<p>Does your parents' intention of paying for college or not have an impact on the financial aid you receive? For example, if your parents earned enough money to pay for college but refused to, would this mean that you could still receive financial aid, or is it solely based on the assumption that if your parents have money, they will pay?</p>
<p>kat,</p>
<p>If your EFC (expected family contribution) is higher than the cost of attending the college of your choice, then you won't get financial aid (unless its outside scholarships or merit-based). If schools gave you aid becuase your parents refused to pay, then suddenly everyone's parents would start "refusing to pay" for their kids tuition too. It sucks if you are in this situation, especially if your parents can afford to pay, but won't. I would say look for schools that give generous merit aid or get a job or start writing scholarship essays.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks hotpiece. Unfortunately, that reasoning makes sense, I had just never thought about it that way before. </p>
<p>I don't really know if I'm in this situation yet, but my mom has made it VERY clear that she does not want to pay for college. We'll see about her actually refusing to pay, though.</p>
<p>Why would you disbelieve what your mother is telling you? Lots of parents can not afford what colleges expect them to pay. EFC is not just based on income, it assumes your family has saved for college.</p>
<p>Many kids don't get to go to their top choices because of money.</p>
<p>I'll spare you the full lecture but buying a college education is a lot like buying a house or a car, you have to look in your price range because everyone can't afford the most expensive. Thus state schools are now popular. </p>
<p>I would get a clear number of what your parents can and will pay before applying or you could end up not having much choice in April. Schools will cut you no slack because a parent won't pay.</p>
<p>yeah kat,</p>
<p>my mom did the same thing. she was really not keen on having to pay ful freight to any school, and then i applied to all these top 25 schools. she had a cow. luckily my dad told me to apply wherever i wanted to go. in the end, i got into harvard and columbia with no financial aid and i got into a couple of state schools with full rides. my mom wanted me to a cheap state school or harvard. she said if they were gonna be paying that much tuition, it better be the best. so, i chose harvard. i got some outside scholarships, but they really don't make that big of a dent in a 45K+ tuition...but my parents still pay it and i am really grateful for it. but i definitely hear about it all the time. anytime i do anything wrong it's always "what do they teach at harvard, is it really worth all that money we're paying." it's annoying, but i can't really complain. i'm just glad that they are willing to pay.</p>
<p>That's sort of what's wrong with the whole system of financial aid. Parents really shouldn't have to pay for their children's educations. This system punishes the students who have parents who don't want to pay. $45K/year is a stretch on any budget, and of course they don't want more debt. Merit aid is probably the best option here, though it's hard to get, and if you're writing essays for money, it takes a lot of writing to amass the money for a college education.</p>
<p>Please have a serious talk with your mom about this. I was very upfront with my D about how much we would pay for college, which was not what some schools thought we should be able to pay (different schools compute EFC differently). </p>
<p>If she won't pay a lot, then adjust your search accordingly. You can look for schools with merit aid (both public & private), decide how much you are willing to take out in loans, etc. It is best to be realistic about this right from the start.</p>
<p>My D's friend got into some excellent private schools. I had the impression that her parents encouraged her to apply to them. However, when the time for choosing a school came, her parents would not pay for anything but the two state schools she had been accepted to. They have a huge house, expensive cars, etc. --- I have no idea if they "won't" pay or if they are having recent financial difficulties. It doesn't matter. The bottom line is, the girl is going to a school she really didn't want to attend. I suspect her parents figured she'd get a big merit scholarship to the selective schools. It would have been good if they had told her from the start how much they'd actually pay ... then the girl wouldn't have been surprised that they wouldn't let her go to schools they had encouraged her to apply to. Honesty is the best policy in this case.</p>
<p>I've tried to discuss it with her, but she won't get specific. She won't discuss how much she and my dad make or tell me how much they're willing to pay or can afford to pay. She says we won't qualify for need-based financial aid and refuses to apply for it. </p>
<p>Admittedly, I don't have it that bad. My dad works at a college where he gets half of their current tuition to pay tuition at any other college I choose to attend. Also, my mom works at a Tuition Exchange and FACHEX college, so I can go to around 600 schools paying reduced or no tuition. Unfortunately, most would be safeties for me. My mom wants me to go to college for free if possible, and she has steered my college search in this direction. </p>
<p>I've decided to apply to two Tuition Exchange schools, Skidmore and Syracuse, a safety that gives merit aid, St. Lawrence, the College of Human Ecology at Cornell (reduced tuition because it is a NY contract college can almost be covered by my dad's benefit), Boston College EA (for FACHEX and Presidential Scholars), and Harvard. Harvard is the only one for which I don't have a possible way of covering tuition, and of course it is my top choice. </p>
<p>So, we'll see what happens. I'll be applying for merit scholarships as well, and I have to get into Harvard for the cost to even be an issue.</p>
<p>I suggest doing some intense research into all the schools that would provide reduced tuition through your parents' jobs. You may find a hidden gem! If you can handle possibly not being able to go even if accepted, apply to Harvard.</p>
<p>It sounds like your parents are knowlegable about EFCs and college costs. When this kind of parent says we will not get aid and can't pay, believe them. If you are not even applying for aid then Harvard will cost over $200K! Unless you can win a massive outside scholarship because you are one in a million, Harvard simply shouldn't be your first choice. From what I see, most orgs giving those scholarships also consider need. I know this is hard, but better to understand this now then to be heartbroken later.</p>
<p>My parents aren't saying they can't pay, my mom has just said she doesn't want to pay for college. I would like to apply for financial aid and don't see how it would hurt, but she doesn't want to. </p>
<p>Also, Harvard is my first choice and will remain so despite of cost. I understand that cost is an issue, but it is still the college where I would most like to attend. However, I would first have to be accepted, which is no small feat, for the cost to even matter. I fully understand that I may not be able to attend because of cost if I am accepted, but I'd like to make it work if I can.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That's sort of what's wrong with the whole system of financial aid. Parents really shouldn't have to pay for their children's educations. This system punishes the students who have parents who don't want to pay. $45K/year is a stretch on any budget, and of course they don't want more debt. Merit aid is probably the best option here, though it's hard to get, and if you're writing essays for money, it takes a lot of writing to amass the money for a college education.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't understand this statement. First of all no one "owes" any one a college education. If your parents are not first in line to write their check for your education, they are basically saying let someone else's parents pay for your education (who do you think pays the $$ into the alumni endowments? other people's parents).</p>
<p>The System is not punishing you if your parents make a conscious decision not to pay for your education. At the end of the day it is something that you will need to work out with them.</p>
<p>Kat,</p>
<p>It sounds as if your parents are pretty specific about what they are willing to pay and not pay. </p>
<p>If your Dad's benefit plan will pay half for almost any college and your mom's benefit will pay for about 600 then you have atleast 600 schools to choose from where money won't be an issue. You are truly in a very blessed position because outside of families who can afford to and are willing to pay full freight most students don't even remotely have the choices that you have. At the end of the day it would not be a fate worse than debt to attend Boston or Cornell both are very fine schools and the 30 to 40k in tuition remission/benefits is nothing to sneeze at. Most parent who were in your parents position would give the same offer.</p>
<p>It seems that you are on the right track and you should continue to do research to find the best of both worlds that your parents are willing to pay for.</p>
<p>all the best.</p>
<p>Kat,</p>
<p>It seems that you are in a very similar position to what I was in this time last year. Like I said, my mother made it crystal clear that she did not WANT to pay for college, but when it came down to it she paid. Just apply to Harvard. Maybe you getting in will change her mind. But if not, you have some great choices.</p>
<p>If you have any questions about applying to Harvard or anything like that, just PM me!!!</p>
<p>Good luck, I really hope things work out for you.</p>
<p>Kat, try to be sensitive to your parents, if they are not open about their finances and refuse to apply for aid, there's probably a reason. Most parents want to help their kids with college, I know several who don't want to disclose financial troubles to kids so use other reasons why they must attend cheaper colleges.</p>
<p>I know my situation isn't bad at all, it's just kind of ironic and unfortunate that I have all these places I could go but very few appeal to me. I would love to attend BC, Cornell, or Skidmore, just not necessarily over Harvard. I understand that my parents probably have reasons for not talking financial stuff, but I just think it would be easier if they were up front about it. Thanks everyone for all the help and advice, and I will definitely PM you hotpiece if I have any questions about Harvard.</p>
<p>Another question on the same topic...</p>
<p>My parents will have to pay for 600,000$ worth of college educations over the next ten years--will this be taken into consideration for FA? If it isn't, I'm pretty sure I won't qualify, due to high family income/assets.</p>
<p>No, their future college costs are not factored in. If they spend down savings and home equity putting you through first, they will have a better chance of getting aid for the others.</p>
<p>Kat, I hope you find someplace you'll like to go. </p>
<p>I'm kind of worried that your mother says she refuses to apply for aid because she feels you won't qualify. Most (if not all) schools require you to file the financial aid forms even for their merit (non-need) scholarships. I hope your father is more sensible about this issue.</p>
<p>thanks, collegekid</p>