When I was choosing schools to apply to, my parents told me to “not worry about the cost” in my applications decisions. I perceived this to mean that we would be able to afford any school, which seemed to be confirmed from FAFSA and CSS data. Furthermore, when filling out the CSS, they had me put $50,000 a year for expected parent contribution. In December, I was fortunate enough to be admitted to MIT EA, along with Purdue (in-state). As expected from our tax information, MIT gave a very marginal student grant (basically full pay). I was never expecting that my parents would foot the entire bill, and was prepared to take on some personal student loans. However, in a recent discussion with my parents on how exactly payment would look like, it turned out that they never had any intention to contribute a cent of their own money to my education. What they meant by “not worrying” about the cost was that they would cosign and negotiate the best interest rates on my student loans.
Whatever negotiated rate I get, I’m staring down the barrel of over $250,000 in student loans to attend MIT, probably above 300K with interest factored in, and now I’m thinking that Purdue may have to be my choice. The cost of attending Purdue for 4 years will probably be around ~$70,000, factoring in scholarships and in-state tuition. My intended major is Chemical Engineering, for which Purdue has a fairly strong program. My question is, would attending MIT really be worth an additional $200,000 debt burden before I even have my first job, or should I take Purdue for now?
That’s really unfortunate. I’m sorry they did that.
Frankly, I wouldn’t even take Purdue for that kind of money. It appears you have no safety net, so you need a school where you can afford the loans should anything happen. You can’t borrow more than ~$5500/year on your own anyway. Your parents would have to borrow anything over that.
What are your stats? Did you qualify for merit at any schools that are more affordable?
@austinmshauri I have decent stats, 36 ACT and 3.86 UW GPA. Had I known last year that this was the situation, I would have applied to schools like Vandy or USC that gave merit aid, but I didn’t. I am 100% sure that none of the other decisions I get back will offer me merit aid of any kind.
I would take MIT right off the table. You can’t afford it.
Purdue for $70k of debt is still high. Do some calculations for what a monthly loan payment would be to get an idea what you are looking at. At this point, it seems your choice would be high loans for Purdue, or a gap year to apply to schools where you will get more merit. If you were able to get into MIT, you should be able to get a full tiotion scholarship somewhere, or maybe even a full ride.
Then it sounds like you need a gap year. Will your parents let you live at home while you figure out what to do?
@ucbalumnus, @mom2collegekids, and @MYOS1634 are really good at helping high stats kids whose parents pull funding at the last minute. Will your parents file the FAFSA? You can borrow $5500/year if they do. That’s a start.
Tell your parents that you will not be attending college in fall 2017 because you cannot assume the amount of debt it would entail. Make it clear that younwill apply to a different set of colleges this fall, ones where younwill,have guaranteed merit aid…and very little to no debt.
Do not…I repeat…do not fund your entire undergrad college education with loans. You don’t have to…you have options that you can pursue for 2018 admission.
Get a job, and save some money for your expenses that merit awards and the Direct Loan won’t be sufficient to cover.
There’s a thread pinned to the top of the financial aid forum that lists colleges with guaranteed merit aid. There may be something there.
Are there any 4-year schools you can commute to from home? That may be an option. Don’t take any classes anywhere, though, until you have a solid game plan because some colleges will consider you a transfer. The best aid goes to freshmen.
You could look at Uminn CSE (top 5 school for chem eng AFAIK) in your gap year, you look like you could have been NMF? There used to be OOS scholarship for top 10% and NMFs making it pretty worth a shot, and you could look at Alabama even now. Your cost for Purdue includes room and board? You can’t live at home?
@me29034 I’ve never considered a gap year but I’ll have to look into it. It appears that a 70K loan on a 10 year payment schedule will be in the ballpark of $850-900
@austinmshauri My parents have filed the FAFSA and CSS, so I’ll probably be eligible for the 5500/year loan, and I think my parents wouldn’t be opposed to letting me stay for a gap year. Will also look at the other schools mentioned.
@Sybylla Purdue is in-state, but also a 1.5 hour drive each way, so staying at home would not be feasible. I’m not sure yet if I’m NMF, but I was NMSF.
@Sybylla , yes both room and board. I got a merit scholarship, lopping off about 7K and bringing total yearly to a total (tuition and R&B) to about 18K
That is going to be hard to beat. All schools will be about 10K a yr room and board, unless you are looking for a full ride. If you are looking for the latter you are going to have to look at much less competitive schools and again. Alabama might be in the running even now.
I can’t even imagine…how did this come out? Did you what they could pay and they just said nothing? I don’t get this at all. Not right.
It really really depends here. A payment of 850-900 for how long? That is going to really hurt. My payment was 1268, and it took me 12 years to pay. If I hadn’t had a partner, I would not have been able:(
What do YOU think? Purdue is great, but if you do some searching and you find a much cheaper option, take a gap year. If you can’t find one you want to go to, then you will need to do Purdue.
Will momdad pay room and board? Ask them. It’s more than it costs to house you, but still, even if they can contribute say 10k a year, it would be an immense help.
What is the payment on $240k? I can’t even imagine. But find out and show them. Maybe they just don’t understand what you would be saddled with!
I’m so sorry. You could maybe defer admission to MIT for a year and work on getting them to chip in?