<p>I disagree with most of the comments here. OP deserves to go to a good school and be with the best. His parents has done a good job saving $100k and should be praised for it. Based on an income of $150k (not high but not low either), they should be able to make it work for him. Besides, they have almost paid off their mortgage which is great. I don’t see why he should attend a third rate school and end up miserable. The amount of opportunities you get for attending NW or some other top schools can open a lot of doors for him. Don’t give up hope. Aim high.</p>
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<p>Your parents do not think it’s worth the debt. That’s an important difference.</p>
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<p>University of Kentucky is a Tier 1 National University. It also has an honors college. Not every “best” student can afford a private school and many of them go the route that the OP is looking at. </p>
<p>The idea that a student as bright as the OP is doomed to be miserable at UK is just not reality based.</p>
<p>Good god that EFC is high. It makes me honest-to-god happy for my pell-grant less 8100.</p>
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<p>I’ve been around College Confidential for maybe 2 years? I don’t know, possibly longer. I’ve also been an SAT tutor for some time. Far as I know, this happens a LOT. It started with me – I asked my parents how much they were prepared to pay for my college education at the beginning of my senior year, when I was deciding where to apply (which is WAY too late!) and they chuckled a little and basically told me that they never really expected me to go to college and hadn’t been thinking about it. It’s not that I wasn’t a bright, accomplished senior; it’s that no one in my family had ever graduated from college. If they went, they only took a few classes and they paid for it themselves. In any event, I took their answer to mean that they couldn’t really afford to pay anything for school, and I applied mostly to safety schools that I knew I could either get a full-ride scholarship at, or to public universities through which I could get Georgia’s HOPE scholarship.</p>
<p>I ended up going to a second-tier LAC on a full scholarship and graduated with very little debt. I’m really happy that it worked out that way. My fiance and I have discussed this a little bit (he was in the same boat with college, and also went to an LAC on a scholarship and has now joined the military to help pay for the rest of college) and although we definitely want to start saving for our children’s college the minute they’re born, we’re like the OP’s parents – not willing to go into that much debt for their college education. We’ve realized how good an education you can get for much less money and that hard work in high school can pay off with good scholarships at solid schools.</p>
<p>In any event, just about every year there are many students both on CC and in other places (and in real life) I encounter who are unhappy because they got into an elite private school they thought they would never get accepted to, and they were elated until they realized that they couldn’t make it financially. In some cases they and their parents thought they would get more financial aid than they thought, in other cases they simply applied to schools without regard to their family’s status believing that their parents would shell out many thousands for these degrees. In very rare cases their financial circumstances changed drastically, but those are fixable.</p>
<p>For some reason the choice always seems to be between the top elite school and some local public university; these students never seem to have (or disclose having) a middle-of-the-road, solid university or college that they would really like to attend. Which brings me to my advice:</p>
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<li><p>Initiate discussions about what you can afford and what you have saved EARLY! Perhaps as early as sophomore year. Either side can initiate. Definitely do so before you finalize your college list. Senior year is too late!</p></li>
<li><p>Cast a wide net, both academically and financially. I always advise really top students to apply to some mid-range private LACs that have good track records with funding. My alma mater was stats-wise a safety for me, and so they gave me exceptional merit aid, but I thrived there. And I was by no stretch of the imagination a typical CC student. Some of these CC students could likely apply to LACs in the top 100 and get very good aid (some in the top 50 – I got a big scholarship from Agnes Scott College, as well.)</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t fall too in love with the idea of an expensive private and spend just as much time investigating smaller, less expensive schools, too! Fall in love with a lot of schools so that when D-Day comes down, you are happy no matter what happens.</p></li>
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<p>Excellent advice Juillet!</p>
<p>I would add that families should run the financial aid calculators at the College Board website at least by the end of their kids’ 10th grade years. The first time I ran one of these calculators, I could not believe our family EFC. I ran it again a year later, and things had not changed. I ran it with different assumptions, and was still appalled. Finally, I had to accept that things are what they are. Our EFC is fully four times what we can justify spending. Happykid now knows what we can spend on college. She will make her list based on this information.</p>
<p>OP- Daughter in exactly same situation and will choose UGA Honors program over many top 10 schools that offered some merit aid, but would still have left about $100K in debt. A high school teacher offered her some excellent advice, 'look upon your college acceptances as the reward for your very hard work in high school and your college choice as a smart fit/financial decision" A successful high school student will succeed no matter where they are placed, because that is who they are. I know it is hard though to look back and think that you could have not worked as hard and still gotten in KU, not to mention the lesser stat students going to more prestigious privates. One advantage daughter is focusing on is that UGA has a generous AP credit policy that will allow her to double major or even get her Masters in 4 years. If you pursue grad school, ask your parents if the money can be spent for that and grad school prestige is much more important. Also, look for the CC post titled ‘the disadvantages of an elite education’ - very insightful. Finally, rest assured that many very top students are facing the same situation as you and will likely be your classmates at public universities this year. Best of luck!</p>
<p>These last three posts are just spot on. I wish I could have every parent of a 10th grader read them.</p>
<p>We ran the college cost calculators in 8th grade, using a variety of assumptions about salary, savings, home equity, etc. Assumed (correctly) that we were in the gray area where colleges would determine our need is minimal and that we clearly had piles of money holding the bedsprings together (not). </p>
<p>EFC is <em>not</em> what the parents think they can contribute. Au contraire! The sooner one wraps one’s mind around that and figures out what is possible within the financial parameters your family is willing to undertake, the better. My kids have known for years that we do not spend on a lot of things because we hoped to afford the college of their choice. They also knew they’d have to help pay. Both stepped up their games academically to help make merit $$ a possibility. Stafford loans and work are a given.</p>
<p>I am continually surprised at the number of junior and senior parents who believe that scholarship $$ is going to fall out of the sky because their S/D has good grades, a decent SAT score and lots of ECs. (Wait til the kid has to write new essays for those $500 scholarship awards in April of senior year!) We took the position that scholarship $$ was gravy that would make things easier, but we sure didn’t count on it in the budgeting process.</p>
<p>I’m continually disappointed in GCs who do not discuss $$ at college planning meetings w/parents. (I know there are exceptions, but we haven’t had one.) After dealing with multiple GCs at different high schools, I’m beginning to think there is a GC Convention where people are told to Never Discuss Money – that it leads to making assumptions and judgments about one’s values, priorities, living arrangements, birth control methods, etc.</p>
<p>So, parents (you’re here in the choir, which already puts you two steps ahead of the game) – do your homework. Do the calculations, learn the lingo. Be honest about $$. Students – many parents don’t like to talk about money and think it’s none of your business. Approach them as a young adult and seek to find ways to work TOGETHER to make college work for you.</p>
<p>midmo-
“I just feel like all the effort I put into the last four years of my life was a huge waste.”</p>
<p>In a few months, you won’t feel like that. Your preparation will pay off in spades in various ways when you get to KU: higher grades, less stress, easier transition, ap credits waiving classes you would have had to take, and all these things can translate to a high gpa at college graduation and being selected along the way for the best programs abroad, honors, research, etc. making you a great grad school candidate. This is when it will really pay off: when you get a fellowship to pay for your grad school degree. Keep the faith that everything happens for a reason, and be on the lookout for something amazing that will come your way that would not have happened had you taken the other path at the fork in the road…</p>
<p>^^^Uh, that was not me who said that. My last four years have been spent raising my kids. I sure hope it hasn’t been a waste!</p>
<p>midmo</p>
<p>whoops, make that quote from OP–manofthehoff</p>
<p>(sorry, midmo and no, not a waste LOL!)</p>
<p>How ironic- if only your parents hadn’t saved that $100,000, you would be able to afford the college of your choice. Before getting angry at them for not giving you more, please think about how hard it was for them to put that money aside, back when you were young and I am sure that had plenty of other uses for it. The system is broken and needs fixing.</p>
<p>“How ironic- if only your parents hadn’t saved that $100,000, you would be able to afford the college of your choice.”</p>
<p>That’s simply not true.</p>
<p>OP, please don’t feel like you wasted your effort in high school just because you’re not going to your dream school. The effort you expended in high school has probably given you great study habits and a wonderful grounding in the basics you’ll need to succeed in college. You’ve learned how to work hard, and if you have a good attitude about attending your state flagship and you continue that hard work, you’re going to be very successful there. I did not go to a “dream school.” I went to an inexpensive school and did extremely well (all that hard work in high school paid off!), then went to an inexpensive (but prestigious) state school for law school. I can now afford to send my children to the schools of their choice, although based on my own experience I’m not convinced that an expensive private school education is necessary or, in all cases, desirable. Time will tell whether my children decide it’s necessary; my oldest is seriously looking at our state flagship.</p>
<p>This week on the radio I heard someone say that $80K in loans equates to a $600 monthly payment after graduation. Yikes!</p>
<p>When my daughter figured out earlier this month that she was in the same boat as so many hard-working high achievers–accepted at first and second choice big name schools offering $0 and full tuition offers at numerous other schools–she went to Google and asked: “Why does college cost so much?” In her search, she found a site that said something like a $250K debt, which is not unheard of for medical school grads, can impact retirement savings by $2.5 million dollars. She accepted a scholarship and switched her National Merit first choice school from what it had been all year. We were all a bit disappointed, but smart kids make smart choices. She plans on graduate school and going into debt for undergraduate did not make sense.</p>
<p>Is KU Kansas or Kentucky? I thought they called Kentucky UK.</p>
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<p>If they pay oit over 20 years. Otherwise closer to $900+ a month if it is over 10years.</p>
<p>KU = Kansas
UK = Kentucky </p>
<p>You raised a smart cookie, MD Mom! Mine did the same to hopefully avoid having over $120K after grad school…I think the estimate is now $70K which still seems alot for my baby to take on!</p>
<p>quote: making<em>a</em>point “I disagree with most of the comments here. OP deserves to go to a good school and be with the best. His parents has done a good job saving $100k and should be praised for it. Based on an income of $150k (not high but not low either), they should be able to make it work for him. Besides, they have almost paid off their mortgage which is great. I don’t see why he should attend a third rate school and end up miserable. The amount of opportunities you get for attending NW or some other top schools can open a lot of doors for him. Don’t give up hope. Aim high.”</p>
<p>Well the only point you made is you think like 50% of all high schools students who work hard in school, that they need to get into a top tier college to be successful. The fact that we’re even debating 100k+ (probably becomes 130-150 after interest and stuff) for under-grad seems unrealistic to me. Honestly if you want to “waste” money like that, you might as well learn how to play poker and spend the 100k that way. I hope you realize that especially since you’re going to a prestigious college, I doubt you will be done with just under-grad, you’ll still have grad school. And yes I’m pretty sure even if you work close to full-time for 4 years you won’t be able to afford it (in comparison to an average student). This means MORE debt for grad school. You worked hard for 4 years in high school yes and guess what you save about 30-45k by getting a free ride at a CUNY, SUNY or a tier 1/2 school that is in top 25-50. In case you didn’t realize this by high school, going to the #2 high school instead of #1 in the city doesn’t deprive of you anything, in fact it probably makes your chances of hitting top 10% easier in that respects and I assume the curriculum probably isn’t that much more different in preparedness and difficulty. Same with under-grad, get into honors, work hard and get into a good grad school and maybe then you can worry about 100k debt.</p>
<p>I really don’t think you’ve appreciated what your parents have done for you. Saving 100k, making 63k a year together and you question their commitment towards you? I hope you realize 100k debts are for GRADUATING med-school students not for people entering freshmen college. Unless my kid had an IQ of >160, 2400 on SAT and 800 on every single SAT II, 36/36 on ACT, and a >99 unweighted or 4.0 unweighted, AND I’M MAKING 150k a year, would I even consider letting him spend 220k for under-grad school. It really isn’t worth it, even if i had a child with those stats, they’d probably excel just as well and probably better in top 25-50 ranked college.</p>
<p>There are many bright and hardworking students in all public universities. Many of them will go on and get into prestigious professional and graduate programs after undergrad. KU is a good school and you can get a very good education from it.</p>
<p>Could OP’s parents make Northwestern happen for their kid? I’m sure they could. Many people pay for college with money from many different income streams and financial resources…parental savings, kid savings, kid summer and on campus jobs, kid loans, parental PLUS loans, tapping home equity, paying from current wages, scholarships, etc. These parents have limited their contribution to parental savings to the tune of $100K.</p>
<p>And there could be many reasons for that. Parents have to look at the overall family financial picture and the many financial goals of the family, not just paying for college…we’re talking retirement, financial stability in case of job loss, protection of the family homestead. $100K and no further parental loans is what they feel they can afford to pay without jeopardizing their plan, especially when there is a very generous offer on the table at a good university.</p>
<p>Other parents may make a different calculation, but we have to respect the decision made by these parents.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why so many people think that public universities are populated only by dullards. I agree with Christian2 that there are many bright and hardworking students at public universities. OP can become one of them and do well with his KU degree.</p>