<p>Yikes Idahomom…
I better get back on those Net Price Calculators and actually print out the results. We will have different expected incomes between last year and the next 4 years so I will have to run it for all of the different scenarios.</p>
<p>I think my biggest concern is that they might be generous in Year 1, but how do you know that they are going to award the same % of need in the following years? Is it all a crap shoot after that first year??</p>
<p>Here’s my best guess at what is going on with the Net Price Calculators:</p>
<p>University of Denver still has last year’s calculator online (I just madly ran the numbers again). It asks for 2011 tax information. They have not updated to a new version that asks for 2012 information yet - so Net Price still is consistent.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that some colleges have updated their Net Price Calculators to a new version that collects 2012 data. That may be the difference. I know that I went to a few websites in the first week or so of January and they were ‘down’ or acting funny. They probably were being updated. The updates to 2012 may result in different answers, especially if tuition/housing/costs have changed for the school.</p>
<p>Thank you all for slowing down so that i was only a couple of pages behind! DS still has two apps to finish up (plus 2 scholarship apps), and DD is completely done. I feel kind of a let down as all we do now is wait for a couple of months for her decisions.</p>
<p>Coral-- I understand your concern about the 4 year spread of FA. My middle S got lots (relatively speaking) of aid his first 2 years because his older sister was in college then. When she graduated his need based FA dropped by a huge amount. I expected it to drop, but was surprised by the amount. His merit did stay the same so at least he had that
Which is why I am concerned about youngest S-- the first year he might get quite a bit because older brother still in school. But the following year it could drop by a lot, to almost nothing. Then with no merit at all he will have 3 years left. Not sure how to resolve that</p>
<p>Too bad the school with the huge merit amount is not his favorite! </p>
<p>Agree on Net Price Calc-- just have to wait for final numbers in APril I guess</p>
<p>Just a word to kids stressing about missing an Admitted Student day–they do get mixed reviews. Some people feel that they can show the school in an overly positive light. I’ve tended not to do them (well–really because I plan visits more to fit my schedule). My '13-er was signed up to attend one but I was kind of happy we had to change it to a regular old visit at a later date. Particularly if your kid is looking at a range of sizes of schools, I think it’s a really good idea to sit in on a class, which is usually not an option on one of the big programmed days.</p>
<p>We have been to two Accepted Students Days for two different kids (out of our four) without knowing what the financial aid package looked like. Both ended up at these schools, so it did work out for us. </p>
<p>In regard to the Net Price Calculators, I have run them myself even though I don’t need to. My feeling is the trouble with them is that they do not take into consideration a divorced parents situation with possible step parents income & step parents having dependents & maybe another child in college. They also do not consider self-employed income. Remember self-employed parents get to deduct half of their self-employed income taxes “above the line” therefore reducing their AGI (AGI always last line on front of the 1040) “Federal Income Taxes paid” is subtracted from your AGI in the financial aid forumulas (FM-Federal Methodology and IM-Institutional Methodology) But self-employed federal income taxes paid cannot be considered “Federal Income Taxes Paid”. </p>
<p>The Princeton Review book “Paying for College Without Going Broke” by Kalman Chany is a good resource during the college years!</p>
<p>All I can say is that I’m grateful that S’s college does not ask for mid-year grades! Geesh. On the other hand, it’s nice to no longer be stressing out about grades. Of course, it was always me, not S, who was doing the stressing. Just trying to stay relaxed here - all S has to do at this point is pass all his second semester courses. Realistically, that is not going to be a problem…</p>
<p>Re: Second visits. I think they are really valuable. My D LOVED J M U (Jam es Mad ison) on our first visit (and I did too.) A year later, we went back for a more intensive visit, including sitting in on a class. I still loved it but it tumbled on her list. I’m not sure exactly why, but I think it was a combination of feeling like she wanted a smaller school and a smaller campus. She just didn’t know enough about what she wanted the first time through. We just got back from a second visit to a Maryland school yesterday and she loved it, maybe even more than the first time. It is very high on her list. In February we are going to O W U for a scholarship competition and also stopping by C A S E again for a more intensive look. She was accepted to both ($ for both also) but now she needs to take a good, hard look. Decision time is rapidly approaching.</p>
<p>For very far away schools, like St O L A F and F U R M A N, the deal was we wait to see an acceptance and $$ offers before we make the plan to go.</p>
<p>MyLB- I am not a big fan of Open House days, so I am guessing I wouldn’t like Admitted Student days either. I prefer to go when it is just a run of the mill day, you can see what the cafeteria TRULY typically serves, see how the kids usually behave. I don’t like crowds anyway but the whole wine-and-dine thing just annoys me.</p>
<p>We have a full month b/c of these admit days. DH lost his job so we need to attend these days so the schools know he is interested & will have us with aid.</p>
<p>I think a benefit of going to an “admitted students” day is that the student can meet and see other students who will be classmates. It could be a good way to start connecting with future classmates.</p>
<p>Having said that, we’re not sure if we will be able to go to any of these dates being offered because of S13’s spring sport games and practices.</p>
<p>vandygrad–I agree. Plus I’m not sure I’m up for a full day anywhere–I’ve usually about had it after 4-5 hours. ;)</p>
<p>HeavyLidded, I’m having little panic fits too, only no DH to discuss (or not) with. I have one child, and managed a prepaid tuition plan plus some savings for him…but now I really believe he’ll be more successful in every way at a smaller college, and one out of state (thankfully the prepaid $ follows him) which means I’m going to take the opportunity to downsize from a large home to a small-ish apartment, and budget pretty much all my income to college expenses. Huge changes all around; I try not to worry, because I think it’s the best choice, but I still worry. DS continues to trust me to make good decisions, just like he always has, so sometimes I act as if I’m more confident than I am.</p>
<p>Vists aren’t feasable for us financially and time wise. He’s doing an admitted student overnight at Beloit because they are paying his air fare and if Albright looks to be a strong contender once the FA packages are in, we’ll do a visit there since it’s just a cheap bus ride from Philly to Reading. </p>
<p>Regarding finances, I’ve figured out what I can give up to bridge the gap at the state school at least. With no child in the house, I figure I don’t really need to buy fresh fruits and veggies and nonprocessed meats. I’ve told my son that since I’ll likely give myself diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol to get him through school, he has to take me in when I’m old and sick :)</p>
<p>Onesonmom - I got rid of my house last year and moved into an apartment for that same reason. I don’t need a 4 bedroom house for just myself. Didn’t even need all that for just us two I guess.</p>
<p>My daughter is about to pull off her best grades ever!! 4.1 for the semester. She really lit a fire because she wants to go to Chapman so bad and she was deferred. Talk about motivation. Hopefully we can get that transcript transmitted before Chapman makes a final decision :)</p>
<p>Great news Coralbrook!!!</p>
<p>Yay for coralbrook’s D!</p>
<p>Congrats Coralbrook!!!</p>
<p>Coralbrook - Congratulations!</p>
<p>Just an update on my DS’s UMass Amherst situation. </p>
<p>Yesterday afternoon he talked to Admissions. They said that his Dec 1st SAT scores were not used in making his decision (admitted Undeclared rather than directly into Engineering). He told her that he had gone up 200 pts on the Dec 1st test (1780 to 1980). Well she took that info down and added it to his file however she said that his 1780 was probably high enough for admission anyway. The problem is his GPA (which is what I figured). He is at 3.3 right now. The semester ends on Monday so she told him to have his HS GC send her a direct email with his 1st semester grades after they are calculated and for my son to call her back in a week or so to check in and see where things stand. </p>
<p>Here’s hoping he does as well as he can on his finals today and tomorrow!!!</p>