comparatively "rich" student financial aid

Paying for College
1

<p>I live in an area where the house prices are overblown - my parents moved here just so I could go to one of the best public high schools. However, we can barely afford paying the mortgage for the house. I also got into Cornell early decision, but I get no need-based financial aid considering my parents make a combined $130,000 a year.</p>

<p>Of course, this is much more compared to the rest of the country, but with the cost of living here, it's near impossible to go to Cornell without some sort of financial aid. I really can't expect my parents to contribute 45K a year with house costs, taxes, medical bills. Is it possible to still appeal for financial aid, however small it is?</p>

2

<p>If medical bills are significant- you may be able to submit that information and have it considered
However, I am sure you already know that when students apply RD, they are able to compare financial aid offers from schools, sometimes enticing one school to match anothers offer.
When you apply ED, you forgo that ability.</p>

3

<p>When you applied ED the assumption was that you could afford to go. </p>

<p>Unless there's more than one of you in college, your parents will probably be paying the $45K unless you back out of the binding agreement.</p>

4

<p>Now that you're out of high school, can they move to a cheaper town?</p>

5

<p>when i applied ED, i was expecting SOME sort of financial aid, even if it was 5K or less. right now, the options look like taking a loan. does anyone know how hard it is to obtain a student loan or pay it back? i'm hearing all sorts of horror stories.</p>

6

<p>i understand you, serotonin. considering i was in a similar (vaguely similar) position last year. i would just say that you should apply for outside scholarships. that may be your best bet. you can of course appeal, but it may (and most likely) will be fruitless.</p>

7

<p>oh, and on the student loan thing, as a student (because you are a dependent) you can only take out the standard stafford loan. i think it's like 2500 or maybe 2600. and, they are pretty easy to get...</p>

8

<p>is the standard student loan in the college itself? i'm hoping to get around 15K in loans. would the bank be helpful?</p>

9

<p>I'm in a similar situation. I agree with the above posted and I would try to get outside merit based scholarships.</p>

10

<p>For info on loans you really should head over to finaid.com.</p>

<p>Among other things, they have a loan calculator, where you can put in the amount you might borrow and it will show you how much your monthly payments will end up being, and how much interest you'll end up paying. It might help you take a realistic look at loans.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For instance, if you borrowed a total of $15,00 for your four years your payments might look something like this:
$173/month for 10 years
Cumulative Payments: $20,714.49
Total Interest Paid: $5,714.49</p>

<p>If you meant $15,000 every year, it would look like this:
$690/month for 10 years
Cumulative Payments: $82,857.94
Total Interest Paid: $22,857.94</p>

11

<p>Make sure you check out the FAFSA calculator. If your parents don't have a lot of assets then you still might get some fin aid. From a financial forum they had at D's school, I believe you can borrow what you need to (and the fin aid office will help you with lenders they recommend).</p>