<p>I will hereafter no longer refer to our family as middle class. Obviously, we're not by the standards of most posters. Who exactly is upper class then, or does everyone think it's just the celebrities like actors and professional sports players?</p>
<p>GFG, This poster defined their family as upper middle class, which is what they seem to be in my opinion. An income of 120,000 in an expensive cost of living area, is upper middle class. It is certainly not poor, and it is certainly not rich.</p>
<p>Also, I want to clarify my prior post. When looking for schools where your stats are in the top fourth and above, this would be mainly for the purpose of merit aid, but also apply for financial aid, b/c you they give you work study, and a subsidized, or partially subsidized stafford, if not a samll grant, at a private school.</p>
<p>cimmoresque: You don't have to convince me that fairfax co. is pricey to live. I know all about Tyson's corner (I & II), Annandale, McLean, TJH, Reston, Centerville, Oakton, Great Falls, etc. But you said ur family makes 120K, that is in the range of a middle class I defined from my previous post (80K-150K). If you are good enough to make it to HYPS and other top tier 1 colleges. I would say ur grant would be in the range of (15K~20K). Then, according to the following formula, you and your family can afford the HYPS education:</p>
<p>COA(45K)-grant(17.5K)-your loan (5K)- parent contribution(17.5K)- summer work/term time job (5K) =0.</p>
<p>Therefore, you will graduate with 20K debt with a HYPS degree. But of course your paranet should pay for the 17.5K each year, via savings/HomeEquity/PLUS/Belt-Tightening etc. I think that your family's income of 120K , that is doable.</p>
<p>Hope this explains.</p>
<p>Rabban wrote, "If your family is around middle range (80K-150K), there will be some aid from the colleges mentioned"</p>
<p>Me: Wrong.</p>
<p>cimmoresque, I don't know if they did take mortgage into consideration, but ours was very high, and so probably they did. They ask about it in your fin aid application.</p>
<p>Hi Mom: Well, if you go to Princeton University Website, <a href="http://www.princeton.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu</a>, and click the undergraduate aid button, you will see the estimator. Plug her 120K number and VA residence (yes they considers where you live , for example, the cost of living is different in NY than UT) and some information (Princeton does not count Home equity as an asset) and see what happens. You will be pleaseantly surprised and may have to eat your humble pie ;)</p>
<p>Smith offers wonderful merit scholarships for women who want to study engineering. They offer smaller research grants as well, but those don't begin to offset the expense.</p>
<p>Most top schools don't offer merit aid - it's need-based only. The Profile and FAFSA do not make adjustments for expense living areas, so $120,000 in Fairfax County is see the same way as it is in North Dakota.</p>
<p>Mom: Wrong Wrong Wrong ! Mom is now educated by me haha ;)</p>
<p>This is a classic example of new generation Xers- With the aid of powerful/free resources of internet, we can give up-to-date advice than old folks =p</p>
<p>Do not forget that those old people like us have paid taxes and contributed money to those universities that you want to attend. You would be paying an even higher percentage - like 100% - if some us had not already paved the way for you. Your comment was rude! I hope there is an etiquette class in your future.</p>
<p>And do not forget that Mom has received the FA (non)help from some top LAC schools.</p>
<p>Hi MOMof2006: Yes, you are right. That was unnecessary... But the majority of you old folks voted for DUBYA!!! 2 times, that says a lot :p</p>
<p>Rabban, Princeton's calculator is unusually generous with need based aid. There is great variability with how colleges use the FAFSA and Profile to determine need, and then they choose how to structure a package for a given student. I would be shocked if a family whose income was $150K came out with $20 in need based aid unless there are multiple children in college.</p>
<p>Our income is WAY less than $150K and our EFC was almost $40K. That would make our need at most colleges to be zero. I would have been thrilled with $20K need based aid, or even $10K. But it just doesn't work that way.</p>
<p>Hi sjmom: Yes, I agree. With $150K, the aid will be minimal unless you reside in CA or NY, if any. But, considering the OP's 120K income in Virginia, I would think he/she would get quite a substantial amount of finaid, especially from HYPS and other top colleges. Well... proof of pudding is in eating; OP why dont you do us a favor and do early estimator, and tell us what you got.</p>
<p>northeastmom, you're right (or at least as far as I know) -- we had a smaller house that we bought for ~$300k and sold for at least $450k (I believe the house around ~$500-600k now, though it may be dropping) </p>
<p>using the profit, we bought this new house (my dad cited "tax reasons")</p>
<p>Rabban, thanks for the info about HYP, but I highly doubt I could get into any of them -- not to mention, I've heard Brown's financial aid is bad enough for people who need it a lot worse than me. I don't want to think about how little finaid they'd give me. I'm still very doubtful about a lot of financial aid from colleges, but I do know a few kids in my neighborhood who got great packages from Dartmouth. </p>
<p>Nora_88, thanks!</p>
<p>Well..the good news for the OP is that the family has some significant equity in their $700K home due to the down payment. Any school using the profile will expect the family to tap into that equity at least a bit. We have a similar situation in that our home equity is very high due to very significantly rising housing costs in CT....we've lived in our house for 11 years, and we were very thrifty when we built it, doing a lot of work ourselves. We are thankful we have that equity now that we will have two kiddos in college next year, both at private colleges and only one with merit aid. It's an investment we are willing to make, and we are thankful we can.</p>
<p>Okay, so there is considerable home equity. As thumper states they will expect your family to tap into it to some extent. I don't know how much equity is acutally there, but it sounds like you will not get much aid from private schools. You could get something small, so apply. I would look into state schools as financial safeties for you, and your family too. You may want to ask your parents how much they are willing to pay for school, so you have guidance.</p>
<p>There are some very nice public schools, even outside Va. that you might look into. In NJ, for example, The College of New Jersey is a very good school, and you may qualify. It is very comptetive for admission.</p>
<p>Also, lkf, has a point. If there are other family assets, such as considerable savings your efc will be even higher. Definitely sit down with your parents to get a picture about what they can afford, what they are willing to pay, and look for financial safeties too.</p>
<p>I don't think paying for college is an easy road for anyone, except perhaps the insanely rich. Most upper class and upper middle class families put their money into their home, their cars, vacations and retirement savings. I'm not insulting this lifestyle--this is my family. They saved for my college, but it doesn't cover half before my scholarships. I think a lot of parents are naive. They assume many things, and you know what assuming does!</p>
<p>Still, financial aid was designed to help the truly financially needy. Its one thing when your money is in your home or your 401(k) and you don't have enough set aside for college. Its another thing when you literally have no money at all for college, not even if you sold everything. I know people in this situation, and they deserve the financial aid more. Most times, these people are more grateful of aid and it is a more worthwhile investment for the school, while wealthier kids can unfortunately take that kind of thing for granted sometimes.</p>
<p>I plan on saving a lot of money for my children's college funds. Because of my experiences, having college funds is actually more important to me than a retirement fund. I think kids going through difficulty concerning financial aid should simply buckle down and do what it takes to make it work, as you can't change the past, and learn from your parents' mistakes so you can provide for your children more adequately. Each generation learns from the past one.</p>
<p>
[quote]
having college funds is actually more important to me than a retirement fund.
[/quote]
When you want or need to retire, the 401k will be the most important. You mention learning from past generations. Part of my family has retired in comfort and security. Another part of my retired family is broke and depends on charity to get by. I learned that the former is definitely better. Sending my kids to their dream school would not be worth enduring the latter.</p>