She will be going on a visit to east coast universities on her program though she has no choice as to which ones.
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Your finances might be more complicated than you think. Both Brown and Harvard will expect all financials to be reported from both parents and any spouses if the parents have remarried.
Has this been considered?
Also does this college consulting organization concern itself with the family financesâŠor just the admission prospects?
Yes and that is where it becomes complicated. Under UK definitions I donât even exist. Under US definitions it will require conversations. This is why Iâve had the reach out from her. Even if I was included she still meets all maximum need criteria.
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For context I live in a garage.
The financial aid formulas for the 2024-2025 academic year can NOT be finalized here until some legislation either passes or doesnât through our Congress related to some changes on the FAFSA. The Profile schools usually follow suit, but also have their own supplemental questions and do take a deeper dive into finances. Right now, any estimate you seem to be getting should be viewed as just thatâŠ.an estimate.
Is your college consulting group considering your family ability to payâŠor just admissions. Do they have suggestions for your kid for less competitive colleges.
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Yes and yes.
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Brown is pretty well known in the UK amongst anyone with an interest (eg big firms etc who might be impressed with either there or Harvard when recruiting) p
average UK student debt is ÂŁ45k; no compulsory repayment until an income threshold is met (which a lot of people donât hit) and eventually written off. Repayment sums are very small. Itâs nothing like the USA figures.
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I donât know where you got that number but it is wildly inflated. Top tuition is ~ÂŁ10k/y. Living costs- even in London do not top ÂŁ10k/year. Most courses are 3 year, so max cost is ÂŁ60k total; ÂŁ80k for a 4 year program. Thatâs with full pay- no bursaries, no paying for part of it with summer jobs, no support from parents, etc. There is simply no way that âmostâ students start with that level of debt. According to statista.com the average UK student debt when graduating is ÂŁ45k in England, ÂŁ33K in Wales, ÂŁ24K in NI and ÂŁ15k in Scotland.
Re: the â$500Kâ value of the Harvard package- there is some fun with numbers in that as well. It sounds amazing, but given that tuition, room & board are ~$80K/yr, and 4 flights between the UK and Boston isnât going to run more than $5K, plus a lapttop at $1.5k we are talking about maybe $350K at a push. Still a whacking lot of money, but not $500K.
I am also going to push back harder on the âitâs Harvard or Cambridge b/c they are #1â. For a start, they are #1 in any given year, but if you watch the ratings over time, there are a handful of schools that move around in the top tier. Next there is the question of âsays whoâ? There are 3-4 main ratings groups (THE, Shanghai, QS and- more for the US- USNWR), and you will note that they do not all agree. She is an ambitious kid in a competitive program for whom how things look to people in her world- ie, the other ambitious kids and faculty in a competitive program- is inevitably important.
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She should apply to all the top need blind for intl students schools. If they were tontake her, unless her mom makes a good living, they would give her a full ride. All of them are excellent schools with liberal student bodies. I would say harvard or yale as early choice, rest reg decision.
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For US posters: If the family or both parents are on minimum wage (ÂŁ9.5 but many part time contracts) or universal credit ($400 a MONTH), or if they both make working class wages by UK standards (ÂŁ12-18K), sheâd still be eligible for maximum support. In fact thereâs maximum support up to $65,000 family income but obviously sub-20K will result in maximum aid.
The UK government changed its tuition fee structure: unless their parents can pay everything cash (which very few can, considering a middle class salary is in the ÂŁ25-30k range (household income representing the middle quintile is ÂŁ26,800), students supposed to take on loans to pay for their undergraduate studies; the maintenance grant, equivalent to Pell in the US and which was used to help the lowest income students with rent, food, books, has been switched to another loan, meaning middle class students graduate with about 40K in debt for their stateâs public university and working class&poor students graduate about 55K in debt. So, for an exceptionally bright low income student, getting into a top âmeet needâ US university is MUCH MUCH better financially than Cambridge, which may offer a 5K bursary but still leave the student with 40,000+ in debt.
The exception is Scotland, where undergraduate studies are free for Scottish students.
@UKDad
In addition, if you werenât in touch and havenât paid child support, she may not have to âreportâ you. However youâve been in touch recently and are functionally homeless (though not living rough) so the fact youâve been in touch shouldnât really impact her eligibility for FA.
Iâd apply to her favorite university from the âneed blind/meet need for internationalsâ list. Based on what you said of her, I agree Yale would be a happy compromise between Harvard and Brown. Or Amherst.
Do not concern yourself with reputation among teens in the UK. Ambitious teens arenât the ones who hire - and people who hire will definitely know Brown, Amherst, etc. (+ will recognize what experiences are on her resume).
That being said, although Brown sounds like a great fit indeed, odds are really low at Brown due to your financial need, and applying to Harvard/Yale in the RD round makes it even less likely sheâs get in.
âneed awareâ means: these 2 candidates are really exceptional, we want them both but can only pick one, so between the kid who can contribute 50K and the one who can contribute 5K, weâll pick the kid whose parents can pay 50K. Itâs especially devastating for international students since theyâre in a different âpoolâ with limited money, except at the âneed blind/meet needâ schools listed, ie., Amherst, Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale.
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Clearly, this student knows where this non-custodial parent lives. Otherwise this thread would not have happened. Getting a non-custodial parent waiver isnât all that easy. Just not paying child support would not be a reason for getting this waiver.
But for this family, it sounds like everyone is lower incomeâŠso it might not make any difference.
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I would also seriously consider BowdoinâŠwhich has been test option for many many many years.
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Harvard is not one of them.
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I donât know if this was mentioned upthread but Brown does not have a foreign language requirement to graduate. I donât know what their expectations are for applicantsâ high school foreign language classes.
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As far as Presidential kids, Brown was attended by Amy Carter and John Kennedy Jr not the Obamaâs.
I think more relevant from the perspective of the British is that two of the Beatles kids also attended Brown but in fairness it was Ringo and Georgeâs kids so ehđ
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Attended being the operative word, as she was asked to leave.
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Harvard doesnât have ED (Early Decision), they only have REA (Restrictive Early Action). My advice since she prefers Brown anyway would be to apply to Brown ED since there is a small admissions advantage to applying ED and really none to applying REA. Obviously you will need to be OK with the binding decision though if she gets in. Then, if she gets deferred or denied she can still apply to Harvard RD (Regular Decision) and she wonât be at a disadvantage. If she applies Harvard REA it is non-binding and she could apply to Brown RD whether or not she was already accepted at Harvard BUT she would be giving up any kind of ED advantage. My advice would definitely be to take advantage of any kind of boost you can get and apply ED. (Speaking as someone who did not ED and so wishes she did!)
EDIT: I did not realize Brown wasnât need blind for internationals when I wrote this. Given that it may negate the ED advantage at Brown. So maybe then REA at Harvard and RD at Brown and other schools. That way the decision is non-binding and she can compare options and financials. Good luck either way!
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Guys, do not underestimate just how big the differences in reputation are internationally. Harvard translates everywhere, in the world, as do Oxford and Cambridge.
Then MIT and, somewhat oddly, Cal Berkeley. Yale and Princeton, noticeable drop in name recognition, and it already begins to depend on which country you are talking about. And yes, even âpeople who countâ in other countries may not have much of an idea beyond those names. Really.
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Yes, I was just mentioning this because kids donât have to try&track a deadbeat parent on their own if theyâve disappeared.
(The parent may have disappeared or tried to stay in touch but couldnât, etc.)
Sorry for straying off topic. 
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Some people will know the names and many wonât. However the type of resume a student can build from any of these colleges (including exchanges or placements with Oxbridge colleges/companies/trusts/groups with recognizable names in the UK) makes it clear. Many people will not care about the collegeâs name but will look at what was achieved - and yes I understand the UK is more class-conscious, with graduation from a specific set of universities more important than in the US, but Amherst v. Bowdoin v.Brown, I donât think it matters.
(I do think Harvard REA is a better choice, but for reasons related to financial aid and the fact theyâre need blind/meet need, sth crucial for a very low income international. Name recognition is just a bonus and shouldnât really factor in.)
Just today someone was explaining (I have to be a bit cryptic) âOne of their rules is that youâre not allowed to list -prestigious name- on your resume.â âBut if you have experience X, Y, and Z, clearly youâre part of -prestigious name-.â âThe rule is, if they ask, tell the truth, otherwise, donât flaunt itâ. In other words⊠some will know and understand.