<p>I have a crazy suggestion. If your son has the stats to be accepted to WUSTL or Rice, he should apply to Stanford or an ivy if any are appealing to him. (In addition of course to some very affordable schools.) They are the most generous schools in determining need, will consider carefully your special circumstances, will lower your EFC by 40 or 50% when you have two in college, and are committed to offering only grants, no loans in their packages. </p>
<p>You just never know.</p>
<p>We found the school which was the most difficult to get into, the most miraculous of my daughter’s acceptances, was also the most generous.</p>
<p>Here is the reason I suggested applying to an ivy league school.</p>
<p>Rice Financial Aid Statistics from the College Board website:</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 894
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Number who applied for need-based aid: 606
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Number who were judged to have need: 370
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Number who were offered aid: 370
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Number who had full need met: 370
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Average percent of need met: 100%
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Average financial aid package: $28,494
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Average need-based loan: $1,333
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Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $26,850
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Average non-need based aid: $17,340
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Average indebtedness at graduation: $18,166
</code></pre>
<p>Yale financial aid statistics from the College Board website:</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 1,305
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Number who applied for need-based aid: 813
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Number who were judged to have need: 782
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Number who were offered aid: 782
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Number who had full need met: 782
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Average percent of need met: 100%
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Average financial aid package: $39,282
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Average need-based loan: $1,772
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Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $38,090
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Average non-need based aid: Not reported
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Average indebtedness at graduation: $10,717
</code></pre>
<p>The big difference shown here between Rice and Yale is the percentage of Rice families who applied for aid but were determined to not qualify for aid.</p>
<p>I would ALSO suggest that your son apply to full need schools that do NOT put ANY student loans in the FA package…Vandy, HYPS, and a few others (not all ivies).</p>
<p>Then, if your EFC is too high, your child can take out a student loan to help pay for the EFC. However, for schools that put student loans in the FA package (like Cornell, etc), that won’t be do-able.</p>
<p>But, again, I think your son needs to have some more full-rides to choose from since it doesn’t sound like he really likes the couple that he has already.</p>
<p>I appreciate the comments that address our financial situation, especially having to do with our house sale. I am quite depressed about this (particularly since I have no idea where we will move) but I want to thank everyone for the advice you all have to offer.</p>
<p>In my original post I asked about filling out the FAFSA/CSS profile, particularly with regard to our 2010 income. Since 2011 will see a huge drop for us, I was asking the best way to share that information with colleges. I am hearing back that there really isn’t a way to do that, other than to contact colleges directly and work it from there. In other words, that information is not something that can be reflected on the FAFSA/CSS stuff. Please correct me if I’m misunderstanding this.</p>
<p>Regarding suggestions that he apply to HYPS and other schools, son is happy with the schools he’s applied to already. He is in fact applying to MIT, but is not willing to continue writing essays to HYPS and other schools which up until now haven’t been on the radar. I’m not going to push it.</p>
<p>@50isthenew40 thank you for posting those stats. We’ve discussed Yale and he acted interested, but hasn’t started the app.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>I think you are being as proactive as you can. Once the dust settles and the acceptances and finaid letters are in hand perhaps go back one on one with any colleges that are clearly ones your son favors. I don’t know what else you could do except make absolutely sure he leaves no rock unturned as far as merit scholarships and deadlines. Also if I were you and had a son with a number 1 favorite I’d be doing everything in my power to make a connection with the admissions person who was handling my son’s admission of make sure they have a strong connection. I find absolutely nothing wrong with as a parent also making it known in a friendly concerned way that cost is a concern. Adults who are likely parents are sitting in these jobs especialy in finaid, it’s not like they don’t understand what parents are going through. You can be inquisitive and engaged without being obnoxious and pushy. And they aren’t likely to feed you a line of BS. Weren’t you trying to schedule a trip to visit Rice soon? If so, maybe schedule time for an exploratory conversation with a finaid officer.</p>
<p>Once the dust settles and the acceptances and finaid letters are in hand perhaps go back one on one with any colleges that are clearly ones your son favors..</p>
<p>I agree, but since money is such an issue and who knows what family contribution might be accepted, waiting until spring to look over packages can be dangerous if the student doesn’t really like his financial safety schools. </p>
<p>* I don’t know what else you could do** except make absolutely sure he leaves no rock unturned as far as merit scholarships and deadlines***</p>
<p>I agree with this. I would apply to 1 or 2 more schools with big merit. Some don’t require essays or teacher recs, so their apps are quick and easy (a parent could easily do them)</p>
<p>A problem I see is this…</p>
<p>You will have a 2 year overlap with 2 in college. Your D’s state school is NOT likely to give you more aid regardless of your situation/EFC unless it’s one of the rare state schools that is generous with need-based aid (like UVA or UNC-CH). You also seem concerned that your H may lose his job. If I were in this situation and my child’s top schools didn’t give incredible aid, then I would want him to take the big merit because I would fear that I wouldn’t be able to cover the costs for both kids in school at the same time.</p>
<p>Mom2 does have a good concept and it happens to be one I followed the year of unemployment with #2. He applied to a small midwestern LAC not much discussed here but well known for good aid. A decent school and one that S2 liked after visiting most likely due to the “cute girls” more than anything and a real contender from the parent value perspective. Not as strong academically as some other schools on his list but a solid school that could have served him well. They did send an great finaid offer no doubt about that. It scared me more wondering what would happen when the unemployment ended. I do think come spring you’ll just have to decide how deep you want to dig and where if anywhere you are willing to compromise. That is something we can’t really help you with.</p>
<p>“I’d be doing everything in my power to make a connection with the admissions person who was handling my son’s admission”</p>
<p>How does one do this?</p>
<p>Every college has a regional college admissions rep, correct? I keep reading all over cc how it’s important, with some universities, to get to know the regional person. Does the student simply call the admissions office and ask? </p>
<p>Other than visiting the campus (which he did) and showing up when his #1 choice visited his high school (this didn’t go well, way too many kids went and he couldn’t even get in the room) I’m not clear on how an applicant develops a relationship with a school’s regional admissions counselor. Thanks.</p>