<p>Ivies do have a very low percentage of middle class students; the financial aid issue is one reason, but it is also harder for poor & middle class to win admission in the first place, simply because they are less likely to have attend the type of high schools that prepare students for Ivy admissions and less likely to have the sort of resources that would help win admission. In other words, it's a lot harder to get into an Ivy if you attend a public high school in a small town and your main EC is your afterschool job at McDonalds than if you are coming from an elite private prep school. Barrier #1: getting in; barrier #2: the money. (If barrier #1 wasn't so great, there would be a lot more lower class and poor students, since the Ivies pretty much give a full ride to Pell-grant qualifiers)</p>
<p>Sketchy -- I ran a scenario based on the financials you provided using the calculators at finaid.org -- it isn't quite as bad as I said in my earlier post, probably because I should have subtracted out the taxes first -- it looks like the EFC increases by about 47% of your after-tax net. So this leaves you getting about 35 cents on the dollar. I still think you are better off home with your family -- maybe you could quit the 2nd job you now have but think of a less stressful way to earn a little bit extra, such as a home-based business. Something that nets you a greater return for less effort in terms of time expended. </p>
<p>As to college - you need to have your son focus primarily on colleges where there are good prospects for merit aid, and also let him apply to Ivies or other top colleges, but make sure he knows he won't be able to go without good financial aid. An Ivy-caliber student should be able to get excellent merit aid, including full ride scholarships, at many excellent but less prestigious colleges.</p>