<p>Ok, I have been quarreling with my parents non-stop about applying to certain schools. My father makes about $270,000 a year, and my mother makes about $25,000, but they are divorced. My brother is currently in college, and I have another brother who will go to college in a few years. My parents say that I can not go to an expensive school, unless I get meaningful scholarships there, which obviously will not happen since most of the expensive ones I'm looking at are reaches. So, am I being unrealistic in arguing for letting me go to a college that is expensive even if I don't get any scholarships (I would even be willing to do a work/study program)?</p>
<p>Also, what kind of aid (if any at all) can I expect from a reach school like Cornell? Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>Who do you live with? If you live with your Mom and go to a FAFSA only school then you will probably get fairly good need based aid as for FAFSA you report only her income/assets (Assuming she is not remarried). </p>
<p>However if you go to a school that requires CSS/profile (such as Cornell) then for their institutional aid you will have to report the income/assets of both parents and their spouses (if applicable). You receive federal aid based on your Mom's income (if she is the one you live with) but with your Dad having an income of $270k you are unlikely to receive much in the way of institutional aid.</p>
<p>With that kind of income you can expect no aid from Cornell or any other school. Your EFC will come up as $99,999 (the default high number). You won't be eligible for work study.
Do yourself a favor and listen to your parents. They are telling you they will not pay. Ask them how much they are willing to contribute. Apply to state schools that fall in that range.<br>
Or apply to schools where you are in the top of the SAT/GPA range and look for some merit money.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses (even though they got me even more depressed). In my mind, I know it sounds spoiled, but I feel that my parents should be able to pay for at least a good portion of an expensive school, considering their salaries. I mean, it is not like we live in a big house, or get all the latest accessories or nice cars or anything; we live like normal people. They literally tell me that they can not afford to pay for college when it is absolutely clear that they can.</p>
<p>Anyway, looking back at your responses about FAFSA only schools, is there a list that I can look at to check some of them out? My list now looks like this:
Cornell
JHU
Brown
Boston College
Colgate
College of the Holy Cross (legacy)
Bucknell
Lafayette
Carnegie Mellon
Villanova
College of New Jersey</p>
<p>That does not include safeties, but any information would be great.</p>
<p>You can check out whether the school is a CSS/Profile school by visiting the financial aid website of each school and reading the instructions for financial aid applications.</p>
<p>I disagree Somewhere...there are schools where the OP will be happy that won't require the kind of loans he would have to take to go to Cornell. Read the post on the parent page about the NYU student who is about to graduate with 88K in loans.<br>
Happiness at a school isn't about how much you pay to go there.</p>
<p>Chronicfuture- You have many schools on that list that are reaches for anyone, or who don't give much merit aid. The way you can get a private college acceptance that is affordable in your situation is merit awards. You need to do searches on your stats vs. other schools and be in the top 25% of the applicant pool. Be grateful that your parents are telling you now what is possible financially for them, as you still have time to apply to private schools where your stats will play for $$ or (as ebeee and swimcatsmom have pointed out) fafsa only schools. </p>
<p>It is critical that you work through this with your parents now, vs. being left with no options you are happy with in the spring.</p>
<p>Absolutely critical. And you need real numbers. Ask them exactly how much they are willing to pay? Is that amount total including housing, transportation, etc.? You need to sit down and be very specific with them.
It doesn't matter if your argument is realistic...you cannot finance a school like Cornell on your own. Time to get real.</p>