My parents earned around a combined $100k last year. I know how that sounds. My dad, however, was out of a job for about two years, during which time our income was 45k. In addition, they had to pay about $8-9k over the past three years for my grandparents and my grandfathers funeral; my mom is also taking about $13000 out of her check every year to pay for my grandmas expenses. I have a scholarship to attend a private school, though my parents contribute about $2-3k a year We do not own a home, and have limited (if any) assets. I am not interested in doing the college match, I just wanted to know: am I too privileged to qualify as a finalist?
I don’t think there in much upside applying in your case. If you aren’t even going to match it just gets you an award to list. The colleges will determine aid the usual way, looking at past year income and assets. They don’t take debt into account. They don’t take giving family money into account. But if your grandmother lives with you and is a dependent then that gives you more family members in your household.
So I don’t know if Questbridge will take into account average income over the past 3 years but they do say most applicants have less than 60k and I suspect that is for more than 3 people. It seems unlikely enough to pass on the process.
I’d focus on the list of automatic merit colleges pinned to the top of the financial aid forum, and commute from home options.
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