<p>Hi, I am an international student who goes to school in Texas.
As an international, I know I would have even slimmer chances of getting in if I apply for financial aid.
I could go to UT Austin with in state tuition, which is an amount my family can afford (around $20,000). But I still want to apply to other schools I've always wanted to go to. I'm planning on applying to these schools without financial aid, so I have a higher chance of getting accepted.
So these are some schools I'm planning on applying - UC Berkeley business (can't get fin aid anyway), Duke econ, Uchicago econ, Northwestern econ, and Cornel aem. Do you think these schools are worth paying the sticker price and graduating with a huge debt? I have always dreamed of attending these schools, but I don't know if I'm being absolutely ridiculous here. Could you please offer your insights? </p>
<p>In my honest opinion, No undergraduate school is worth graduating in HUGE DEBT. UT-Austin is a great school if you can get in and pay in-state tuition. Some of the schools might be comparable depending on your financial situation so it never hurts to look and compare packages but be realistic about what you can pay each year when considering any school.</p>
<p>Your family can afford $20k. Will they cosign for loans that you need for schools that cost more? You can’t accumulate huge debt in your own name without a credit history or steady employment. Someone credit worthy would need to cosign any loans and legally be on the hook if you can’t manage to pay them off. And if they are huge, the cosigner may qualify the first year and then not qualify in subsequent years. Doesn’t sound like a good plan at all.</p>
<p>I think you are being foolish to apply to colleges where you NEED financial aid…but don’t want to apply for it. Come on…what good will an acceptance be if you need aid and don’t get it? It will be NO GOOD at all as you won’t be able to attend.</p>
<p>You are being penny wise and pound foolish. Apply for aid.</p>
<p>Well…who will cosign those huge loans for Cornell, Duke, Berkeley, Northwestern, UChi? And how much in loans would you anticipate taking? </p>
<p>Have you run the net price calculators on those school websites to get an estimate of your net costs at each of those schools? </p>
<p>If your parents are firm about paying $20,000 and no more…you can take $5500 in Direct Loans…where is the rest going to come from?</p>
<p>The OP stated they are an international. Not even direct loans on the table.</p>
<p>Good call. No Direct Loans…so all loans would need to be private loans. </p>
<p>So…OP…who is going to take out these huge loans every year? Who? Will they qualify year after year? If they have savings that accounts for $20,000 a year, then the balance at these schools would be in the $40.000 plus per year range. </p>
<p>You don’t mention whether your family would qualify for need based aid? But if you need it, you should apply for it.</p>
<p>The “edge” for acceptance is small, and would only help you if you can pay the total cost to attend these schools…$60,000 a year…plus.</p>
<p>And as an international student, you need to check…some schools do NOT allow international students to apply for need based institutional aid in subsequent years if they don’t apply as incoming freshmen. What happens if your parents can’t continue to get these huge loans? You would have to change schools if you couldn’t pay the bill.</p>
<p>You need to have a discussion about college finances with your parents. If they have a budget, you will need to adhere to it. Certainly if you apply to a school, and aid is forthcoming, that could help. But without applying, you are asking them to foot the whole bill. Sorry, but I think that is unreasonable when they have told you…$20,000 a year.</p>
<p>Apply for aid. You might actually get some.</p>
<p>ETA…sounds like that $20,000 could just about fund an instate public university in Texas. </p>
<p>Not only are those schools not worth it, but who is going to lend an int’l a bunch of money? Your parents aren’t qualified to co-sign. And even if they were, would they? Anyway, it’s insane to borrow that much.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your parents will pay the $20k per year for UT? If not, how will that get paid for? </p>
<p>Do your qualify for financial aid? Run NPCs for the schools and see what they expect your family to pay. Your family has told you what they can afford to pay. Unless you find some way to meet the gap, you can’t afford the schools. But do see if you qualify for financial aid at some of those schools, and if the NPCs indicate that there is a chance they could be affordable, give it a go. THough international students are often not guaranteed to get full need met even at schools that do make that guarantee, you would have a chance of getting the aid as long as you have the need. IF the NPCs indicate you should be paying a lot more than your parent will pay, then they are out of price range for you.</p>
<p>The education that you would receive at a place like Duke, Chicago or Cornell is absolutely worth paying for in my opinion. </p>
<p>UC Berkeley will be $55K to $60K per year; not worth it because you will be paying for that loan for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>At almost all of those schools, not applying for fin aid wouldn’t even help your admissions chances.</p>
<p>@Kualakoala : How much real world experience do you have? </p>
<p>Kuala…proof please? This student can pay for UT Austin…it seems…and that is a fine school!</p>
<p>Save your debt capacity and try to go to one of those universities for grad school. Not only is grad school a shorter length (which means the high cost is not as painful as 4 undergrad years), but some expensive colleges have cheaper tuition for grad school (other than business and med) There also is much more opportunity for merit fellowships, teaching assistantships, etc. You will get more out of a top university as a grad student than an undergrad,. If you rack up tons of private or PLUS loan debt as an undergrad, you might never be able to go to grad school… or buy a house… or have kids… or eat steak… or…</p>
<p>No undergrad school is worth graduating w HUGE debt. The directors, president & many VP’s of my multinational company all graduated w engineering degrees from State U. They probably all earn 7 figures, so I guess they did all right not going to pricey private schools.</p>
<p>If u can go to UT Austin w instate tuition, consider yourself incredibly blessed. It’s a great school & a great city. </p>
<p>To help you make a decision, carefully frame the question:</p>
<p>Add up the difference in costs for all 4 years, after considering private loan interest, travel expenses, and the higher costs of living in many of those locations.</p>
<p>Then ask yourself the question: is a bachelors degree from Berkeley, etc. worth $150,000 more (or whatever the costs ends up being) than a bachelors from U. Texas at Austin? </p>
<p>With the money you save, you could end up with a bachelors from UT, a masters from Berkeley and a down-payment on a house.</p>
<p>I was actually thinking about getting a private loan for some portion and maybe borrowing from my relatives for the rest. I do realize I should be happy with being able to go to UT, but it’s just that those schools have always been my dream. I probably will have to apply for aid:( I hope a miracle happens. Thank you everyone for your advice!</p>
<p>Someone will have to cosign that private loan. Do you have a qualified cosigner who is willing to cosign?</p>
<p>Giving my unsolicited advice: stay far, far away from private loans. The repayment options are terrible. These lenders don’t care what your income is when you are done with school. The more you borrow, the more you are going to owe every month. </p>
<p>Do you have other dreams besides the dream schools? Owning a home, traveling, getting married? Decisions you make to borrow money in your 20’s will make many of those other dreams unreachable or at least delayed. Have you ever had a car loan? It’s not so bad making the payments in the beginning because you have a nice new shiny car. By year 3 it’s annoying. By years 4 and irsmaybe 5, it’s painful because the car isn’t so new, and may need repairs.</p>
<p>You may get to the point after graduation where your friends are moving on, buying houses, getting married, and you’re writing big checks to Sallie Mae. Not fun.</p>
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I was actually thinking about getting a private loan for some portion and maybe borrowing from my relatives for the rest. I do realize I should be happy with being able to go to UT, but it’s just that those schools have always been my dream. </p>
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<p>You’re an international living in the US. Banks won’t lend to you or your parents. You would need an American co-signer. Don’t pressure your relatives to lend you money for a rather immature dream. You have a fabulous school, UTexas, that you can afford. Borrowing a LOT more to go to a UC or elsewhere is just - well - childishly stupid (sorry for the harsh words, but it is what it is.) Hopefully, your relatives are wise enough to know that there is nothing to be gained from going to another school over UTexas, and therefore not worth risking their money.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone is exactly right about how people feel about paying back loans after a year or two. </p>
<p>Everyone has dreams. Guess what, some dreams never happen. Some do and those are the ones we work for and make happen. </p>