Is there cheese to go with this whine? Really, everyone has answered with the same information- regardless of a family’s expenses, that base income is going to eradicate need-based aid. Forget about it. If your family is not willing to costcut elsewhere, that is THEIR choice- they can budget better and free up more money for your education, or you can pursue schools with excellent merit aid. There are a LOT of them, and you can gt a fabulous education and many. Sorry for being harsh, but you are to entitled to your parents money. Have this discussion with them, not us. You may feel needy, but your parents situation is not needy.
Assuming this is not a joke: in another post you say you have a 35 ACT and a 3.9 GPA. There are many schools out there that give large amounts of merit aid to students with your stats, I know Tulane, Emory, Pitt, would all give you substantial merit aid. Look through the thread on this forum for other schools. No school would, or should offer you need based aid, so your only option is merit money. Start writing essays now, make sue they are outstanding, apply for every scholarship you can find.
If this post is genuine, I am assuming it’s because you’re young and really don’t understand how others find it offensive for someone from an affluent family to whine about money on a financial aid forum. You have options, they may not be the ones you want, but you have them.
We are a family who can pay full fare to an Ivy but choose not to. There are plenty of solid schools just about in every state with your stats you could get free or partial tuition. This is what we chose to do and our son wholeheartedly agrees. True it was a rude awakening for us as well to find out we’d be on the hook for full fare and no finaid. Most in the middle (not middle class) can’t afford to fund college out of their pay checks and don’t have enough assets to fund out of there so feel trapped. Again choices. Ivies and prestigious schools have so many applicants they can afford to be choosy. I too would sit down with my parents and figure out the max they can afford per year and take the time to research the schools with big merit aid and apply there.
Enough already! We have no way of knowing what this student’s parents have or have not told her about their finances. But, until she posted here, she may not have had any reason to question what they said. Now she does, and one can hope she will.
Meanwhile, one of the things she will discover in college is that the world is a much bigger, and more diverse, place than she ever realized. Her perspective on things will change. She may not yet realize how privileged she’s been, but she eventually will. In the meantime, stop beating upon her!
No, she did not get enough beating for 350K/year. She even did not get half the beating of the 240K/year poster who wanted to ask her granddad for money!
@CCDD14 haha I remember that.
It seems she actually was genuine and I probably came off like a jerk earlier, but so much of her first post seemed so comical. I mean her parents make more than 20 times what my household income is and she puts “needy” in the title.
I wonder why one would find this thread serious. The OP can read medical text books since 4 year old, so she probably can figure out how to fund her college education herself. There are always community colleges that would be affordable to those needy families with $350k annual income (or less).
so what’s she saying is she’s in the lower-upper class and wants to be given aid over the lower-lower class? lol
Maybe you should look at colleges outside the US? My forward thinking high school junior announced today that she plans to go to graduate school in Germany because college is free there:-)
Said from my contacts in Germany… you get what you pay for.
But here, we don’t even get what we pay for. LOL 
FAFSA does NOT take expenses into consideration.
Don’t do the FAFSA4caster. Do the net price calculators on each college website.
And one other thing…if your family was living on $60,000 a year, your lifestyle would be VERY different.
Start counting your blessings for what you have.
Discuss your college budget with your parents. Find out what they will pay annually. Add the Direct Loan amount to that. Then look for schools with merit aid to add to those amounts. That is your college budget.
Interesting to read the attacks on a KID! Now, most people have never EARNED $350,000 in a year, however, I invite you to try. There is a reason your income would be so high, for if it were so easy, everyone would do it and earn that much. So stop w jealousy, and help her out. OP, some posters here gave you good advice, which is to research schools generous w merit, don’t waste time w FAFSA, and sit down with your parents to see what THEY can afford, not what CC posters or some government or college bureaucrat says they can. Everyone has different circumstances financially that can not be captured in some form. It’s more complex than just looking at $350,000 and assuming they have an open checkbook. It will come down to merit+ parents contribution+loans as to what you can afford to attend. CC has a slew of threads on schools w generous merit. Good luck, and keep debt low or if possible, avoid.
Are you a student or a parent, kollegeguy? In some posts it sounds like the parent, in others it sounds like the student sharing admissions results. If you are a parent, which seems to be the case, you understand the complexities of these issues, as well as the reactions. While it may be more complex than looking at income, but for FAFSA schools, thats what they will look at. Profile schools will consider other circumstances, BUT they will look at home value too, so it may be a wash. And many posters here who are not anywhere hear as fortunate as the OP will react strongly to the many luxuries and examples of discretionary spending mentioned in the OP. That, mixed with the hyperbole about moldy homes “costing $2M MINIMUM” (their caps, not mine) will push buttons around here. Many posters will encourage the OP to eat some humble pie. Just sayin’.
@kollegeguy, What makes you think none of the parents posting that colleges won’t give need based aid to a family whose income is $350k don’t earn that kind of money themselves? There are posters on CC who speak from personal experience you know.
The OP’s problem isn’t what CC posters or the gov’t or a college thinks they can afford; it’s how much they’re willing to pay when the bill comes in. It makes not a whit of difference that a family doesn’t want to pay $60k/year for a college if that’s what the college determines the family’s share is. The options for that family then become choosing a less expensive school or one that gives more merit.
@austin, I think I said what you just did, I told OP that his/her choice was what parents would pay + merit+ loans willing to take, that fin aid was not going to happen. And what “colleges determines a families share is” is often far from reality, as is the average sticker price for a piece of paper BTW. Yes, I know that doesn’t change anything. @jym, I would give a 17/18 yr old a little break with the hyperbole, as he or she only knows what he or she is exposed to or perceives. I just felt people were being a bit harsh to the kid.
Having been around cc for 10 years, I’ve seen plenty of polished kids who don’t complain vociferously about The cost of their multi car auto insurance and fitness classes affecting their abilty to pay tuition. Take lessons.
@jym626 Agreed. I mean I haven’t been here long but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing out someone’s entitlement and disconnect from the average person. Nothing seemed that harsh and reality is important when someone is about to leave home and go out into the world like most high schoolers will.