@amayaneely as a CA resident with an EFC of $25k, I doubt you will get any or much FA from any UC. Regent scholarship I think is only $5000 per year so a little help if you qualify. Some of those privates on your list may come through with a nice offer… wait and see and then see where your best offer lies. And keep talking with NEU! Good luck.
@amayaneely First…major congrats! As a parent (and old guy) I would say unequivocally do NOT take on a huge load of debt. You want to be able to come out of school with as little debt as possible. Period. 
Now, you are on the right track with the phone calls. Here is what I would do: Figure out what you tope tier (3 or so schools) are and have a net price (Total Cost - Grants) in mind. Do not count loans in this…it’s only what do you NOT have to pay back. Look across all the schools where you are accepted and figure out your best deal…and the net price you can live with. From there, you need to negotiate with several schools who have accepted you and you like…and then see who gives you the best option…which is combination of net price and education. (So it isn’t necessarily the cheapest.) And definitely feel free to figure out what you really want be comfortable telling the school “if you can get my net price to X I will commit to you immediately”. This does not work everywhere but definitely works at some schools.
The bottom line: figure out what you want and then go for it. Be polite and pleasant…and make it happen. You seem to be a kid that can do that! Best of luck.
No school is worth $100k in debt. The payments will be far too high. Personally, I think $50 is as high as anyone should go. It’s just too hard to repay above that. Unless you have no other options…I vote no.
So I have some experience with trying to figure out paying for northeastern, and I just have some interesting points to make.
- Your first year you need to take 2 semesters and 1 summer semester worth of courses. This means the net price comes out to around 80k for the first year, and even with my 30k national merit scholarship I would end up taking on nearly 30k in loans.
- The next 3 years you only take 3 semesters and 1 summer semester total. This means your net price for each year is significantly less, and co-ops bring in some take home money. However, if your parents arnt allocating funds to your tuition each year you will still end up with the same amount of loans and co-op money will end up doing little but paying down interest.
- The last year you end up with 2 semesters and a hell of alot of debt, practically a garunteed job but I don’t think it’s worth it.
Apologies if someone has brought this up already, but even if your Mom is willing to co-sign loans for you she may not qualify to borrow as much as you need if she has debt of her own that she is already dealing with.
^^ @blountwil2 Good point. However, for someone who has significant cost issues, isn’t it better to graduate in 4 years and only do 2 coops?
You don’t really save money by doing a shorter program. You have to pay for 8 academic semesters - how you spread them out does not change that - over 5 years with 3 coops or 4 years with two coops.
@blountwil2 With scholarships my net price per year would be 30k. With 15k a year for those half years with co-op. Do you think this math makes sense?
Year 1: (30k cost) - 20k from college fund = net (10k in loans)
Year 2: (15k cost) + (20k earnings from co-op, no living in eating expenses if I take coop home in Los Angeles) = net(5k)
Year 3: Again (15k cost) + (20k earnings from co-op, no living in eating expenses if I take coop home in Los Angeles) = net(0)
Year 4: Again (15k cost) + (20k earnings from co-op, no living in eating expenses if I take coop home in Los Angeles) = net( +5k to use towards 5th year tuition)
Year 5: (30k cost) - (5k from 3rd year coop) = 25k net cost to pay post-graduation.
@SwimmingDad Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely use this going forward!
@suzy100 my mother is willing to cosign but she will not pay. Quick Question, also @PengsPhils maybe you could answer this as well: for northeastern co-op, the base salary for CS co-op is 25$ per hour with the approximate 40 hour work week. This amounts to about 20k over a 5 month period. Since I am from Los Angeles where they have many CS companies and startups, could I consider the option of taking my co-ops here in LA, living from home & commuting to co-op, and using co-op earnings toward paying tuition? I would plan on doing the 5 year program with 3 co-op experiences. Lets just say even for instance that my $25 hour pay wouldn’t rise (which I would expect it to after previous work experience) but even if it doesn’t, that could be 60k over 3 co-ops that I could put toward the total tuition price.
@MotherOfDragons For northeastern co-op, the base salary for CS co-op is 25$ per hour with the approximate 40 hour work week. This amounts to about 20k over a 5 month period. Since I am from Los Angeles where they have many CS companies and startups, could I consider the option of taking my co-ops here in LA, living from home & commuting to co-op, and using co-op earnings toward paying tuition? I would plan on doing the 5 year program with 3 co-op experiences. Lets just say even for instance that my $25 hour pay wouldn’t rise (which I would expect it to after previous work experience) but even if it doesn’t, that could be 60k over 3 co-ops that I could put toward the total tuition price???
Your math is wrong - assume you pay $15K a semester - 2 of the years you do 1/2 year of co-op you take one summer semester and one fall or spring semester so you cost is $15K for the full semester and $7.5K for the half semester. You need 8 semesters of classes and 8 semesters of tuition - you are missing $15K in your calculations (you only have 7 semesters of tuitions - you are missing 2 summer semesters).
Yes, if you find a co-op in LA you can take it and live at home and commute. Nobody forces you to coop in any particular place - you pick which coops you want to apply for and work at. Although it may be difficult to find 3 of them in LA over the course of the 5 years.
Your making some rather large assumptions.
You won’t take home 20k a year. After takes and incidentals it’ll probably be closer to 10k, maybe more but I wouldn’t count on it. Also, you are neglecting the two summer terms you need, which total to another 15k you have to pay. Finally, when you plan out co-ops you also have oto look at the payment plan for your classes. If your classes come before your co-op, you will need to take out loans to pay for it, which will then accumulate interest and reduce your take home for co-op even further. I don’t want to discourage you, but there is alot at play here
Also you are limiting yourself alot to only LA and staying at home, tho I believe you could find 3 unique experiences especially in Comp Sci
@blountwil2 @kiddie ok yes that makes sense. Thank you for this information. My mom is beginning to like Northeastern more each and every day. So I think I’m beginning to gain traction with her as far as her monetary contribution towards my schooling at NEU. I will definitely have to think about the overall investment in NEU. But I really feel like even though I would be paying more here than other schools having that work experience will really put me ahead as far as employability and experience post grad. I think the great (and growing) value of the Nottheater Computer Science experience will be worth spending a little more than other schools. Assuming that all the other schools meet my 25k per year EFC. I would be looking at around 100knfor any school I choose. Correct me if I’m wrong?
^ I think you have miscalculated. Graduation in 4 years has to be a better deal financially for 2 reasons. 1) you will
make much more money plus benefits as a full time worker than you will on a coop in year 2 or 3 at NEU and 2) NEU will be raising tuition every year so you would avoid a higher tuition in yr 5 as you have already graduated.
Also do you really need 3 coops if you have done 2 good ones already?
Do you have any AP courses to bring in? That could shave some time off
4 vs. 5 years won’t make a big difference. With the 3rd coop you will have the money you make from the 3rd coop to pay tuition in your pocket sooner and student loans due back one year later, although a 5th year of tuition increases. You may also get a better job at graduation with 1.5 years vs. 1 year of work under your belt. Not everybody will have done a “good” coop their first one, but the 2nd and 3rd ones will be “better”.
My daughter did 4 years with 2 coops mostly because her AP credits left her only needing 7 semesters of classes (so I saved a semester of tuition and dorm) and her 1st coop was a great one.
Many kids still stay on their parents benefits during their first years of work (since Mom and Dad paying family rates works out to be cheaper - especially if they still need to cover their younger children). But it is true that real job salaries (after tuition) are higher than coop salaries (which are typically hourly).
Tax rates when working a coop will be lower because your will be working only 6 months of the year. Once you start working full years this disappears (although first year out will be partial if you graduate in May). Also as an hourly employee on a coop my daughter got paid for overtime, as a salaried employee she does not. She also got a housing stipend at one of her coop jobs (because she had to find temporary housing in another city) - which counted as income - so her coop income for that job was very high - she would never get that as a starting salary our of college.
I’ve been following this thread, and just wanted to throw in a reminder about the Northeastern promise- if tuition goes up, your aid amount goes up with it.
aid does go up but not merit aid only financial aid