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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Correct.  It's insane to tell your kid to apply when there is no realistic way that the parents can pay for it.

I'd be that OP probably has a HHI of $250K.  Clearly a good HHI but not one that generally allows a DC resident (with the associated cost-of-living) to pay for $85K/year for college for two kids back-to-back. 
However, it's way too much to qualify for financial aid at any school (Princeton, Harvard included). 
There is zero way these schools are going to magically come up with aid.

I'm in this income bracket as are most of many of my friends in DC.  We don't send our kids to Amherst or Northwestern or Harvard because we can't afford them. 
There is a whole slew of kids at Walls and Wilson (Jackson Reed) who go to lower ranked schools because their parents don't have the $80K+/year for these school but because they're in the $200K+ income 
range they do not qualify for aid.  The kids who do attend are either 1)wealthier 2) poorer.  Plenty of both in DCPS.

[/quote]

OP here. Thank you for posting. And yes, you are right. My stats match those you mentioned above. So then what do you do? Where does your child apply? The push for public is strong because of DC TAG and no need based financial aid, but she wants to see if she can get into harder schools knowing we can only give her about $30K/yr. Why not attend a fantastic public school who pays a strong student like you to attend is my thinking? Why be in a sea of high achievers at a place like Princeton only take out loans that force you into debt?[/quote]

If you have a HHI of $250K and can give your kid $30K/year then there's no way your kid can attend Princeton or Pomona.  
I don't think your kid can even borrow $50K/year.  I'm not there (oldest kid is a junior) but there is ZERO way this kid should apply to schools that she is $50K/year out-of-range for.

I'm sorry OP.  My kids are going to be in the exact same situation.  We live in DC and have a decent income (mid 200's) but don't have $80K/year saved for college.  
There are schools just below the top schools that offer merit aid.  Again, I don't know off the top of my head but lots of DC kids attend them.  You (and I) are not alone. 
[/quote]

If OP’s kid has the stats to have a legitimate shot at getting into Princeton, there are dozens of great schools (private and otherwise) ranked in the 30-100 range in USNWR who give enough merit aid to make it work for OP’s kid. My DC got into four of them, and the merit aid was remarkably consistent (I think they all use the same consultants), with a total annual cost of attendance of around $40k (and he had high, but not “perfect” stats). A kid with Princeton-level stats would probably get more.

And not every kid is irrational about money. My DC’s college fund is sufficient to pay for 4 years of full tuition at any school, but DC only applied to one “top 20” school, and was relieved when he didn’t get in, because by then he had his merit offers in hand. He thought it would not make sense to spend an additional $200,000 for college that he can otherwise use for graduate school. [/quote]

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