college admissions process so far, financial aid disappointment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op did you attend college? If so, did you have Pell grants? I’ve discovered that many families use their own 25 year old lens when dealing with the realities of financial aid. There have been several changes and even single parents with moderate incomes qualify for very little aid. The loans they offer to cover the gap do not come cheap. I know someone in their late forties still paying off medical school. With the influx of foreign money and families to the US the competition is even more brutal. Get very serious about four year outcomes when guiding your DC, this is the equivalent of a mortgage without the benefit of a 30 year runway.

MD, we know one or two, but they are rare. The rest of us all paid off within 15 years, many of us with double loans/300k or more (in 2002 dollars) due to MD spouse. We have nice houses and afford private K-12 in the DMV. Most of us had no help from parents as many were pell grant kids ourselves, or have families overseas. If a doctor is in their late 40s and has not paid off med school, they have completely mismanaged their money. Full stop.
Even the lowest paid specialties get 250k a year for full time, and they were over 200k fifteen years ago.

https://www.practicelink.com/resource-center/physician-student-loans/how-long-does-it-take-on-average-to-pay-off-medical-school-debt/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all for how long it can take to pay off medical school debt. Just because you were done doesn't mean others are also, given that most doctors will take on other kinds of debt (e.g., mortgage, car) while still paying off medical school debt. It's also a function of the specialty and where you work. Many internists and PCPs just aren't pulling in that high of a salary to pay off $200+k in medical school debt while accumulating other debt.

The parent could choose to use all the money for the top choice undergrad and then they could go to medical school at Uniformed Services University which is 100% free + salaried throughout med school.

OP just has to make a choice because it sounds like the money is there for undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been hard. My child has gotten into their safeties (Towson/Salisbury) which they are NOT enthusiastic about. They have also gotten into some of their reach/target schools. Unfortunately, those schools so far are around 60k per year with merit (child has 4.8 gpa). Financial aid is minimal. I don't have an amazing salary, but child has substantial college savings because of extenuating circumstances (not enough to cover 240k though). They go to a decent high school in Montgomery County, and it is sad for them to see their classmates commit to schools they cannot commit to. How do you help your child handle going to a safety so they can graduate college without debt? My child is so disappointed to have to go to school with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time. But they/we just aren't willing or able to pay 50k PLUS per year. They want to go to med school after college as well, so the price of undergrad really matters. Please tell me your stories of going to a safety bc of money and kid thriving.

Here is a hopefully encouraging story: I and many many people I know went to a state flagship, graduated with minimal debt, and then took out big loans to go to a top tier private law school. We all had the loans paid off in 5-8 years and are financially thriving.

For parents with juniors: use the net price calculators on the college websites to get a sense of what financial aid package may look like before your kid applies. If you have money set aside, you should expect to pay up unless the school gives a lot of merit aid to applicants who have a similar academic profile to your DC's.

But OP didn't know what the merit would look like until her kid receives admissions decisions. The merit came back lower than expected. That's the problem here.

Merit is pretty standardized, tied to certain stats. Again, some homework would have helped set more accurate expectations.

At some (usually public) schools....yes, merit can be defined by a grid with a combination of GPA and ACT/SAT. But there are just as many who don't publish their criteria or even offer any at all (looking at you UVA, VT, and W&M!). The largest merit aid DC2 received is from a public flagship who does not make their criteria known and we were blown away by their offer. Contrast that with two other SEC schools who use a merit/grid and a third with no grid and no merit. NONE of the private schools DC2 applied to had any sort of known merit criteria; one offered merit, the other has not. Same kid, same stats, very, very different outcomes.

Do you mind sharing the name of the schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Posting again since I’m not sure where mine went. OP only mentions her salary. It’s possible the exceptional limited funds are life insurance payout after death of the child’s other parent. Let’s not presume it’s a trust or gift and judge her.

She said it is from family, that’s not insurance. She said it is family money, but not in a 529, which means it isn’t listed when they ask for money.

But yeah, I judge her since she refuses to say the amount.

Wow. DP here but that's a really harsh position.

College costs way too much these days. Surely OP can't be blamed for not wanting to spend her entire nest egg on high-priced colleges when there are less expensive opportunities.

Some posters are completely out of touch with the types of financial decisions that many parents have to make.

People like to pass judgement or flex their own situations, which is taboo to do in real life. But they still have the itch to boast or criticize….and anonymous forums provide the stage.

The fact is nearly all American parents of college-going students have financial limitations and must make hard decisions. They do what they can with limited resources.

Is it unseemly that people of good fortune criticize others? Yes, obscenely so. But that is human nature for you. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been hard. My child has gotten into their safeties (Towson/Salisbury) which they are NOT enthusiastic about. They have also gotten into some of their reach/target schools. Unfortunately, those schools so far are around 60k per year with merit (child has 4.8 gpa). Financial aid is minimal. I don't have an amazing salary, but child has substantial college savings because of extenuating circumstances (not enough to cover 240k though). They go to a decent high school in Montgomery County, and it is sad for them to see their classmates commit to schools they cannot commit to. How do you help your child handle going to a safety so they can graduate college without debt? My child is so disappointed to have to go to school with peers who didn't grind like them and sacrifice time. But they/we just aren't willing or able to pay 50k PLUS per year. They want to go to med school after college as well, so the price of undergrad really matters. Please tell me your stories of going to a safety bc of money and kid thriving.

Here is a hopefully encouraging story: I and many many people I know went to a state flagship, graduated with minimal debt, and then took out big loans to go to a top tier private law school. We all had the loans paid off in 5-8 years and are financially thriving.

For parents with juniors: use the net price calculators on the college websites to get a sense of what financial aid package may look like before your kid applies. If you have money set aside, you should expect to pay up unless the school gives a lot of merit aid to applicants who have a similar academic profile to your DC's.

But OP didn't know what the merit would look like until her kid receives admissions decisions. The merit came back lower than expected. That's the problem here.

Merit is pretty standardized, tied to certain stats. Again, some homework would have helped set more accurate expectations.

At some (usually public) schools....yes, merit can be defined by a grid with a combination of GPA and ACT/SAT. But there are just as many who don't publish their criteria or even offer any at all (looking at you UVA, VT, and W&M!). The largest merit aid DC2 received is from a public flagship who does not make their criteria known and we were blown away by their offer. Contrast that with two other SEC schools who use a merit/grid and a third with no grid and no merit. NONE of the private schools DC2 applied to had any sort of known merit criteria; one offered merit, the other has not. Same kid, same stats, very, very different outcomes.

Do you mind sharing the name of the schools?

Not sure what it adds to this thread but....

In alpha order: Auburn, LSU, Richmond, Shenandoah, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. Other SEC schools with grids (DC considered but did not apply) were Kentucky and Ole Miss.

In-State options are VT (no merit) or ODU (no grid, rec'd merit). Had zero interest in UVA or W&M. VCU would've also had the program of interest but, alas, twas too close to home.

DC's undergrad degree interest is not terminal and post-graduate work will be required.

My overall point is, other posters are giving the OP a hard time, saying "use the NPC"....but merit can be a huge factor and how that plays out isn't (or even can't be) known til the apps and acceptances are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Posting again since I’m not sure where mine went. OP only mentions her salary. It’s possible the exceptional limited funds are life insurance payout after death of the child’s other parent. Let’s not presume it’s a trust or gift and judge her.

She said it is from family, that’s not insurance. She said it is family money, but not in a 529, which means it isn’t listed when they ask for money.

But yeah, I judge her since she refuses to say the amount.

Wow. DP here but that's a really harsh position.

College costs way too much these days. Surely OP can't be blamed for not wanting to spend her entire nest egg on high-priced colleges when there are less expensive opportunities.

Some posters are completely out of touch with the types of financial decisions that many parents have to make.

People like to pass judgement or flex their own situations, which is taboo to do in real life. But they still have the itch to boast or criticize….and anonymous forums provide the stage.

The fact is nearly all American parents of college-going students have financial limitations and must make hard decisions. They do what they can with limited resources.

Is it unseemly that people of good fortune criticize others? Yes, obscenely so. But that is human nature for you. It is what it is.

Please review the thread before YOU pass judgment on others. The hard decision OP is making is this:

She has family money to fully fund college AND medical school for her kid. The money is not from her and it was not saved by her. It is because it just seems like a lot, OP doesn't want to commit to more than $40k/year for undergrad - not because there isn't more but this is around what is seems right to her. Because the money her family is giving is not in OP's or kid's names, it wasn't revealed to the schools. I would think that most would think that OP has incredibly good fortune...

What many find objectionable is OP phrasing her conundrum in terms of enduring financial aid disappointment and then failing to be upfront and explain that we have $500k (or whatever) from family for education which didn't have to be disclosed to the school and we hoped to bring the cost down through merit so that kid could attend a better ranked school, but haven't been able to.

[Anonymous]

My child is turning down a highly ranked school because we were hoping for more merit aid. She could attend but we would be using loans and stretching while her safety school is a good fit too and comfortably in our budget.

What may seem like a let down now will be a relief when others are struggling with loan repayment.

Get her excited about the choices that she has. Find another with rolling admission if she truly doesn’t like her choices.

We older child found ElizabethTown and Susquehanna after typical deadlines and chose a different path altogether. He’s super happy now.