If a student’s has very high stats, achievements in GPA, stats, extremely challenging course load, volunteer work experience, great writing skills, multiple achievements outside of school, work experience, yet is coming from a lower middle class who needs $$$$$$ and is unfortunately ORM. What they need to do in order to get either need based or merit based aid. What pitfalls they need to avoid in order to get a nod. what they need to do to show that they are not entitled and worked their but off despite great odds.
What do you mean by lower middle class?
For each college of interest, run the net price calculator and see if it is affordable on need-based aid.
If not, check whether merit scholarships can make it affordable. (But competitive merit should put the college in the “reach” category.)
For a college to be classified as a “safety”, it needs to comfortably affordable at (a) list price, (b) with need-based aid by the net price calculator (if simple family finances*), or © with assured merit scholarships for stats, as well as assured admission (including to the desired major, if the major may be a more competitive one there).
*At many colleges, net price calculators become less reliable with income other than W-2 and small amounts of interest/dividends, or divorced parent situations at colleges that require both divorced parents’ finances.
Others may help you better if you mention intended major, state of residency, whether net price calculators at in-state publics and other schools of interest indicate affordability (and if family finances are simple), and stats.
income just above Jack Kent Cooke foundation requirements. Around 100 K.
@ucbalumnus is this data available in excel spreadsheet? http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/math-computer-science-majors/1814245-computer-science-at-some-smaller-schools-including-liberal-arts-colleges-p1.html
did already for 100 colleges. cheapest is super super super reach schools, in satate school second cheapest. cheapest is public oos.
Doing that
stats are way above 25/75 and will camp out in front of school to show our interest.
Not an issue as family has no personal business.
Re: #4
No, the CS offering list is not in a spreadsheet. You probably want to check college web sites for any changes since it was made.
From that, do you mean that the student wants to major in CS and prefers a smaller school? Note that CS is a more competitive major at many schools.
Is there an assured admission (including for the CS major) school that is assured affordable that the student likes and can therefore be a safety? Be careful about “level of applicant’s interest”, unless the student applies ED.
$100,000 income as “lower middle class”?
She does not prefer one college over others as we fear we do not know which college will give her admission. Yes 100 K income.
How is a $100,000 income “lower middle class”?
If she does not have strong preferences for college, seems like finding a suitable affordable safety should not be that difficult, assuming that you carefully consider strength in CS and whether it is a more competitive major at the school.
If 100k is lower middle class I am dirt poor!
What is the intended major? Geographic preference? Universities or LAC? In general, the tippy-top 20 elite schools give little in merit aid. The most generous and “high ranking” Universities (according to USNWR) come to my mind would be Tulane and Case Western. Both schools demand the candidate to demonstrate a level of interest to attend so EA or ED plus visits, interview requests etc will be the only way to go. Kiplinger’s published a “Best College Values” survey and inside there is table of 300 schools and you can sort the level of merit aid and % student with non-need aid and receive merit. Use this summer wisely, get all the essays done. Prefer to have work experience to demonstrate personal drive vs enrichment classes (which reeks privilege) as ECs. Either way, maximize the ED/EA choices with the national universities. EA/ED w/ LACs is a different matter. These schools set aside a large % of spots for the athletes, legacies, URMs, First-gens in those rounds. The illusion of high acceptance rate during those rounds need to discount those spots not available for the unhooked ORM candidate. I wouldn’t argue the definition of lower middle class or upper middle class, but 100K with assets could be a challenge for need-based FA, it all depends on the net cost.
In my area, the median house price is about $525K in the county and over $800K in my town. I have been here 20 years and could never, on my income similar to the OP’s, afford to buy my own home again. I consider myself middle class for my area. If I lived somewhere else, I would be solidly middle class or even upper middle class, but, here, I am in the upper part of the lower middle class. I looked up some statistics and saw that in my county, the median income is $97K and you need 150K plus to be considered upper class. So, depending on where the OP lives, she could be lower middle class.
What is your price point; how much can you afford to pay? Once you know your number, sorting out options gets easier, for better or worse.
For an ORM looking at super-reaches for the generous need-based aid, your best bets are liberal arts colleges, where Asians are generally under-represented, even in the Northeast, and eligible for diversity fly-in weekends at schools like Amherst and Bowdoin. This list is from last year, but gives you a good idea:
http://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/college-fly-in-diversity-programs/
I have much experience in this type of scenario. The tippy top private universities (like US News top 15) MIGHT consider your family income quaint, and dump a pile of financial aid on you.
But if that doesn’t happen, your best options will probably be that segment of good public universities that are trying to raise their national reputation by attracting good students via generous aid based on GPA & SAT/ACT.
Alabama has set a wonderful example for others to follow–simple procedures, easy-to-understand guidelines. Other than Alabama, consider Florida State, South Florida, Florida International, West Va., Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas St., Oklahoma, Ok. State, Kentucky, Mississippi, & Texas Tech. Their aid can come in the form of scholarships and/or the waiver of out of state tuition.
Another variable to considsr is how much credit will be given for AP exams. This can vary widely from college to college, & if u get a college that is generous with such credits, the student might be able to graduate in less than 4 years-- saving thousands of $.
Whatever, we found it helpful to take as many college classes as possible while still in high school…this is especially convenient if there is a nearby community college. This can decrease the # of college classes you will need to pay top dollar for once kiddo is in a 4-yr college. Good luck.
There is a thread at the top of the Financial Aid Forum on the topic of Automatic Full Tuition/Full Ride scholarships. Read through it. Find out if your kid qualifies for any of those. If so, your kid can study those places, pick two of them, and apply so as to have a choice in case all else goes bad.
In our area, kids from families like yours end up at our excellent local community college for the first two years, and then move on to one of the in-state public Us. So pay a visit to your CC, and find out what it has to offer.
I live in the most expensive area in the country and $100k is not lower middle class. However some schools do have financial aid without loans for this level of income, with annual cost around $20 k.
Here’s a chart - https://www.thebalance.com/definition-of-middle-class-income-4126870
$100K-$149K = upper middle class and high income
$75-$99K = middle class
$50-$74K = median
$35-$49K = middle class
$25-$34K = low income
Below that is poverty level.
So I would consider 35K-49K to be “lower middle class”
The article linked to above is worth read – it is based on recent data and is does present some alternative views – though $100K is never going to be categorized as “lower” in anyone’s eyes.
For purposes of college planning it is important to understand that, because $100K earners simply aren’t the target demographic for generous need-based aid – and while with the current high price of private colleges it is possible to get a significant amount of grant aid – the family does need to realize that that the EFC going to be fairly high. If the family is not comforable with paying at leas tthe amount of their federal EFC, then they will need to be looking for merit money.
$100,000 is not lower middle class. That being said, this income will not support full pay at a private or OOS public unless there is very significant savings.
I would use the NPC and make a list of all schools that look within range. Then I would make a list of all schools that give automatic and competitive scholarships.
If you tell us what you can afford we can help you.
@sevmom in NY city with 2 kids in prep school and third one would who would be applying to prep school, 100 K income does not go too far.