<p>What percentage of students and parents do the following in the fall of high school senior year, before college applications are due?</p>
<ul>
<li>Talk about the cost constraints, specifically the limit on the amount of money that the parents will contribute (not in vague terms like "we will try to make it work" or "we will see after you get admitted').</li>
<li>Run the net price calculators on the web sites of colleges that the student is considering.</li>
</ul>
<p>I did for two seniors last fall. I told them I’d pay the cost of a state school. We did look at schools that could cost more with the understanding that they would be responsible for the remainder.</p>
<p>Both came in under budget. </p>
<p>We also talked to my two sons prior to applying to colleges last Fall and this Fall. They knew how much we had saved and which colleges would we would be willing to pay for them to attend. Both wanted to stay in-state which made it easier. We are full pay due to our income, but we did stipulate that if they decided not to take their education seriously, they would have to pay us back if they ended up dropping out. </p>
<p>Nope. Didn’t do that in my household! I was told what funds I had available to me and that’s pretty much it. :)</p>
<p>It worked out in the end. I’m going to school for free, but even if I chose differently the worst would’ve been 20K in loans for 4 years.</p>
<p>I did. By the time my twins were applying, they pretty much knew if a college would be financially possible (based upon NPC and knowing our EFC). I didn’t specify a set amount I’d pay, but they knew I was comfortable paying full COA in-state at our UC’s (or any other college with similar COA or if a colleges COA could be reduced to a similar level through scholarships). Every college they were accepted to was within our price range. </p>
<p>I did. It hurt to do so. We gave a dollar amount that we would pay. Anything not used while still going fulltime for a degree, they could pocket. We pay it each month. </p>
<p>Yes and Yes.</p>
<p>Ran NPC for every school under consideration and only applied to schools that met those parameters (had a spreadsheet comparing about 18 schools, but only finished applications for 5 of them.) My son received a lot of brochures in the mail, and there were many excellent schools among them, but it took less than 5 minutes to determine that the majority were out of our price range (limit - COA of in-state public, no PLUS loans.) Some might have come within range with competitive scholarships, but my son was not willing to spend a ton of time pursuing possible scholarships, and chose only to apply to schools with guaranteed, automatic awards. His goal was to get out of state, and there were plenty of choices. With my next two (twins), they also know the limitations upfront, but they don’t feel limited or deprived.</p>
<p>With both kids we agreed to pay FAFSA EFC & discussed Stafford subsidized & in subsidized loans and contributions from summer work.</p>
<p>I just did the net price for my college for the first time. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Perhaps, net price calculators just aren’t helpful for some colleges. The numbers we ran were much more accurate and inclusive than the net price calculator. </p>
<p>Yes and yes for us with the finance talk actually starting in freshman year of high school. </p>
<p>QLM</p>
<p>In a way, yes. We decide the list of schools to apply together and the financial aid factor is heavily considered there. I did check the NPC for all schools before my D filling up applications.</p>
<p>My parents told me very early on that they would do what they could, but to expect $0.
I was the year before NPCs. </p>
<p>Most of my friends did not have know the specific $$$ amount they’d get prior to applying. </p>
<p>I didn’t do either, because my parents don’t have money for my education and,my dream college is a CSU while my backups are CSUs with a couple UCs thrown in, so my price tag is as low as it gets.</p>
<p>We didn’t have that conversation, but that was because we knew we could afford the colleges D was applying to. Once the results were in, we talked about doing a cost-benefit analysis as part of the decision making process. If she wanted to go to the full pay school, she could and we’d pay for it, but we wanted her to think about whether it was worth over $100,000 more than the school that was offering her a full tuition scholarship. She decided it wasn’t. </p>
<p>Had there been financial constraints, they most definitely would have been communicated long before senior year of high school. My parents sprung the fact that they weren’t contributing anything for my college education on me in the spring of senior year, so I know what that’s like and would never do it to my children.</p>
<p>From the time D1 was born I told her she needed to pay her full way through college either through athletics scholarships, academics or both. She is a junior now and has put herself in position to be a NMSF and get scholarships for athletics. I gave her the list of full ride colleges and told her to start picking. I am on the hook for medical school if she follows through with that plan. The cost of colleges now exceed the costs of owning a home in most places. I would never haphazardly buy a home without a tight budget why would I allow my children to lavishly choose a college. If money is left over, the kids can have it!</p>
<p>My eldest is a junior, and we’ve been having the money talk since last year. We gave her a number that is the most we will pay per year.</p>
<p>There are some schools that got crossed off the list because of cost. We didn’t want her to fall in love with a school that would not be affordable. Better to take it out of the running early on.</p>
<p>The school she likes best right now actually comes in well under her number.</p>
<p>Cost constraints, yes.
NPCs, no. However we only applied to colleges that offered significant merit aid.</p>
<p>We did not have these conversations with oldest and NPCs were brand new, so didn’t run those either. My employer was an option, and my oldest is imminently practical. In other words, we lucked out.</p>
<p>So, I learned between kid 1and kid 2 to have the conversations and check the calculators.</p>
<p>My parents’ English is limited, so I was pretty much fully in charge of the app process. They wanted to help, but as immigrants, their understanding of the process wasn’t any better than mine. I ran NPC for every school I applied to. I only applied to 1) UC’s (since they cost me the same as a CSU due to Cal Grant) & 2) Privates that meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>frugaldoctor, sports scholarships are usually very limited unless your daughter is in one of the headcount sports and goes to a D-1 school. If not, she’s going to get a sliver after the scholarships are divided.</p>