Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:58     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


That mindset will disappoint you and your daughter. There is no perfect school or dream school and your daughter is not "limited" because one school she likes doesn't offer merit.


Her daughter is literally limited to schools that do offer merit


And there are plenty of them! Change the mindset and get excited about the choices you can afford.
Many people are limited to driving a Honda, not a BMW because that's what they can afford. If they choose to drive a BMW, they have to live with the consequences of the higher cost (loans/not enough $$ to pay for something else). College is similar.
Or you don't play the sport in college---you do rec sports at a school that gives you great merit.

Merit can be found. My 26 ACT, 3.5UW gpa, only 1 AP, kid graduated from a T100 university where they got 35% of tuition, making total costs ~$40K/year. This was at a school where kid was at 50percentile for scores/gpa. OP could afford that, as they have ~$150-160K in their 529.

Same kid had a 65% of tuition merit offer from a T120 school making it only $25K/year because they were at 75percentile+. I'm going to guess someone who "can get into a top SLAC" can easily find many schools with merit awards, if my kid with a 26 ACT could. Same kid also had two in-state schools that would only cost $15K/year after the merit awards.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:54     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


They are either poor enough to get a lot of aid, rich enough to not need it, or had parents putting away a lot of money from conception.


Well it is no shock that top schools would cost ~$80K/year when my kid would enter college. So we did plan for that and sock away as much as we could from an early age, as we knew we wouldn't qualify for any FA. Had we not been able to do that, our kid would have had to search out more affordable schools.


Congratulations on making enough money to save 320k per kid?
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:52     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
No need for a hand-to-hand combat with posters trying to help. Calm down OP.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:51     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
OP - you are an entitled nightmare. No words for your responses to people trying to be helpful.

Bottom line, you have done well financially but think someone else should pay for your child to attend a top school. You have options, you just don’t like them.

I suspect we are similarly situated financially to you. Our DD has applied to a range of schools, but the bottom line is we are willing to do the belt tightening necessary to send her to the best fit for her.

Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:49     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


They are either poor enough to get a lot of aid, rich enough to not need it, or had parents putting away a lot of money from conception.


Well it is no shock that top schools would cost ~$80K/year when my kid would enter college. So we did plan for that and sock away as much as we could from an early age, as we knew we wouldn't qualify for any FA. Had we not been able to do that, our kid would have had to search out more affordable schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:48     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:Here are some schools that were d3 that offered merit aid to my athlete, University of Rochester, Gettysburg college, Case Western, Stevens institute of Tech. D1 schools offered merit and no athletic money were Layfette College and American University.


Case alone offers great merit just based on academics (no clue about the athletic part). My own kid got ~55% of tuition and she hadn't really demonstrated much interest (no visit, just one or two clicking on stuff online). Yet as a female in engineering she received great merit (chose elsewhere---but if we didn't have enough to be full pay anywhere, she'd be at case as it was the best merit award at a top school).
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:47     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you can afford it, you’re just unhappy with having to sacrifice (“wiggle room”) so you want other families who are similarly well-off to cross subsidize you? Cool!


Screw you. No one has ever subsidized anything for me. Ever. I grew up at the poverty line and took all the scraps I could. So don't talk to me about my situation.


So why do you suddenly feel entitled to a subsidy now?


+1000
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:45     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


So, you really need to talk to the coaches about various scholarships that may be available. My niece was recruited for high academic D3 sports and several offered "leadership" and other seemingly BS scholarships since they don't technically offer sports scholarships...the coaches clued her into the game. The scholarships didn't cover anywhere near 100%, but some were close to 25%.


+1 I went to a DI school that had no athletic scholarships. We fielded the most genius hockey team in the patriot league because the bulk of the players somehow managed to get one off scholarships every year
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:44     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


That mindset will disappoint you and your daughter. There is no perfect school or dream school and your daughter is not "limited" because one school she likes doesn't offer merit.


+1

You need to look at schools that you can afford. You at least have ~$150K in a 529. So you saved, just not enough for an $80K/year school. So you target schools that you can afford, be it thru merit/lower cost/etc. There are plenty out there. Outside of the T20-30, there are plenty of schools that do give merit, especially if your DD has the stats for Wellsley.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:43     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you can afford it, you’re just unhappy with having to sacrifice (“wiggle room”) so you want other families who are similarly well-off to cross subsidize you? Cool!


Screw you. No one has ever subsidized anything for me. Ever. I grew up at the poverty line and took all the scraps I could. So don't talk to me about my situation.


So why do you suddenly feel entitled to a subsidy now?
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:42     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wellesley actually offers generous financial aid even to wealthier households. Have you run the NPC for that school? They use the CSS and take more into account than FAFSA.


Not for us. We now make too much. But, that was not always the case and that is not considered. We have no generational money. No parent support. We had loans of our own. We now make a very comfortable salary but that is a recent development and one that does not allow us to pay $70-80K / year without basically directing all of our income to school (at least for 2 of the years) and travel expenses getting to /from.


Then take out debt and pay it off at your new healthy wage. Or don’t! Accept, and help change the culture, around the idea that kids attend the best school they can get into. Because that’s why people are so offended when they hit this wall. They’ve internalized the idea that a person’s merit is weighed by the school they attend. That’s only ever been true in one small bubble. You just happened to live in it.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:42     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


That mindset will disappoint you and your daughter. There is no perfect school or dream school and your daughter is not "limited" because one school she likes doesn't offer merit.


I'm aware and that was not my question. I went to a Big U midwest state school because I had no money and no other options. I did fine. Just because you think that we are not "limited" doesn't mean that we think that way. I don't understand why you think this comment was helpful. You're giving me your opinion and it is one I did not ask for.


Ouch! the attitude!!


No more attitude than the one responding to.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:41     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:Do you can afford it, you’re just unhappy with having to sacrifice (“wiggle room”) so you want other families who are similarly well-off to cross subsidize you? Cool!


Screw you. No one has ever subsidized anything for me. Ever. I grew up at the poverty line and took all the scraps I could. So don't talk to me about my situation.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:39     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:Wellesley actually offers generous financial aid even to wealthier households. Have you run the NPC for that school? They use the CSS and take more into account than FAFSA.


Not for us. We now make too much. But, that was not always the case and that is not considered. We have no generational money. No parent support. We had loans of our own. We now make a very comfortable salary but that is a recent development and one that does not allow us to pay $70-80K / year without basically directing all of our income to school (at least for 2 of the years) and travel expenses getting to /from.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2023 10:39     Subject: schools w/ no merit aid
Anonymous wrote:Long story short: we will not get any financial aid. We make too much for help but don't make enough to go full pay at a private in a way that leaves any wiggle room.

We are just starting this process, and child is an athlete that is in the midst of recruiting (only D3 at this point b/c of NCAA limits- and FTR I don't care if DC plays a sport or not but she does). I'm looking at the finances of the various schools and was shocked to learn that some of the schools she's been talking to give NO MERIT aid. DC has excellent grades, community service, ECs, and athletics.

I get she's one of many like man others . . . and I know at DC there are no athletic scholarships. But, how are people affording places like Wellesley? Their website and what I'm finding says they give ZERO aid on the basis that, essentially, "everyone there is special."

Yes, she can look elsewhere. And she is. But it is so sad to have to shut down a possibility that would, honestly, be such a perfect fit for her in every way. With room and board, etc. the cost per year is nearly $80K!!!! Two years would eat up more than our 529 has in it. Super bummed to have to limit her.


So, you really need to talk to the coaches about various scholarships that may be available. My niece was recruited for high academic D3 sports and several offered "leadership" and other seemingly BS scholarships since they don't technically offer sports scholarships...the coaches clued her into the game. The scholarships didn't cover anywhere near 100%, but some were close to 25%.