<p>Here's the deal. My family income is less than 60K a year, but our assets (including house, not including 401K) are more than 300K. We live in a nice house in a fairly well off neighborhood. My parents are both in their 60's and one of them is retired and on pension (health reasons) so we only have one stream of income coming in, but are sitting on my parents' life savings. And as strange as this may sound, they want to have some money to live off of after they turn 70, and yet they're still all for me applying to Columbia ED. Am I screwed, or will the financial aid office (assuming I somehow get in) understand? Has anyone else been in the same/a similar situation?</p>
<p>It is my understanding that a 401k and your primary house is not included in the EFC formula for FAFSA, but is in the Profile. I believe Columbia uses the Profile. Age of parent is also considered in the FAFSA formula.</p>
<p>columbia uses the profile first, then fafsa, but they specifically say 401k isn't included but house is</p>
<p>Do a trial run with FAFSA and PROFILE to see what you will be getting. There are on-line calculators. I still caution about ED when you need financial aid as you will have no negotiating room, nor will have any means to compare offers.</p>
<p>My Dad is also retired( health reasons too) and gets a pension which only cover his living expenses, very little savings, but i still don't get any fin aid from a cal state. On the other hand, my best friend is in the same situation, but he gets a full ride to UCR. how could this happen.</p>
<p>Is the VALUE of your primary residence $300,000 or is the EQUITY in that home (Value minus any outstanding mortgage debt) $300,000? The Profile looks at the equity, not the value of the house. And even that, some schools have a limit on the equity that use for computing financial aid.</p>
<p>Also...re: "life savings" your parents "have" for their future...is it IN retirement types of accounts (e.g. pension plan, 401K, 403B, TSA, IRA)....or is it sitting in a regular savings account. The balances IN a retirement type of account are not considered assets for financial aid purposes...only the contributions in the year that is used for reporting (for those doing the FAFSA for the 2009-2010 year, that will be the 2008 tax year). </p>
<p>Also as mentioned above, your parents ages and closeness to retirement are considered. </p>
<p>The biggest question to ask your parents is how much money they are able or willing to pay each year for your college education.</p>
<p>Equity, and they're split: part is sitting in a bank account, part is sitting in 401k, and my dad is already getting social security (practically nothing (i don't even know why they have this system in the first place (seriously)))</p>
<p>The $300K in assets will affect your financial aid. Your parents get (I think) about $20,000 in asset protection. After that, the assets are assessed at 5.6% (I think). Home equity is used in different ways and amounts by the different schools...I do not know Columbia's %age of home equity used. The balance IN your family's 401K will not be viewed as an asset (although some Profile schools do ask for that information).</p>
<p>Any money your family receives from that 401K is viewed as income, I believe and will be taxed when withdrawn (it was not taxed when it was put into the account). SS income is also counted.</p>
<p>Your parents' ages and the fact that they are retired IS considered.</p>
<p>Columbia is a school that uses both FAFSA and Profile to get financial information for financial aid purposes. I agree...you need to run your family's numbers though one of the finaid calculators (using institutional methodology)...does Columbia have one on their website? Some schools do. See what your expected family contribution calculates to be...and see if that lines up with what your parents feel they can reasonably spend on your college education. </p>
<p>And that is an important discussion to have...</p>
<p>Conventional wisdom is that if financial aid is a significant consideration, applying ED is not the best idea. When you apply ED, you agree to attend the school if you are accepted. You don't have the ability to compare financial aid offers from various schools...and folks here will tell you that those offers vary wildly from school to school....even the schools that meet full need can have very different financial aid offers.</p>
<p>Is Columbia a preferred school for some reason??</p>
<p>Yeah. Perfect fit for...everything. And I may be a recruited athlete, so applying ED would show my commitment to the team (fencing). But thank you for the response: really, really, helpful.</p>
<p>Vanilla, I read your stats on another post. I'm not sure you are a sure thing for those Ivies any more than any other top student...there are a LOT of top students applying to those schools. I don't know anything about sports recruiting, but I did notice a response from another poster saying that if you were a "b" fencer (whatever that means) that it wasn't likely the coaches would be calling you unsolicited. When is it appropriate for your fencing coach to advocate for you? I don't know the answer or the NCAA guidelines for recruiting athletes. The Ivies do not give athletic scholarships at all...but perhaps if they need a decent fencer, this could tip the application in your favor. </p>
<p>I do think they will wonder why your standardized test scores in math are your highest and yet those are your lowest academic marks in high school. Why is that?</p>
<p>Again I ask...is Columbia a top choice for some reason...worth pursuing ED regardless of your financial aid?</p>
<p>haha</p>
<p>I know i'm nowhere NEAR a sure thing, but i think i have as good a shot as anyone and could be somewhat close to a sure thing i get recruited</p>
<p>I'm already talking with the coach: he likes me and their roster in my weapon is realllllllly short this year (a senior and two juniors, will be two seniors when i arrive, three is bare BARE minimum for any weaon (honestly don't know how they're go with 3 fencers this year))</p>
<p>Short answer: I'm lazy. Long answer: I get bored with school math very quickly. I had 100 average first marking period of this year in AB when i was doing hw every other night because it was somewhat new and interesting, but it got repetitive very quickly and i stopped doing work period. I have a natural tendency towards laziness, but i can get absolutely engrossed in something if i find it really interesting, and math seems to be very capable of doing this.</p>
<p>When i said perfect fit, i didn't mean "i'm so awesome columbia is a match school": i know it's a reach. when i said perfect fit, i meant it has everything i could ever want in a school: somewhat closed off campus in amazing city, great fencing team, no too close or far from home, and an engineering school which seems to be the place for people that are good at math but like money. applying ED here gives me a number of benefits: greater chance of acceptance, greater chance of outright coach support, and a much less chaotic and suspenseful senior year. i really don't think it'll affect my aid package much, and in the worst case scenario i could back out of ED for financial reasons.</p>