Plenty of shoveling under belt with my boys. :)) Boyscouts do a lot of digging around for community. :))
Before putting our house on market, we, actually, our realtor discovered our basement window well has moved and needed replacement. The first quote was $2400. DH seriously considered doing it our own with the boys but we found someone else to do it for $1300. Serious back breaking digging!
Boys did not do enough snow shoveling though aggravating DH. 
No more snow down here. 
Are we still talking about gardening?
Letās stick with rated G gardening please, @Dolemite lol
āThe most generous schools are those that are need blind and that claim to meet 100% of financial need.ā
The next most generous are those that are need aware and meet full need.
Since āFā in EFC is for family, the EFC is the same no matter how many kids are in college. So if Kid1 uses up the EFC, Kid2 gets a āfree rideā at schools that meet full need. Such schools are popular, so admission is tough.
Schools that meet full need: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
I thought that schools divide EFC by 2 and Kid2school provide Cost-EFC/2 and expect Kid1school to do the same, which may or may not happen. No direct experience though.
When we have D17 and D19 both in college, D17 will (GPA willing!) be continuing to get a scholarship that brings her cost of attendance well below half of our EFC. In all likelihood, D19ās school would take this into consideration in deciding how much need-based financial aid to award her (especially if theyāre a CSS school), and so expect us to pay something above EFC/2 for her.
@vonlost That is an inaccurate understanding. No 2 meet full need schools define need the same way. Almost all of them use the CSS profile to determine need. FAFSA divides EFC by # of children in college. Most meet full need schools are more along the lines of 60%/60% of THEIR net price calculations.
Since D17 is at a school that will never meet any need, Iām pushing ot make sure D20 goes somewhere where we can pay it all.
FAFSA submitted.
The bad news is that 2016 was a terrible income year for us.
The good news is that 2016 was a terrible income year for us.
And here I thought you were reminded us of the big bad FAFSA because Virginia Tech lost on Saturday. 
I saw a sign which read something to the effect of: Broke Engineers. Need beer. Thought that could be you.
@NerdMom88 It is rough when they get hurt/sick so far away! The same thing happened to D17 and I had to help her navigate the system to find her a doctor. The Uni was not very helpful. She really missed home being 3700 miles away! But sheās back in action and having fun, so all is well now.
@RightCoaster I seem to remember running into some colleges that even without qualifying for need-based aid, they required FAFSA and/or CSS to award merit-based scholarships. We filled everything out to be safe and to try to get the max possible.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek: āNo 2 meet full need schools define need the same way.ā
So are there schools that donāt meet full need that actually give a higher percentage of support than schools that do meet full need?
@vonlost For our family the answer is that merti scholarships offer way more āsupportā than schools that meet full need.
But if you are only talking about institutional grant schools vs merit schools, different schools use different formulas. Some schools calculate home equity; some donāt. (This article explains how the home equity calculations work: https://collegeselectionstrategy.com/how-to-calculate-home-equity-for-financial-aid/ ) Some schools that meet need meet that need with loans. Some donāt. So even amg the meets full need schools your actual bottom dollar costs are going to vary widely.
About the only time we hear from S17 these days is when heās in the dining commons. Grilled salmon for dinner last night, Santa Maria-style tri-tip for dinner tonight. Sushi for lunch today. Itās getting ridiculous! The kid eats way better than us.
My Dd is hardly using her meal plan at all. We are definitely cutting back to the lowest cost option for next semester. Her food options, definitely not as good @youcee!!
@saillakeerie My sign would say āBroke Dad Need Beer!ā
And by the way, win or lose - that was one helluva day/night at VT. Really glad S got to experience it.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek S is half way through his meal plan allowance and only 1/4 of the way through the semester.
Iāll definitely be adding dad bucks.
@STEM2017 Heās probably going through it so fast because VT is also highly rated for food. Weāre glad our son has the type of plan you donāt have to worry about using up too fast - allowed 1 swipe per meal time.
Son decided I ācouldā come to his induction ceremony into the Early Admit to Veterinary College and meet his girlfriend. At first he didnāt want me to come. (Now he says it was because he didnāt want me to spend the money and fly up there) Iām glad and have it planned!
Now to do the FAFSA (husband canāt find his ID) and S has to do a scholarship application for travel abroad.
On the phone he told me his roommate has moved out so he has a single until the Christmas Break when he moves into the frat house. No trouble with the roommate just since S was leaving at break the roommate found a good deal on an apartment starting Oct 1. Frat house will be culture shock! It is cheaper and includes meals.
@youcee Yeah, Iām a little bummed with the food plan at VT. Itās subsidized, but its declining balance, pay-as-you-go. So heās spending a lot. But he could definitely use a few extra pounds.