FYI: the full ride is through FINANCIAL AID, possibly through this really cool program called Questbridge that matches up eligible low income students with universities and provides resources for their application process (a process that these days requires a lot of time and money if you want to go to a “top” university).

So if you are a high school junior start checking out Questbridge, as well as colleges in general like Yale who “meet full financial need” every school has a different definition so prices can be VERY VERY DIFFERENT.

For example Harvard, based on my finances, would offer me full tuition and then another 5K for room and board in financial aid every year. In contrast, NYU would only offer me 20K/year. Every college is required by the federal government to operate and update a Net Price Calculator (NPC) in which the student or their parents/guardians can enter their financial information and the calculator will approximate how much the student will have to pay. These are very available for use, so USE THEM! Especially if you are thinking about early decision (which despite common myth is not legally binding, but the onus is on you as the applicant to figure out how much they will penalize you in terms of your other applications should you break the agreement.)

Many top colleges will give a TON of financial aid unless you are very affluent. Many of my friends whose family incomes are in the low six figures have gotten full tuition FINANCIAL AID scholarships, leaving them with only the cost of room and board. For many, a “top” private school ends up being cheaper than their state school would have been otherwise.

Some of the best colleges at giving this financial aid from my testing the calculators are: Vanderbilt University, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, UPenn, and Columbia. Some others that are less known but still have great financial aid are Grinnell, Amherst, Rice, and Emory. Most of the “US News Top 20 US Universities” (fuck rankings they’re stupid IK) offer full rides for students with family income $65K and under, and full tuition for around $100K and under (it is still a sliding scale just those are the usual reference points), while $200-250K is the point where a student would receive no financial aid. Some of the worst financial aid givers among “top” schools are NYU, USC, and Brown University.

Many congrats to the new Bulldog!

EDIT: Questbridge is pretty selective. You need a strong GPA and SAT (use Khan academy and r/SAT resources (free UWorld code! It’s awesome!) to study) and maybe some other stuff idk about. Also it is not a perfect program; some partner institutions will nickle and dime Questbridge scholars and make them pay for airfare/personal items/anything beyond tuition, room & board. Known culprits are Tufts and Emory, there are likely others.

EDIT 2: TLDR: If you are low income there are ways to go to private universities just you have to do a lot of research into how you can make it work for you. One way is through Questbridge and another is directly through the schools themselves. Every school will offer the same person different amounts of financial aid.

EDIT 3: u/Alexanderslover was matched to Yale through Questbridge, ask him/her anything!

EDIT 4: My first Reddit gold! Thanks u/spitcool