So, here’s the deal: I’m a quadruplet (which is like triplets plus one more) and I’m trying to go to college. I’m a junior and my grades are pretty good and my test scores are good too. But, I want to get into an “elite” college (think Georgetown or Princeton) but there is no way my family can afford it, even though my parent’s combined income is around $230,000. Also, we don’t all want to attend the same school. I might we add that we are an African American family, and that I have the “worst” grades, but I’d say they’re still pretty good:
Current Course Load: Honors Physics, AP Biology, AP Language and Composition, Honors Pre-Calculus, Government, Latin III.
Unweighted GPA: 3.81
Weighted GPA: 4.33
ACT Score: 30 (This was my first try, I plan on taking it again)
Class Rank: Top 10%-- 81/720, but that is subject to change of course
Extracurriculars: Varsity Football, Varsity Track, Officer in School Cultural Club, Tutor at local elementary school, Self taught in Arabic (hope to study abroad in Oman this summer via scholarship), work around 20 hours a week at Old Navy.
Like I said, my grades are the “worst” of my brothers, but my ACT score is the highest. Any feedback on the amount of finical aid we could get or scholarship information or anything at all is greatly appreciated.
You could get an estimate of your estimated family contribution (EFC) on the College Board website. The EFC estimator on College Board allows you get an estimate based on federal (FAFSA), institutional, and/or combined methodologies. That will give you an idea of how being a quadruplet factors into the whole equation of estimated college costs. You can also run Net Price Calculators at the schools that you are interested in to see what estimated aid packages you might get. That will start to give you an idea of costs and what is affordable to your family.
By the way, your grades are not bad. A 3.8 is nothing to snort at.
Agree with previous poster: first step is running the EFC so you know how having 4 kids in college at the same time (ouch!) will effect what your parents will be expected to pay for each of you. Then you’ll know what the elite schools you’re targeting will give you based on need alone. The fact of the matter is, most of the most elite schools–and certainly the two you named–do not give merit scholarships. If you find that these schools won’t give you enough $$ based on financial need to cover your costs, you’ll have to expand your vision for yourself and look at a different set of schools, ie: start chasing merit. You can still attend a VERY good school and chase merit, though the full rides usually come from dropping down a few tiers (not, like, astronomically low… but not Princeton or Georgetown). Have the money talk with your parents once you run that EFC: is what it spits out realistic for them? What is the most amount they will pay for each of you for college? That’s your budget to work from. If they tell the four of you that you will all have to chase merit/scholarships… your game plan will have to change accordingly.
That said, I think you’ll be an attractive candidate to many schools. You would probably do pretty well chasing merit at a few places, especially if you bump up your ACT score a bit.
I have to disagree with the post above. The Ivy league schools are need blind and meet need. Even with your parent’s income, the fact that your parents will have at least 4 in college at the same time means Ivy plus schools and others that meet need will provide funds. So I would absolutely not settle on merit scholarships. I say settle because merit is awarded by schools trying to attract students with credentials higher than those who typically attend (not always but usually). Aim high! Who knows, a full ride at an Ivy plus school or the equal may be in the offering depending upon your family’s assets, etc.
All four of you are strong students? I would think this actually could be helpful…I mean really…how many eleite schools can say they have enrolled quads?
Cast a wide net. You want to include schools that meet full need (understanding that those are a reach for just about everyone)…as well as looking at some assured merit award colleges.
Agreed…retake that ACT and see if you can get above 32.
My intended major is International Relations and Probably a business major too. A minor in Arabic. And I know it’s not quite top 10% ha, but I expect my rank to rise as the semester just ended and I have improved my grades by a bit.
OP and all siblings should use net price calculators on all prospective realistic-for-admission schools and show the results to the parents, rather than taking “meet full need” at face value. The whole family should have the money talk together before application lists are made.
It is entirely possible that the application lists include both good need based financial aid schools and competitive merit schools as reaches and matches, with automatic merit or other assured low cost schools like in state publics as safeties. But what application strategy to take depends on the realistic evaluation of costs using the net price calculators and having the family money talk with those results.
Wow. On an income of $230k, unless they have very substantial assets, how can they possibly afford four college tuitions for four consecutive years? They would have had to have saved $1M to cover private colleges. In my admittedly off-the-cuff opinion, I would think that these quads would be eligible for loads of FA.
Sit with your parents and run the net price calculator. There are too many factors that may skew your answer. Princeton, which gives extremely generous financial aid will give you a vastly different outcome than georgetown.
Schools will also look at how much your parents are paying for your siblings to attend college. Your aid package will look different if all 4 of you are attending comparably priced schools vs. you attending a school that cost ~65k a year and your siblings are attending the local CC at 5k/year each.
Even if they qualify for loads of FA, any EFC will be X4! I could easily see a residual of $15 or $20, so $80k a year? That’s crazy! And I suspect that might happen.
you have time, look at FA and merit. Don’t just do one or the other. I you all get into meets need schools, great. if not, you can find merit schools.
The EFC via Fafsa won’t be exactly divided by 4. But OP needs to learn how fin aid works and find generous colleges. And also learn the full story of what it takes to get admitted…more than stats.
The EFC is the TOTAL EFC for the YEAR, regardless of how many kids are going to college and what the various costs are for each. If the family’s EFC is $20,000, that means they pay $20,000 spread out among all four colleges. It may not come out evenly as $5k per college, but it doesn’t matter. The EFC is what they are expected to pay for college in the given year, regardless of how many kids and how many colleges.
How can this be? The quads will not know yet where they are going when they get the packages.
