<p>With an income of $125,000 a year and the assets you describe, you would not likely receive need based aid anywhere unless at least one other sibling was in college at the same time as you.</p>
<p>The most generous schools (HYS) give institutional need based aid to families with incomes up to $150,000 a year. BUT this assumes “typical assets”…almost 1/2 a million dollars in the bank is not “typical”. Also these schools use the CSS Profile (Princeton has its own form which asks the same questions basically as the Profile). The Profile delves much more deeply into your finances than the FAFSA does.</p>
<p>Remember ALL the FAFSA does is compute you eligibility for federally funded need based aid. With a family income of $125,000, you would not be eligible for any federal funding except an unsubsidized Stafford loan.</p>
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<p>Everyone has dreams and they are hard to give up sometimes. Your parents are telling you they will not fund the costs of attending the schools on your list. That being the case, either you have to change their minds or move on. There is no “college costs fairy” out there. Someone has to pay your college costs.</p>
<p>As pointed out, if you have the stats to get accepted to those Ivies and MIT, you likely have the stats to get some significant merit aid at some other colleges. Go for it…there are some terrific schools that give such merit aid and “fly under the radar screen” in terms of name recognition.</p>