<p>Well, I really don’t ‘have the stuff’ to get accepted for sure by Lafayette College. </p>
<p>To give you a brief picture, I have a 2030 SAT and only a 3.25 weighted GPA (top 20% class rank), and I’m from Arkansas. </p>
<p>If I applied regular decision to Lafayette – which is far and away my number one choice – I would likely get rejected. The accept 37% regular decision, but they accept 68% early decision.</p>
<p>And that significant difference is not likely because their ED applicant pool was better; Lafayette College lists the average test scores for both pools and they were almost the exact same.</p>
<p>So, essentially, both pools were equal in strength, yet the ED pool was accepted at almost double the rate.</p>
<p>Unless I’m missing something, I think my chances would be significantly increased.</p>
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<p>Anyways, as far as how much money I would need…</p>
<p>My brother is currently a freshman at Williams College. My dad, who makes about $90,000 a year, had to pay $17,000 this year.</p>
<p>My dad probably can’t pay more than $20,000 a year, and I think I would be willing to take out $5,000 in loans each year if I need to.</p>
<p>So we have $25,000 to work with, for my brother and I…</p>
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<p>And, by the way, thanks a lot for the detailed response.</p>