IVY Cost of Education - Cheapest and best.

Paying for College
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<p>I have a stellar record and I even published a cancer science research paper. But my family EFC is close to 50K. My parents took a major hit with housing. Theey will not spend more than 15K per year for any college. This means that the college has to cover the rest. What are my chances for Harvard/Yale to have them accept me and pick up a tab of 40K for me? Am I dreaming? Just forget it?</p>

<p>Of course, I am applying for in-state FL schools ( they all suck), Emory, Rice etc. </p>

<p>Please help me.</p>

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<p>If your EFC is 50k all the IVYies are going to expect you to pay about 50k … they each figure out their own EFC differently (how to treat retirement accounts, how to treat home equity, etc) so the EFC may vary some but they will likely be in the ballpark of 50k per year.</p>

<p>Which does not help you at all … however there are a lot of excellent schools which provide merit aid to top candidates … and if you are a solid Ivy candidate then you are a solid candidate for some terrifc merit aid possibilities. I’d suggest searching for threads on merit aid to see the schools in the hunt … fyi, none of the Ivies give merit aid so they are all not affortable to you if your EFC is 50k and your parents will only pay 15k.</p>

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<p>Actually HYP are more generous than other schools to families with incomes between $100-200,000 so the OP could end up with FA at Harvard or Yale where his family’s contribution falls in line with his parent’s budget. It depends upon their particulars and of course on getting admitted.</p>

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<p>If accepted, H and Y do great jobs with finaid, even for the middle class. But if your EFC is that high, it’s unlikely even HY will only expect $15k from your end. And getting in is another matter entirely.</p>

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<p>No chance at all unless your family income is less than $150,000 a year.</p>

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<p>This would give you a “general” idea of the amount some colleges will expect your family to pay: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php) </p>

<p>A lot of colleges have specific EFC calculators on their websites.</p>

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<p>If your EFC is 50k, colleges will only give you academic scholarships. Your parents make way to much money for any other kind of financial assistance.</p>

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<p>^ An EFC of $50K could mean a family income of no more than $150K. With that income, HYP would be very reasonable. (For Harvard it’s 10% of income - $15K)</p>

<p>If the OP does indeed have a “a stellar record”, then you should probably apply to some “public ivies”, such as Maryland. It is possible to attend Maryland for free …as I am.</p>

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<p>**An EFC of $50k, suggests an income of about $190k for a family of 4. That is too high for the 10% rule for HYPS. **</p>

<p>the ivies/elites don’t give merit scholarships…all aid is based on need. </p>

<p>I don’t think Rice or Emory are going to give you enough money that would only leave you with $15k to pay. You’ll be lucky to get 1/2 tuition scholarships from Rice and Emory…which would still leave you with about $35k to pay for. </p>

<p>What are your stats? </p>

<p>Are you a NMSF?</p>

<p>You are going to need to protect yourself by applying to at least a few schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>

<p>All schools in Florida are not bad. </p>

<p>A word of advice…you are one of many, many kids with very good stats, parents with a high income, and an unaffordable EFC.</p>

<p>You can make this whole process difficult and frustrating for yourself if you only focus on top schools and your frustration at not being able to afford them. Do yourself a favor and be open to finding some gems in some unlikely places.</p>

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<p>*MY SAT superscore is 2130.</p>

<p>My GPA - 4.0 and school rank is # 1. I have vast amount of medical research, hospital, doctor shadowing and leadership experience to compensate for less than stellar SAT scores. I have concocted good essays already and they will be very compelling.</p>

<p>I am looking into combined medical programs in:
Rice Baylor
Univ. of Miami
Wayne State
Case West
Union Albany
Ohio State
Penn State
Univ of Cinc
Univ of KY
UAB</p>

<p>BTW, I am from Florida and I am an Asian Indian women.</p>

<p>In addition, I am looking into pre-med programs at Emory/John Hopkins/Yale/Duke as well. *</p>

<p>I also see on another thread that your parents own 2 homes. That second home is an asset…</p>

<p>I also see that you want to be pre-med. You can do that at almost any school.</p>

<p>I don’t know why you put down all Florida schools, but you’re applying to VCU? VCU is a fine school, but it’s not better than UF or USF.</p>

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<p>^^
From the Harvard fin aid site …</p>

<p>" … and there is no income cut-off for our need-based scholarship eligibility. Currently there are a number of families with incomes greater than $180,000, who because of extenuating circumstances, receive need-based financial aid."</p>

<p>From post #1 …
"My parents took a major hit with housing. "</p>

<p>From post # 9
"An EFC of $50k, suggests an income of about $190k "</p>

<p>My EFC was 42K @ 125K and according to the formulas on the long form (available for download) would have been 50K @ 145K …
Also, IF your numbers were correct do you really think that the difference between what Harvard would expect from a family with an income of 180K would be materially different at 190K???</p>

<p>“MY SAT superscore is 2130”</p>

<p>this was not on this thread, but if true would make HYP an extreme reach …
OP, are you going to take the SAT again?</p>

12

<p>yes sir, I am retaking my SAT again, I am confident that I am going to break 2300. Also, I will be publishing an article in science journal. Also, expected to win Siemens, Intel Science Talent. If the HY wants me, then they have to take care of me. If not, there are so many good schools waiting. I am not worried. In my opinion, my undergrad has to be a free ride since I am going to med school. I am going to get robbed there.</p>

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<p>hi mom2collegekids:</p>

<p>I am applying for bs/md programs as well in addition to few IVY schools. I am applying for 20 colleges including BS/MD. I am applying for USF, FSU, UM - all Honors program with medical school admit. In addition, UF is a safety net. In summary, my BS/MD list is like 14 colleges, 3 IVY, 2 non-IVY (Emory and UF). Please wish me the luck for October exam. I will keep you posted.</p>

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<p>" … and there is no income cut-off for our need-based scholarship eligibility. Currently there are a number of families with incomes greater than $180,000, who because of extenuating circumstances, receive need-based financial aid."</p>

<p>This isn’t news.</p>

<p>Everyone knows that HYPS doesn’t have a strict income cutoff because some families have more than 1 child in college or have high medical expenses (or some other odd disaster.). Obviously, a family with 3 kids at Harvard could get aid if their income were $200k. </p>

<p>But…in the case of this student…without high medical expenses/similar and without a sibling in college, an income of about $190k is too high to get aid from Harvard. If thru some miracle the student got “some” aid, it certainly wouldn’t be the $40k each year that is needed.</p>

<p>This student currently doesn’t have the stats for likely admittance to HYPS anyway.</p>

<p>*I am applying for bs/md programs as well in addition to few IVY schools. I am applying for 20 colleges including BS/MD. I am applying for USF, FSU, UM - all Honors program with medical school admit. In addition, UF is a safety net. In summary, my BS/MD list is like 14 colleges, 3 IVY, 2 non-IVY (Emory and UF). *</p>

<p>Since your parents will only pay up to $15k per year, UF can be your safety. However, if you aren’t especially thrilled with UF, then it’s not a good safety. Anyway…unless you really like UF, you need to have a couple more safeties…just in case.</p>

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<p>You sound like another Doogie Howser MD, can’t you find a med school which will take you directly from HS and bypass undergrad altogether? You shouldn’t be forced to waste 4 yrs of your life there.</p>

<p>for those who don’t remember the show…
[Doogie</a> Howser, M.D. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doogie_Howser,_M.D]Doogie”>Doogie Howser, M.D. - Wikipedia).</p>

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<p>They will only “take care of you” IF you have financial need. Beyond that, there is no way to get financial aid from Harvard and Yale. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won a Nobel Prize. If you don’t have financial need they are not going to give you aid.</p>

<p>And any aid you DO get will be the difference between their Cost of Attendance and what THEY compute your family contribution to be. In your OP you say your EFC per FAFSA is $50K. If the cost of attendance at HY are about $54K, the MAXIMUM aid you would receive from them is $4K assuming that the $50K EFC is what they compute.</p>

<p>If your family contribution is $50K…HY are not going to give you $40K…neither is any other Ivy or any other school that guarantees to meet full need. Your need isn’t that high.</p>

<p>And just my humble opinion…almost everyone has taken a “hit” on the value of their primary residence. This is NOT an extenuating circumstance.</p>

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<p>@thumper,</p>

<p>HYP(and to a lesser extent Columbia) do not use anything like the FAFSA EFC in the computation of their FA. They are all trying to make their schools affordable to ALL that they except. (esp. middle and upper middle class families that under the FAFSA EFC are locked out of most top tier privates) This is very different from the other Ivies …</p>

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<p>Plum…if this posters FAFSA EFC is even in the $50K range, he is NOT going to get significant need based aid…and certainly not $40K a year…from ANY of the Ivies…none of them.</p>

<p>The Ivies use both the FAFSA for federally funded aid (which this OP will not be eligible for at all other than a Stafford loan)…and then the Profile which actually looks at even more extensive assets than the FAFSA. For many (not all, but many) students…the family contribution calculated using the info on the Profile is actually MORE than that computed on the FAFSA. Profile schools use varying amounts of home equity in their calculations, some ask for balances in retirement accounts. All of the Ivies with the exception of Princeton use the Profile. Princeton has it’s own financial aid form which asks for similar information.</p>

<p>The reality is that if the FAFSA computes an EFC of $50K, this kiddo’s parents’ incomes is close to $200K a year. Even the schools with the most GENEROUS need based aid are NOT going to give a student with that family income $30k or $40K a year to attend.</p>

<p>It’s just not going to happen.</p>

<p>Yes, these Ivies are trying to make their schools affordable to all…but a family with a $50K EFC (yes…even per FAFSA) already makes an income that “could” make these colleges affordable. Someone with that EFC has a family income in the top 10% (or maybe 5% ) of wage earners in this country.</p>

<p>Need based aid, even at generous schools, is for students with NEED.</p>

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<p>*HYP(and to a lesser extent Columbia) do not use anything like the FAFSA EFC in the computation of their FA. They are all trying to make their schools affordable to ALL that they except. (esp. middle and upper middle class families that under the FAFSA EFC are locked out of most top tier privates) This is very different from the other Ivies … *</p>

<p>you’re mixing apples and oranges.</p>

<p>While it’s true that HYPS uses a different formula for figuring FA, aid still cuts out for high incomes with only one child in college. </p>

<p>For those who earn $70k - 150k (ish) and have modest assets, aid is more generous than at other CSS Profile schools. But, there is a point where the “extra generous” aid is going to cut out when you only have one child in college.</p>

<p>My friend’s son is a frosh at Yale, and he got no aid AT ALL. The family is not wealthy, but when you only have one child in college and your income is about $200k, you’re not going to get aid EXCEPT maybe a campus job.</p>

<p>Princeton has an online calculator. I just used it and put in family income of $200k. Family of 4, 1 in college.</p>

<p>Results???</p>

<p>I. Princeton’s Costs for 2011-2012
Tuition $38,000
Room 6,600
Board 5,610
Books and Personal Expenses 3,670
Travel 700
-------
Total Estimated Student Budget $54,580</p>

<p>II. Your Estimated Family Contribution
Parents’ Contribution $50,900 - $51,900
Student’s Expected Summer Savings 1,560
Student’s Asset Contribution 0
-----------------
Total Estimated Family Contribution $52,460 - $53,460</p>

<p>III. Your Estimated Need for Aid is $1,120 - $2,120
Grant Funds $0
Student Loans 0
Campus Job 2,990
---------------
Total Estimated Aid $1,120 - $2,120</p>

<p>NO FREE AID… </p>

<p>So…before high income families think that HYPS is going to make their schools affordable, that’s really only true for those who make under a certain amount with one child in college.</p>

<p>This is the info for those who earn $175k (modest assets)</p>

<p>II. Your Estimated Family Contribution
Parents’ Contribution $40,200 - $41,200
Student’s Expected Summer Savings 1,560
Student’s Asset Contribution 0
-----------------
Total Estimated Family Contribution $41,760 - $42,760</p>

<p>III. Your Estimated Need for Aid is $11,820 - $12,820
Grant Funds $8,830 - $9,830
Student Loans 0
Campus Job 2,990
-----------------
Total Estimated Aid $11,820 - $12,820 (only about $9k in free money)</p>

<p>If assets aren’t modest, then aid would decrease.</p>

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<p>Yes, P is not as good as H. I (not a friend) just spent the previous year doing all this number crunching. It was an interesting experience. My family’s FAFSA EFC was about 42K, Duke changed that to around 35K(minus the work and loans, 27K with) since they decided they would subtract my family’s capital gains :), H estimated 15K!! That 15K number meant H was POSSIBLE, where Duke (even with their generous adjustments) was not … 42K vs. 15K is HUGE!</p>