@QuantMech your assumption in first paragraph #79 is correct, we are not poor at all, just middle class family.
The reason I am asking questions as in our public school placement to top school is okay, but her guidance counselor has told us that being Indian daughter. her achievements are pretty common for Asian kids. He has told us that we need to focus on affordable matches and affordable safety colleges. Since she is applying to to college this fall, we are looking for suggestions.
I will start searching for these.
@tk21769 we will take Berkeley, UUIC, U Austin, Georgia Tech in a heart beat, but we can not afford them, therefore will not be applying to these universities…
We are looking really for college that can give a combination of Merit Aid and Need based aid and bring the price to 20K. I do not know if such colleges exist. But we will be casting a wider net. And hopefully she get into Stony Brook. To be honest I do not know if that school can qualify as safety or not. We will be taking our list to GC and ask his input also.
With room and board generally in the neighborhood of 15k, that leaves just 5k-ish for tuition.
We think in addition of 20K, she will be also contributing from her Summer internships.
At about 104k, have you been looking at Meet Full Need colleges?
I just googled it. Thanks for the suggestion. But most of them are super reaches. Yes she will be applying to some of those, but we are looking for matches and safety as these colleges are super hard to get in
A number of them are not super reaches for a high stats kid. Look at the NPCs for U Rochester, BC, Richmond, Northeastern, Lehigh, Lafayette, Skidmore, Case Western, Holy Cross, etc. Maybe they’d be treated as matches rather than safeties for list/chances purposes, but the chances may be reasonable.
Are you sure your RPI number is correct? They want 31k out of your 104k annual income? (I’m not terribly familiar, but it just sounds a little off… We are full pay, but I used the NPC to estimate merit at RPI and I was pleased.)
It’s so important that parents who are invested in their kids’ college futures form the right knowledge basis. Often, we say, “Google is your friend.” Getting into the right top college for their interests and strengths is not just tracking down a few college names at a time. Get a Fiske Guide or similar. Maybe Financial Aid for Dummies. Or, How to Pay for College Without Going Broke.
We all sit in our corners, our kids at their one high school, and think we can assume that how that hs is, how our kids stand out, the support they receive, accolades, etc, somehow represents how it is at all high schools, how our kids will stand out in the national pool. Not.
Meet Full Need is critical to understand, along with Need Blind, when you’ll depend on fin aid. MFN means, the college meets your need, as they define it. Many of us on CC saw this work well. Of course, there’s more to it. But without understanding how aid works, the lingo and processes, one can’t work this to their possible advantage.
RPI is giving loan of $5500, grant of 44,050. Thus net price to family is 26082( fee is 70132).
@lookingforward this list is very helpful as i was not aware about “meet Full need Colleges”. I am going to run NPC on all 79 colleges and see which school can be used as matches based on her interest.
Is that $44000 grant for this ONE year. If so…that sounds great.
You would,find similar results from schools that meet full need for all…
What does this mean:
NO college has $70,000 per year FEES.
52305 Tuition & Fee, Room and Board 14960, Book 1286, Personal exp. 1581 . Total estimated cost of attendance 70132
RPI need based aid 13050, Rensselaer Scholar 31,000 to total grant 44050, student loan 5500, thus total cost to parent is 26082(including loan as we have to pay). But RPI is doable and thus on the Reach school list. I do not know if it is a match or reach for our daughter. But looking for similar places.
I ran all NPC and saved it on my computer.
Please get the right college and FA guides. As thumper points out, it’s not “fees.” You’d mean Full Cost of Attending. Aka COA.
RPI is on your match school list, not reach, and that should be correct for a high stats kid. And back to the female issue, my rough understanding is that RPI is particularly interested in admitting qualified females like your dd to help with their gender ratio.
Also, I would expect the $5500 federal student loan with most financial aid packages. It is reasonable. You do NOT have to pay that, that would be your dd to pay in the future. It is not overly burdensome. To try to avoid a measly 5.5k federal student loan is likely to cut out good schools she could otherwise attend.
So…can you afford $26,000 a year for your kid to go to RPI?
I do agree with others…you seem to be focusing on tech types of schools. Yes, these schools have other majors, but they are tech schools. This seems to be YOUR dream right now…not your daughters.
Plus…isn’t college a time to spread some wings and explore things?
I agree…she should apply to Cornell. What did THEIR NPC say for you?
Provided she get admitted and we are still looking where the cost can be even lower and school admits her and she has opportunities to flourish.
And with “matches based on her interest,” you still need to learn where she matches based on the college’s interests, what that college looks for, not just how she rates in her own hs or among that one set of peers. Not just what she likes about cillege x or y.
Lots and lots of kids have internships, special opportunities. Plus rigor and stats superiority. It’s more than that.
@thumper that is why I was looking for non technical school where she can learn philosophy and psychology courses. I am not focusing on technical school. Cornell is 32814 for family contribution. Columbia and Penn are cheaper but they are super reach.
Look at U Rochester and the rest of the not-super-reach meet-need schools. And I think you would find more options if you allow for the common 5.5k federal student loan to cover the student part of the EFC, as most financial aid packages are designed.