<p>I live in Georgia and my dream school is UNC Chapel Hill. I have good grades and all, but I know it's incredibly selective, especially for out-of-state applicants. If I am lucky enough to get in, I don't even know if I'll be able to go, and here's why:
My parents are of an upper-middle class socioeconomic status (our house costed roughly 1/2 million, if that puts our "wealth" into perspective), but they are claiming that they will not pay a drop for my college tuition no matter where i go (in or out of state) b/c they're apparently saving up for retirement. I.e. they'd only pay for books, rooming, food, clothes, recreation, etc, NOT TUITION :-(</p>
<p>They keep telling me that I'll attend UGA or GA Tech using college loans. The thing is, I have no idea really what a college loan is. Well, I know the basic concept, but not much more than that. Do you think any one would be willing to loan me $26,834 each year for four years to go to UNC, plus grad/medical school afterwards?! Did my parents basically screw my future over because they're cheap and selfish?</p>
<p>They keep telling me that I’ll attend UGA or GA Tech using college loans.</p>
<p>The thing is, I have no idea really what a college loan is. Well, I know the basic concept, but not much more than that. </p>
<p>Do you think any one would be willing to loan me $26,834 each year for four years to go to UNC, plus grad/medical school afterwards?! </p>
<p>Did my parents basically screw my future over because they’re cheap and selfish?</p>
<p>============</p>
<p>Many issues here…</p>
<p>1) if your grades and test scores are good, then you can get HOPE for tuition at UGA or GT. </p>
<p>2) You can borrow the following amounts (not much)</p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>No one should borrow more than that for undergrad. No undergrad is worth a lot of debt… NONE…not even an ivy league school. To borrow more than that would require parent cosigners…and that would be a bad idea.</p>
<p>3) Anyone considering med school needs to borrow as LITTLE as possible for undergrad otherwise you’ll have too much debt for med school…which is super expensive.</p>
<p>4) Your parents situation may be difficult…they might not be able to pay…and it may not have anything to do with being “selfish” or “cheap”.</p>
<p>5) The DREAM is to become a doctor…not 4 years at some odd undergrad.</p>
<p>6) If you get great test scores and GPA, other schools may give you a large merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Borrowing any more would be extremely detrimental to your future. Med school is extremely expensive, and you will have plenty of loans to pay off afterwards. Go to a school that will give you merit like University of Alabama, or others (if you get National Merit there are a wide array of schools that give merit for it, including some full rides). It’s better to go to a so-so undergrad than get swamped in loans, even for UNC (and OOS people do get in and do get merit sometimes; I applied and was recently nominated for the Pogue Scholarship ).</p>
<p>Do you think any one would be willing to loan me $26,834 each year for four years to go to UNC, plus grad/medical school afterwards?</p>
<p>=======</p>
<p>Can you clarify? You’re OOS for UNC and you say that your parents won’t pay anything.</p>
<p>So, why do you ONLY need $27k? </p>
<p>UNC costs nearly $40k per year for an OOS student. You’re not going to be setting up a tent on the lawn and grazing off grass.</p>
<p>Out-of-state tuition and fees: $26,834
Room and board:… $9,470
Books and supplies:… <em>$1,000 * *
Estimated personal expenses:… *2,000 * *
Transportation expense:… *$1500
-------------------------------------------------</em> *
Cost to attend…about…$40k per year</p>
<p>So, you’d need to borrow about 160k for undergrad ALONE …which is crazy. </p>
<p>Plus another 200-300k for med school? Young doctors do NOT earn enough to pay back that much money.</p>
<p>You’ve only considered TUITION in your estimates…you forgot to include the other costs. </p>
<p>Anyway…no one is going to lend you that much money without highly qualified and willing co-signers…and it sounds like your parents won’t do that (thankfully, because that’s waaaaaayyyyyyyyyy toooooooo much to borrow.</p>
<p>“I.e. they’d only pay for books, rooming, food, clothes, recreation, etc, NOT TUITION :-(”</p>
<p>The OP did post that her parents would contribute, just not to tuition. Given the tuition cost difference, UGA/GA Tech vs. UNC is not going to screw over anyone’s future. The future she should be worrying about is having a satisfying life without disabling debt, not 4 short years at a “dream school” when med school could be in her future. A satisfying future also includes parents who don’t need to be supported in their old age.</p>
<h1>but they are claiming that they will not pay a drop for my college tuition no matter where i go (in or out of state) b/c they’re apparently saving up for retirement. I.e. they’d only pay for books, rooming, food, clothes, recreation, etc, NOT TUITION</h1>
<p>OK…when I saw the “will not pay a drop for my college tuition no matter where I go” because they’re saving for retirement, I missed that it appears that they will pay for R&B, etc. </p>
<p>That sounds so odd, but perhaps this is their issue… It sounds like this student will get free tuition to either UGA or GT (or another GA public), so they’re not willing to pay tuition elsewhere. If that’s the case, then I can understand that.</p>
<p>Either way…the OP is not going to find a bank that will loan her (alone) $100k for UNC out of state tuition. She’d need qualified co-signers and it’s doubtful that parents preparing for retirement would want to risk co-signing that much debt since the payments would be about 1200 a month if she can’t pay. And, it would be unwise to co-sign that much debt anyway for undergrad…and even more so if Med school is a possibly in the future.</p>
<p>Sugar…what are your stats? If they’re high enough and you don’t want to go to a GA school, then find a school that will give you a tuition scholarship.</p>
.</p>