<p>The talk surrounding MIT and the ivy's is that they give much more, and much more liberal financial aid than state schools simply because they are so much more expensive.</p>
<p>I have written off any hope of financial aid from state schools here in Michigan.</p>
<p>My mom and dad are divorced. Together they make about 75-80. My dad is quite commonly between jobs due to the dying machine industry in this state (thanks to a very greedy political party) I wont name names but you know who you are.... </p>
<p>Anyways after visiting Princeton and MIT i was under the impression that I was at the low-middle end of the income scale (based impressions from other visitors. No i did'nt interview them so maybe im wrong).</p>
<p>I realize you can't give me a number, but does that put me in the running for at least some aid. I'm pinning most of my hopes of even attending these schools on 5 digits of aid.</p>
<p>The top private schools like Princeton have large endowements which means they can give a lot of financial aid. However, it all comes down to need and they look at more factord than most state schools do. In addition to your parent's incomes, they will look at their assets. Home ownership, stocks and bonds and any savings are usually the key things. Some schools also look at the income of step parents. </p>
<p>If your parents don't have a lot of equity in homes or savings, you should get significant aid at these schools.</p>
<p>Not much for assets. My mom owns her home but the mortgage is still rather significant. Savings besides 401k which i don't think counts are almost nonexistant.</p>
<p>Someone suggested princeton's early estimator.</p>
<p>The results were most promising :)</p>
<p>It suggested somewhere between 30,000-38,000. I did it twice because i am unsure of some of my dads #'s but i am quite confident in the accuracy of my moms.</p>
<p>I know its only an estimate and could be much lower, but WOW!!!</p>
<p>WOW is all i can say. I know Princeton's a little money happy compared to most other ivy's but if they even do half or 2/3rds of that they become possibilities.</p>
<p>I had no idea they would give nearly that much. I am astonished that some don't qualify, they truly wouldn't need the money if they were totally rejected.</p>
<p>Hi there,- My S applied to an Ivy (Columbia) ED after being assured that they, as all the Ivys, are need-blind re: admissions, and 100% need for financial aid. His dad and I are divorced -I gross $32,000 a year from my job, and his dad grosses @84,000 per year from his 2 jobs, plus he receives an annual annuity of $11,000 from the Army. There are some extenuauting circumstances stemming from a nearly castastrophic medical situation in 1999-2000 (mine) which we explained on the FA app. because it claims an additional $340 per month of my income. Also as we live in NYC our living costs are ridiculously high. My S resides with me and his younger sister, and his dad remarried right before S applied to Columbia. Also we have zero assets.</p>
<p>S was accepted ED, and indeed they gave him what we think was a decent need-based package between student loans, work-study, TAP, and grants (these made up by far the lion's share of the aid), leaving us with a total EFC of $11,000. In the meantime, S applied for 17 outside scholarships and received 4, one of which is phenomenal-4 years full tuition, plus $500 a year for books, plus a paid ($10 per hour to start) internship that is fulltime during the summers, and part-time (10-20 hours per week-his choice) during trhe school year. So basically we are left with his room and board cost (@$9700 per year), and for this I took out a PLUS Loan (and believe me due to above my credit history is far from great), for which my monthly payment is a little less than it costs me to have him at home. So for us it worked out. Also we established a relationship early on with his FA Officer, whom we found to be very helpful and willing to work with us. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Yea Princeton's estimator is pretty accurate as long as you don't lowball your figures. They are known to be generous with finaid, mainly because they don't give you loans (only grants) and don't take into account your home equity or something, not sure...
but yea, my finaid package from Princeton was by far the nicest, costing me 5k to 10k less than my other schools (Brown, Georgetown, Tufts, Uva)</p>
<p>I'm thinking MIT, Princeton, and Stanford in about that order.</p>
<p>I imagine they are all pretty generous.</p>
<p>Im assuming Princeton will give the most, MIT the same but with loans, and Stanford a little less than either...I dont really know as much about Stanford.</p>
<p>It's hard to predict what will happen...each school is different and they evaluate each case differently, so it's not impossible for there to be a 10K difference betwee your packages. Even though Princeton is known to be generous, there are still people who are unhappy with their package. If aid is a big deal for you, you should apply regular so you can compare.</p>
<p>I''m not sure about MIT and Stanford, but at the Ivys the only acceptable reason for not matriculating after an ED acceptance (there really is no "legally binding contract") is if the financial aid package is not sufficient, however Columbia reports that very rarely occurs because they are on record as being 100% need (that is "need", not want). Before S applied, his dad and I took a realistic look at our situation, and agreed on a maximum dollar amount that would be doable (not necessarily comfortable-I gave up manicures and lattes at Starbucks a long time ago) for us. I then called the FA office, and asked them what we should do if their "EFC" was higher than that amount, and they said to make an apptment (luckily, we live in NYC) to come in and discuss it with them, because by definition the EFC is supposed to what the family can truly afford to pay. That is the amount S's dad and I came up with, and I was fully prepared, if Columbia number was higher, to go and ask them to show me how we could afford to pay it. As it turned out, their number was $1000 lower than ours, and thanks to outside scholarships, we're actually paying about $3000 less (so maybe I'll splurge and have a latte this weekend!) Wish you the best in your process.</p>