<p>I feel your pain! Combined, my parents make about 85k annually, and all of the private schools I applied to want them to pay about 35k-40k! I thought that merit aid (I got about 20k from several schools) and the fact that my EFC is 8k would help, but nope. I would rather them just send a letter saying “what we want to give you would not be enough,” than send these elaborate FA packages.</p>
<p>Sorry that you can’t afford your dream colleges, but I bet you will do great at any school you choose! There’s always graduate school :)</p>