How to position (merit aid)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD got an ED merit aid offer from a very good but not TOP LACs. (A coach wants her for a team there hence the ED merit estimate. Coach has told her he does not require ED for her to be able to join the team.) This school is her #2 choice overall and she really likes it. We’d need a little bit more than the amt of merit they offered already to make it work but not tons more.

But her #1 choice is another LAC she will RD at - higher ranked and viewed as more prestigious for her major for sure (not WASP). The #1 school does give some merit although much less than the #2 school. If they give her merit $ anywhere within spitting distance of what’s possible for us (maybe also with a small amt of loans too) she will go there.

Any advice on how to navigate this so we keep #2 as an option but give it time for She’s replied already that she had not planned on ED’ing anywhere and asked if the offer would extend to RD.

Sounds like you need to be very practical about money here. If the top choice school gives limited merit aid, and your kid won't get any need-based aid based on the NPC, you should not encourage her to get her heart set on it. It's not fair to her.

You need to weigh whether any/enough merit aid at her top choice is anything but a fantasy. From the way you describe it here, I read that it's not at all reasonable to forego a great opportunity at #2 for what is likely to be a disappointment (if she even gets accepted).

This is the answer. Her first choice is unlikely to become a viable option. Essentially, you need to hit the lottery twice. Once to get it and once to get merit aid.

[Anonymous]

$33,000 is a solid merit offer and I would not expect #2 to be able to go much higher. (Maybe they will, but I would not expect it.) For comparison, my non-athlete's highest merit offer last year was $40K at a school that is known for generous merit. If you can't make college financing work with $33K a year in merit, your daughter might need to be looking at different kinds of schools, eg those where you get in-state tuition, rather than a reach school where being admitted at all will be harder, much less scoring more generous merit aid. That seems to me to be where the hard family conversation needs to be right now.

If you can make it work on $33K of merit, I think #2 is the best option.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, all. This has been very helpful advice. I did call #1 and asked about their max merit award and it's clear it won't work out. Appreciate all the suggestions and input on this!

To the last poster...Yes, we could make $33K work (very small loans each year to top up what we have for it) but had been hoping to try to bring the total cost down to be a bit closer to the priciest in-state option which is about $50K.

- OP