i applied, so i really didn't know how i felt about the school i'm now at until i had already gotten in and received the money.)</p>
<p>i wish you the best of luck! feel free to pm me if you have any questions! :)</p>
<p>My parents make around 110k, my EFC was 25k, and I received 27k in grants from Emory (in comparison, I received 11k from CMU). Maybe I was just lucky - but apply to schools with large endowments and you will likely get good need-based aid. (Like Williams (avg need-based grant 29k), Harvard (avg need-based grant 30k! o.o), etc.)</p>
<p>thanx for all your great suggestions
i just talked to my parents
my dad apparently works a lot of overtime he said he made 100 000 ahh! and my mom made 50 000, so the situation for money is even worse than i thought.
however the finaid calc said my efc was 25 000, so hopefully i'll at least get something
any ideas on good places i'd get merit aid with my stats?</p>