I’ve been honest with my daughter about what we can afford but….

[Anonymous]

But you have no idea what schools you can afford until the financial aid package comes back!

Wrong. 100% wrong. How can people participate in these threads and not know about the NPC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Plus, ask your DD to split the application fee for the expensive schools; the application fees add up and you can offer to refund her portion of the fee to her for any of the schools that she receives acceptance. She also should apply, as a baseline, to your and your DH's alma maters regardless of whether she 'wants' to go to either or not. Ideally, any letters of reference to the private schools that are not your family's alma mater(s) will also be from an alum teacher (ie HS teacher who went to Yale writes the letter for the application to Yale).

P

Legacy status at any of the Ivy League schools only makes a difference if the student applies Early Decision, and even then it's not much of a difference. Regular decision, forget it. Other schools, it may still make a difference but schools are moving away from legacy preference.

I also don't think your baseline application argument makes sense to start with. Different schools are fits for different people, and colleges (not to mention the admissions process) are very different than they were 20-30 years ago when most of us parents went to undergrad. My husband and I both went to a prestigious school, for example, but it was absolutely not the right fit for my oldest kid even though my husband and I both loved it when we were there. Also, admissions officers can see right through the applications where the kids were forced to apply because their parents went there, unless the kid can come up with their own good story about "why Mom's alma mater is a great fit for me."

Nearly all schools have made changes since you and your DH attended; the school you attended may be a fit for your DS now even though it would not have been a fit for him 20-30 years ago.

Legacy status is a factor that is tracked at all schools. The info is required as part of the Common Application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct. It's insane to tell your kid to apply when there is no realistic way that the parents can pay for it.

I'd be that OP probably has a HHI of $250K. Clearly a good HHI but not one that generally allows a DC resident (with the associated cost-of-living) to pay for $85K/year for college for two kids back-to-back.
However, it's way too much to qualify for financial aid at any school (Princeton, Harvard included).
There is zero way these schools are going to magically come up with aid.

I'm in this income bracket as are most of many of my friends in DC. We don't send our kids to Amherst or Northwestern or Harvard because we can't afford them.
There is a whole slew of kids at Walls and Wilson (Jackson Reed) who go to lower ranked schools because their parents don't have the $80K+/year for these school but because they're in the $200K+ income
range they do not qualify for aid. The kids who do attend are either 1)wealthier 2) poorer. Plenty of both in DCPS.

OP here. Thank you for posting. And yes, you are right. My stats match those you mentioned above. So then what do you do? Where does your child apply? The push for public is strong because of DC TAG and no need based financial aid, but she wants to see if she can get into harder schools knowing we can only give her about $30K/yr. Why not attend a fantastic public school who pays a strong student like you to attend is my thinking? Why be in a sea of high achievers at a place like Princeton only take out loans that force you into debt?

OP, our DC got into one of these schools. We have the same HHI as you. DC got lots of merit and work study. FYI from someone who has BTDT. This happened last year. I’m not a troll. Good luck.

I think we're talking about two different things here -- very good schools that can give merit aid, and tippy top schools like Princeton that give NO merit aid to anyone (just need-based aid). If there is a somewhat decent chance (even if unlikely) of sufficient merit aid, sure, go ahead and apply to that school. But when the school offers no merit aid to anyone and you can't afford it with a HHI that's too high for need-based aid, that's a very different story.

The Federal Gov offers unsubsidized loans regardless of need, so those funds will be available as well; not recommending going that option, but it exists.

But that is capped at $5500 - and only after you file the FAFSA and get the 100% EFC as we did

But, depending on the number of AP exams and the scores received, and the willingness of the school in question to recognize those scores and give college credit for the scores, the amount of aid available increases each year, so if your DC receives enough college credit for AP scores, then it is possible to start college as a sophomore or junior and MORE unsubsidized aid is available each semester.

https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/how-much-can-i-borrow-through-direct-unsubsidized-loan

[Anonymous]

Can you get need based aid at $250k?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

[Anonymous]

Cost was a firm criteria from the beginning. There was a budget. We did feel that DD had worked so hard and had accomplished so much that we hoped she would have many choices. That meant it was going to be choices of in and out of state universities, not Ivy. Not private. Not private, mostly due to wanting a larger student body. Difference between the universities was geography and the regional difference in feel and fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

No merit aid, or need based AND merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

No merit aid, or need based AND merit aid?

Need based, no merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

Where was this? That's almost unheard of at that HHI level, particularly anything over a nominal amount. No one should think they might get need based aid with that income unless there are unusual circumstances at play (e.g. 3 kids in college at the same time). We don't even make $200K and we still get an EFC of more than $60K.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This thread has been incredibly helpful, really appreciate everyone taking the time to write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Plus, ask your DD to split the application fee for the expensive schools; the application fees add up and you can offer to refund her portion of the fee to her for any of the schools that she receives acceptance. She also should apply, as a baseline, to your and your DH's alma maters regardless of whether she 'wants' to go to either or not. Ideally, any letters of reference to the private schools that are not your family's alma mater(s) will also be from an alum teacher (ie HS teacher who went to Yale writes the letter for the application to Yale).

P

Legacy status at any of the Ivy League schools only makes a difference if the student applies Early Decision, and even then it's not much of a difference. Regular decision, forget it. Other schools, it may still make a difference but schools are moving away from legacy preference.

I also don't think your baseline application argument makes sense to start with. Different schools are fits for different people, and colleges (not to mention the admissions process) are very different than they were 20-30 years ago when most of us parents went to undergrad. My husband and I both went to a prestigious school, for example, but it was absolutely not the right fit for my oldest kid even though my husband and I both loved it when we were there. Also, admissions officers can see right through the applications where the kids were forced to apply because their parents went there, unless the kid can come up with their own good story about "why Mom's alma mater is a great fit for me."

Nearly all schools have made changes since you and your DH attended; the school you attended may be a fit for your DS now even though it would not have been a fit for him 20-30 years ago.

Legacy status is a factor that is tracked at all schools. The info is required as part of the Common Application.

I don't think you understand my post. Our son made his decision about our Ivy League alma mater based on current information, not our experiences 30 years ago. A school is never a fit simply because a parent went there, so the idea that a parent's alma mater is a no-brainer must-apply is simply silly.

Also, you don't understand how legacy works. Yes, legacy is still a factor in admissions at many schools -- but it doesn't mean it's a decisive factor when AOs are making up a class, particularly when they have a number of categories to fill. It may increase your odds, but the odds are long regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

Where was this? That's almost unheard of at that HHI level, particularly anything over a nominal amount. No one should think they might get need based aid with that income unless there are unusual circumstances at play (e.g. 3 kids in college at the same time). We don't even make $200K and we still get an EFC of more than $60K.

Yes, 3 tuitions. We aren’t expecting this in two or three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

No merit aid, or need based AND merit aid?

Need based, no merit.

Well you conveniently didn't mention (until your second or third post) that you were PAYING THREE TUITIONS at the time you were receiving need-based aid on a $250K HHI.

It would pretty much be your entire HHI if did not receive aid.

Why did you hide this piece of information? Good grief.

Your shenanigans were not helpful to OP or any of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get need based aid at $250k?

Yes. Our DC got need based aid.

No merit aid, or need based AND merit aid?

Need based, no merit.

Well you conveniently didn't mention (until your second or third post) that you were PAYING THREE TUITIONS at the time you were receiving need-based aid on a $250K HHI.

It would pretty much be your entire HHI if did not receive aid.

Why did you hide this piece of information? Good grief.

Your shenanigans were not helpful to OP or any of us.

PP here- you are way, way too outraged about my contributions.
OP, if you are still reading this, I am sorry I didn’t include this in my original post. I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I wish you and your DC the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:she says she wants to at least SEE if she can get in to these places like Princeton and Pomona. I have no idea why. What is the point?

Let he know what you can pay, run the NPC to see the estimate, then let her take her shot. This is her one chance to apply to college, and there's no good reason to keep her from seeing what happens. There's a good chance she won't get in, but then the school has squelched her dreams, not you. If she gets in, there's a small chance that the financial package is better than you feared. But even if she gets in and you can't afford it, she can take pride in being "good enough" for the school, even if it's too expensive to attend.

That said, I'd also make sure she has a robust list of schools of varying costs and selectivity, and including some strong schools known for merit aid. Bonus: some of those have early action, so she can get a response before the rest of her applications are due. It's great to know that college is a sure bet, especially one that is affordable, well before the rest of the schools release their decisions.