@2ndTimeArnd Wellesley is definitely out of the question, because I’m not willing to take the risk that we deplete all of my funds in one year and then for one reason or another they still estimate us to have a full contribution. I’m from a middle class family (maybe upper middle class but we definitely don’t live like it), there’s no way my family will pay full freight. My merit scholarships have some basis in GPA, but they’re relatively low requirements and I don’t see how I’d struggle to achieve them. They exist for four years and frankly are a safer bet than hoping the FAFSA/Net Price Calculator does us some good. Thank you for the help, though.
@Phoria, if you’re interested in Wellesley at all, i’t’s worth a phone call. Wellesley is actually very generous to those who need it. Ask them what happens next year when the account is depleted, and what happens if your parent loses a job or if they get a promotion. They have very specific formulas. One thing that surprised me is that my D’s outside scholarship caused our price to go up a bit (because it was counted as income). But it was still a great deal, way better than Mount Holyoke’s deal. I don’t think they expect you to get a second mortgage unless you own multiple properties. They certainly didn’t for us, even with sizable equity. Definitely call and find out exactly what you can expect.
I am literally in the EXACT same situation. I was so excited to be accepted to Wellesley this year, as it was my top choice! However, I didn’t qualify for a single penny of financial aid. It’s really, really tough getting over the fact that I spent so much time and work to get into my dream school only to not be able to go because of money, but in the long run, I guess it’s nice that I won’t be in debt when I graduate. Good luck 
Friend of mine EFC 30K , husband unemployed did not get a Fin Aid at all. They wanted them to break their fixed deposit which is north of 100K to pay first … They end up selecting state school. She wanted to go to W for sure.
“Break their fixed deposit”== what does that mean?
I’m gonna close down this thread as I’m for sure not going to Wellesley. It was nice to have gotten in, though!
Appeal - it works!
I agree with DebraOfUSVI. We are family in this exact same situation and cannot afford over $240K, yet are expected to do so. In this case it was at UChicago who offered my oldest daughter no aid. We showed very strong interest by attending just about every single event for admitted students and kept in touch with our regional admissions representative. Had nothing to lose, so I wrote a heartfelt letter describing our situation. The admissions representative sent our informal appeal to the financial aid department and acted as our liaison to receive $10K off of the tuition per year. Granted, it made a dent, but not a huge dent. For the last two years, we are saving an additional $6K by moving out of student housing. (Wellesley students stay all 4 years on campus, so I guess this is irrelevant). Just wanted to share our experience even though it didn’t exactly turn out great. Still paying a lot of tuition and living costs. We were clueless about the whole college search process with our oldest daughter and did not know about merit aid scholarships shooting only for schools with prestige who have enough interest that they can afford to demand full tuition. This time around, we are casting a wider net to include colleges that offer merit aid. I am not hopeful we will receiving any aid from Wellesley if she were to be admitted, but will apply anyway. When it comes college, being upper middle class feels more like the poor house, but we should still count our blessings. Such is life.