Am I screwing us over for financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are currently in the middle of this (kids applying to colleges/ financial aid or with current college students), tell me your thoughts. DH is a gov employee (makes about $175,000), and I started out as a biglaw attorney but then significantly downshifted to a legal writing role for lower pay ($50,000) for many years while my kids were young. I've gone back to biglaw as college comes closer (first kid will go in 2 years) to rack up our savings. If we keep grinding, we could have enough to send both kids to any school they choose. However, I HATE my job, and it costs me quality time with my family. I've begun wondering if we'd stayed in a much lower income bracket ($225,000 combined income vs. $500,000+), if we may have qualified for aid at some of these more expensive private schools that are now offering essentially to give aid up to a family's demonstrated need. Am I wrong in second guessing? Is $225,000 still too much to actually garner any aid? If we'd gone that route, we would have had essentially no savings aside from $150,000 per kid in 529 accounts and our retirement savings. I'm just dreaming of my old job and the better balance it gave me with family and worrying I gave up that life for essentially no benefit.

It depends on your “other” assets. We have a HHI less than half of that $225K and received no financial aid.

This is your answer.

[Anonymous]

Why do I think this thread is one of those "I'm a lawyer, look at me, threads?" The answers are obvious if you spend 10 seconds googling. No you won't get FAFSA loans if you make $225K. Yes, there are NPCs. Yes, you should be using them. Yes, there is merit aid but at a price. Yes, in-state is a great option. Yes, you should be reading and educating yourself more instead of saying "look at me" on a mommy board.

[Anonymous]

Take your old job now, put your assets in a grandparent's name. EZ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

OP here. Yes, that's what I meant. We're racking up cash to pay for college, but wondering in hindsight if we needed to work so hard to do that or should have maintained and looked for strong aid packages.

Look for merit aid instead of need based aid. All you have to do is go below the top 25.

+1 my kids were not straight A students, but had SATs above 700 in both sections. We did not apply for financial aid, but every private school out of the top 25 offered merit aid, even an ED school.

OP here. I didn't realize merit aid was as easy to come by as some posters are suggesting. That's good to know. One of our DCs is a very strong motivated student, with a heavy course load and all As. Did well on PSAT too. So I will hope that will give her options via merit!

Token discount

OP, merit aid is a possibility ONLY if you are willing to drop down in the rankings below what institution your kid could get into, full pay. Do you want a sub-standard slac? Then, sure, you can get into innumerable struggling slacs like Otterbein or Occidental College and get "merit" aid (a paper subtraction off the $93K ask). But if they want T-25, then no, you aren't going to get it unless you are URM or first-generation, and even that is now fading away. We weren't willing to sacrifice that for our kid so paid full freight at the Ivies and slacs he got into. That has been the trade-off in college admissions for about a decade. The top schools don't have to give merit aid so they don't. The lesser schools offer merit in exchange for a) top GPA; b) top test scores; c) minority status; d) other hooked aspect that they can report to USNWR. It's really that simple. And, no, you won't get anything from FAFSA. Start running the calculators on the colleges pages and look seriously at your in-state options and start reading more, There are tons of resources on financial aid .

This analysis is solid.

[Anonymous]

OP: Every single post thus far has neglected to address two major issues:

1) Is it likely that one or both of your children will attend graduate school or a professional (law or medicine) graduate school ?

If yes, then you need to save over $100,000 per year even when your young adults are in college.

2) Due to the current political climate and reality, there is a strong movement among colleges & universities toward favoring full-pay students (think of the University of Chicago as an example). Even schools which are need-blind have ways to assess which applicants are most likely to be full-pay students.

I have no sympathy for one who complains about earning $325,000 per year. None. Zero. Nada. And I am not alone in this mindset.

If you cannot hack Biglaw, then get a position as a federal attorney. Most likely, you will start as a GS-14. You can negotiate steps within that level.

Also, it is quite difficult for recent college & law school graduates to be able to purchase a home. Sacrificing now--by working at a high paying job--should put you in a position to help each child have a substantial down payment ($250,000 or more in today's dollars) toward the purchase of a home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

OP here. Yes, that's what I meant. We're racking up cash to pay for college, but wondering in hindsight if we needed to work so hard to do that or should have maintained and looked for strong aid packages.

Look for merit aid instead of need based aid. All you have to do is go below the top 25.

+1 my kids were not straight A students, but had SATs above 700 in both sections. We did not apply for financial aid, but every private school out of the top 25 offered merit aid, even an ED school.

OP here. I didn't realize merit aid was as easy to come by as some posters are suggesting. That's good to know. One of our DCs is a very strong motivated student, with a heavy course load and all As. Did well on PSAT too. So I will hope that will give her options via merit!

Token discount

OP, merit aid is a possibility ONLY if you are willing to drop down in the rankings below what institution your kid could get into, full pay. Do you want a sub-standard slac? Then, sure, you can get into innumerable struggling slacs like Otterbein or Occidental College and get "merit" aid (a paper subtraction off the $93K ask). But if they want T-25, then no, you aren't going to get it unless you are URM or first-generation, and even that is now fading away. We weren't willing to sacrifice that for our kid so paid full freight at the Ivies and slacs he got into. That has been the trade-off in college admissions for about a decade. The top schools don't have to give merit aid so they don't. The lesser schools offer merit in exchange for a) top GPA; b) top test scores; c) minority status; d) other hooked aspect that they can report to USNWR. It's really that simple. And, no, you won't get anything from FAFSA. Start running the calculators on the colleges pages and look seriously at your in-state options and start reading more, There are tons of resources on financial aid .

This analysis is solid.

No, it is not a solid analysis. Nobody needs to consider schools like Otterbein or Oxy unless there is a strong interest in such schools for a particular reason(s).

There are over 100 colleges & universities above the schools mentioned, but not among the top 30 colleges & universities, at which an attractive applicant can receive meaningful merit scholarship money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: Every single post thus far has neglected to address two major issues:

1) Is it likely that one or both of your children will attend graduate school or a professional (law or medicine) graduate school ?

If yes, then you need to save over $100,000 per year even when your young adults are in college.

2) Due to the current political climate and reality, there is a strong movement among colleges & universities toward favoring full-pay students (think of the University of Chicago as an example). Even schools which are need-blind have ways to assess which applicants are most likely to be full-pay students.

I have no sympathy for one who complains about earning $325,000 per year. None. Zero. Nada. And I am not alone in this mindset.

If you cannot hack Biglaw, then get a position as a federal attorney. Most likely, you will start as a GS-14. You can negotiate steps within that level.

Also, it is quite difficult for recent college & law school graduates to be able to purchase a home. Sacrificing now--by working at a high paying job--should put you in a position to help each child have a substantial down payment ($250,000 or more in today's dollars) toward the purchase of a home.

We were full pay at Ivies and neither of my kids had to pay a fine for grad school. They got a stipend.

[Anonymous]

^ my kids were full pay at Ivies. Grad school was free

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From most private schools, you will get ~25k/year "merit" scholarship. This is basically school's way of giving you a "discount". The problem is that even with 25k, you still have to pay a lot. Did you not save 529?

Ha not at the Ivies or to T10/20s. No merit aid there when everyone had those high stars/scores and too many are trying to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ my kids were full pay at Ivies. Grad school was free

What type of grad school ?

If law school, then which law school ?

If med school, unless it was NYU, then which med school offers free tuition ?

If grad school in the humanities, then it is just delaying the inevitable struggle to find a job that will enable one to earn a decent income.

The ability to pay for grad school or for professional school gives one options that are not realistic for most.

[Anonymous]

CNN just aired a segment with an expert who asserted that $140,000 per year is the poverty line for a family of four.

Relevant because when I first read this thread, I wondered how a family of four in the DMV could consider paying for college (other than an in-state public) for 2 kids on a salary of $175,000. Even with the addition of OP's $50,000 income, considering paying full-tuition for a non-state school for college seems unrealistic.

To the poster who shared that his/her kids were fully-pay Ivy League grads attending grad school tuition free, you are leaving out too much information. I know too many struggling lawyers who cannot afford much due to law school student loan debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From most private schools, you will get ~25k/year "merit" scholarship. This is basically school's way of giving you a "discount". The problem is that even with 25k, you still have to pay a lot. Did you not save 529?

Ha not at the Ivies or to T10/20s. No merit aid there when everyone had those high stars/scores and too many are trying to get in.

Agree. The $25,000 private college discounts are common among lower ranked schools such as 2,200 student Denison University in Ohio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ my kids were full pay at Ivies. Grad school was free

Yes, yes, you and your ivies… we heard you the first 10000 times. Thank you and move on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, for most schools, 225 will get you 0.

Do you mean that it will get you $0 in aid?

Yes, 225 is simply too high. Maybe go for a merit based $ if your kid is high performing?

even average kids can get significant merit aid. You just have to look at the right schools, which are often in the South or Midwest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

OP here. Yes, that's what I meant. We're racking up cash to pay for college, but wondering in hindsight if we needed to work so hard to do that or should have maintained and looked for strong aid packages.

Look for merit aid instead of need based aid. All you have to do is go below the top 25.

+1 my kids were not straight A students, but had SATs above 700 in both sections. We did not apply for financial aid, but every private school out of the top 25 offered merit aid, even an ED school.

OP here. I didn't realize merit aid was as easy to come by as some posters are suggesting. That's good to know. One of our DCs is a very strong motivated student, with a heavy course load and all As. Did well on PSAT too. So I will hope that will give her options via merit!

Token discount

If the $10K-$40K merit my kids were offerred is a mere token to you, then this conversation is not for you.