<p>You are absolutely not in a unique or even unusual financial situation. It 's actually typical. Our family is in the same situation. We told our kids that we could pay $35K and they have to come up with the rest. Has not been an issue. Basically most state schools, OOS publics, and schools that offered some merit, plus some commuter schools were all in consideration. For a $55K school to be doable for my one son, he had to get a $10K merit award, and then come up with $10K from summer work and other savings, as well as have a part time job during the school year. He did not borrow but left that as an emergency source of money. He did get an outside scholarship freshman year, had a tough time sophomore year, then moved off campus which greatly reduced costs and won a grant for the next two years.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse Yeah that seems entirely fair. That’s basically what my parents said, but my problem is where that these schools are also somewhat reaches, so merit aid might be more of a difficult thing to attain. I am already coming up with $2k myself over my summer job to put straight to college, as well as a savings fund that I am not entirely sure of its purpose, how much is in it, and if it is or isn’t part of my parents’ guaranteed $53k. </p>
<p>VV, find out about your college fund. Also you can borrow up to $5500 your freshman year in your own name through Direct Loans, most likely , and look towards working during the school year to bring down some of the cost, as well as watching your discretionary spending very carefully. You can make it work for most colleges if you want to do so enough.</p>
<p>Financial aid will be hard but there might still be some merit opportunities with your ACT. You might throw an application over to Willamette. It’s a really lovely liberal arts school in Oregon. Do their net-price calculator and they’ll give you an estimate of any merit aid you might qualify for right away.</p>
<p>
Think about it . . . if schools were to give families in this situation financial aid, they’d effectively be subsidizing the family business. That’s not the purpose of financial aid.</p>
<p>As @BrownParent noted above, families are expected to pay college costs from three sources:</p>
<p>(1) Past earnings (in other words, savings)
(2) Current earnings
(3) Future student or family earnings (in other words, loans)</p>
<p>It sounds like you have some savings, you have abundant current earnings available to you, and, even if your parents aren’t willing to borrow, you can borrow up to the limit in federal direct loan. In order to figure out how much you’ll have available to spend for college, you need to sit down with your parents and get answers to the following questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>How much do you have available in savings?</li>
<li>How much are your parents willing and able to spend each year, not counting savings?</li>
<li>How much, if anything, are your parents willing to borrow?</li>
</ul>
<p>Put those numbers together, add in your federal loan limit of $5,500 (for freshman year only - it increases in subsequent years), and you’ll know how much you can spend on college.</p>
<p>Don’t waste your time or money on colleges that cost more unless your GPA and SAT/ACT scores are at least at or above the 75th percentile for that school and you have a good shot at merit aid. It doesn’t matter of the school is one of your “top” choices . . . just because a Lamborghini is my favorite car doesn’t mean I get to drive one! Focus your attention on those schools you know to be affordable, as well as a few others where you have a good chance at being awarded merit aid.</p>
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<p>Totally agree! But also make sure the schools actually award merit aid. Some of the highly competitive schools do NOT.</p>
<p>What’s your stat of AP/GPA/SAT I and II?
and type of classes you took? </p>
<p>To the OP…on June 1, you posted that you were a prospective JUNIOR. On this thread…you say you are a SENIOR. Which is it?</p>
<p>To the OP…if you are a rising HS Senior. Your SAT score at the end of 11th grade is the one you need to be tippy top and especially for those ED schools, and EA schools. What is your CURRENT CR/math SAT? Did you take the ACT?</p>
<p>You might also want to consider taking the ACT as well. Some students just do better on that assessment. If needed you can retake the SAT in the early fall of your senior year. </p>
<p>You also want your courses to be good ones, and you want to aim for the best possible grades.</p>
<p>With a 1230 CR/Math, it is my opinion you have a few big reaches on your list. BIG ones. Also, you have a bunch of public universities. Which one are you instate for?</p>
<p>From another thread…</p>
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<p>Definitely take a look at The College of NJ. OOS charge about 40k. My guess is it’ll cost you around 30 to 35k each year. It’s a lovely school trying to raise its profile by admitting more oos students. To do so, it’s giving them merit money.</p>
<p>Take SAT when you have time and make sure you have at least 2200…</p>