UVA vs Cornell, Georgetown, etc. for in-state
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Anonymous
Where's the BS. Take 300K. Half it for federal state and property taxes. You're now to 150K. Subtract 65 for Harvard, you're now down to 85K. Do you have other children to support whether in private or public school? Or in college, too? Subtract that. Do you have elderly parents you are taking care of? Subtract that. Now subtract your mortgage, life insurance, food, clothing, Christmas budget, vacation budget (in our case nonexistent), money allocated to retirement (hah!), utilties . . . the list goes on and on. Try that with two or three kids in college at the same time who want to go to grad school. |
Anonymous
Why it is so hard for you to understand?! A person with the type of finances described above and 2-3 kids in college would qualify for substantial need-based aid at the ivies. |
Anonymous
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Does this elusive
"substantial need-based aid" happen to be in the form of loans? |
Anonymous
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UVA and Georgetown are both good at the easy subjects.
Cornell is way higher. |
Anonymous
Isn't there also a Net worth cut off? What if someone makes $150K HHI but has a net worth of $2M? Will they get any aid or zero? |
Anonymous
Found the answer. Harvard's Net price calc shows an estimated scholarship of Zero for an income of $150K (all sources) and a net worth of $2M for 1 or 2 kids in college (family of 5). Same profile, 3 kids in college shows $11,350 in aid (cost of $58,600 per child). It appears that the best course of action is liquidate all assets and buy a McMansion I really don't need for $2M. Quit my job and take a 65K/yr job so college is free. Otherwise, tough luck. Someone with the level of income similar to the PP (the $300K income person) should have substantially more than $2M outside of their retirement account and Primary residence and therefore not qualify for much aid. |
Anonymous
If you don't have much in terms of assets, yet. A $300K income with $1M in non-retirement assets gives you zero financial aid for 3 kids in college at Harvard. |
Anonymous
NO they don't! Wait until you apply thru FAFSA. An income that high is laughed at. You qualify only for the minimum $5500 loan that all applicants get. Have you gone thru the FAFSA process? What is your gross? What did FAFSA award you? These schools that say they will 'meet need' mean only need as established by FAFSA. The federal government does not think that people with 300K incomes need any federal assistance when it comes to sending your child to college. They are the "donut hole" families. |
Anonymous
Precisely. And we did liquidate children's trust funds to pay for private schools and tutoring. We filed the FAFSA and got zero financial aid. Now if we grossed only $65K a year, we would have received it. FAFSA applies across all schools. We received nothing from Harvard, Ga Tech, Purdue, Cal Tech, UVA, Penn State (safety), and Yale. Nada. Those promises of need apply only to a very select group of people. We have need but our kind of need (two kids in college, elderly parents in nursing homes, too high income) doesn't count. |
Anonymous
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I can offer the following: I went to TJ for high school, Cornell for undergrad, and U.Va. for med school.
I think an earlier poster is correct: My friends who went to U.Va. and graduated with honors received similar grad school admissions compared with the friends I made at Cornell. So, I think the poster's probably right that if you are in the top third at U.Va. (or any other good public school), you probably have the same opportunities that someone who goes to one of the "lesser Ivies" (Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown) does. For example, my best friend at TJ went to U.Va. She then went to Michigan for med school (not exactly a bad outcome). The ultimate difference in going to a Cornell or Brown v. U.Va. or W&M at in-state rates is this: The Ivies do have a bit more of a cosmopolitan/international flavor. I wouldn't trade my years at Cornell for anything. I did get to meet amazing people, and I value the relationships I built. U.Va. is a lot more Virginia centric (duh!), and athletics are more well attended. So I'd conclude with this: I think both sets of posters on this thread are wrong. No, you don't "automatically" take Cornell or Brown over U.Va. simply b/c they're in the Ivy League. If you're paying sticker price, I'd imagine that's a $150K difference over 4 years. And no, the $150K in savings does not automatically mean you go to U.Va. "and apply it to kids grad school tuition." I think a lot of it comes down to values and the individual child. If your child has a very cosmopolitan/int'l outlook, and you can financially swing it, Cornell and Brown might be better choices. If your child is dead set on grad/professional school and everything else is secondary, then U.Va. might be the better choice. Again, I don't think that an undergrad transcript with Brown or Cornell on it is going to do you any more good than a U.Va. transcript with honors when applying to top grad and professional programs. And you would have the opportunity to use the same tuition dollars on grad/professional school that you would have spent on Cornell or Brown. |
Anonymous
Good input. However, you are assuming a couple of things with an 18 year old that a parent cannot determine/judge.."a very cosmopolitan/int'l outlook" and "child is dead set on grad/professional school". Most kids entering college aren't even sure of their major. A few kids, esp. kids that go a combined med program, European schools, or kids with European or Asian parents (who are used to picking majors even before college) may know their track but most don't. A parent therefore has to play defense and go with the most conservative path. |
Anonymous
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Am I alone in thinking that it's ok if people who make $300K a year and/or have $1M in non-retirement assets not to qualify for financial aid?
Financial aid is meant for people who don't have the means to pay for college, not for people who do have the means but choose to spend the money on expensive houses or other non-essential luxury items. |
Anonymous
Did you read the thread? The poster with $300K income has spent their savings on private school and tutoring and has other commitments (parent care, two other children, retirement, etc). I get your point but don't talk like Ivys and other top schools are giving out a lot of aid. If you aren't poor (yes, 65K/yr is poor), you don't get aid. Period. |
Anonymous
Exactly. If you don’t want to shell out the money for your children’s education, fine. But don’t act like it’s something you could not do. |
Anonymous
THIS IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE. My family made $165,000 last year. My kid is a freshman at a non-HYP Ivy. We are paying $24,936 this year with no loans. I know this because my 8th and final $3117 payment of the year is due next week. We are receiving more than $45,000 in financial aid - and yet we make $100,000 more per year than your farcical $65,000 financial aid cutoff point. |