Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has been offered merit aid without filing FAFSA.

Depends on the school. Some won’t offer merit if you don’t do FAFSA.

Can you name one?

Virginia Tech.

"To receive financial aid through Virginia Tech, each student must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year. The FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for many scholarships (including general scholarships from our office), grants, work study, and federal loans."

https://finaid.vt.edu/undergraduate/how-to-apply/fafsa.html#:~:text=To%20receive%20financial%20aid%20through,work%20study%2C%20and%20federal%20loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I should be financially punished for it just because other people chose other paths that make less money.

Whoa! You said it out loud!

Said what out loud? If colleges are just going to socially engineer and level the economic playing field, they should just say so. At least I'd respect that more

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our EFC is 230k. We don’t even make that much 300k with both parents working + 2 million assets

That seems about right? They expect you are able to pay about 40% of your income + 5% of your assets each year.

Whether you WANT to pay that much is a different story. And you aren't expected to pay 40% of your income each year - they assume at that level of income you had the ability to save more than someone earning just $45,000/year.

DCUM seems to think the formula should be “what would a UMC family be able to pay without any lifestyle adjustments.” In reality it’s more of a “what would be possible if it were really really important to you” situation.

Making personal sacrifices for your children isn’t for everyone. But don’t get mad that you are being forced to be honest with yourself about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has been offered merit aid without filing FAFSA.

Depends on the school. Some won’t offer merit if you don’t do FAFSA.

Can you name one?

Anonymous wrote:I vaguely recall that FAFSA is supposed to be changed in 2023 or 2024 in such a way that there will no longer be a discount for having more than one child in college during a given year. Is that still the plan?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our EFC is 230k. We don’t even make that much 300k with both parents working + 2 million assets

That seems about right? They expect you are able to pay about 40% of your income + 5% of your assets each year.

Whether you WANT to pay that much is a different story. And you aren't expected to pay 40% of your income each year - they assume at that level of income you had the ability to save more than someone earning just $45,000/year.

DCUM seems to think the formula should be “what would a UMC family be able to pay without any lifestyle adjustments.” In reality it’s more of a “what would be possible if it were really really important to you” situation.

Making personal sacrifices for your children isn’t for everyone. But don’t get mad that you are being forced to be honest with yourself about it.

This is a perfect summation.

Except we've made personal sacrifices for our child and saved a lot of money, as much as we can save while still paying off our loans, saving for our retirement. And it still may not cover 4 years of college in state.

And I'll say it. You should not have to make substantial lifestyle changes just to afford a basic eduction. You shouldn't. Every person pointing their jealous fingers at people making $400-500K a year or more (and to be clear, we make a fair amount but not that much) is being PO'd at the wrong people.

I work just as hard as someone making less than me. I come from barely above the poverty line, have been working HARD jobs since I was 14. Every summer. During school. Every break. I'm talking things like cleaning hotel rooms, picking produce, waitressing, grocery store work. . . . sometimes 2 jobs in addition to school. Why should I have to spend so much more -no aid, no reasonable tuition bill- to send my kid to school? Why should my kid have to spend 2 years at NOVA before going to 4 year university driven solely by money when DC has excelled in school and has earne the experience she wants?

I make no apologies for what I have. No one has handed ANYTHING to me over my entire life. There's no inheritance coming. No help from anyone. But I also don't think I should be financially punished for it just because other people chose other paths that make less money.

Is this you? https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1104990.page

Lol, nailed it. Love how OP think's she's being financially punished when really her kid is dodging a bullet. If the tuition at Wellesley is too steep for mom, her daughter's never going to fit in socially with the kids who pay the 80K and still have pin money every which way. Hard enough for the scholarship kid, but they might at least get some sympathy. Just move along OP, those are not your people, you're just a middle class striver like the rest of us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I should be financially punished for it just because other people chose other paths that make less money.

Whoa! You said it out loud!

Anonymous wrote:[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our EFC is 230k. We don’t even make that much 300k with both parents working + 2 million assets

That seems about right? They expect you are able to pay about 40% of your income + 5% of your assets each year.

Whether you WANT to pay that much is a different story. And you aren't expected to pay 40% of your income each year - they assume at that level of income you had the ability to save more than someone earning just $45,000/year.

DCUM seems to think the formula should be “what would a UMC family be able to pay without any lifestyle adjustments.” In reality it’s more of a “what would be possible if it were really really important to you” situation.

Making personal sacrifices for your children isn’t for everyone. But don’t get mad that you are being forced to be honest with yourself about it.

This is a perfect summation.

Except we've made personal sacrifices for our child and saved a lot of money, as much as we can save while still paying off our loans, saving for our retirement. And it still may not cover 4 years of college in state.

And I'll say it. You should not have to make substantial lifestyle changes just to afford a basic eduction. You shouldn't. Every person pointing their jealous fingers at people making $400-500K a year or more (and to be clear, we make a fair amount but not that much) is being PO'd at the wrong people.

I work just as hard as someone making less than me. I come from barely above the poverty line, have been working HARD jobs since I was 14. Every summer. During school. Every break. I'm talking things like cleaning hotel rooms, picking produce, waitressing, grocery store work. . . . sometimes 2 jobs in addition to school. Why should I have to spend so much more -no aid, no reasonable tuition bill- to send my kid to school? Why should my kid have to spend 2 years at NOVA before going to 4 year university driven solely by money when DC has excelled in school and has earne the experience she wants?

I make no apologies for what I have. No one has handed ANYTHING to me over my entire life. There's no inheritance coming. No help from anyone. But I also don't think I should be financially punished for it just because other people chose other paths that make less money.

No, I am not jealous of you making 500,000. We make over 2 million. However, your attitude is off. You should be able to pay for in state college just from monthly cash flow. Please go see a financial advisor and maybe a therapist while you are at it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is this right? On the FAFSA. We make good money but good lord...

you make better than “good money” Ours was $55k with an HHI of $200k

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our EFC is 230k. We don’t even make that much 300k with both parents working + 2 million assets

That seems about right? They expect you are able to pay about 40% of your income + 5% of your assets each year.

Whether you WANT to pay that much is a different story. And you aren't expected to pay 40% of your income each year - they assume at that level of income you had the ability to save more than someone earning just $45,000/year.

DCUM seems to think the formula should be “what would a UMC family be able to pay without any lifestyle adjustments.” In reality it’s more of a “what would be possible if it were really really important to you” situation.

Making personal sacrifices for your children isn’t for everyone. But don’t get mad that you are being forced to be honest with yourself about it.

This is a perfect summation.

Except we've made personal sacrifices for our child and saved a lot of money, as much as we can save while still paying off our loans, saving for our retirement. And it still may not cover 4 years of college in state.

And I'll say it. You should not have to make substantial lifestyle changes just to afford a basic eduction. You shouldn't. Every person pointing their jealous fingers at people making $400-500K a year or more (and to be clear, we make a fair amount but not that much) is being PO'd at the wrong people.

I work just as hard as someone making less than me. I come from barely above the poverty line, have been working HARD jobs since I was 14. Every summer. During school. Every break. I'm talking things like cleaning hotel rooms, picking produce, waitressing, grocery store work. . . . sometimes 2 jobs in addition to school. Why should I have to spend so much more -no aid, no reasonable tuition bill- to send my kid to school? Why should my kid have to spend 2 years at NOVA before going to 4 year university driven solely by money when DC has excelled in school and has earne the experience she wants?

I make no apologies for what I have. No one has handed ANYTHING to me over my entire life. There's no inheritance coming. No help from anyone. But I also don't think I should be financially punished for it just because other people chose other paths that make less money.

Is this you? https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1104990.page

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some schools merit scholarships still require FAFSA be completed. Got an even higher number when we did ours. Kid chose a different school with no merit. Never filling out a FAFSA again (unless the younger one is in the same position).

+1 I told DC go in state. We get zilch. Our EFC was something really high, too, not as high as OP's though.

I'm not paying $70k per year. We are UMC but we are trying to save fore retirement and another DC's college fund. College costs are insane.

Same here. DH and I both graduated from Va public universities in the late 80’s/early 90’s when tuition, fees, and room & board totaled around $10K/year. Now, those same schools are closer to $30k-$40k. We told our kids that VA has a lot of public options and if they want private or OOS, they will need loans.

Cheapskate.

I am cheap, but also very smart.

Paying more for something doesn’t make it any better.

But you fail to understand you alone are blocking your kids from attending the better schools. If you and your spouse were unemployed no assets kids would get a free ride Ivy League if they got in. Instead you block them from that as you have the cash but refuse to spend it

We are saving for retirement so our kids won’t end up supporting us. The kids can borrow for college if they wish, but we can’t borrow for our retirement years!