<p>Yeah I guess ill have to judge for myself over the summer if I have time for the Chicago application.</p>
<p>Am I missing something? Family income is only $30K. How can you afford any of these schools?</p>
<p>Seems to me you need to be looking for full rides, or focusing on the handful of most generous schools which don’t include loans in their aid package. Those schools are the hardest admits, but fortunately you have the stats to be a candidate. Check out the net price calculators for various schools and see which ones might net down to near zero for you. You will probably want to cast a wide net and apply to many of these schools, because the net aid package will determine where you can attend. </p>
<p>How far are you willin to travel? Also, browse for only schools that are in California, and schools that meet full need. </p>
<p>Every school I’ve discussed here guarantees to meet need haha I already ran the NPCs and expected contribution came out to be around $500. I’m willing to travel anywhere but preferably not in the south. I don’t understand @AnnieBeats why should I look only in California?</p>
<p>I thought that your dad might be self-employed since in another thread you said that you live in a nice area.</p>
<p>The schools that give the best aid are NOT going to care what your FAFSA says or what your dad’s AGI is after his business deductions.</p>
<p>the schools that give the best aid are likely going to add some/many of those deductions back in…and aid will be based on that new calculation.</p>
<p>those schools use CSS Profile and they are going to consider everything…including the value of the business.</p>
<p>You better have some safeties lined up because you may not get the aid you want.</p>
<p>OP, because those are the schools that are likely to be affordable for you. You could go to Alabama on a full ride, but you don’t seem like the type of student who would want to go to Alabama. Full merit scholarships are very rare, so you have to look where it is most affordable. </p>
<p>I should add something on.</p>
<p>1) Look at schools that meet full need
2) Focus on California public colleges
3) Schools where you would get a full merit scholarship. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I’m fairly confused… so are net price calculators inaccurate? I literally took my parents tax form, filled in the lines that the NPC indicated straight from the forms, and got an EFC of $500. He does have a business but it’s worth almost nothing because he started it only 2 years ago. Also, the business is based in Korea ( my dad lives there now) so I’m not sure how that works out.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats I don’t understand why I need any merit. Every school I’m applying to other than UCs guarantee to meet full need. Why would I need to look at a school like Alabama other than as a safety, and since I have UCs as safeties, it doesn’t seem necessary. MIT Cal Tech Princeton Stanford Cornell Rice Harvard Columbia - all of these guarantee to meet need. Other than that I’m applying to Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD.</p>
<p>Obviously prestige and brand name meet a lot to you, but why would you not apply to a school where you are guaranteed to get full tuition? All of the schools you have that meet full need are reaches. What if you don’t get into any of them?Shouldn’t you be considered towards your parents because they are low income? I’m not completely sure about UC financial aid, but you probably wouldn’t get much because you are already in state. So those wouldn’t be financial safeties for your family. At Alabama, you would get into the Honors College and get a full merit scholarship guaranteed.</p>
<p>Look to see how the fin aid differs by FAFSA vs. CSS Profile vs. 568/Consensus.</p>
<p>Looks like family business assets do not count under FAFSA but do under the other 2. Are there any Full Need FAFSA schools?</p>
<p>Also may make sense to try for the Full Tuition merit scholarships at USC. Get one of those and you know you don’t have to pay for tuition regardless of how aid is calculated.</p>
<p>Looks like the UC’s are FAFSA only, though, so they should still be good backups. Check with a counselor or someone to confirm, however.</p>
<p>BTW, that’s the problem with applying ED: what happens if the aid the ED school who takes you gives isn’t enough to allow you to attend?</p>
<p>OP is looking at EA schools, not ED.</p>
<p>I too would caution OP that having a small business can throw off calculations. And if you have assets, including a house, that can throw things off as well.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats:
What you say makes little sense. What fin aid that the UCs do provide probably goes to in-staters first. That’s how most publics operate.</p>
<p>Ask a guidance counselor how much the UCs would give to someone with your financial profile.</p>
<p>@MrMom62:</p>
<p>He’s looking at one ED and considering some EAs.</p>
<p>I don’t think Alabama is a fit for OP. This is a prestige-conscious Asian student, among the least represented demographic there. I suspect he will find an affordable option that fits better.</p>
<p>BTW, looking at their common datasets, Cal is very close to full-need while UCLA is a bit worse. I would be pretty confident of Cal being full-need for in-state.</p>
<p>The OP would have to pay at a UC school still and would still have to contribute to his education. Work study or loans. I’m not 100% sure which. And even though he is an unrepresented demographic at Alabama, he would have to be focused on the educational experience and the blessing that he would have going for free. </p>
<p>Given that the OP has already run NPCs on the possible colleges, why is everyone discussing financial aid using generalized assumptions? NPCs are more accurate estimates of financial aid for the individual student’s situation than generalized assumptions are, even with the caution about small business income.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Depends on the purpose. If the employer wants a chemical engineer who has completed a traditional ABET-accredited chemical engineering degree, then attending a school with such a degree program makes the most sense.</p>
<p>Below are results I got from a College Abacus query (except where otherwise noted) for net costs to attend several schools mentioned above.
Assumptions
$30K family income (all earned by 1 parent)
family owns a business worth $100K, with $50K in business debts
$20K in checking account(s) and cash
$0 paid in federal income taxes
2 children (the OP and a sibling 14 years old)
both parents born in 1964
family does not own a home
4.0 GPA, 36 ACT</p>
<p>Net Annual Costs of Attendance
$27,522 Georgia Tech
$11,459 Alabama (may reflect full tuition merit scholarship)
$9,345 UC Berkeley (estimated with online NPC)
$7,412 Harvey Mudd
$2,505 University of Chicago
$2,500 MIT</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats:</p>
<p>The scholarship at 'Bama is for tuition only. Student has to pay for room and board. Full need fin aid covers everything. Even if part of fin aid are loans and work study, the grant amounts are likely to cover all of tuition at a UC and then some. The student can then decide to pay or take on loans and work-study (or live at home).</p>
<p>congratulations, @kei04086. welcome.</p>