<p>Momof3greatgirls- I strongly disagree. The top 25 colleges/universities generally give very little or no merit aid. So, unless the student qualifies for need based aid, they and their parents are on the hook for $55k a year + Both my son and daughter got into almost every school they applied to. Schools that were top ranked but not Ivies were generous with merit. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and even Northwestern, Wellesley, Claremont McKenna have so many top students that merit aid is rare. Boston College gives one merit package a year to “a student who walks on water” (their words). In the 3 years since I did college search with my son, price tags at the privates have gone up by 10%. I think it is an outrage and it is setting students who get into top schools but can’t afford it up for real misery.</p>