<p>I’m currently a senior, and forgot to mark myself Hispanic on the PSAT last year. However, my counselor and I filled out and submitted the necessary form for students who did not mark themselves as Hispanic back in April. But I did not receive any emails over the summer from colleges with NHRP offers. Should this be a cause for alarm?</p>
<p>No, I don’t think so. My D2, while she has gotten some letters about diversity weekends, honors colleges, etc., she hasn’t really gotten any NHRP specific offers yet. And I think some schools that have NHRP scholarships don’t send notices, rather you have to find out about them and apply to the school. Maybe others will post what they’ve received so far too (I don’t always open college mail if it’s a school I know D2 is not interested in and may have missed offers).</p>
<p>Now that you’re back in school, I would recommend talking to your GC and confirm that NHRP received your materials and that you will get scholar recognition.</p>
<p>My D GC sent in stuff last May and we too have gotten nothing, no notification or letters frim shools yet except a diversity brochure from MiT and they would know that from the SAT scores which also have racial identity on forms…so I think the time frame of summer is too early–official notification is not til late Sep. early Oct. right entomom.</p>
<p>^right!</p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>I kept all ofmy Ds’s college mail to help his sister in the future and I saw that summer was when he first starting receiving things. Again it has been my experience that not all NHRP students get the same mailings/email. I had another mom friend from my son’s h.s. whose son was also NHRP so we would let each other know when we got some relevant mailings. Surprisingly we didn’t always get the same mailings. However I did share some diversity weekend invitations my DS got with her and her son took the school up on them. </p>
<p>As I had mention in my posts from last year if there is a school you are interested in contact their office of minority affairs or admissions office and ask if they do anything for NHRP status. You have be diligent and do your research and work for any benefits of NHRP or diversity status. My son got a full merit ride to college as a combination of 3 scholarships one for NHRP status one for his sat score and one for diversity as part of a scholarship competition where he was one of the winners (several scholarships were given out in the competition). He only received emails/mails for I believe one of the scholarships so it is important to learn what is out there and take advantage of it. If you are a parent I highly recommend you get involved because there is a lot of information and material to cover and it can be overwhelming to the student during their senior year. For example my son was accepted to Arizona and we knew they gave out money for NHRP. However his acceptance did not include the award. It took about 4 phone calls over a two week period from me to their admissions office to get his file noticed and they eventually awarded him a merit scholarship for NHRP. This was important because the scholarship was $100K!!!</p>
<p>ITSV.
I think because my D is applying to so many top 20 schools not many need to be very proactive on NHRP specifically as virtually none of the top schools offer NHRP free or partial free rides. That said the top school financial aid, if you can get in is so superior due to their endowments that most parents are expected to pay at most 10 percent of their AGI (adjusted gross income) and that is often up to 180k. This is the case in Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Williams, and several others. Now of course there are schools that we will apply to like BU that do as far as I recall offer a partial tuitoin scholarship-I recall reading 50 percent tuitoin but not sure its still offered, hard to keep up. </p>
<p>Anyway,my wife said GC expects notifications in late September or latest early Oct. Its most important as an award, honor on ones application in case of top schools and frankly I think High Sat scores will trump NHRP but we have received diversity letters from MIT, the President of Brown (who is first black President of that University and made it a point to state diversity was very important to him and encouraged my D to apply). Same goes for MIT. Other schools we have sent grades and SaTs to directly have not responded and I think you are right in needing to pursue this via their adcoms rep for diversity. Thanks for the great info…
WLM</p>
<p>My S is at Williams, I make less than 180K, and I’m paying full price. Maybe I should call and ask.</p>
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</p>
<p>wlm,
Are you sure about this? From my experience with D1, as both a fr & transfer applicant, the schools that give substantial FA up to 180k and have 10% policies are only HYPS. We are in a situation where although my income is on the moderate side (about 100k), our assets are higher than average due to diligent savings and home equity. When D1 was a fr applicant, the year BEFORE the new FA policies at HYPS, HYP (didn’t apply to S) gave us modest FA, while Amherst, Brown, WUSTL and Rice said our need was zero. As a transfer applicant, with the new FA policies, Y gave substantially better FA than the year before (even though my income & assets were slightly higher) while Amherst and Dartmouth gave us nothing (all of these schools treat transfers the same as fr for FA, unlike Brown which states that it has less available for transfers).</p>
<p>Also, last year both Williams and Dartmouth reintroduced loans in their FA packages for families who are not low income.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>SAT scores are definitely more important for admissions to top schools; by definition, NHRP is attained based on a much lower score than NMS, which is often lower than the equivalent SAT scores of most competitive candidates at the very selective schools. IMO NHRP is more important when it comes to funding a student’s college education at a very good, albeit less selective college than those that offer only need based FA.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ruth Simmons is a black woman ;).</p>
<p>x-posted w/wd</p>
<p>Well I guess I got confused from all the mails telling us not to fret about paying. Yes those letters were from Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Columbia and Brown. I guess I broke the cardinal rule and ASSumed that a school like Dartmouth would fall into that group-I am pretty sure its on their web but I could be wrong. On Williams I thought I recalled at least it saying families with income less than 120k or 100k were expected to contribute only a small portion. I am sure the other schools above said expect to pay roughly 10 percent of income up to 180k–that is family–gentleman said he makes 180k but assets etc. are calculated in as well. Our AGI would fall a lot lower so guess I have to hope for HYPS, Columbia, Brown or MIT as those all stated roughly 10 percent-some to 120k some to 180k although they did differentiate 120-180k vs less than 120k and free roughly for AGIs of less than like 70k…recall this is a message board so while I am posting its to the best of what I recall but we have not done FAFSA yet nor gotten accepted anyplace so its pretty clear that I have not presented that I have seen any packages. I do know that Bowdoin and some of the smaller liberal arts were not as clear on elimination of loans but I read it so many times it sure felt like every school had said they were eliminated.
180k and you are paying full tuition at Williams? Hmm…that is pretty poor FA but it is clear that income is not the only factor–it says with typical assets. In MA that is not much but in other parts of the US that would be a lot. It was meant as a very general statement on the top schools in general and I will recall your advice as I beg my D to ace her SAT subject tests so she gets into one of the 10 percenters-lol.
I have heard anecdotally of FAFSA saying people should get x and them getting half of x in many cases but that is in general. Also heard from many applicants to Bowdoin they came up with less, their web site did indicate endowment losses and maybe some of the sites I read were not updated like Dartmouth but for sure I read this on HYP,Columbia, MIT and at least one other. Sure hope Williams does not expect full tuition for families making around 120k, that would be a tall order with 2 kids. </p>
<p>On the President of Brown. I will not say “my bad” as I hate that its accepted as a grammatically acceptable statement but I will say, my mistake, whoops! Guess I did not read to the bottom of the letter, certainly on this forum being politically correct on respecting gender as important as race is my intention. Hope she does not trace my IP address or take it out on my D!
FWIW, to the dad paying full tuition at Williams, I would beg borrow (not steal) if my kid got in to pay so I would not be feeling sorry for myself if my D got in with or without FA…second mortgage? Whatever it takes for our kids to have best chance they can get, that is something we would always do for our kids-even draining 401ks…especially latina moms, if they are all anything like my wife…
Sorry for any incorrect info but I think it was correct for the top 10 Universities other than Dartmouth I guess…sorry…
wlm</p>
<p>Waitlistman,</p>
<p>We haven’t seen any congratulatory letters on NHRP from those institutions you mentioned or any others. Do you have any idea ( or Entomom) on how that would work since my understanding is that the NHRP hasn’t notified schools at this time?</p>
<p>Confusion-my current Extra Curricular.</p>
<p>WLM we fell into the same income bracket as Williams Dad and fell off of our chair when our EFC on our FASFA was 63K!!! Was my DH hiding money I didn’t know about :)? I think our high EFC was due to our home which we bought 16 years ago and has a lot of equity. </p>
<p>I also agree a high SAT score is important. NHRP is just something that adds to a student’s award list and has the potential for merit scholarships. Even with the lower score allowed it is terrible that only 5K of latino h.s. students qualify for it each year. Some colleges really want diversity in their student population so NHRP helps for those schools since they “go” after those students. </p>
<p>If this year is anything like last year just be prepared and have a variety of schools on your child’s list. We were surprised by some places my DS got rejected from but as some reps said schools simply did not have enough room for all the qualified candidates. I hope your child does get into her top choice but as someone on cc has said earlier it sure takes the sting off of going to a student’s second choice when there is a large merit scholarship to go with it. </p>
<p>I don’t have the link here but look at postings on cc about scholarships for latino students. Congressowoman Lucy Robyall’s office does a document listing them as well as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Entomom is a great source for info and her postings have a lot of good information.</p>
<p>Artana,
I think wlm was referring to general diversity mailings rather than specific NHRP ones (wlm, please correct me if this is incorrect).</p>
<p>This is what I found on Brown’s financial aid initiative:</p>
<p><a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=78#philosophy[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=78#philosophy</a></p>
<p>
</h1>
<p>Their link to FA award examples shows:</p>
<p><a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=333[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=333</a></p>
<p>Family of 4 w/1 soph at B, 105k income & 63k asstes (including home equity) can expect:</p>
<p>parent contribution = ca. 21k
student contribution = ca. 2.9k
B scholarship = ca. 25k
loan = 3k
WS = ca. 2.5k</p>
<p>Family of 5 w/1 incoming fr at B, 160k income & 150k assets can expect:</p>
<p>parent contribution = ca. 40k
student contribution = 2.4k
B scholarship = ca. 4.4k
loan = 5k
WS = ca. 2.5k</p>
<p>x-posted w/itsv (what are you doing up so late ;)?)</p>
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</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is the case with what you have heard, but many people don’t realize that FAFSA is only for Federal funds. Institutional funds from a college usually use the Profile which asks for more information and most often (though not always) results in a higher EFC and less need. For instance neither home equity (first home) or untaxed SS benefits are counted in FAFSA, but they are by the Profile. </p>
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</p>
<p>This may give you some idea what to expect, but it is just one example. And be sure to pay attention to the details, the family has 2 children in college, a similar family with only the one child in college will be generally be expected to pay twice as much.</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> – Williams College| Award 2](<a href=“http://admission.williams.edu/financialaid/sampleawards/award2]Admissions”>http://admission.williams.edu/financialaid/sampleawards/award2)</p>
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<p>Don’t be sorry, colleges don’t make it easy to understand how their FA works. And I’m afraid they all tout their great FA, but for many people with between 100-200k income with some home equity and modest savings, it’s really not the case. I would just urge you to take a very close look at their FA policies on their websites and run their calculators. The examples they give of FA packages at different income levels are a starting point, but they don’t tell the whole story, you really have to be able to enter your personal data.</p>
<p>I think the single most misleading statement is that almost all the collegs say “we are committed to allowing any student to attend our school and providing the necessary financial aid that is needed to guarantee cost is not a factor to prevent attending.” What they fail to say is they are all over the map on what NEED constitutes. I live in a home that had 200k equity a couple years ago and now maybe I am lucky if its 75k. maybe 100k in 401k, is that cosidered, “typical assets”? What about debts, car payments etc. do they count those. I do not care as we will make this happen but Its disconcerting when they say “students will not longer graduate with loans” but then you read a section on how they suggest the best way to pay for the school is with a home equity loan? So the STUDENT graduates with no loans but the parents main nest egg is mazed out? Plus getting home equity lines is not easy any more as the appraisals are often below what even Zillow quotes…alas, D1 just better get into HYPMIT or the floggings will begin (not her, my wife flogging me-lol). Anyway, thanks for the wakeup call! </p>
<p>Do you know that you can donate from your 401k to a college with no tax loss, too bad they do not allow that for tuition, seems like the minimum the govt. could do to help pay for education while assuring a destitute senior population. But hey, once our kids are all doctors, lawyers (or social workers and Peace corp workers as my D1 says “I want to help people” and I say “what about helping us?” LOL)…I recall my parents telling me private college was not an option and so I then did not apply ED to Cornell even though I was a legacy from my Dad, and his dad and his dad’s dad!, probably cost me admission there as I was wait listed, I do not think legacy helps on RD. I probably held it against them for the rest of their lives because they definitely could have afforded it… so for sure I am not gonna do that to my kids…</p>
<p>BTW, thanks to ITSV and Entomom for their kind responses, its the posters like them that make it worthwhile to keep returning here. …do not mean to sound obsessed on getting into the top schools, i know its by far not the most important thing as your child being happy at the school that they pick and get accepted to.</p>
<p>Also, on poster re= NHRP, no, Entomom is right, I have not gotten ANY letters mentioning NHRP simply some GENERAL diversity letters which is likely from checking the box for hispanic on the college board form on SAT and on sharing info with colleges. I do not expect to hear anything until at earliest the end of Sept. probably early Oct. So don’t panic yet!</p>
<p>WLM</p>
<p>Entomom,
Your post re Brown cost calculater with home equity of 63k family of 4 with one student at Brown is more in line with what I had expected, about 20k in aid, and about 25k coming from parents and student. My D works but her summer income has not been over 3k, Then again she is only 16, a year ahead, so probably gets paid less than an 18 year old would,I am surprised they would include the piddly amount a student makes towards costs, that barely pays for car insurance or clothes, yeesh!</p>
<p>WLM</p>
<p>Glad to help. We would have loved if our DS had gotten into his top school but realistically it was a blessing he did not get in. Like your wife (since I am Latino and my DH is not) I would do anything for my child and his education. We had paid off my husband’s bachelor pad which we have owned for 24 years and at one time it was worth 440K so we had thought great we have four years of private tuition for our two kids. However with the current economy it is now only worth 240K so what do we do-tell DS’s younger sister sorry it all goes to your brother??? When we started to see scholarships roll in we told our DS it would be a smarter plan to got to the school offering scholarhips and then try to go to top graduate program. We hope our condo has recovered somewhat or that the second kid has gotten scholarships too. Either way my advice is to be proactive and have your child be proactive. Colleges reps are starting to do their local visits to high schools and cities so go to them with your child and ask about aid and merit scholarships. Get your child on their radar. Deadlines for money are early so start applying to both schools and scholarships now. Trust me it will be a very busy fall for the whole family but it will be worth it in the end. Also check schools some require FASFA and some require the CSS profile which has an earlier filing deadline. Basically make a very large to do list and calendar. It may seem overwhelming but just take it a step at a time. </p>
<p>Now if only my Chargers were doing better…</p>
<p>Good luck and if you have any other questions just posted them here. Look at KelliAlexandera’s list of diversity visits and fly-ins. It will give you some idea of who might give you money for NHRP or other related scholarships.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack the thread but do all these financial aid forms take into account negative equity (ie your family’s home is mortgaged for $400,000 but is only worth $200,000) or bankruptcies (chapter 7 and 13)? I only ask because I have yet to find a FA calculator that asked about bankruptcies or included negative equity.</p>
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<p>I think an obsession with learning how the system works and what options are both academically and financially feasible for your child and family is a good one to have! And the reality is that the most selective schools, with the largest endowments, are often the ones that offer the best FA packages.</p>
<p>owlwise,
If you haven’t already, also ask your questions on the FA & Scholarships forum as there are some very knowledgeable posters there (much more so than me). FAFSA does not look at home equity at all for your first home. What the Profile asks for is ‘current market value of parents’ home’, how much ‘parents owe on their home’ and the ‘purchase price of your parents’ home’. So it seems to me that they should be able to see that you’re underwater since the purchase price and amount owed will be high compared to the current market value. How exactly this is calculated I don’t know and likely differs between schools. My guess would be that they would conclude that you have zero home equity, but they wouldn’t account for the negative equity because in general FA forms don’t consider any kind of debt, such as credit card and car loans, but that’s only a guess.</p>
<p>I’m afraid not familiar with how bankruptcies are dealt with for FA.</p>
<p>Has anyone in the class of 2011 gotten their official notification of NHRP Scholar designation yet? It seems as though it should be any day now.</p>