<p>Hi, admissions season has been nice to me as I was admitted into my top 4 choices: Duke, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Tufts. However, I did not apply for any financial aid when I submitted my applications. My parents' income usually places me out of qualifying for aid (my sister received none despite applying for aid), yet they've decided to only cover half my tuition. The aforementioned colleges hasn't given me any aid thus far. My question is - do colleges reconsider if your parents are only paying for half of my aid, and which school usually gives the best package out of the four? (My parents' expected income will drop next year as well, if that makes any difference)</p>
<p>Any advice will be well appreciated.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t base financial aid on what your parents are willing to pay. They base it on what they consider the parents are able to pay based on income and assets. You would have to apply for aid to see if you will be eligible for any based on the family income/assets. If the numbers show that your parents make too much for you to get aid then, no, the school will not take into consideration that they are not willing to pay that much.</p>
<p>Is your sister still in school? If so then having 2 in school at the same time can make a difference to aid eligibility.</p>
<p>If your parents income decreases in future years then it may make you eligible for aid in future years. But that will be after it decreases, not in anticipation of it decreasing.</p>
<p>Since your parents have already gone through the process what are they suggesting? Is 1/2 of the cost of the colleges you mention approximately what they paid for your sister? Did they just come to this conclusion or were they willing to foot the cost when you originally applied? You can certainly contact some of the colleges and ask the question, although, you are in a tough spot since none of the paperwork as been submitted and they may very well not accomodate your request. Do you have a college in your acceptance pile that will come in at half the cost of the privates you mention?</p>
<p>When did your parents tell you this? If it was only recently, then they have not been very responsible. </p>
<p>I hope you applied to some financial safety schools.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of your schools are “need aware,” but if they are, they won’t appreciate that you’re now asking for aid.</p>
<p>Colleges won’t likely care that your parents “say” that their income will likely drop next year. A college will wait for that to actually happen. Otherwise , everyone could “say” that their income will likely drop to get more aid. </p>
<p>Anyway…it sounds like you have some FA work to do. </p>
<p>However, if your parents income/assets are so high that their expected contribution for 2 children is still high, you still won’t qualify for any aid.</p>