<p>No one is giving this student any advice so I am posting a link to his thread</p>
<p>... ahahah whut. Er, I really, really wonder if that was a typo or something. Um.</p>
<p>I wondered that too. I have been surprised by some posts on CC but that one takes the cake!</p>
<p>Oh, I am sure it's not a typo. Unfortunately.</p>
<p>The husband of a very good friend of mine makes about that. She recently lamented the fact that they couldn't get financial aid. I couldn't believe it! She & her H both grew up in families that were solidly middle class. I'm not sure how on earth she went from that background to a place in her life where she thinks she even needs financial aid. The truth is, the more people have, the more they think they need ... and they never seem to get to the place where they realize they have more than enough. I assume this post-er has parents like my friend & her H.</p>
<p>I responded to that poster...but honestly...$450K a year...? And they think they would get financial aid from UPenn??? I seriously doubt it.</p>
<p>they chimed back in and said it should have read 250K a year.</p>
<p>Let me get my violin out and serenade them a pity song.</p>
<p>Please don't tell me 250K is middle class in some neighborhood!</p>
<p>Dear Lord, please let me rich for a even just a year. I promise to live just as frugally as I do now even though I could afford not too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Please don't tell me 250K is middle class in some neighborhood!
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</p>
<p>Nobody ever did. Let me just say that I haven't been exposed to the world of FA (clearly as you have discovered in my post) and I am just ignorant I guess.</p>
<p>I guess I was just worried about sending 3 kids to college and 1 kid to business school at one time. Is that so bad? And yes, I, like others, use the keypad and "4" is next to "2."</p>
<p>(by the way I posted that thread if you haven't looked at it)</p>
<p>OK....help me here....student's family will have three kids in college (the OP, twin, brother) at the same time. It is possible that this student would qualify for some need based aid, isn't it....even with an income of $250,000 per year. I sure hope they don't have any home equity.</p>
<p>jcll...welcome to this part of the forum. </p>
<p>One thing to remember...your sis won't be going to business school until some time in the future. The colleges only care about students enrolled in college NOW...not in the future. Your financial need will be determined using a formula that uses family income, assets, and the number of family members (those living with the family) and those attending college. In addition, UPenn uses the Profile, I believe. The Profile will ask for information regarding other assets, most notably your family's home equity. </p>
<p>Don't worry about the typo...folks make mistakes. I will say...your keypad and mine are very different. The 4 is not next to the 2.</p>
<p>Three in college at once is tough! We had 4 at once, and our college choices reflected that. No UPenn for us. My parents didn't come close to making the equivalent of today's $250k, so we knew from the start that had to be careful in making school choices.</p>
<p>First of all, run your financial numbers through one of the financial aid calculators (have your parents do it). Penn uses Institutional Methodology, which will probably yield a much higher EFC than Federal Methodology. They may also consider other things (the Profile allows schools to ask their own nosy questions!), which can make your EFC even higher than the calculator shows. Scan Penn's threads to find out how close to calculated EFC people seem to think they are. The grad student will NOT be counted in when you enter number in school, because this student is assumed to be independent for financial aid purposes. You will be able to get an idea of what your EFC will be. Look on Penn's website to find out COA (Cost of Attendance = tuition, room, board, books, lab fees, misc. expenses). COA - EFC gives you an idea of what your need (as determined by the financial aid formula) will be. I don't know if Penn guarantees to meet need; you can find that on their website or in the CC Penn threads (or call & ask). If you have a calculated need, you may be able to get grants, loans, and/or work study to meet that need.</p>
<p>If finances might be a barrier to attending Penn, it is wise NOT to apply ED. You can only back out if they don't meet your need ... and believe me, the need schools calculate is very often lower than the need you actually have!! I definitely suggest RD if you want to compare financial aid offers.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>The grad student will NOT be counted in when you enter number in school, because this student is assumed to be independent for financial aid purposes.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>The grad student will not count unless the grad student is in a degree granting program while the student is also in college.</p>
<p>Another thing you should do ASAP is have a very candid talk with your parents. Find out what they are willing to contribute dollar wise per year for your college education.</p>
<p>^they are willing to do whatever it takes. They are really committed to giving us the best education possible (my sister just graduated from columbia). I will have an honest talk with them to see what they are truly willing to do and what I should be doing. </p>
<p>BTW, 4 is diagonally next to the 2 :)</p>
<p>Oops, I need to clarify. The grad student won't automatically count. You can find out whether or not this student will count by following directions when you do the calculator. Some schools may want verification that the grad student receives at least 50% of his/her support from the parents, so just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I was thinking of parents when I wrote my earlier post. If they go to college, they don't count!</p>
<p>jcll...how did your family pay for Columbia? Your parents should be very familiar with their financial aid prospects if your sister attended Columbia...another school that gives need based aid only...and meets full need. Did they get bucko bucks from Columbia for your sister? </p>
<p>Have that talk with your parents and find out their financial criteria for your college search. You may find that they don't have the same financial constraints that you think they have. You need to know.</p>
<p>Yeah im completely stupid for not realizing that they've already been through this. I'll talk to them.</p>
<p>In the mean time, can you guys recommend schools with merit based need? I'm interested in business and science (life sciences); northeast, west coast, or chicago area; I'm a typical ivy applicant (2150 SAT, 4.5 GPA, top 5%, published work in science journal, have job at UPenn lab (and research), job @ hedgefund and orthopedic practice, have done biomedical research programs over summer, ect)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the replies guys (thanks thumper)</p>
<p>You sound like a great candidate for merit aid. What schools do you like? Get a list together & check out their websites. The financial aid websites will outline their policies. There are many, many great schools that give merit money. My D got scholarships of $15-19k per year from quite a few schools. Your good stats should result in some merit money. Check the parent forum for ideas on schools with good merit aid.</p>
<p>Take thumper's advice & talk to your parents. It's possible that you don't need to worry. The fact that you do, though, says a lot about you ... it tells me that you do not take what you have for granted & do not have a sense of entitlement. I like you! :)</p>
<p>Well...you might want to consider Boston University. You might not get a full scholarship, but you could be in the running for a presidential scholarship ($10,000 a year). They have strong sciences and business as well. </p>
<p>DD goes to Santa Clara University. Again...don't really know about your finaid prospects, but you are at the top of their admitted student profile. They have strong engineering and business. They also have decent life sciences.</p>
<p>UMD College Park...ok...not northeast, but has what you're looking for. And they do offer merit aid to out of staters.</p>
<p>I'll put my thinking cap on...and I'm sure some of the other parents will too. In the meantime...look on some of the websites.</p>
<p>i LOVE boston! I looked at the school (on paper I mean) and it seemed expensive OOS (im in california) but I didn't realized they had merit aid. I'll definitely take a harder look!</p>
<p>jcll...Boston University costs the same whether you are in or out of state. It is a private univerity, not a public university.</p>
<p>Since you're in CA...why aren't you looking at some of the great UC's...UCLA, UCB, UCSD ALL have excellent (and I mean excellent) science and business programs. Also, what about USC? Again excellent programs. Are you a NM finalist? If so, USC offers great merit aid to NM finalists.</p>
<p>There are students from the east coast who would LOVE to get into UCLA or UCB. The UC's would most definitely save your family a ton of money with the instate status you have, and they offer an outstanding education.</p>
<p>If you want to look closer to home...check out the Claremont Colleges, and Pepperdine (business is good there).</p>