It’s good that you are looking into this now. I was not being “excessively snappy”. It’s sometimes hard to state the facts of finances without sounding snappy.
Check the links in this thread:
Much info about scholarships and the like. Just check each school website to see if these awards are still available.
Apply for financial aid anyway. There is a chance you would get it, and in that chance, it might help you out.
You have been given good, solid information and leads on moving forward. You cannot change your cost of living or income, but you can work hard and find affordable colleges. Best wishes!
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/national-college-match
The College Match is a long shot for everyone, but you can get a large amount of aid during the regular decision app process. The only reason the Match guarantees a “full ride” for all 4 years is because they only pick students with $0 EFC in the first place, who would likely have no family contribution year after year of aid revision. Only benefit of the Match: early notification. Downside -it’s binding.
So the goal isn’t to get matched, but to become a finalist and apply RD. This gets your Questbridge supplement sent in w/your regular decision Common App, which gives you a slight nudge/catches admission officers’ attention/likely gets placed separately/etc.
@Lilliana330 the OP says the family income is in the $60,000 a year range. That would not likely net a $0 EFC per FAFSA.
@CourtneyThurston any advice for this poster?
FAFSA does not consider regional differences in the cost of living, but PROFILE does, so targeting schools that use the latter may help.
OP is unlikely to advance to the QuestBridge match phase due to the income. $60k is essentially QuestBridge’s cap, and probably won’t result in the 0 EFC needed to be matched.
OP should apply to Jack Kent Cooke but should consider it a longshot (as everyone should).
OP, you qualify for a number of full tuition and full ride awards at various schools. You won’t get to have your pick of any school you want, but you could have a free education. If money is really such a problem for your family, I’d recommend that be your path going forward.
Here on CC we are so used to seeing this statement followed by “my family earns just $200K”. Not:
…and still many posters are questioning your comment about high taxes and completely ignoring the fact that your family earns less than $60K Give it a rest, posters-doing-that. Most HS kids have no idea what their parents have to pay in taxes or for rent or high car insurance or whatever. Geez.
You’d likely get very good need-based aid at many schools, best to run a couple of net price calculators and see.
Do you have a tentative list of colleges you are considering yet @sodonewithHS16 ?
Speaking for myself, “high taxes” and “less than $60k” were both noted and considered in the overall context of OP’s first post, and things didn’t add up.
If OP doesn’t know what his/her parents pay in taxes, OP shouldn’t be saying things like “the majority of our money goes to taxes…” OP started this thread looking for information about family finances as it relates to college admissions, and provided some basic family financial details. Well, some of those details make no sense. In order to provide accurate answers, those responding to OP’s query need accurate information. More importantly, OP needs accurate information in order to understand his/her own family’s financial situation as college looms over the horizon. Details matter.
@thumper1 @CourtneyThurston OP makes less than 60k (QB limit is actually 65k), works to help pay the bills at home, says he’s very involved w/EC’s, has stats in the range…which is why he has a chance to become a finalist. I was a finalist w/similar income; it’s not a hard limit.
Of course he won’t get matched -that was part of my point. Getting matched isn’t important. He’ll still get a really good package if admitted RD…Which is why he should apply in the 1st place, b/c the QB app in itself can help with admission.
Make sure you have safeties (full ride merit schools) & good luck!
What accurate financial aid information would we be giving that depended on knowing what the parents spent their money on, exactly?
Stats, income and assets pretty much does it for this forum, with advice to do some NPCs providing the needed details to OP.
yes, I do!
Vaguely (in need of cutting down) it is:
Colgate, Hamilton, Emory, Tulane, William and Mary, Bowdoin, Pomona/Scripps, USC, and Brown or Vandy just to see what would happen.
What are your safeties?
Sorry, as I stated previously, I misspoke. I meant to say that generally, living in such a high-cost area (grossly inflated housing prices/rental fees, high bills, everything very expensive bc of proximity to NY, etc.) takes up a lot of our money. The renting situation was not supposed to happen- when we originally moved here four years ago, we were looking to rent for a year and then buy but we cannot afford to do so, hence the frequent house jumping and renting. Sorry for the confusion. @BelknapPoint
Simple. Higher tax burden = less disposable income = lower EFC. Lower tax burden = more disposable income = higher EFC.
And I’m not talking about knowing what the parents spent their money on “exactly;” I’m talking about having a general understanding of how family income and expenses (including taxes) affects need-based financial aid. OP’s statement that the majority of the family’s money goes to taxes is clearly hyperbolic, and maintaining that misconception will not serve OP well as he/she tries to understand how financial aid works.
@“Erin’s Dad” Tulane and Colgate (lots of legacy and used to donate when money was not an issue). I’m still in desperate need of more safeties.
Yes, I know, and I’m glad that’s been cleared up. My recent posts are responding to another poster who wonders why it was necessary to clarify things.
Unless your family donated enough money to fund a building in their name, this isn’t going to help you gain admission OR get more financial aid.
Legacy status also isn’t going to get you more aid.
Tulane does not guarantee to meet full need for all.
A safety is a school where your admission is pretty much a shoe in…and the school has a reasonable way of being affordable.
In my opinion, neither of these schools would be a safety for you.
If they planned to buy a house but didn’t, does this mean your parents have substantial savings (that could increase your EFC)?
Did you look at the automatic large merit award list? Your safeties could easily come from there.