Question: My son has a decent financial aid package with a large grant, work-study, and subsidized Stafford and Perkins loans. (We’re debating whether to take the unsubsidized loan for $2K because of the interest rate, which is at the moment worse than a home equity line would be.) We want to keep his loans to $5K or at most $5.5K a year, but to pay the remainder, I’m taking on a part-time job. (I’m self-employed and my income fluctuates by $1-2K a year; my husband works full-time and whatever raises he gets usually are offset by increases in our health insurance premiums.) I haven’t received a straight answer from the Financial Aid Office about what percentage of my additional income would be subtracted from the grant, and they won’t even say that it won’t be subtracted dollar for dollar. Is there any formula for figuring this out, or does it depend on the college? (The college my son chose not to attend at least told me that it would be a percentage, not a dollar for dollar reduction.)
I’m trying to figure out whether the added stress is worth it, if the college ends up just subtracting the money I earn. Thank you!
Tricky financial aid questions tend to befuddle “The Dean.” So I consulted with a finaid pro (Ann C. Playe, former associate director of admission and financial aid at Smith College) before responding. Ann said:
“The additional income would run through a formula with some protections BUT the percentage variance is more related to the level of income in the family–the higher the income, the higher the percentage that would hit the bottom line.”
In other words, your son’s school won’t take all of your extra dough, dollar for dollar, but it’s hard to predict how much they will want, and your overall household income will affect that decision. Ann also pointed out that, “The financial aid office won’t make any calculations and promises now because other things may have also changed by next year. So they don’t want to have the parents tell them, ‘But you said I’d only pay $1000 more.”
Ann and I both recommend that you play with your son’s college’s “Net Price Calculator.” As of this past October, all colleges were required to post a school-specific NPC online. Although the NPC’s are far from perfect, you can plug in your numbers using your current household income and then repeat the process using your anticipated higher income to see how the Expected Family Contribution changes. That should give you a ballpark sense of how your extra dough will be treated by this particular college. (Save your data, if given this option, and I also recommend that you take a screen shot of the outcome and save it, too. If, down the road, the college seems to want considerably more than what their NPC indicated, you can use this “evidence” in your appeal process. Although the NPC is not a binding contract, it may make the finaid folks feel a little sheepish if their own online tool is giving false hope.)
Ann suspects that, in your case, the extra cash flow is likely to help because you are already receiving some grant aid and therefore not in a really high income bracket. This means that there shouldn’t be a dollar for dollar reduction of the grant aid because of your new work, and thus you won’t be just spinning your wheels by taking on the additional job.
So start with the NPC and see if it confirms that the stress of the added job will indeed pay off.
Question: About a week ago, I went on a college tour where many colleges recommended employment as a way to boost admissions chances. I was recently accepted for an unpaid internship at a local lab this summer. Would most colleges consider this employment, or would they prefer it if I found additional paid employment employment in addition to or instead of the internship?
Many admission officers do have a soft spot for applicants who have held real-world jobs … and often the crummier the better (e.g., flipping burgers at Mickey D’s trumps working as a counselor at your favorite day camp). But I would never recommend giving up an unpaid internship in a lab in order to don an apron or a whistle. In fact, if the internship is consistent with your academic interests and/or future major, this can help boost admission odds, too.
On the other hand, if your entire application will shout out “Science, Science, Science” (and, especially … sad to say …. if you are Asian and you suspect that your resume is stereotypical), it would be ideal if you can find a very part-time minimum-wage job to do in addition to the lab position (but definitely not instead of it). Not only will this give an added dimension to your applications, but it could also make at least a small dent in your application fees … as well as offer you a perspective on the world that you might not find elsewhere.
Question: I wish to go to SUNY Stony Brook University and I saw that they have a transportation fee. They have it aside from tuition. Is it required to pay the transportation fee if I am to own my own car? And besides tuition, do I have to pay for other things besides taxes, for example: Room & Board, and Books & Supplies? Thank you and hope to get a reply.
The transportation fee at Stony Brook is required for all students, even those with their own cars. It covers many things such as the free campus buses, which you may or may not use. But, in addition, a portion of these fees goes toward maintaining the parking lots that you will use for sure, if you’ll be commuting.
You do not have to pay for room and board if you won’t be living on campus. Books and supplies are personal expenses, so costs will vary. In other words, you are responsible for purchasing necessary texts and other materials, but there is no definite bottom line for these. Enterprising students can often buy cheap(er) second-hand books and supplies. There are now a number of eBooks, too, that might meet your needs and your budget.
If you decide to go to Stony Brook, ask current students about “insider” tricks that they’ve used to minimize expenses.
Question: We are a family that is unlikely to qualify for need-based financial aid. We are getting mixed signals as to whether we should apply for it any way. One camp says: there’s money for middle class families and you should apply and see what happens. The other camp says: Applicants that can pay full freight may have an advantage and should say so on the application. Who is right? My daughter is a junior and is most interested in some of the top liberal arts colleges such as Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan.
When it comes to questions with no easy answers, this is right up there with the one about the chicken and the egg. But here’s how I suggest you proceed:
A: NEED-BLIND COLLEGES (which includes all the schools you’ve named)
1) Do the Net Price Calculators for Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan. (Or at least do the first two, and if they come out very similar, don’t bother with the third.) Here’s the link for Amherst’s: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/amherst
The aim here is to find out if you really won’t qualify for any aid or if you’ll probably qualify for some aid.
2) If you DO qualify for aid, I suggest that you apply for aid at the need-blind colleges, such as those you’ve named.
3) If you clearly DON’T qualify for aid (i.e., your estimated EFC is significantly above the cost of attendance at even the priciest colleges) then you should not bother applying for aid and should tick the “No aid” box on applications.
Exceptions: IF you have a second child who will be in college when your daughter is still in college or IF either you or your spouse holds a job with fluctuating income or IF you think that either one of you may lose or change jobs in the next five years for ANY reason, then you should still apply for aid at the need-blind colleges. (Most colleges impose a waiting-period on aid applications from students who initially applied as “no need.” Typically that period is two years but some schools prohibit ALL aid applications from a student who initially applied as no-need.)
Your daughter can create two different versions of the Common Application: one where she answers the aid question with a “YES” and the other with a “NO.”
B: NEED-AWARE COLLEGES
1) If you qualify for aid and feel that this aid (even if it isn’t much) will make a major difference in your household stress level, you should always apply for aid.
2) If you qualify for aid but feel that receiving this aid will NOT make a big difference in your stress level, then DON’T apply for aid at any need-aware college that you feel might be a “Reach” for your daughter or at the upper end of the “Realistic” range. (Carleton, Tufts, Washington U. and Colby might be examples of such places.) Note, however, that occasionally colleges require the FAFSA for non-need-based merit scholarships. (NYU is one such school that jumps to mind which might end up on your daughter’s list.) So read the fine print on Web sites, once your daughter’s college list is finalized.
3) If you qualify for aid, DO apply for it at the need-aware schools that are very likely to admit your daughter anyway.
This advice, as I’ve warned you, isn’t gospel truth. I know, too, that it sounds confusing … but confusion is par for the course in most aspects of the admissions process, so get used to it.
Question: Can doing a post-graduate year improve or decrease chances of admissions to a top tier or Ivy League college?
Doing a Post-Graduate (PG) year will rarely hurt admission odds (unless the GPA goes down or the student gets suspended for bad behavior or lands in similar hot water). The PG year might raise Ivy or elite admission chances but only for those who were reasonably strong candidates to begin with and then used the PG year to prove themselves in additional ways.
Commonly, talented athletes will spend that extra year honing their prowess in a sport in order to catch a coach’s eye. For non-athletes (or even so-so ones) the PG year may not provide that same clout but can sometimes be helpful, too. For instance, students who use it to focus on some academic passion (e.g., scientific research) may find that this additional year makes them stand out at admission decision time. When English is a second language, the PG year can provide a time to raise TOEFL scores and to show that an already outstanding student is also fully fluent in English.
But simply spending an extra year in high school is not likely to boost Ivy or top-tier admission odds unless the student accomplishes something significant during that year that will help set him or her apart from the hyper-competitive crowd.
Question: My son was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Florida Honors program. He is interested in a career in physics and would go on to pursue a graduate degree. Which is the better school/program? The other issue is cost. Carnegie Mellon would cost about $50,000 a year where the University of Florida would be free ( we are Florida residents). He is quite bright and shy and the University of Florida is large and Carnegie Mellon is smaller and better fits his personality type. What would be the best school? Especially if he wants to pursue graduate studies and he would also love to study abroad.
Every year around this time, “The Dean” gets a gazillion queries from students and parents that are similar to yours. Many folks are faced with tough decisions and a looming May 1 deadline. But I am not in a position to offer such important advice from afar, just as I would not attempt to suggest a spouse to a stranger. (In fact, I’ve failed at playing Cupid countless times, even which I know the prospective partners well!)
But I will say that a free ride at U of Florida is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you’re otherwise looking at a $50K annual bill. Your son can get an excellent education in physics at either school. (Now I steel myself for the loyal supporters of each institution telling me where I’m wrong.)
Yes, fit is important, and it sounds like CMU might be a good match for your son. BUT … it will be far from home, and it’s not a small school (just a lot smaller than UF). So the big question is this: How much will paying $50K/year stress your household? Will your son graduate with debt if he goes to Carnegie Mellon? For those with very high incomes, $50K won’t make the same dent that is does for more typical families, and I don’t know where you fall.
Perhaps one solution would be for your son to consider one of the residential “Learning Communities” at UF. See: http://www.housing.ufl.edu/aie/ Options such as the “Leader Scholar Program” or the “Career Exploration Community” could provide a good way to make a huge school seem smaller and friendlier. There is also an Honors Residential College, which makes it easier for Honors students like your son to find each other.
So unless your son feels that Carnegie Mellon is a “dream school” and thus, if he chooses Florida, he might always be traveling a road-not-taken paved with regrets, my vote would be for him to head to Gainesville. But, as I said above, it’s irresponsible for me to weigh in here without seeing a much bigger picture. So consider this advice worth what you paid for it.
Good luck, whatever your son decides (and let me know next year how it worked out, if you think of it).
Question: We live in the Midwest and our High School Junior is looking at a 4 week residential program at a private University in California with a focus on college level writing. Fees plus transportation costs will top $8,000. Is this worth the money?
There’s an old joke about a tourist who is lost in rural Maine. When he comes to a fork in the road he spots an old codger, clearly a local. So the tourist calls out, “Does it matter which of these roads I take?” and the codger replies, “Not to me, it don’t.”
Your question somehow evoked that same thought. I would never spend $8K for a summer writing program for my own son. But this is a very personal decision, one that should be based on your family finances and also on what you feel would most benefit your child.
If you have unlimited resources and your child seems especially excited about this opportunity, you may find that you get sufficient bang for your buck. If your child has always been an indifferent student but suddenly seems passionate about writing–and about this program in particular–you may decide that this is the time to fuel this passion.
But there are many more cost-effective ways to study writing, and if you’re hoping that this Left Coast program will give your child a boost at admissions time, it probably will not. (It MIGHT help at the host college but it depends on the school. Generally, the more selective the college, the less attending the summer program will matter at admission-verdict time.)
In terms of admissions “currency,” admission folks are often more impressed by the kid who’s spent the summer flipping burgers at Mickey D’s than by the one whose parents wrote out a whopping check for an on-campus endeavor. And there are probably free writers’ groups in your community … or a cheap class at the local college … that could concurrently fuel a budding Anne Tyler or Ernest Hemingway.
Question: Our friends have hired an independent college counselor to help their son maximize his Ivy League admission chances. My own son (a junior with a B/B- average) has a college list that is far more modest, but the guidance counselor at his high school is new and doesn’t seem very well informed. We are new to this process ourselves. Are we short-changing our son by not engaging a private counselor for him, too, or is that money better spent for those aiming at the very selective universities?
When it comes to life’s to-do lists, we all have different comfort zones. The same folks who trudge through their income taxes every April without the aid of an accountant might never tackle a tire change … even in their own driveway. Likewise, some families can easily navigate the college admissions maze with only the help of Web sites like College Confidential or a short stack of guidebooks, while others prefer to have a seasoned pro at the helm.
But one thing for sure is that independent college counselors do far more than packaging prodigies for Princeton. Often it’s families like yours—with a plethora of options and unreliable assistance from the high school—who can benefit most from the information that an independent counselor will provide.
I’ve pasted below a recent blog post from the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) Web site. It was written by Jane Hoffman, a Westchester, NY-based independent college counselor. Here, Jane debunks some of the myths about indie counselors and explains how newbie families like yours might benefit from outside help:
I wish that more was written about independent educational consultants’ integral role as educators. In the current, complex and often competitive terrain of college admissions in 2012, we teach. The arguments about us often seem to range from “we are all about fit” to “they are pariahs who package and promote.” Personally, I think those two poles miss the integral role we play as educators.
I teach students about college curriculum, general education requirements, what it means to declare a major, the opportunities and options, how college differs from high school, the difference between liberal arts colleges and universities, and so much more. I teach parents how the college admissions terrain is so different than when we applied and the large role of enrollment management. I decode how colleges think and the importance many place on demonstrated interest and that they expect that families have nothing more to do than “college shop.” I explain that the student will have options and so the challenge is to self-assess and determine his or her goals and to identify and then apply and gain admission to schools that will further those goals.
Particularly as the search process is and needs to be starting earlier and earlier in the lives of high school students, I often find myself talking to 15-year-olds about college and what it means to be in college, which can feel like a remote abstraction. I teach students and parents how to quiet all the relentless “noise” out there and what to pay attention to, meaning the student’s learning style and the family’s values, and to look within rather than to start with a focus on any particular colleges.
I also believe that IECs have an opportunity and responsibility to educate college representatives about the perspectives of students and families as they conduct the college search and application process. I firmly believe that how IECs are viewed by the public, both prospective clients and those that would never anticipate hiring professionals, is something that we need to be aware of. Looking at that bigger picture, I feel a responsibility not just to my clients but also to members of the public who may not be able to avail themselves of the services that we provide. My own education and advocacy role includes trying to talk to college representatives about the tremendous stressors that families experience throughout the college search and application process.
Question: Does the Dartmouth admissions office contact the parent that is an alum? My son will be applying as a legacy and is a “good fit” for Dartmouth, however, his father decided he did not want children after our son was born and has chosen not to be a part of his life. So, I’m wondering once my son is part of the admissions process– will they contact his dad?
In order to answer your question, this “dean” turned to a real one, Dan Parish, Director of Admissions Recruitment and Communication at Dartmouth. He told me that, “When a child lists on the Common Application that one of their parents graduated from Dartmouth, we do in fact send a note to the parent to acknowledge their relationship with the College and to offer to answer any questions they might have.” He also pointed out that most colleges and universities that he knows of will so the same.
So, if your son names his dad on his application, you should expect that Dartmouth will contact him. Your son’s relationship—or lack thereof—with his father might also be fodder for the “Additional Information” section of the application or for a cover letter to accompany it.
However, if your son is applying for financial aid and he includes his biological father on the Dartmouth application, Dartmouth officials will expect your ex to complete his share of the financial aid forms and will use his income and assets (as well as yours) when they assess your son’s financial need. (Exception: If you are remarried and your son’s stepfather makes or has more money than the biological dad, Dartmouth will instead use your household income … including the stepfather’s … to determine the financial aid award. But you will still be expected to ask your ex to report his financial data.)
If such cooperation from your ex feels like getting blood from a stone, and you are applying for aid, you can write an explanatory letter to the financial aid office saying that the biological father has played no role whatsoever in your son’s entire life. The college officials may then omit his income and assets from the financial aid formula … or they may not. So just be warned that, if your son is planning to use his legacy “hook” at Dartmouth but he also requires financial aid, you could be facing a complex situation.
Good luck to both of you as you navigate this maze.
Question: I receive disability payments but the online EFC calculator tells me that our family ‘s Expected Contribution is $33,000. This is impossible for us as I have no extra money after paying my bills and no savings. Can speaking to the financial aid office help? My daughter has all A’s and good sat scores along with great extracurriculars.
An EFC of $33,000 sounds awfully high for a parent on disability unless there is a second parent with a greater income or your daughter has her own income or assets. I wonder if you made a mistake when you tried the calculator.
Did you know that all colleges are now required to put a “Net Price Calculator” on their Web sites? If you haven’t done so already, try these individualized calculators for a couple of the colleges that are on your daughter’s current list.
For instance, here’s a calculator for Smith College, where I used to work and which offers excellent financial aid for strong students who are willing to consider a single-sex school: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/smith
If the figure continues to come out to $33K (or to ANY number that strikes you as absurd), then your daughter’s best bet is to apply to colleges where she will be a likely contender for a big merit scholarship. Although some colleges (especially the Ivies and a handful of other highly competitive places like Amherst and Williams) provide only need-based aid, the majority of schools use merit money to entice their most sought-after applicants to enroll.
To find colleges that meet her preferences and profile and where she is a likely candidate for merit aid, your daughter can use College Confidential’s SuperMatch: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/ As she completes the SuperMatch questionnaire, she should be on the lookout for the “My Scores” heading and should be sure to check the box under this heading that says, ” I’m interested in schools where I would be well above average, to increase my financial aid opportunities.” Once she gets her results list, she can take a closer look to see if any of the suggested schools should be added to her list and she can visit their Web sites to get a sense of how much merit money she may be in the running to receive.
As you’ve suggested, you can also talk to financial aid officers (or write a letter) that explains why a high EFC is well out of reach. But before you do, check it again because I suspect that you made a mistake when you completed the online form.
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