<p>OP I was really feeling for your plight, but as I was reading your various posts It became apparent to me that you are arrogant and want it your way.
Isn’t it wonderful that you and your family were able to come to this country and achieve all you have?
Where else on earth is this possible. That your parents could have managed all that with 200.00 in their pocket.
You should be learning from their experience.
Due dilligence, hard work and determination. I am sure they didn’t feel a sense of entitlement.
Good luck with the Ivies. You are going to need it.
Like the OP, I am venting.
I’m really tired of all the whining people about FA. Nobody said anything was going to be fair. Just suck it up and go forward with the best options you have. We are all trying to do the best for our kids. Yes, I wish I coould have gotten better FA for my child, but it is what is is.</p>
<p>OP, back to basics here:</p>
<p>1) a small number of schools give no merit aid, only need-based aid; if those are the only schools you want to go to you will have to self -finance</p>
<p>2) self-financing comes from three sources: prior income (savings); current income and future income (borrowing); your family has saved one year’s worth; if it’s important enough to your family to have you go to one of Those Schools you will need to look closely at diverting more current income and borrowing</p>
<p>3) there are many other schools that provide merit aid; it’s your choice about whether those schools are “good enough” for you, but the FACT is that you can get a really good education by attending one of those schools, from small LACs (e.g., Grinnell) to medium sized Universities (e.g., U Rochester) or larger Universities (e.g.,McGill); net cost (assuming you get average merit aid awarded for each of those schools) is around $30k per year or less</p>
<p>4) this is the MOST important part of this, because it is a life lesson. . . if you work hard, what life will give you back is . . .
- everything you need
- some of what you want</p>
<p>if your expectation is that that “the system screwed my family” unless I get ALL of what I want (e.g., need-based aid for a HYPed school) you will be disappointed</p>
<p>Kei</p>
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<p>I’m of the opinion that no one needs to justify his/her family’s situation, job choice, etc. to satisfy someone else’s curiosity or sneering.</p>
<p>The “American dream” can certainly encompass more than the accumulation of wealth and/or a high income (these two are not always related). </p>
<p>aglages, many of the people involved in your child’s life, people who have had or will have a lasting impression on her, who have or will be helpful to her, make far far less than you do. These are the people you are sneering at – those who have other criteria for “the American dream” than you do. Their success, measured in terms other than financial, have been of benefit to you and to your daughter, and yet, you sneer. Ugh.</p>
<p>I suggest you try to do without all the people in YOUR life who earn under $50K to gain some perspective. I doubt you have your income solely by your own hand; I suspect that you don’t even recognize the assistance you got along the way from other people and circumstances. </p>
<p>I earn a good living, am grateful for that, and know that I had advantages along the way that others simply didn’t have, that circumstances have been generally favorable, that though I made some life choices which have aided me, there were other factors involved that were out of my control completely which could have easily undermined all that I have worked for.</p>
<p>applicannot, you need not justify your family’s circumstances.</p>
<p>“applicannot, you need not justify your family’s circumstances”
Yet they did without prompting.</p>
<p>Because you asked (sneeringly at that).</p>
<p>You might consider thanking the poster for answering your question, and possibly, even apologizing for having asked it.</p>
<p>Agreed Owlice…$60,000 in savings PLUS the full stafford loans each year would easily pay for most instate public universities for four full years. If the student had a great summer job or jobs, and worked during the school year as well for 10 or so hours a week…they could graduate debt free.</p>
<p>This thread has gone the way this sort of thread always does (with good reason), but I do want to wish the OP well. You’ve done amazingly well, and I’m sure you’re going to continue that wherever you end up for college. I’d also bet it’s going to somewhere that you’ll be VERY happy to be, whether it’s HYP or some other school. Good luck with your college applications!</p>
<p>I’d also like to say there are some really great parents on CC. I know I read their posts often, and they are always wise, helpful, patient (even answering a question they’ve answered countless times before), and deeply understanding about students’ different backgrounds and circumstances. Sometimes they’ll lower the boom on somebody when a reality check is in order, but even in so doing they will express themselves fully, offer a different perspective that will be enormously helpful in the long run, give suggestions and guidence on a host of levels. Just being a person like that is worth more to your kids than any tuition you pay.</p>
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<p>Stupfy - It doesn’t seem fair, but that is just the way life is. It could be worse - you could be my son who wants to go to an IVY and we CAN afford to send him. But guess what? The answer is to him will be just flat out NO. He will have to do his research and find the best school he can that offers great merit scholarships. (of which there are many) This may sound cruel, but we have raised our kids to understand that nothing is just handed to them - they have to work for it. If he performs well in his undergrad years, we will fund his graduate school regardless of where it is.</p>
<p>The whole concept of the “American Dream” is that if you really, really want something you have to be willing to spend years of hard work with some successes and some failures along the way. It requires many, many sacrifices. So if HYP is what you really, really want then you may have to delay your education, find a job that pays $50,000 (net) per year for the next 4 years and then pay your own way. Otherwise accept the fact that life is not fair and find a different school.</p>
<p>Stupfy - please don’t guilt trip your parents into thinking they HAVE to fund your way. They don’t and I am sure they have other financial commitments to worry about. (like their retirement and your grandparents)</p>
<p>Owlice, </p>
<p>Thank you. I almost always answer that sort of question in hopes that personal anecdote will help to alleviate some of the ridiculous notions people have. It usually doesn’t, but it’s worth a try. If the OP can’t pay, it’s one thing (for example, if the commitment to their grandparents is very expensive). If the OP CAN pay - which he or she has demonstrated considering that they have amassed a savings, are willing to take the necessary steps to afford an Ivy education, have non-necessary assets (a second home) on which they can draw equity, sell, or do without, and have at one point lived on a much lower salary - then I have little sympathy to that personal anecdote.</p>
<p>OP,
Don’t waste your brains on being cynical; if you are resourceful, you can probably make HYP work.</p>
<p>Talk to your parents again. Can they afford $1,250/mo. out of current income (which is $15K per year, or $60K over 4 years)? </p>
<p>HYP offer jobs paying $11.00/hour. If you work part-time during the year and full-time in the summer, you can contribute about $5k per year, or $20K total.</p>
<p>Take the unsubsidized Stafford loan, which would be about $30K total. The terms are better than consumer loans.</p>
<p>$60K savings + $60K current income + $20K student income + $30K unsub Stafford = $170K. You are almost there.</p>
<p>Finally, ask if your parents would be willing to take out a $30K loan, that you will promise to pay back when you can (and do it).</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that if one of your parents loses their job before your graduate, and their income decreases to $180K or less, tuition will only cost 10% of their income (or $18K/yr max).</p>
<p>P.S. Also apply for every scholarship you can.</p>
<p>“I do want to wish the OP well. You’ve done amazingly well, and I’m sure you’re going to continue that wherever you end up for college. I’d also bet it’s going to somewhere that you’ll be VERY happy to be, whether it’s HYP or some other school. Good luck with your college applications!”
^Thank you very much! This will be my last post, as I want this thread to die. but thanks for those who remained civil, and sorry for inciting such argument in the first place. I won’t complain again (until after I get in…haha jk)</p>
<p>"P.S. Also apply for every scholarship you can. "
^Yup I plan to.</p>
<p>Do they consider assets ( as well as yearly income ) when computing whether any financial aid might be awarded ? If so, at what levels is it not worth even applying for financial aid ? Thanks</p>
<p>I know for sure that certain schools count assets but I would expect that all count assets. It is impossible to know at what level its not worthwhile to apply for financial aid but I would expect that if you have enough in the bank to pay for 4 years of school that it would be difficult to get aid regardless of income.</p>
<p>MBJ…I always suggest that folks apply for financial aid unless they are independently wealthy. If nothing else, your child will be eligible for an unsubsidized Stafford Loan. Some families like to have their kids have some “skin in the game”…and the Stafford is a good way to do so. </p>
<p>Also, we all want to think that we are immune to financial crises…but sadly that is not the case. Even if you have all the money for college IN the bank…what would happen if you had a financial issue such as loss of income or a significant and expensive medical issue? Would that money be able to pay for your child’s college bills AND your family living expenses if income were lost? If you lose your job or somehow have a financial crisis, you WILL want to appeal to the colleges to help you financially. You WILL need to complete the financial aid forms and show the difference between your former solvent self and your situation without as much money. If you have filed these financial aid applications, you have the former self info there…and you can easily show the school the CHANGE in your circumstances. The schools will NOT consider you for financial aid if you don’t have these forms on file with them. I would imagine that if you lose your job, the last thing you will want to do from scratch is a FAFSA or Profile.</p>
<p>Also…check the schools. Some schools will NOT award institutional aid after the freshman year to students who do not APPLY as incoming freshman.</p>
<p>Of course, if you’re independently wealthy, none of the above will matter to you. But not too many of us are in that boat.</p>
<p>I was just wondering - at what income is one considered smart? I have a friend who earns more than $2,000,000 a year. I wonder if he thinks $180,000 is not-smart? Oh, wait … I actually do know the answer to this one … he doesn’t equate money with intelligence. Guess that’s why I like him.</p>
<p>Upper-middle class is paradoxically not a class one wants to belong to when applying for competitive admission. . .</p>
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<p>Aidee…most of these competitive schools are need blind for ADMISSIONS…being upper middle class is something they will not know about during your admissions thing.</p>
<p>BUT the awarding of financial aid can be problematic for some folks who are upper middle class. I think a lot depends on their spending and saving habits, their lifestyles, their priorities, and such.</p>
<p>“I actually do know the answer to this one … he doesn’t equate money with intelligence. Guess that’s why I like him.”
You may not actually know the answer to this. Many people are kind to the less fortunate.</p>
<p>aidee90: The OP’s family is not upper-middle class. They are most decidedly upper class.</p>
<p>Ok. So my mom and me really don’t have anything to do with each other. We barely talk, we rarely get along, and she doesn’t help me out with money or anything. I don’t expect to her to help me in any way at all for college. She hasn’t really help me out in the 18 years of my life, I don’t think college would change her to where she would want to help me out. My dad is in jail. It’s extremely embarrassing to talk about, but it is the truth. So I am kind of on my own. I have lived with friend after friend, home after home, but I have not had a stable home in forever. I have, techincally, been on my own for about two years now. I currently live with my best friend and her family, but it is not her and her family’s problem and job to pay for my college. I plan to work really hard to get through college, and I have every intention of going, it is just going to be really hard to pay for it. I need scholarships, and college finanicial aid, I just really don’t know where to even began. Help?</p>