^^^meant to say, “too risky if the NEED-BASED AID is not enough.”

My D (35ACT, 800/800 Subject tests, 4.2 GPA) only applied EA because we wanted to compare costs. Early decision is too risky if you do NOT qualify for non-need based aid. She applied EA at most places, and regular at the rest.

So far, 2 merit awards that essentially gave her a free year of undergrad at each school.

Sounds like someone on this thread has a DC who applied ED and may break the contract if the merit aid is not enough.

Anonymous wrote:As always, these threads go off the rails. You can't simply HOPE for merit aid. Does school school offer scholarships? The school's website will detail this. Are you child stats (GPA plus SAT scores) at the tippy top of the school's student body? The school's common data set will give you this information. Please educate yourself on the admission process before you make any decisions. This will save you lots of time, effort and money. Perhaps your high school has an informational meeting regarding the process.

+1. Don't apply ED to a school that the family cannot afford. Period. Apply to EA institutions and in-state public. Those you can turn down if you are so lucky as to get a financial aid package (we received nothing from ten different institutions).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your ability to attend is contingent on receiving merit aid, you cannot apply early decision.

You might, but might not, get merit money, and regardless, once accepted, you are obligated to enroll.

My understanding is that if you don't get the FA package that you need you are allowed to not enroll based on finances. I've read this multiple places.

That understanding is not quite right.... if you don't get essentially the same level of FA package that the NPC suggested you would receive when you ran the NPC before applying to the school only then you are allowed to break the ED agreement.

On the other hand, if you ran the NPC before applying, saw an unaffordable EFC number, and yet applied ED anyway then you have no valid basis to break the ED agreement.

The NPC is only an estimate. Does it say "run the NPC before applying ED" on the ED contract? Many things can change. Maybe the student is hoping to get a scholarship from somewhere else or merit aid. Maybe the parent is going to get a raise, but doesn't. If you think you can swing it but find out you can't, you need to break the contract. I don't think the contract is based on the NPC. The "valid reason" is you don't have the money you thought you would, wherever it might have come from.

If you are the kind of person that would break an ED agreement because you didn't get the raise you hoped for, or would break it because your snowflake did not get the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA he wanted, then all I can say is that the ED school is better off without you and your kid.

I don’t get the reason for the distain. If someone’s child wants to apply early and is committed to going to a school but it turns out they can’t afford it because they didn’t get enough FA, merit aid, or money from somewhere else that they were expecting, they are allowed to say “we don’t have the money.” This is why there is a clause related to lack of finances.

I don't get it either PP. Anyone interested in applying ED and money is an issue should talk to the school to clarify their ED policy. Almost all allow you to turn down the offer for financial reasons and don't specify what those reasons need to be. People making disparaging comments about people who turn down ED for financial reasons don't know what they're talking about.

Simply not true. Several admissions representatives we spoke with said, if your ability to attend is contingent upon receiving merit scholarship money, then do not apply ED because it is a binding commitment.

It is a binding commitment with a clause that says if you can’t pay then you can break the commitment.

I think the point you are missing is that the college/university gets to decide what you can afford, not you. If they think you can afford it (based on the numbers you provide and financial -- not merit -- aid available), you're stuck.

No, you’re not stuck. The whole point of the “finances clause” is if you think your FA package was not enough for you to afford the tuition you can break the contract.

Except “finances clause” does not mean merit aid. Don’t be a dummy and expect merit aid to save you in an ED.

Please listen to this person. We are trying to tell you that private universities and colleges are a luxury and that some of us donut hole families simply can't afford them. The college is in no way obligated to provide a free education to your child via federal financial aid or merit money. Merit money is drying up at the elite universities and flagships because they get so many applicants they can find all the people they want for their class with the stats and skills they want without dangling money in front fo the applicant's eyes. (with the exception of some athletes). You have to do something really meritorious that the college wants in order to be offered merit aid. Most MC and UMC students do not receive any merit aid unless they are willing to drop down and attend a less prestigious college that needs your student as a statistic, say a perfect ACT. Or they want to say they have a class from all 50 states and 183 countries and your child is the only quality applicant from Idaho. Then you file the FAFSA (and yes if Princeton and a few other elites the CSS but FAFSA first) but if FAFSA says your EFC is high you aren't going to get any financial aid no matter how many kids you have in college. The institutions want to save that money for the questbridge, low-income, URM international, first-generation, immigrant crowd. Please be smart about this before applying to institutions that are now $80K a year in after-tax dollars or you may wind up with a severely depressed child. We have three in college. All three are in-state. All three were valedictorian or equivalent, eagle scout or equivalent, and 4.0+++ GPA and ACT 35. We got zero merit aid offers except from unsolicited offers who had bought the list of ACTs scores and wanted our child's ACT scores for reporting purposes. STill, state universities in-state were less expensive. Granted, we were trying for the very top caliber institutions but we received no merit offers, no work study, no financial aid over than the min. $5500 loan. And yes we applied CSS too. You need to get some good books and read up on the process. The donut hole problem is very real. Most of the families I know are in it. That's why there is a surge of applications to state schools across the United St[b]ates and why California recently restricted OOS and international to only 20% of student body because the Californians were furious that they couldn't get into their own state schools. And please don't believe the admissions officers - they are marketing people. Their job is to get your kid to apply so they can be rejected, thereby increasing the number of applications ("Applications up by 1500 this year at JMU!") and then reject them ("Selectivity drops to only 5% of applicants at JMU! Most selective year ever!). This is all a numbers game thanks due to USN&WR.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your ability to attend is contingent on receiving merit aid, you cannot apply early decision.

You might, but might not, get merit money, and regardless, once accepted, you are obligated to enroll.

My understanding is that if you don't get the FA package that you need you are allowed to not enroll based on finances. I've read this multiple places.

That understanding is not quite right.... if you don't get essentially the same level of FA package that the NPC suggested you would receive when you ran the NPC before applying to the school only then you are allowed to break the ED agreement.

On the other hand, if you ran the NPC before applying, saw an unaffordable EFC number, and yet applied ED anyway then you have no valid basis to break the ED agreement.

The NPC is only an estimate. Does it say "run the NPC before applying ED" on the ED contract? Many things can change. Maybe the student is hoping to get a scholarship from somewhere else or merit aid. Maybe the parent is going to get a raise, but doesn't. If you think you can swing it but find out you can't, you need to break the contract. I don't think the contract is based on the NPC. The "valid reason" is you don't have the money you thought you would, wherever it might have come from.

If you are the kind of person that would break an ED agreement because you didn't get the raise you hoped for, or would break it because your snowflake did not get the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA he wanted, then all I can say is that the ED school is better off without you and your kid.

I don’t get the reason for the distain. If someone’s child wants to apply early and is committed to going to a school but it turns out they can’t afford it because they didn’t get enough FA, merit aid, or money from somewhere else that they were expecting, they are allowed to say “we don’t have the money.” This is why there is a clause related to lack of finances.

I don't get it either PP. Anyone interested in applying ED and money is an issue should talk to the school to clarify their ED policy. Almost all allow you to turn down the offer for financial reasons and don't specify what those reasons need to be. People making disparaging comments about people who turn down ED for financial reasons don't know what they're talking about.

Simply not true. Several admissions representatives we spoke with said, if your ability to attend is contingent upon receiving merit scholarship money, then do not apply ED because it is a binding commitment.

It is a binding commitment with a clause that says if you can’t pay then you can break the commitment.

I think the point you are missing is that the college/university gets to decide what you can afford, not you. If they think you can afford it (based on the numbers you provide and financial -- not merit -- aid available), you're stuck.

No, you’re not stuck. The whole point of the “finances clause” is if you think your FA package was not enough for you to afford the tuition you can break the contract.

Merit money or lack thereof is NOT PART OF A FA PACKAGE.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your ability to attend is contingent on receiving merit aid, you cannot apply early decision.

You might, but might not, get merit money, and regardless, once accepted, you are obligated to enroll.

My understanding is that if you don't get the FA package that you need you are allowed to not enroll based on finances. I've read this multiple places.

That understanding is not quite right.... if you don't get essentially the same level of FA package that the NPC suggested you would receive when you ran the NPC before applying to the school only then you are allowed to break the ED agreement.

On the other hand, if you ran the NPC before applying, saw an unaffordable EFC number, and yet applied ED anyway then you have no valid basis to break the ED agreement.

The NPC is only an estimate. Does it say "run the NPC before applying ED" on the ED contract? Many things can change. Maybe the student is hoping to get a scholarship from somewhere else or merit aid. Maybe the parent is going to get a raise, but doesn't. If you think you can swing it but find out you can't, you need to break the contract. I don't think the contract is based on the NPC. The "valid reason" is you don't have the money you thought you would, wherever it might have come from.

If you are the kind of person that would break an ED agreement because you didn't get the raise you hoped for, or would break it because your snowflake did not get the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA he wanted, then all I can say is that the ED school is better off without you and your kid.

I don’t get the reason for the distain. If someone’s child wants to apply early and is committed to going to a school but it turns out they can’t afford it because they didn’t get enough FA, merit aid, or money from somewhere else that they were expecting, they are allowed to say “we don’t have the money.” This is why there is a clause related to lack of finances.

I don't get it either PP. Anyone interested in applying ED and money is an issue should talk to the school to clarify their ED policy. Almost all allow you to turn down the offer for financial reasons and don't specify what those reasons need to be. People making disparaging comments about people who turn down ED for financial reasons don't know what they're talking about.

Simply not true. Several admissions representatives we spoke with said, if your ability to attend is contingent upon receiving merit scholarship money, then do not apply ED because it is a binding commitment.

It is a binding commitment with a clause that says if you can’t pay then you can break the commitment.

I think the point you are missing is that the college/university gets to decide what you can afford, not you. If they think you can afford it (based on the numbers you provide and financial -- not merit -- aid available), you're stuck.

No, you’re not stuck. The whole point of the “finances clause” is if you think your FA package was not enough for you to afford the tuition you can break the contract.

Except “finances clause” does not mean merit aid. Don’t be a dummy and expect merit aid to save you in an ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation you need to have with the financial aid office of the ED school.

If you don’t qualify for need based aid (you’ve run the NPC calculator) and you need merit aid to afford the ED school, then DO NOT apply for ED.

Ya’ll are confusing merit (non-need based aid) with need based aid. Colleges award merit according to their own rules, and it has nothing to do with your financial picture.

We will probably call the school but I’m curious why you think it matters where the money comes from (FA/merit aid/other scholarships/family help/rotc). Bottom line is we need some assistance to pay. No guarantee we will get the money but it’s possible.

Because the schools categorize it differently.

Run the calculator and it will say what the school has determined your need is (most of us disagree with those figures btw). Colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need, mean that they will provide that number to anyone they admit ED or RD.

If you are confident in your ability to pay the net price out of funds you have at the time of the application, then apply ED. It is unlikely you will get more from the college.

If you are not, for whatever reason (including waiting on a relative to die, applying for outside scholarships, whatever) you cannot apply ED. Period.

Quite true and what PP^ is saying is correct. Merit aid is decided by the school and it is usually awarded when they want a particular student for something. The more elite the school the less like there will be any merit aid at all. For example, DS got awarded $26K from two small LACs you've never heard of only because they wanted his ACT score for reporting purposes to USN&WR. However, his ACT was about the high norm for state flagship an even with the 26K, it was still cheaper for him to go to the more prestigious flagship. No other institution, including ivies offered any merit whatsoever because they can get whatever stats they want from their normal applicant pools of 35,000. Financial aid, however, is determined by the FAFSA, which you file with the U.S. Department of Education. Their computers tell you what THEY (feds) think is your family contribution should be - and usually, as in our case or of donut hole families - that amount is full pay. The EFC (expected family contributiion) figure goes to the colleges. The colleges then look at the EFC - if your EFC is zero, then yes they will try to find some package of loans, pell grants, grants, workstudent, merit money to come up with an affordable package. But if your EFC is like most people in the D.C. area, you may get nothing. However if you file the FAFSA you can have your child obtain the standard $5500 federal unsubsidized loan, which our children do every year. That amount jumps about $1000 each year so your student will come out owing rougly $25K in total student debt but the rate of interest is low and the payout period is long. The different is going to fall on you, the family. That's why in-state options have become so desireable. Most of us can't afford $70-$85K a year in after-tax dollars, especially when we have more than one child in college at the same time. Do you have a good college counselor to talk to? They can explain all of this to you and give you direction

That’s one of the main things they grant aid for!

Who? What? You are confusing the programs. Even when you repeat FAFSA in subsequent years and indicated you now have two or three in college, if their calculator determines you make too much money, you're not going to get another cent (we didn't) - except the min. $5500 loan per child. The FAFSA computer doesn't care that we are sandwich generation families taking care of 3 elderly grandparents, putting nothing away into retirement, getting old, burying family and trying to keep our kids in college at the same time. If you are talking about merit aid, the elite schools don't give a damn how many kids you have in college. All they care about is does your child have a unique characteristic the univ. needs for reporting such as a 36 ACT, Samsung scholar. the only applicant from Idaho with perfect test scores, etc. You need to learn the basics about MERIT AID (not available at the SLACs and Ivies and top flagships because they don't need to give it) and FINANCIAL AID which is run through FAFSA at the department of ED. We received no merit except for the two offers unsolicited from expensive SLACs you've never heard of. We received no merit aid from the other 9 universities. FAFSA says our EFC is to pay everything. Meanwhile, I am spending at least $100K a year to take care of parents and MIL on top of this. And nothing is being put away for retirement. Yes, we are frugal. Driving two 15 year old cars.

Sorry but this is just dumb. You need to save for your own retirement - stop doing this! You don’t want to burden your own kids with your future expenses because you didn’t save do you?
And no - you don’t get any FA for doing this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation you need to have with the financial aid office of the ED school.

If you don’t qualify for need based aid (you’ve run the NPC calculator) and you need merit aid to afford the ED school, then DO NOT apply for ED.

Ya’ll are confusing merit (non-need based aid) with need based aid. Colleges award merit according to their own rules, and it has nothing to do with your financial picture.

We will probably call the school but I’m curious why you think it matters where the money comes from (FA/merit aid/other scholarships/family help/rotc). Bottom line is we need some assistance to pay. No guarantee we will get the money but it’s possible.

Because the schools categorize it differently.

Run the calculator and it will say what the school has determined your need is (most of us disagree with those figures btw). Colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need, mean that they will provide that number to anyone they admit ED or RD.

If you are confident in your ability to pay the net price out of funds you have at the time of the application, then apply ED. It is unlikely you will get more from the college.

If you are not, for whatever reason (including waiting on a relative to die, applying for outside scholarships, whatever) you cannot apply ED. Period.

Quite true and what PP^ is saying is correct. Merit aid is decided by the school and it is usually awarded when they want a particular student for something. The more elite the school the less like there will be any merit aid at all. For example, DS got awarded $26K from two small LACs you've never heard of only because they wanted his ACT score for reporting purposes to USN&WR. However, his ACT was about the high norm for state flagship an even with the 26K, it was still cheaper for him to go to the more prestigious flagship. No other institution, including ivies offered any merit whatsoever because they can get whatever stats they want from their normal applicant pools of 35,000. Financial aid, however, is determined by the FAFSA, which you file with the U.S. Department of Education. Their computers tell you what THEY (feds) think is your family contribution should be - and usually, as in our case or of donut hole families - that amount is full pay. The EFC (expected family contributiion) figure goes to the colleges. The colleges then look at the EFC - if your EFC is zero, then yes they will try to find some package of loans, pell grants, grants, workstudent, merit money to come up with an affordable package. But if your EFC is like most people in the D.C. area, you may get nothing. However if you file the FAFSA you can have your child obtain the standard $5500 federal unsubsidized loan, which our children do every year. That amount jumps about $1000 each year so your student will come out owing rougly $25K in total student debt but the rate of interest is low and the payout period is long. The different is going to fall on you, the family. That's why in-state options have become so desireable. Most of us can't afford $70-$85K a year in after-tax dollars, especially when we have more than one child in college at the same time. Do you have a good college counselor to talk to? They can explain all of this to you and give you direction

That’s one of the main things they grant aid for!

Who? What? You are confusing the programs. Even when you repeat FAFSA in subsequent years and indicated you now have two or three in college, if their calculator determines you make too much money, you're not going to get another cent (we didn't) - except the min. $5500 loan per child. The FAFSA computer doesn't care that we are sandwich generation families taking care of 3 elderly grandparents, putting nothing away into retirement, getting old, burying family and trying to keep our kids in college at the same time. If you are talking about merit aid, the elite schools don't give a damn how many kids you have in college. All they care about is does your child have a unique characteristic the univ. needs for reporting such as a 36 ACT, Samsung scholar. the only applicant from Idaho with perfect test scores, etc. You need to learn the basics about MERIT AID (not available at the SLACs and Ivies and top flagships because they don't need to give it) and FINANCIAL AID which is run through FAFSA at the department of ED. We received no merit except for the two offers unsolicited from expensive SLACs you've never heard of. We received no merit aid from the other 9 universities. FAFSA says our EFC is to pay everything. Meanwhile, I am spending at least $100K a year to take care of parents and MIL on top of this. And nothing is being put away for retirement. Yes, we are frugal. Driving two 15 year old cars.

Again- private colleges use the CSS profile, not the FAFSA. FAFSA is for federal aid, the CSS profile is for the private school aid package. The CSS profile takes into account things like home mortgage and insurance expenses and having multiple kids in college. I don’t understand how you could have multiple kids in college and not know this - unless they are all in state school but you keep talking about private colleges.

https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your ability to attend is contingent on receiving merit aid, you cannot apply early decision.

You might, but might not, get merit money, and regardless, once accepted, you are obligated to enroll.

My understanding is that if you don't get the FA package that you need you are allowed to not enroll based on finances. I've read this multiple places.

That understanding is not quite right.... if you don't get essentially the same level of FA package that the NPC suggested you would receive when you ran the NPC before applying to the school only then you are allowed to break the ED agreement.

On the other hand, if you ran the NPC before applying, saw an unaffordable EFC number, and yet applied ED anyway then you have no valid basis to break the ED agreement.

The NPC is only an estimate. Does it say "run the NPC before applying ED" on the ED contract? Many things can change. Maybe the student is hoping to get a scholarship from somewhere else or merit aid. Maybe the parent is going to get a raise, but doesn't. If you think you can swing it but find out you can't, you need to break the contract. I don't think the contract is based on the NPC. The "valid reason" is you don't have the money you thought you would, wherever it might have come from.

If you are the kind of person that would break an ED agreement because you didn't get the raise you hoped for, or would break it because your snowflake did not get the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA he wanted, then all I can say is that the ED school is better off without you and your kid.

I don’t get the reason for the distain. If someone’s child wants to apply early and is committed to going to a school but it turns out they can’t afford it because they didn’t get enough FA, merit aid, or money from somewhere else that they were expecting, they are allowed to say “we don’t have the money.” This is why there is a clause related to lack of finances.

I don't get it either PP. Anyone interested in applying ED and money is an issue should talk to the school to clarify their ED policy. Almost all allow you to turn down the offer for financial reasons and don't specify what those reasons need to be. People making disparaging comments about people who turn down ED for financial reasons don't know what they're talking about.

Simply not true. Several admissions representatives we spoke with said, if your ability to attend is contingent upon receiving merit scholarship money, then do not apply ED because it is a binding commitment.

It is a binding commitment with a clause that says if you can’t pay then you can break the commitment.

I think the point you are missing is that the college/university gets to decide what you can afford, not you. If they think you can afford it (based on the numbers you provide and financial -- not merit -- aid available), you're stuck.

No, you’re not stuck. The whole point of the “finances clause” is if you think your FA package was not enough for you to afford the tuition you can break the contract.

As always, these threads go off the rails. You can't simply HOPE for merit aid. Does school school offer scholarships? The school's website will detail this. Are you child stats (GPA plus SAT scores) at the tippy top of the school's student body? The school's common data set will give you this information. Please educate yourself on the admission process before you make any decisions. This will save you lots of time, effort and money. Perhaps your high school has an informational meeting regarding the process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your ability to attend is contingent on receiving merit aid, you cannot apply early decision.

You might, but might not, get merit money, and regardless, once accepted, you are obligated to enroll.

My understanding is that if you don't get the FA package that you need you are allowed to not enroll based on finances. I've read this multiple places.

That understanding is not quite right.... if you don't get essentially the same level of FA package that the NPC suggested you would receive when you ran the NPC before applying to the school only then you are allowed to break the ED agreement.

On the other hand, if you ran the NPC before applying, saw an unaffordable EFC number, and yet applied ED anyway then you have no valid basis to break the ED agreement.

The NPC is only an estimate. Does it say "run the NPC before applying ED" on the ED contract? Many things can change. Maybe the student is hoping to get a scholarship from somewhere else or merit aid. Maybe the parent is going to get a raise, but doesn't. If you think you can swing it but find out you can't, you need to break the contract. I don't think the contract is based on the NPC. The "valid reason" is you don't have the money you thought you would, wherever it might have come from.

If you are the kind of person that would break an ED agreement because you didn't get the raise you hoped for, or would break it because your snowflake did not get the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA he wanted, then all I can say is that the ED school is better off without you and your kid.

I don’t get the reason for the distain. If someone’s child wants to apply early and is committed to going to a school but it turns out they can’t afford it because they didn’t get enough FA, merit aid, or money from somewhere else that they were expecting, they are allowed to say “we don’t have the money.” This is why there is a clause related to lack of finances.

I don't get it either PP. Anyone interested in applying ED and money is an issue should talk to the school to clarify their ED policy. Almost all allow you to turn down the offer for financial reasons and don't specify what those reasons need to be. People making disparaging comments about people who turn down ED for financial reasons don't know what they're talking about.

Simply not true. Several admissions representatives we spoke with said, if your ability to attend is contingent upon receiving merit scholarship money, then do not apply ED because it is a binding commitment.

It is a binding commitment with a clause that says if you can’t pay then you can break the commitment.

I think the point you are missing is that the college/university gets to decide what you can afford, not you. If they think you can afford it (based on the numbers you provide and financial -- not merit -- aid available), you're stuck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation you need to have with the financial aid office of the ED school.

If you don’t qualify for need based aid (you’ve run the NPC calculator) and you need merit aid to afford the ED school, then DO NOT apply for ED.

Ya’ll are confusing merit (non-need based aid) with need based aid. Colleges award merit according to their own rules, and it has nothing to do with your financial picture.

We will probably call the school but I’m curious why you think it matters where the money comes from (FA/merit aid/other scholarships/family help/rotc). Bottom line is we need some assistance to pay. No guarantee we will get the money but it’s possible.

Because the schools categorize it differently.

Run the calculator and it will say what the school has determined your need is (most of us disagree with those figures btw). Colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need, mean that they will provide that number to anyone they admit ED or RD.

If you are confident in your ability to pay the net price out of funds you have at the time of the application, then apply ED. It is unlikely you will get more from the college.

If you are not, for whatever reason (including waiting on a relative to die, applying for outside scholarships, whatever) you cannot apply ED. Period.

Or what? Of course you can.

"Merit aid" means you've done something meritorious to earn it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation you need to have with the financial aid office of the ED school.

If you don’t qualify for need based aid (you’ve run the NPC calculator) and you need merit aid to afford the ED school, then DO NOT apply for ED.

Ya’ll are confusing merit (non-need based aid) with need based aid. Colleges award merit according to their own rules, and it has nothing to do with your financial picture.

We will probably call the school but I’m curious why you think it matters where the money comes from (FA/merit aid/other scholarships/family help/rotc). Bottom line is we need some assistance to pay. No guarantee we will get the money but it’s possible.

Because the schools categorize it differently.

Run the calculator and it will say what the school has determined your need is (most of us disagree with those figures btw). Colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need, mean that they will provide that number to anyone they admit ED or RD.

If you are confident in your ability to pay the net price out of funds you have at the time of the application, then apply ED. It is unlikely you will get more from the college.

If you are not, for whatever reason (including waiting on a relative to die, applying for outside scholarships, whatever) you cannot apply ED. Period.

Quite true and what PP^ is saying is correct. Merit aid is decided by the school and it is usually awarded when they want a particular student for something. The more elite the school the less like there will be any merit aid at all. For example, DS got awarded $26K from two small LACs you've never heard of only because they wanted his ACT score for reporting purposes to USN&WR. However, his ACT was about the high norm for state flagship an even with the 26K, it was still cheaper for him to go to the more prestigious flagship. No other institution, including ivies offered any merit whatsoever because they can get whatever stats they want from their normal applicant pools of 35,000. Financial aid, however, is determined by the FAFSA, which you file with the U.S. Department of Education. Their computers tell you what THEY (feds) think is your family contribution should be - and usually, as in our case or of donut hole families - that amount is full pay. The EFC (expected family contributiion) figure goes to the colleges. The colleges then look at the EFC - if your EFC is zero, then yes they will try to find some package of loans, pell grants, grants, workstudent, merit money to come up with an affordable package. But if your EFC is like most people in the D.C. area, you may get nothing. However if you file the FAFSA you can have your child obtain the standard $5500 federal unsubsidized loan, which our children do every year. That amount jumps about $1000 each year so your student will come out owing rougly $25K in total student debt but the rate of interest is low and the payout period is long. The different is going to fall on you, the family. That's why in-state options have become so desireable. Most of us can't afford $70-$85K a year in after-tax dollars, especially when we have more than one child in college at the same time. Do you have a good college counselor to talk to? They can explain all of this to you and give you direction

That’s one of the main things they grant aid for!

Who? What? You are confusing the programs. Even when you repeat FAFSA in subsequent years and indicated you now have two or three in college, if their calculator determines you make too much money, you're not going to get another cent (we didn't) - except the min. $5500 loan per child. The FAFSA computer doesn't care that we are sandwich generation families taking care of 3 elderly grandparents, putting nothing away into retirement, getting old, burying family and trying to keep our kids in college at the same time. If you are talking about merit aid, the elite schools don't give a damn how many kids you have in college. All they care about is does your child have a unique characteristic the univ. needs for reporting such as a 36 ACT, Samsung scholar. the only applicant from Idaho with perfect test scores, etc. You need to learn the basics about MERIT AID (not available at the SLACs and Ivies and top flagships because they don't need to give it) and FINANCIAL AID which is run through FAFSA at the department of ED. We received no merit except for the two offers unsolicited from expensive SLACs you've never heard of. We received no merit aid from the other 9 universities. FAFSA says our EFC is to pay everything. Meanwhile, I am spending at least $100K a year to take care of parents and MIL on top of this. And nothing is being put away for retirement. Yes, we are frugal. Driving two 15 year old cars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation you need to have with the financial aid office of the ED school.

If you don’t qualify for need based aid (you’ve run the NPC calculator) and you need merit aid to afford the ED school, then DO NOT apply for ED.

Ya’ll are confusing merit (non-need based aid) with need based aid. Colleges award merit according to their own rules, and it has nothing to do with your financial picture.

We will probably call the school but I’m curious why you think it matters where the money comes from (FA/merit aid/other scholarships/family help/rotc). Bottom line is we need some assistance to pay. No guarantee we will get the money but it’s possible.

Because the schools categorize it differently.

Run the calculator and it will say what the school has determined your need is (most of us disagree with those figures btw). Colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need, mean that they will provide that number to anyone they admit ED or RD.

If you are confident in your ability to pay the net price out of funds you have at the time of the application, then apply ED. It is unlikely you will get more from the college.

If you are not, for whatever reason (including waiting on a relative to die, applying for outside scholarships, whatever) you cannot apply ED. Period.

Quite true and what PP^ is saying is correct. Merit aid is decided by the school and it is usually awarded when they want a particular student for something. The more elite the school the less like there will be any merit aid at all. For example, DS got awarded $26K from two small LACs you've never heard of only because they wanted his ACT score for reporting purposes to USN&WR. However, his ACT was about the high norm for state flagship an even with the 26K, it was still cheaper for him to go to the more prestigious flagship. No other institution, including ivies offered any merit whatsoever because they can get whatever stats they want from their normal applicant pools of 35,000. Financial aid, however, is determined by the FAFSA, which you file with the U.S. Department of Education. Their computers tell you what THEY (feds) think is your family contribution should be - and usually, as in our case or of donut hole families - that amount is full pay. The EFC (expected family contributiion) figure goes to the colleges. The colleges then look at the EFC - if your EFC is zero, then yes they will try to find some package of loans, pell grants, grants, workstudent, merit money to come up with an affordable package. But if your EFC is like most people in the D.C. area, you may get nothing. However if you file the FAFSA you can have your child obtain the standard $5500 federal unsubsidized loan, which our children do every year. That amount jumps about $1000 each year so your student will come out owing rougly $25K in total student debt but the rate of interest is low and the payout period is long. The different is going to fall on you, the family. That's why in-state options have become so desireable. Most of us can't afford $70-$85K a year in after-tax dollars, especially when we have more than one child in college at the same time. Do you have a good college counselor to talk to? They can explain all of this to you and give you direction

That’s one of the main things they grant aid for!