<p>My parents are being really stubborn. Together, they make about $150K, which is definitely a lot, but money is still tight and they're pretty indebted. I have an older sibling who's a senior in college, and we are barely able to pay in-state tuition for her (I start college in Fall 2011). I keep asking them to fill out an online EFC calculator just to get an idea of how much they will have to contribute, but they absolutely INSIST that the liberal arts colleges that I want to apply to (which comprehensively cost about $50k but happen to have a good track record when it comes to financial aid) will only make them pay about $20k for tuition and another $10k for room & board. </p>
<p>Is this realistic at all, for a family that makes $150k to only be expected to contribute $20k? I have a really tough time believing it, because I've read so many threads on here about people who have parents that make far less and are expected to contribute far more than $20k for tuition.</p>
<p>Since you seem to know their income, why don’t YOU fill out the online calculator and show the results to them?</p>
<p>You may not know their savings, but if you just put in some minimum amounts for that, and put in their incomes, you’ll get a good idea of their EFC…</p>
<p>BTW…don’t assume that whatever EFC you get that that is the most your parents will have to pay. First of all, most schools don’t meet need. Secondly, schools that give the best aid also require CSS Profile. </p>
<p>Since your sibling will be graduating, you can’t count her as being in college. I don’t think you can even count her as a household member after she graduates.</p>
<p>*and we are barely able to pay in-state tuition for her *</p>
<p>BTW…are you a junior? If so, then you need to be VERY careful and apply to at least 2 -3 financial safeties that you like. Those are schools that are either inexpensive or will give you assured HUGE merit for your stats. (What are your stats??)</p>
<p>You don’t’ want to be like some of the people who are posting now who are upset that they can’t afford their schools because their aid packages are bad, or their parents say that they can’t pay their EFCs.</p>
<p>I could do that, but the online calculator has all these weird specifications like “Taxable Combat Pay” , “Untaxed Income/Benefits”, etc. for which I have no idea what to put in. That’s a good point that many schools don’t meet need.<br>
I have a 3.87 UW GPA (4.47 weighted) and a 2100 SAT score (1370 M+CR). I only want to go to a private liberal arts college with strong academics though… can you give me some financial safeties?</p>
<p>You can just ask them what their FAFSA EFC is! They’ll know or can look it up since your sister is at a FAFSA school and, presumably, they have filed for her. But there is a calculator on college board to estimate IM (ie. what CSS Profile will calculate). Different schools use that info in different ways though.</p>
<p>Your stats are good and you should look at some of the 100% need met schools. There’s current info on them on the Project on Student Debt webpage. Also look for schools that are likely to give you large merit scholarships. There’s a thread stickied at the top of this forum that may help.</p>
<p>Aren’t your parents saying they will contribute $30K per year ($20 tuition + $10 R&B)? I think you can certainly come up with some good choices in that range if you do some research.</p>
<p>Going through this process myself this year, I find that the elite small LAC’s can compete with the Ivys for favorable financial aid and the 30K your parents expect to pay seems on the surface to be low, it’s hard to determine what the CSS profile calculates. IMO, unless you’re a URM, your stats need to come up a bit for an elite LAC. There are excellent second tier schools that include loans in their package but they’re not much more that 5-6K/year. What ones are you thinking of?</p>
<p>*I could do that, but the online calculator has all these weird specifications like “Taxable Combat Pay” , “Untaxed Income/Benefits”, etc. for which I have no idea what to put in. That’s a good point that many schools don’t meet need. *</p>
<p>Just put 0 in for those odd things. Right now, you’re more interested in finding out EFC based on their income.</p>
<p>If your parents have been paying for your Sis, then they may not have done a FAFSA for her.</p>
<p>I can bring up my GPA to a 3.9 unweighted at the most and I will be taking the SAT again, although I am not sure if I will do much better. The ACT is much harder for me and I can’t do as well on it as I do on the SAT, so I’ve decided it isn’t worth taking that.</p>
<p>My parents said they are willing to contribute up to $20k but I would have to take out student loans for anything extra, if that helps you answer my question.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids…I just tried one of those online calculator things the way you told me to, and it said for Institutional Methodology, my EFC would be about $30k. If my parents are willing to contribute $20k per year, is it worth it to take out student loans for that extra $10k? Or should I go to a LAC that gives me a scholarship worth over $10k per year so that I will not have to to take out student loans? Should I only look at schools that meet 100% of financial need? I have a friend who’s a senior who got into Rice, which supposedly meets 100% of need, but her aid package did not meet 100% of her need, so I don’t know whether to be trustful of this.</p>
<p>I can bring up my GPA to a 3.9 unweighted at the most and I will be taking the SAT again, although I am not sure if I will do much better. The ACT is much harder for me and I can’t do as well on it as I do on the SAT, so I’ve decided it isn’t worth taking that.</p>
<p>Hmmm…many think the ACT is easier because less tricky questions. How do you know that it’s harder for you? Have you taken it? The only practice book that really demonstrates the ACT is “The REAL ACT Prep Guide.” </p>
<p>You should still take the ACT, too…it’s just one morning. If it’s bad, then stick to the SAT. If you’re pleasantly surprised, then GOOD!!!</p>
<p>Since most schools are going to put student loans in your package anyway, then you certainly can’t borrow $10k more. </p>
<p>Please understand…FA doesn’t work like the following for most schools…</p>
<p>COA $55k
EFC $30k</p>
<p>so $25k need all given in free money.</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t usually work like that.</p>
<p>Typically, it’s more like…</p>
<p>COA $55k
EFC $30k</p>
<p>So, $25k in need…FA packages will probably look like…
$5500 in Stafford unsub/sub loans ($6500, 7500, 7500 in later years)
$2500 in work study
$10k in grant (free money)
$7k in gap or Plus loan (in addition to the $30k from family)</p>
<p>So, you can’t think that you’ll just borrow the $10k each year (which is higher than the Stafford limits anyway), when your FA package will likely include Stafford loans and a gap or Plus loan.</p>
<p>I have a 3.87 UW GPA (4.47 weighted) and a 2100 SAT score (1370 M+CR)</p>
<p>What was your M+CR breakdown? </p>
<p>Your expected higher GPA will be fine…it’s your SAT scores that need to come up, up, in order to be a good contendor for the best schools that give great free aid, and to get big merit from safety schools. Since your parents’ EFC is high and unaffordable, you’ll need huge merit to cut into that - because merit reduces need first…then reduces EFC (if the merit is big enough).</p>
<p>Not all schools will offer you this aid. If it’s a private school with a $50K price tag that typically has a gap between aid offered and cost of attendance, you might NOT see a grant that high. We know…our kiddo is at a private school that did NOT give her a $10K per year grant.</p>
<p>Oh wow, this is all so confusing and complicated! It would be nice to just get a full ride somewhere, but I guess with my stats, that’s not happening, haha. I hope that whatever happens, that in the end I can go to college and not have to accumulate impossible amounts of debt, but it looks like that’s not happening either. =[ I’m majoring in something impractical (AKA non math- or science- related), so I am not betting on a good starting salary.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, I’ve taken ACT practice tests (the real ones from the book) and the highest score I got was 28. The SAT is much, much easier for me. </p>
<p>My Math score was 680, my CR score was 690. That was on the first try though; I’m hoping to bring it up next time.</p>
<p>I was just giving a possible scenario showing that the OP can’t expect need to be a free grant. Some might be a free grant, but not likely most/all. My real point was that the aid package would likely already have student loans in it and likely a gap, therefore the student can’t also borrow $10k of EFC on top of all that. </p>
<p>That said, someone on this board showed that some privates have some kind of default $10k grant that they give to many students as an incentive to come (obviously, this would likely be to kids who have need and have stats in the - say - upper quartile.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your parents anticipate spending a total of $30K per year on your college costs ($20K for tuition and another $10K for housing/board)? If so…$30K will go a long way towards paying college costs at almost any instate public university.</p>
<p>^No, what they told me was that in that hypothetical situation, they would be willing to pay only up to $20k and I would have to finance that $10k for room & board by taking out loans.</p>
<p>Well…practice, practice, practice those SAT books. Keep one by your bed and spend a few minutes each night before you go to sleep reading a page or two of the advice/tips/explanations in the front of these books. Also, review a few vocab words each night.</p>
<p>Oh wow, this is all so confusing and complicated! It would be nice to just get a full ride somewhere, but I guess with my stats, that’s not happening, haha.</p>
<p>Well, if you bring your M+CR to 1400+, there is a good chance that you could get free tuition at a mid-tier LAC. then, your parents contribution could pay the rest. :)</p>
<p>What is your home state? Some states have their own LACs. :)</p>
<p>OK…your parents pay $20K per year. You get the Stafford loan just by filling out the FAFSA (that’s currently $5500 max for the freshman year). Work in the summer…I’ll aim low…$1500. That’s $27K. That will pay for instate costs of attendance in MOST states.</p>
<p>I know you WANT to attend a private LAC because “I only want to go to a private liberal arts college with strong academics”. But you may also want to look at your instate public universities. On other threads you indicate you are from Maryland. There are a number of fine public universities in Maryland that would be affordable for you with your parent contribution of $20K, the Stafford loan, and a contribution from your own work. In my mind, this would be your “financial safety” situation. I know that many students from other states would love to attend UMD College Park. I also know a number of folks from my state (not MD) who went to UMD Baltimore County. </p>
<p>Certainly you can apply to other schools and hope for some significant financial aid. But you need to also work with your parents on the financial issues as well. If there is an amount they can contribute, you need to look at this as a criteria also.</p>
<p>^Apparently UMD College Park doesn’t want me, so I can’t really use that as a safety school. I got a D this year, and representatives from there have told me that a single D is basis for rejection. That is completely understandable because admissions there are getting increasingly competitive, and I know kids from my high school with 4.0 GPAs and perfect SATs who have gotten rejected. I also applied there this year, early, and they rejected me. UMBC is just not a fit for me at all, I’ve been to the campus and people I know who have gone there have not liked it. Plus my parents wouldn’t let me go there because they personally don’t like it (I don’t know why this is?). </p>
<p>Sorry if I sound like I’m being really picky… I mean, I’d be fine with St. Mary’s? Could that be counted as a “financial safety”? As in going there as a last resort if the other LACs in other states don’t work out financially.</p>
<p>I am here to tell you…full tuition scholarships are NOT plentiful…not anywhere. They are typically awarded as merit awards as part of competitive scholarships at specific schools (check the Trustee Scholarship at Boston University, Pogue, McNair at U of South Carolina). In other words, full scholarships are awarded to the tippy top applicants who also complete and go through a rather rigorous application process. </p>
<p>Does your school use Naviance? If so, sit with your guidance counselor and try to come up with some schools where you are above the 75%ile for excepted students in terms of your stats. THEN YOU will need to look at their financial aid types of awards (high school GCs do NOT deal with finances). </p>
<p>You might also want to check the SUNY schools. Some of them might be in your “price range” but some are more competitive for admissions than others. York College in PA is a smaller LAC that is very modestly priced. Check UNC Greensboro, UNC Ashville, UNC Charlotte…the OOS cost of attendance is within your price range now.</p>
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<p>Students applying for early admission (after Junior year)…I would think…would be held to a higher standard. In other words…UMD would have wanted to see a very high level of achievement to admit you early. If you have done will this junior year AND do well your first semester of your senior year AND get those standardized test scores higher…you might see a different admissions result.</p>