<p>UGA has an excellent Honors Program. Maybe she would take a second look at that?</p>
<p>The decision would depend on the specific schools. Some LACs may be worth the debt, some are not. Same for Big State U’s. Some offer better opportunities than others. $40K doesn’t sound like an insurmountable debt to me, but as noted, it may be you not your daughter who assumes most of it.</p>
<p>Have you appealed to the LAC for additional funding?</p>
<p>Big schools can seem overwhelming, but often you’re spending most of your time within a specific area of the campus (unless you’re double majoring or minoring in unrelated subjects). Often, the GE/Core classes are around the Quad or similar. then, once you’re in your major, those classes are usually held within a few bldgs that are close to each other. </p>
<p>I went to a large UC and there are several parts of the campus that I never had to go to. I spent most of my time in one small region of the campus. </p>
<p>And, if you choose your classes carefully you won’t be criss-crossing a large campus all day long. A common frosh mistake is to forget to look at the bldg locations when making one’s schedule. A frosh may end up taking an 8 am class on the north side, a 9am class a block away, then a 10am class back in the same bldg as the 8 am class. With some foresight, the student probably could have taken sections that had the 8 and 10 class “back to back”.</p>
<p>A $40,000 debt at the end of four years means that she would need $10,000 per year from some other source instead of borrowing it to make this work without debt. Has she applied for outside scholarships? Could she plan on being an RA one year, and eliminating that year’s room and board cost?</p>
<p>I thought we had a good handle on the college search.</p>
<p>I’m sorry - and I say this only so other newbies will learn - - - WHAT!!!? We REALLY need to call-you-out on this. How can you say that! She applied to 2 schools. Only 2 schools. One she didn’t like, and one she couldn’t afford.</p>
<p>^ Okay, really?! What good does this do the OP now? You need to ‘call-them-out’? Obviously they understand it wasn’t the best approach and they are trying to pick up the pieces and help their daughter. Do you think coming here asking for help, admitting that you thought you knew what to do with your oldest but now realized you made a mistake is easy? This is easily one of the most sanctimonious responses I’ve seen in a month, and that’s saying something!</p>
<p>OP, You’re getting good advise here. Revisit the school and see how she feels. Know that transfer students do not get good merit offers, so if she’s really hesitant it’s best to take a GAP year to regroup and reapply as opposed to go for a year and transfer. I do think $40k in debt (which she could not take on completely alone) is too much, no matter how much she adores the school.</p>
<p>Last year there was a CC member who received very bad advice from their students GC and used our top state flagship as a safety. They were accepted at some nice privates but heavily gapped in fin-aid. The student was waitlisted and left scrambling in late March looking for schools. They regrouped and immediately reached out to smaller private and publics who were more then happy to meet with the student, offer admission and merit. They ended up picking a wonderful smaller public school with a great honors program where the student is on nearly a full ride. </p>
<p>As suggested, I would try to expand that 2hr limit, and reach out to some schools where your D will fall near the top of the applicant pool and likely for merit. You may be pleasantly surprised at the interest and warm welcome she receives. If there is nothing of interest to her, I think a GAP year is a great option.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your DD.</p>
<p>~ it’s called advise.</p>
<p>No, advise is what everyone else has done. Your post gave no helpful information. It only served to try to berate and embarrass the OP for something they already know.</p>
<p>Hugs to you. It’s a tough spot when your child want something like this and the family finances are such that it is unaffordable. I don’t see any reason why folks should not apply to schools that are not affordable as long as there are financial aid and merit possibilities that could make the school doable. The drawback is that there is no guarantee that a student will get enough money to make it affordable You gotta play to win, but you are now at the point where that possibility is dead. You’ve got the aid/merit package and it isn’t enough.</p>
<p>I’m don’t think applying to a bunch more colleges is going to be the answer here. Unless there is another school that your DD is eyeing that has good possibilities for giving her enough to make it affordable, I don’t see how redoing the process now with lower odds for money is going to be anything but a waste of time and more money. There is a list that comes out on May 1 of schools that still have space and some do still have financial aid awards, but it seems to me that you are not eligible for need based aid, and it’s merit money you are seeking. </p>
<p>I don’t know what your finanical situation is and what future prospects would be If your DD is really set on this college and it is really what you all feel is ideal, and if you are going to be able to help her out with the loans, it might be the best way to go. She would be entitled to $5500 of Staffords and if you get turned down for Parent Loans, an additional $4K can be added to that. Still that is making the finances awfully tight, and I can tell you that things tend to crop up both at school and the home front. In any case, your DD should be getting a weekend and evenings job NOW and throughout the summer, getting as many hours and as much money as possible. Yes, it’s her senior year, but she has to choose what she wants more. The reality is that she is going to be a struggling student financially if she goes to that small school, and she should get used to that feeling as soon as possible. She may even able to get a gap year from the school with the merit money intact–she needs to ask about that, and then can get to work to earn what she can for her education. That’s what it takes when you want something that is out of your comfortable financial range–a lot of discomfort. </p>
<p>If Big State U is definitley a No Go for her, she can also look at some other schools that are smaller state schools and local, that may still take her. </p>
<p>Those are pretty much the choices. It’s not always ideal, I know.</p>
<p>I’m asking for help in seeing the “big picture” here. My child is stuck on her dream school, but going there would leave her drowning in debt ($40,000 after 4 years) and we don’t want to allow her to make what we feel is a huge mistake.</p>
<p>So are you saying that your “family gap” is $10k per year? Is that based on COA or “direct charges” to the school? COAs are often padded so by being thrifty, costs can be lowered.</p>
<p>If it’s based on COA, then there are ways to reduce that to get to the point that the gap is smaller an can be met by doing the following:</p>
<p>D works a full time job each summer saving about $2-3k towards tuition.
D works part-time during the school year for “pocket money.” (was she given Work Study?)
D buys her text books used, or digital, or online to pay the least amount for books
D lives economically
D picks a less expensive meal plan (may not be an option frosh year, but could be an option later years - girls often can cut COA in this area.
D picks less expensive housing (if possible).</p>
<p>She would still likely have to take out about a $5k student loan each year, but graduating with $20k in debt wouldn’t be awful. </p>
<p>With some careful planning, she could probably close the gap without an awful debt load.</p>
<p>What happened to change the picture? Did you expect a higher merit award based on the npc? Do you have the financial aid award back?
If her instate options are all that you can pay, tell her now. The honors college at the state U will give her some of what she’d get at the LAC, I agree that a visit is in order… I’d call the honors program directly to see about visit options.
And check with the LAC to see if the scholarship would be available as a transfer. A few of my D’s schools told her they’d honor them if she changed her mind and transferred next year.</p>
<p>I know several students from Georgia who have thrived at Queen’s University in Charlotte, NC - they consider applications very late in the game It’s a small, formerly women’s college, supportive environment. Many small not-soo-competitive liberal arts colleges will continue taking application well into the spring. BUT you have to face the music and get going.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Georgia College and State University (GCSU)? It’s Georgia’s public LAC so the Hope Scholarship could be used. Agnes Scott in Decatur? I believe they’re both still accepting applications.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for taking time to share your input on our situation.</p>
<p>More details that will clarify our college search (the original post was so very long already, I left out how we got to our current position.) I also failed to mention she is Girl Scout Gold Award Recipient (equivalent to Boy Scout Eagle).</p>
<p>We started out with 12 colleges on our list, then narrowed it down to 6. We made many college visits to campuses, and gave D a realistic financial picture. She made some choices based on her criteria, and she knew that we would be “shopping” her to the various colleges to find the best value.</p>
<p>We did not choose to go after Top Tier colleges, and focused instead on colleges with stats that allowed her to be the “bigger fish in the smaller pond” hoping for better merit aid.</p>
<p>She applied to 4 schools, 2 private, 1 public instate and 1 public out of state. Accepted at all 4. Both private schools invited her to all of their top scholarship competitions. Out of state scholarship competition date conflicted with private school competition date, and we chose to stick with the private school, thinking it was the better chance. Out of state merit aid was very low offer, so it was taken off our list.</p>
<p>Neither private school was her “dream school” until after she had visited both places, competed at both places, and taken additional time to overnight visit and really “dig in” to discover where her best fit was. First private came back with decent merit aid, but not enough for our family. Second private school came much closer in merit aid, but leaves us with a $5,000 gap per year. This second school is now where she would most want to attend, and we will be contacting the financial aid office there to see what options we might have for getting any additional aid.</p>
<p>We are a middle class family with multiple major health issues and mounting medical debt. So no vacations, no house in the hamptons, just regular folk who work hard and trying to keep head above water in a down economy.</p>
<p>Gap year is a possibility, thanks for those who suggested having her defer a year and earn more money. </p>
<p>My focus in posting was in trying to understand the “cycle” of admissions/scholarships, and asking if it is too late to apply to other schools.</p>
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<p>Does this mean $5,000 gap after adding your (as in the parents’) contribution and the student’s contribution (Stafford loan plus some work earnings) to the grant and scholarship money?</p>
<p>Some of the schools listed in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250</a> have late application dates, although if the student is picky, she may not like them any more than the big public she now has an acceptance to.</p>
<p>Another option used by students with little money and not high enough stats to get good merit is to go to community college, then transfer to a state university as a junior. But it does not sound like this is something the student desires.</p>
<p>Second private school came much closer in merit aid, but leaves us with a $5,000 gap per year. This second school is now where she would most want to attend, and we will be contacting the financial aid office there to see what options we might have for getting any additional aid.</p>
<p>What exactly is this gap? Is it a gap based on total COA which may be padded? </p>
<p>Is this gap AFTER the student takes full Stafford loans of 5500??</p>
<p>How much can your child earn over the summer?</p>
<p>How much can she earn working part time while in school OR did the aid include work study?</p>
<p>Can she choose a cheaper dorm or meal plan? </p>
<p>Can she reduce textbook costs…buying online, used, or digital?</p>
<p>What is the school’s COA breakdown?</p>
<p>What is the breakdown of the aid pkg?</p>
<p>There may be ways to close that gap.</p>
<p>*She applied to 4 schools, 2 private, 1 public instate and 1 public out of state. Accepted at all 4</p>
<p>Her stats are: 31 ACT, 3.96*</p>
<p>Applying to 4 schools was not enough when money is such an issue and the safety wasn’t desirable. Likely there were other small schools that would have given her larger merit even without scholarship weekend competitions. With her ACT and GPA, she probably could have gotten some full tuition offers.</p>