Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:15     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:"The University’s new financial aid model means that most families with incomes up to $100,000 a year now pay nothing for their student to attend Princeton, and many families living in the U.S. with incomes up to and even beyond $300,000 will receive grant aid, including those at higher income levels with multiple children in college."

This is a bit deceiving. Our HHI is 180 and we got nothing. All 4 grandparents are dead and we got about 1mm in inheritance that we can't shift to retirement bcs our income isn't high. We have about 500k in retirement. We own a 1100 sq ft apartment in nyc. We have three kids.

So no, we can't pay basically 20% of our total net assets (home, retirement, savings) for one kids tuition. Our kids don't overlap either so it would happen again.

They should look at total assets. People with 1.5 in retirement get FA. but 500k in retirement and 1mm outside, nope.


Most people with a HHI of $180k likely do not have $1M in cash floating around.


NP true, but they also can't afford to pay 360k for one kid if they have three. not with 500k in their retirement and 180kHHI
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:14     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


What percentage of that 33% is extremely wealthy? I bet it's extremely high.

This kind of barbell demographics (poor and super rich) make for some really weird social dynamics. My kids attend a DC private and it's a microcosm of this: you have financial aid kids and extremely wealthy kids and very, very few in between. Almost no one is the child of two feds or a doctor and a teacher. They'e either the kid of a single parent or a CEO. And as much as the high school wishes the two groups would mix, they rarely become more than superficial friends.



There are a ton of doctors with kids at private schools. There are also a number of kids with teacher parents, nearly all of whom work at a private school.


You are missing my point. When I said doctor/teacher family I was thinking pediatrician or family medicine. I was equating this family with a family of two feds: decent salaries but not extremely wealthy.

My point again is, my kids attend a DC private. The school has the financial aid kids and the unmistakably rich (children of VIPs and CEOs) and very, very, very who are in between. My family is in between (we're 2 feds) and there are about 2 others like us in my kids' entire grade. It's not an ideal social dynamic. It gets weird and the two groups don't really mix at any sort of deep level.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:13     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


So 80% of your college/grad school educated friend group have HHI of say, less than $300K?


Yes, that’s correct. I think that’s pretty normal for educated folks who don’t run in private school circles.


Huh. Not in my corner of the DMV and my kids attend DCPS. I don't know many (any?) college/grad school educated families with HHI less than $300K.
And I'm a nurse--so I know a lot of nurses who all make less than $150k as one half of a couple.


I’m in Takoma Park. I’m talking about people I know well, so some are from the area, others are not. Most are trying to get their kids to stay in-state or maybe get merit to match around a lower cost OOS. I’ve heard of kids at DC’s school apply ED, but I don’t have any friends whose kids have. Most need to compare aid packages, especially merit offers.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:11     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:"The University’s new financial aid model means that most families with incomes up to $100,000 a year now pay nothing for their student to attend Princeton, and many families living in the U.S. with incomes up to and even beyond $300,000 will receive grant aid, including those at higher income levels with multiple children in college."

This is a bit deceiving. Our HHI is 180 and we got nothing. All 4 grandparents are dead and we got about 1mm in inheritance that we can't shift to retirement bcs our income isn't high. We have about 500k in retirement. We own a 1100 sq ft apartment in nyc. We have three kids.

So no, we can't pay basically 20% of our total net assets (home, retirement, savings) for one kids tuition. Our kids don't overlap either so it would happen again.

They should look at total assets. People with 1.5 in retirement get FA. but 500k in retirement and 1mm outside, nope.


You and your child should definitely be approved for loans with your #s though!
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:08     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:"The University’s new financial aid model means that most families with incomes up to $100,000 a year now pay nothing for their student to attend Princeton, and many families living in the U.S. with incomes up to and even beyond $300,000 will receive grant aid, including those at higher income levels with multiple children in college."

This is a bit deceiving. Our HHI is 180 and we got nothing. All 4 grandparents are dead and we got about 1mm in inheritance that we can't shift to retirement bcs our income isn't high. We have about 500k in retirement. We own a 1100 sq ft apartment in nyc. We have three kids.

So no, we can't pay basically 20% of our total net assets (home, retirement, savings) for one kids tuition. Our kids don't overlap either so it would happen again.

They should look at total assets. People with 1.5 in retirement get FA. but 500k in retirement and 1mm outside, nope.


Most people with a HHI of $180k likely do not have $1M in cash floating around.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:08     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Since when were these schools really taking the best of the best? The myth of meritocracy is alive and well I guess! Princeton in particular has a well-documented and even nasty history of taking rich WASPs. The test scores and acceptance rates for most elite schools, including Princeton, from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s are not comparable to today.

Schools like Princeton are making it much more affordable for the middle class. They also admit people without regard to need.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:06     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
"The University’s new financial aid model means that most families with incomes up to $100,000 a year now pay nothing for their student to attend Princeton, and many families living in the U.S. with incomes up to and even beyond $300,000 will receive grant aid, including those at higher income levels with multiple children in college."

This is a bit deceiving. Our HHI is 180 and we got nothing. All 4 grandparents are dead and we got about 1mm in inheritance that we can't shift to retirement bcs our income isn't high. We have about 500k in retirement. We own a 1100 sq ft apartment in nyc. We have three kids.

So no, we can't pay basically 20% of our total net assets (home, retirement, savings) for one kids tuition. Our kids don't overlap either so it would happen again.

They should look at total assets. People with 1.5 in retirement get FA. but 500k in retirement and 1mm outside, nope.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:06     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


What percentage of that 33% is extremely wealthy? I bet it's extremely high.

This kind of barbell demographics (poor and super rich) make for some really weird social dynamics. My kids attend a DC private and it's a microcosm of this: you have financial aid kids and extremely wealthy kids and very, very few in between. Almost no one is the child of two feds or a doctor and a teacher. They'e either the kid of a single parent or a CEO. And as much as the high school wishes the two groups would mix, they rarely become more than superficial friends.



There are a ton of doctors with kids at private schools. There are also a number of kids with teacher parents, nearly all of whom work at a private school.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:04     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


So 80% of your college/grad school educated friend group have HHI of say, less than $300K?


Yes, that’s correct. I think that’s pretty normal for educated folks who don’t run in private school circles.


Huh. Not in my corner of the DMV and my kids attend DCPS. I don't know many (any?) college/grad school educated families with HHI less than $300K.
And I'm a nurse--so I know a lot of nurses who all make less than $150k as one half of a couple.


Sounds about right. A ton of lawyers, finance, medicine, professional business (consulting, etc), and people in tech making well over $350k in HHI.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:02     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


So 80% of your college/grad school educated friend group have HHI of say, less than $300K?


Yes, that’s correct. I think that’s pretty normal for educated folks who don’t run in private school circles.


Huh. Not in my corner of the DMV and my kids attend DCPS. I don't know many (any?) college/grad school educated families with HHI less than $300K.
And I'm a nurse--so I know a lot of nurses who all make less than $150k as one half of a couple.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2023 00:01     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
they should make it tuition-free. like regis high school in nyc.
Anonymous
Post 09/06/2023 23:59     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
1/3 are paying 350k for college. Probably for more than one kid too. Don't worry, rich kids are still there.

Anonymous
Post 09/06/2023 23:59     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


So 80% of your college/grad school educated friend group have HHI of say, less than $300K?


Yes, that’s correct. I think that’s pretty normal for educated folks who don’t run in private school circles.
Anonymous
Post 09/06/2023 23:58     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
Anonymous wrote:I mean that means 33% of the student body is still paying over $80,000 a year. I’d say in my friend group only 20% of families could afford to send their kids to a Princeton priced school full pay and everyone went to college/most to grad school.


What percentage of that 33% is extremely wealthy? I bet it's extremely high.

This kind of barbell demographics (poor and super rich) make for some really weird social dynamics. My kids attend a DC private and it's a microcosm of this: you have financial aid kids and extremely wealthy kids and very, very few in between. Almost no one is the child of two feds or a doctor and a teacher. They'e either the kid of a single parent or a CEO. And as much as the high school wishes the two groups would mix, they rarely become more than superficial friends.

Anonymous
Post 09/06/2023 23:57     Subject: Princeton class of 2027
the idea that you think your/our generation of HYP students was "the best of the best" is outrageous.