<p>Cur has a very valid point. It is not just about the numbers at the schools he mentions. All the merit aid applicants at those schools have top stats. It is about what else the candidate brings to the table. How do they stand out from the others. What have they contributed up to now and what will they contribute to the campus as a student and as an alumni. Having received very good merit aid from 3 of the 4 schools mentioned - trust me he makes a very valid point.</p>
<p>By the way, from the sounds of it - Cur - you could use merit aid for your moving in saga.</p>
<p>"We are doing something to lower our EFC"? Perhaps you should change the title of the thread to gaming the system. This will be the last time I have anything to do with this thread.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Despite what is said at the numerous info sessions given by HYPS and other "elite schools" they really DO compare and rank student applicants from a given school against each other.
[/quote]
They may compare and rank them, but those rankings do not necessarily reflect rankings the high schools would give them academically or that students would give them from their public personas. Harvard last year accepted #1, and #8 in the class and waitlisted #4. Many students would be completely unaware of the level of outside activities and recommendations #8 brought to the table.</p>
<p>Cheating? If I am doing any thing illegal, do you think I would put up here in a public forum? The registration process is pretty well controled here and I am pretty sure adm knows where I am.</p>
<p>When that Buffett guy said he pays less tax than his secretary, I did not see any one jumps out accusing him of gaming the system?</p>
<p>Sorry, that is of my poor judgement to putthat sentence there. This is such a valuable thread and I don't want to ruin it. I was just offer one explaination for our EFC situation. Let's not focus on that one bad judgement. Thanks</p>
<p>I like Laserbrother, too -- after some resistance, he listened to the advice the wise folks here had to give, and in his most recent posts, he's been funny. But this afternoon, I was having "early" Laserbrother flashbacks on this thread!</p>
<p>Dad II, putting money in your 401(k) and Roth is a great idea for retirement. (I was a pension benefits administrator and communications psecilist in my prior life). However, it's probably not going to give you the break on EFC that you hoped:
-- FAFSA schools (generally, state schools, though there are exceptions) will not include what you put into retirement accounbts as money that is potentially available for college expenses.
--PROFILE schools (which include most, if not all the privates on your list), WILL put the 401(k) and Roth contributions back into your income.</p>
<p>Financial Aid will not assess money that is already in tax-sheltered retirement accounts. There are others with lots more specific experience on this topic. If you go to the EFC calculator, enter your info and click for Federal (FAFSA) and Institutional Methodology (PROFILE). That will show you the difference in how the numbers are calculated.</p>
<p>On first reading I thought you misunderstood my comment but on reading again realized that you were restating or clarifying what I meant by ranking. </p>
<p>A typical Ivy (or other highly selective school's) admission committee's internal ranking of each applicant goes way beyond their HS class rank. It is usually 8-10 criteria (categories) that include class rank (if ranked), GPA, SATs, SAT IIs, ECs , recs, essays, interview results, etc. The candidates from each high school are internally ranked on these criteria by the admission committee and then will often be ranked against the pool from other schools in that city, then the state pool, etc. After all that is complete that ranking is ranked against the remainder of the nationwide application pool. There will be over 20,000 applicants for between 1300 and 1600 places and they are also trying to achieve geographic, financial and ethnic diversity in the process of selecting a class.</p>
<p>My main reason for mentioning it had to do with the fact that Dad II's D is really hurting herself by being a part of a group applying to ALL the same schools because they will be ranked against each other at each school they apply to, and if they are all Asian for example, like it or not, the reality is that they are creating an extra individual sub-pool for their high school within each college admission process. It is a recipe for failure or at least major disappointment.</p>
<p>I am fearful that there is far too much over confidence on the part of Dad II, his D (and her GC) when they are talking about Harvard and Yale being their best bets as far as EFC when she hasn't been admitted anywhere yet. Admission to any of these schools is a crap shoot at best.</p>
<p>They are getting very bad advice from their GC who is not encouraging a more balanced list with some realistic matches and safeties on it. If the applicant were Hispanic or Native American I might understand the GC's approach but for an Asian female it seems to be reckless and misguided.</p>
<p>You might not have the stats to qualify - but you certainly have the ECs and the community service after the moving thread. Time to get away from the all too serious side of this thread - the op has more than enough good advice to solve his situation. All he has to do is act on some of it and quit looking for more opinions.</p>