Would we qualify for financial AID?

[Anonymous]

So we are thinking of sending our child to the Potomac school. We just bought our first home in DC (so expensive!) We make 140k, have car payments. Have very little savirings (try under 10k).

Would we qualify to get maybe half paid for? Anyone knows if they ever give out to families that are not destitute?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we are thinking of sending our child to the Potomac school. We just bought our first home in DC (so expensive!) We make 140k, have car payments. Have very little savirings (try under 10k).

Would we qualify to get maybe half paid for? Anyone knows if they ever give out to families that are not destitute?

Thanks!

I certainly hope you would get significant financial aid if your child is admitted---otherwise, tuition would eat up more than a third of your post-tax income, not leaving much for other living expenses.

[Anonymous]

You should apply and see what you are offered. I know some people have been pleasantly surprised in the past! That said, the savings you have would be on the table for tuition- they would likely expect you to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should apply and see what you are offered. I know some people have been pleasantly surprised in the past! That said, the savings you have would be on the table for tuition- they would likely expect you to use it.[/quote]

Not true, when the savings is under 10K. No school should be taking so much from a family that they are left with literally no savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we are thinking of sending our child to the Potomac school. We just bought our first home in DC (so expensive!) We make 140k, have car payments. Have very little savirings (try under 10k).

Would we qualify to get maybe half paid for? Anyone knows if they ever give out to families that are not destitute?

Thanks!

You should definitely qualify for some aid. Hard to say what percentage, but we have a higher HHI and similar debts and we get 65% from our school (which is not Potomac).

[Anonymous]

You should roll the dice and try. Our gross HHI is slightly higher and we receive FA (not from Potomac). We specifically looked for schools that advertised the fact that they give out XX amount of aid per year or XX percent of our students are on aid. We applied to 3 schools and received significant aid offers from 2 in the 'burbs and zero aid from a DC school. It would probably help if your child is a minority and I suspect (though no proof to back it up) that the schools in the 'burbs like McLean, Langley, Potomac and Bethesda have more very wealthy families so folks like us seem poor by comparison. The moral of the story: it doesn't hurt to try.

[Anonymous]

If you have more than 100k HHI, you are unlikely to get aid. This is from personal experience. It is unfortunate, but true. With that said, may as well give it a shot. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Definitely apply and be honest on the application. Good luck! It's

[Anonymous]

Wait whattt....140k combined HHI....<10k in savings...purchased a home in DC....wants to send kid to $$$ private school...I hope you have a super steady job b/c that sounds like a recipe for financial ruin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have more than 100k HHI, you are unlikely to get aid. This is from personal experience. It is unfortunate, but true. With that said, may as well give it a shot. Who knows.

Not true. I make $65K and every single school told me they couldn't give me more than a few thousand dollars. They said I required too much aid because my income was so low. Clearly, they are giving less aid to each student to make their financial aid dollars go further.

[Anonymous]

Question: If you get aid one year will you more than likely keep getting it the rest of the school year?

This is something we always wonder about. I know you have to apply every year but would they give aid to someone 2 years and then drop then (provided salary etc didn't change)?

I would lean towards thinking not, otherwise you would have a lot of kids coming and going and unable to graduate. But maybe wrong??

[Anonymous]

I too think you should get some FA. But before going through the trouble of applications, I'd think you should research on the schools' websites about the procedures and call the school's admissions director or FA director (if have one) to inquire. You really want to try to get a ballpark -- whether it'll be $5,000 or $25,000. At DC privates (not including Catholic ones), I think the average "grant" is more than $20,000.

[Anonymous]

How much equity do you have in your home?
What kind of cars do you drive?
Do both parents have full-time jobs?
How much do you have in retirement savings?

These are all factors that are part of determining whether or not you qualify for FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question: If you get aid one year will you more than likely keep getting it the rest of the school year?

This is something we always wonder about. I know you have to apply every year but would they give aid to someone 2 years and then drop then (provided salary etc didn't change)?

I would lean towards thinking not, otherwise you would have a lot of kids coming and going and unable to graduate. But maybe wrong??

Typically yes, unless your financial picture changes significantly. Some schools give a percentage of tuition as aid (like 50%) so the impact on you of tuition increases is mitigated. Other schools give a dollar amount (like $15,000) so when the tuition goes up, as it does every year, you need to make up the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should apply and see what you are offered. I know some people have been pleasantly surprised in the past! That said, the savings you have would be on the table for tuition- they would likely expect you to use it.[/quote]

Not true, when the savings is under 10K. No school should be taking so much from a family that they are left with literally no savings.

Are you sure? Just because they shouldn't does not mean they don't.