I got a package from Carnegie Mellon U that would require me to pay $20,000 totally and $15,000 with loans. My EFC is about $11,000. I’m trying to get them to bring it down to $6,000 ideally bcuz that’s what I (and my parents) can pay or around $10,000 realistically. I just want to know if asking for more is being greedy, idk. All I know is I really wanna go but if I got to go into $100,000 in debt, it ain’t gon happen.
Some clarification…CMU has calculated your institutional EFC (based on CSS Profile) to be $35,000 ($20K plus $15K loans), or $20K total ($15K of which is loans)?
Your FAFSA EFC is only relevant in terms of qualifying for federal financial aid.
What did CMU’s NPC estimate for your costs (hopefully you ran that before applying)?
Is their EFC calculation consistent with your family’s income as depicted on this page?
https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/financial-aid
CMU doesn’t guarantee to meet need. What basis would you use for an adjustment? I see from your other thread you have a great in-state option at FSU where you can use your BF money. That is your best option.
A few things to remember.
- There are thousands upon thousands of college students whose families will be losing income or having income significantly reduced this year. It would seem that colleges might (note...might) respond to those types of needs rather than a “I need more money” appeal with no reason.
I’m not sure colleges will be able to financially meet all of these requests.
- For students asking for reconsideration of aid...they need to remember, this is not required to be done at any college. These requests are handled on a case by case basis. Some colleges don’t do this at all.
You have an affordable option. CMU gave you decent need based aid…it’s just not enough for your family right now. You are very lucky to be in FL where Bright Futures can help you with college costs.
@Mwfan1921 Sorry, should have been more clear 20k if I don’t take out the loans they offered and 15K if I do.
Thank you all for your comments, I kinda always knew in-state was the best option, but I guess I was hoping someone would say CMU was worth it. With the advice you provided, I think I’ll be able to weigh my options better.
But you didn’t ask whether or not CMU would be worth it!
Got it. I don’t understand why you say you will be $100K in debt.
So, for CMU you have an aid package that gets you to a net COA of $20K, correct? You say your parents can pay $10K, correct? Then you can take out the $5,500 Federal Direct Student Loan, leaving you with $4.5K still to pay…can you fund that with summer earnings and working during the school year?
What does the Total COA on CMU’s FA offer include: tuition, fees, room and board, anything else? Books? Travel? Health Insurance?..sometimes there are a lot of ‘extras’ in that number that may not be applicable, or that may not be as expensive for you.
What is your in-state option and how much does it cost?
@Mwfan1921 this student has FSU with Bright Futures as an affordable instate option.
Any place that tells you that you need to take out $15,000 each year in student loans in order to attend, is a place you don’t want to attend. Period. If they truly wanted you, they would have given you a package with not one more cent of student debt than the standard federal loans ($5,500 freshman year going up to $7,500 senior year). Kick this place to the curb.
CMU is notorious for this and unfortunately not much you can do about it. When Kiddo #1 was interested, we got their pre-read on FA and it was laughable. I called and the FA officer told me, “We know you can qualify for a home equity loan” and sent me this super slick brochure on all the loan options available. When a university is producing their own brochure about loan options that continually hammers home how it’s “worth it” you can know it isn’t worth it!
And I’m a CMU alum.
@Mwfan1921 I got $100K debt from a loan debt calculator for 4 years of college. I actually have a spreadsheet that subtracts the non-billable cost from my COA. My net cost for the instate school( FSU) is around $6,500.
If you can attend FSU for $6500/year, go there.
You can’t take $100,000 in loans yourself. You would need a co-signer…or your parents would need to take that loan.
You have a fabulous instate, affordable option. Go there.
You can’t afford that level of debt. Even if you could take out that amount of debt, graduating with $100,000 or so in student loans would handcuff your life decisions for years after graduation. The large payments you would have to make to cover the payments of your undergraduate loans would interfere with every adult decision you make – it would mean you probably couldn’t take that amazing job at a start-up for less pay, get that new car, take a nice vacation, get the home you want etc. Unfortunately finances are, by necessity, part of the decision process for the majority of students. I’d advice you to grab the excellent affordable option you have available and never look back – your future self will thank you.
Thank you all for the help, it is much appreciated. 