<p>Hey guys. I really want to apply to either Columbia/Brown ED this coming fall but as with most families, money is a problem. Our family income is +100K but my parents said they could only afford 25K a year for my college education ( i have a younger brother and sister). Is there any advice you guys can give me on how I can afford everything (~60K per year) w/o taking out mass amounts of loans. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>You can apply for a ton of outside scholarships, but chances of winning $35K, renewable for 4 years, is remote.</p>
<p>Make sure to calculate your EFC for these schools using their methodology, Columbia especially is pretty generous with some high wage earners. If your parents make just $100K and don’t have a lot of home equity or other significant assets, you may qualify for considerable aid.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is that many families can not afford their EFCs, and if you know yours can’t, it’s smart to start identifying colleges that give generous merit aid early. this is often a tough search for those who qualify for ivies because most schools that will give a lot do so because your stats are way above their averages. Essentially, they pay for their top students. If you can get into Columbia or Brown, you’ll do well at many merit schools.</p>
<p>Ask if the colleges will give you an early estimate for financial aid. Imho, 25K/year is alot with 2 more kids to consider. Unless your parents are absolutely sure they can meet their expected contribution every year without jeapordizing other areas of their financial plan, ED may not be the way to go. It completely limits your family’s ability to evaluate schools with financial data as a factor. Many kids have found they’re completely happy at their second or third choice school, where they got a more generous offer. Debt and financial stress are not fun!</p>