<p>We discussed how much we would pay before D started the college application process. She cast a wide net, and she got a variety of aid packages. Her favorite school was Tufts, but she knew as soon as she saw the loan-heavy aid package that it was a no-go. She had plenty of other great choices that were affordable for us, though. It’s important to talk to your child, help her understand so that she can apply to some schools she is sure to like and you are sure to be able to afford.</p>
<p>Look, with those stats and being Hispanic, she will get plenty of bucks from many colleges. There are also a number of private scholarships for Hispanic kids, definitely check those out.</p>
<p>But the reality is, she cannot have just one college on her list, especially if that one school is an Ivy. She needs to add several more to that list, because even if money was not a factor, nobody can apply to one highly selective school and think they are getting accepted. She must choose a number of reach, matches and safeties. And you might want to make sure they are ones that give out a number of merit scholarships, because she’ll probably get plenty. You need to expand her horizons, then when the acceptances come in, compare the numbers and tell her what you’ll pay for (better yet, to tell her right away). Geez, saving 125K for college is great. We just spent our kid’s college fund in one month (5K) and the rest will come out of current income. Looks like what we get to do with an empty nest is work more.</p>
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<p>This is so true! D1 did not get into her dream school (she applied early, so she had 4 whole months before she had any acceptances)–it was brutal. D2, learning from the example of D1, said that she was going to wait until she got her acceptances and THEN fall in love with a school within that group that had already said yes.</p>
<p>Finding a school/schools that you can afford, that she wouldn’t mind attending and that she can be assured of admission is the foundation of any college list. After that layer is identified, THEN pile on the pie-in-the-sky-University-of-Mars schools. Finding dream schools is easy…finding safety schools is a lot more work. And she needs to get to work.</p>
<p>Looking forward, yes we did hire a private counselor and both my DD and the counselor are discussing other schools as well. We are fully aware she may not get into UPenn so she realizes that. She will apply ED and see what happens. If she doesn’t get admitted then she will consider other schools. At the end of the day she doesn’t have a 2200 or 2300 SAT so she may not get in anyway. I think UPenn looks for really high SAT scores. I know she is also considering Notre Dame and U.of Chicago. There again without super high SAT scores all this may end up being a mute point.</p>
<p>Downeaster Dad, we visited UPenn, Princeton, Tufts, Boston College, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Barnard, and Amherst. UPenn was the clear choice we all liked. I think she will apply for BC and Tufts if UPenn doesn’t accept her under ED.</p>
<p>Also, those calculators are not really consistent. I’ve played around with some that indicates we’ll get something (not very much at all and just as well be nothing) and others that give us the big zero in the way of any financial assistance.</p>
<p>Here is the 125K question, how are you going to make up the difference? I don’t think any of those schools offer merit aid.</p>
<p>We also worked with a private counselor. During one of our sessions, he interviewed parents and student separately. He asked what were some the most important criterias in selecting a school, and FA was one of them. Did your counselor ask you and what was your answer? If FA was important to you, I think the list would have looked different. Your kid doesn’t have any financial safeties there.</p>
<p>I don’t think BC and Tufts are guaranteed safeties either. If she looks a tier down, she’ll almost definitely get merit aid. For example at Northeastern (just picking as an example because I’m very familiar with it), with those stats, she’d probably get into honors and get a pretty good scholarship (I’m guessing full tuition). I’m guessing the counselor probably has good merit aid information, though.</p>
<p>Are you okay with her applying ED to Penn if affordability is such a big question?</p>
<p>Gtbguy - I have no personal experience with ED, but at our high school’s college info night (high school is public in relatively affluent area) they told us that applying ED sort-of implies you love the school so much, money is not an object, and that for more aid, one should apply regular decision. That may apply only to need-based aid, but think about it: you are committing when you apply ED that if you get in, you will go. So what will you do if she gets in but without a scholarship? I think think is what eireann is getting at.</p>
<p>OP’s kid will be able to get out of the ED contract if she demonstrated that she couldn’t afford it, but it would also mean he couldn’t afford many of those schools on the list, therefore most of those schools would then not consider her. The reason is that schools do not want people to use finance as an excuse for getting out of then ED contract, and then apply to higher ranking schools during RD.</p>
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<p>Yeah. She’d be able to get out of it, but it could be messy, and it might also make it harder for parents to say no and not give in to the argument that she’s committed and take out major loans.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford an expensive school but dont qualify for need based aid, why on earth
would you encourage your child to be interested in a school that only offers need based aid?</p>
<p>Getting back to your original question…am I to assume you have saved $125K just for college? If so, that is awesome, and well above average even for high income families. See the SallieMae report (click on the PDF link on this page for details):</p>
<p><a href=“Sallie Mae | Education Loans, College Planning & Online Banking”>https://www1.salliemae.com/about/news_info/research/How_America_Saves_for_College_2010/</a></p>
<p>Next, let’s say you did need to pay the whole thing, how do you do it? One thing to consider is you don’t have to pay the whole thing up front! You still have 4+ years to keep saving. It might be harder to save as you are making tuition payments, but keep doing as much as you can.</p>
<p>Do you have another source of non-retirement savings from which you could pay the first semester at least? That way you can defer paying from your 529 (if that is where the money is at) and keep putting into it at the same time.</p>
<p>Can you pay 50% each semester from her college savings and spread out the rest in TuitionPay (monthly or quarterly) payments from other sources?</p>
<p>Just some ideas. It is daunting, but just know that you have done better than average saving so far.</p>
<p>This is why you must have and be accepted at a financial safety school (one you know you can afford). Your daughter might be learning a hard lesson about life.</p>
<p>UPenn, Princeton, Tufts, Boston College, Harvard, Columbia, Barnard, and Amherst. Chicago and ND.</p>
<p>To be fair, we don’t have a full picture here of her stats (AP scores, the actual SAT CR and M, plus Sat 2’s) how competitive her hs actually is, whether she has focused experiences (beyond class) that show a good fit for her proposed major, and maybe you underplayed her ECs. Did you visit any schools that are the next step down? BC is a maybe- for various reasons, I might say a good possibility. Maybe also ND. But the financial issues remain.</p>
<p>We have kept our kids informed of the financial realities as we go through the process. My son did not even apply to his long term dream school because he would have had to take 80K or more in loans after a very generous contribution from us. I researched schools that give good merit only awards, bc we qualify for no financial aid and no loans that defer interest. We put the money situation in black and white, via a very simple spreadsheet, including what we would pay and the amount that may fall to him. In the end he picked a school that offered him a great scholarship, and may only have to take a reasonable loan amount. We are paying the first two years, and if he can graduate early, or makes money via internship or coop along the way he may graduate debt free. If he takes 4 years the interest accumulate will be less than it would have been if he took loans over 4years. I suggest not harping on the money, but having short discussions on a regular basis as the process is unfolding. If your child gets merit money from multiple sources, I suggest you let the schools higher on the list know about the other awards, as many do negotiate. At the start of this process my son wasn’t interested in the money discussion, but at the end of the day he felt good because it was clear the school really wanted him and he can handle the debt that may occur. Some kids grow in understanding these things throughout their senior year.</p>
<p>You and your spouse need to come up with a dollar amount per year that you can spend towards college. This can include pulling from the college fund in 4 equal increments, what you can afford from current salary, and what you are willing to take on in loans per year. Keep in mind that costs will increase 3-5% at least each year. From there give your DD a solid number she can work with per year. The school must come in at or under this number OR she must make up the difference in merit aid and her personal contributions (summer earnings etc.). Don’t forget to account for personal expenses, books, and travel. These can be quite expensive, especially if air travel is involved.</p>
<p>People will vary in their opinions on this, however I think it is unfair to everyone, most importantly the student, to allow them to apply to a school that is not in the agreed upon budget (ie schools beyond parent contribution, do not give merit, and student contribution would be unreasonably high). As others have said, it is exceptionally important to focus on some safety (academic AND financially doable), and match schools. The schools you visited are amazing, however visiting a list that is ‘reach-heavy’ may not have been as productive as it could have been. It only served to reinforce your D’s focus on a limited number of highly selective schools when what she really needs is to broaden her search.</p>
<p>Gtb, YOU are also talking to the counselor, right?<br>
The fall-back list has to be right on all levels.</p>
<p>I’d definitely start visiting some “next tier down” schools so D sees that there are terrific options out there for her that will be affordable and that she will get into for sure. LACs that offer merit would be high on my list, as well as the OOS Us that offer guaranteed merit to certain GPA/test score applicants.</p>
<p>It seems to me that either you have not been straight with the counselor (and your daughter) about what you can afford, or the counselor is not doing a good job. There are NO safeties (academic or financial) on that visit list. It takes a lot more time to find matches/safeties and schools your kid likes that are likely to give her merit aid. IMHO, you started on the wrong end of the scale (with the dream/no merit aid schools), when you should have been mixing in a health dose of the other type as well. You still have some time to remedy this; any long weekends from school this fall where you could make a swing to some slightly lower ranked schools that give merit aid?</p>
<p>If your D applies ED and gets in, you are stuck with the bill. Now is the time to find the courage to say no, that you can’t mortgage your retirement for this. And change her list of schools to ones that you can afford. </p>
<p>Or figure out how you are going to change your lifestyle. Cut back on vacations, she only comes home at Xmas, make sure she is working on campus and in the summers (make her responsible for covering at least spending money and books), she should take out loans to help with tuition, you should start driving less expensive (or fewer) cars, consider dropping cable & smart phone plans, etc. If you definitely make too much to get financial aid, then there may be some areas where you can cut spending to cover some of the annual cost out of your current income. Or you could ask the grandparents for a hand (unless the “cost” of that is too high, which it surely would be for us).</p>
<p>Looking back at your previous posts you make $200k/year, have rental properties, and plan to retire a year after your D starts school. With the drop in income you were hoping to then qualify for financial aid in subsequent years. Is this still the plan?</p>