<p>I'm a high school senior currently applying to college. My parents make about $160k together, and they're willing to pay only up to $20k per year for college for me. I'm really worried that my family is pretty well-off compared to most American families, but they can only afford to pay so much ($20k) for college for me. They're still working on paying off loans that they had to take out to finance my sister's college education (my sister already grduated)... at our in-state university. Is it likely that any college will give me enough financial aid that my parents would only have to pay $20k? :/ Because this is really freaking me out. Not to sound like a spoiled, self-entitled brat, but all of my top choices are private LACs, and I couldn't see myself ending up anywhere else.</p>
<p>If your parents earn $140,000 a year, your family contribution at most LACs will be between $35,000 and $46,000 per year approximately. So…in short…no…there are not very many LACs that will only charge you $20K per year to attend. Some of the more generous colleges (Ivy League schools, Stanford) would give you sufficient aid perhaps…but first you have to get accepted. </p>
<p>Go ahead and apply wherever you like. BUT make sure there are some schools on your list that fit your parents’ financial criteria either because they are modestly priced OR you are guaranteed to get merit aid there because of your stats (merit aid that will bring the total cost down to that $20K mark).</p>
<p>P.S. Your family IS well off compared to most American families.</p>
<p>I think the OP says parents are earning $160k…which will mean an even higher EFC.</p>
<p>*Because this is really freaking me out. Not to sound like a spoiled, self-entitled brat, but all of my top choices are private LACs, and I couldn’t see myself ending up anywhere else. *</p>
<p>I can tell you RIGHT NOW, that unless you “suck it up” and throw out a few apps for some big merit schools, you may end up without ANY affordable choices.</p>
<p>I suggest doing something TONIGHT since some of these BIG scholarships have Dec 1st DEADLINES!!!</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>Ah…mom2…you are right…EFC would be approximately $40K to $52K depending on assets…just estimates folks!!</p>
<p>I have the feeling that the OPs financial safety is an in state school. If he/she is OK with that, merit aid schools won’t be as essential.</p>
<p>I agree that only HYPS could possibly reduce the cost to anywhere close to $20K for a family making $160K that only has one in college. Your EFC just on income would probably only get you an unsubsidized Stafford loan but then these colleges usually look at home equity and any other assets. You would probably end up full pay at most.</p>
<p>Some LACs do give merit aid. Probably not enough to get them down to $20K, but maybe doable with a loan, job and your parents perhaps compromising by taking a modest Plus loan. Others here can tell you more about LAC merit. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, everybody! </p>
<p>If it makes a difference, I just talked to my parents and since my mother’s job was recently downgraded to part-time, our current income is more like $130k. I don’t know if that makes any difference, but please let me know if it does!</p>
<p>Also, mom2collegekids, I tried replying to your PM, but it says your stored private messages quota has been exceeded and you cannot accept any more private messages until you clear some space.</p>
<p>In any case, my SAT CR+M score is 1370, and my GPA is 3.8 UW/4.4 W.</p>
<p>$130,000 income…family contribution would be approximately between $32500 and $42,900…quite a bit more than $20K. These are estimates. Are you applying to very well endowed schools like Stanford and Harvard? if so, you have a chance for aid that will meet your financial criteria IF you are one of the less than 10% of the accepted students.</p>
<p>No, unfortunately I’m not applying to any Ivy Leagues or Stanford. 
I would stand literally zero chance of getting in, and I wouldn’t be interested in attending an Ivy League or Stanford anyway. Are there any well-endowed schools besides those Ivy Leagues/Stanford that have more generous acceptance rates? I don’t have the best high school transcript or standardized scores, or most impressive extracurricular activities…</p>
<p>Sounds like your family needs to sit down and run a few calculators so that your efforts can go into applying to the right schools. Have you tried that?</p>
<p>sqdwfe13. What LAC’s are you applying to? Your SAT scores would not make you a competitive admit (in my opinion) for the most generous schools like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. Most LACs cost well over $40K per year…close to $50K or over for many. There are some that do give merit aid based on your application strength…aid that goes to their top applicants. Without knowing your intended schools, it’s hard to say whether you would qualify for such aid.</p>
<p>I will stick my neck out here and say…with a family income of $130,000 a year, you will NOT get need based aid that will bring your costs down to $20K per year. Your family income is too high…and their expected contribution will far exceed $20K per year at most schools.</p>
<p>On school you might want to check out is York College in Pennsylvania. It’s a small LAC school and is very modestly priced. You might even get some small merit aid there. In addition, you would get a $5500 Stafford loan just by completing the FAFSA. I haven’t looked at York’s costs in a couple of years but you might find this one affordable to you.</p>
<p>Middlebury, Whitman, Macalester, St. Olaf, Lawrence, Occidental</p>
<p>Ok…I cleared my PM box…sorry.</p>
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<p>I think your family contribution will be more than $20K at all of these. </p>
<p>Do you have a financial safety school that you are applying to? I think you need to add one or two to your application list.</p>
<p>*since my mother’s job was recently downgraded to part-time, our current income is more like $130k. I don’t know if that makes any difference, but please let me know if it does! *</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>If your mom’s job was only recently downgraded, then that will affect 2011 income mostly…2010 income could still be high. (FA is based on the previous year’s income). </p>
<p>Won’t the 2010 income be higher than $130?</p>
<p>thumper1, there’s University of Maryland-CP (in-state) and University of Minnesota-TC (total cost=$23k). I don’t know if I’ll get into Maryland though.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, my mom’s job was part-time for half of last year, and full-time for the rest. Now it’s been downgraded to part-time once again.</p>
<p>*Are there any well-endowed schools besides those Ivy Leagues/Stanford that have more generous acceptance rates? I don’t have the best high school transcript or standardized scores, or most impressive extracurricular activities… *</p>
<p>Ok…that could affect admissions to schools that give the best aid. Some of these popular LACs are costing more than elite universities. I’ve seen a few $55k COAs at some LACs…yikes!</p>
<p>Your problem is that you need HUGE merit. A $10k per year merit scholarship isn’t going to help you… </p>
<p>You need full or near full tuition scholarships.</p>
<p>How about universities with LAC-like honors colleges?</p>
<p>Do you have any instate public universities in your state. Other threads indicate that you had a total 2100 SAT score in 2008. That being the case, you might be eligible for your public university honors college which in many cases makes that large school “feel” smaller.</p>
<p>There are other instate public universities in Maryland. Have you looked into ANY of them? Also did you discuss your college application list with your parents before you applied? Surely they were aware of the costs of those schools. What did they say to you? Did they indicate they would pay the bill…or did they tell you that they would fund $20K and if the school cost more it was a no go?</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are fine…but your other posts indicate a downward trend on your GPA which is something the schools will consider. </p>
<p>Again I say…look at some of the other public universities in Maryland. There are a bunch of them. There must be something in that mix that would work for you.</p>
<p>No, I haven’t really looked into any of the other in-state public universities in Maryland, to be honest. My parents are kind of uptight about prestige when it comes to colleges, and University of Maryland-CP is, in their opinion, the only somewhat “prestigious” Maryland school that offers in-state tuition. They probably would hate to send me to a school that isn’t “prestigious” in their eyes, and they’re the ones financing my college education, so that doesn’t leave me much choice.</p>
<p>…or did they tell you that they would fund $20K and if the school cost more it was a no go</p>
<p>Pretty much, yes. I want to apply to the schools I want to go to anyway just so I won’t regret anything, and so I can see how much financial aid/merit aid I get.</p>