Consider my situation.

Paying for College
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<p>Sorry, OP, but this is still a bad bad bad idea. Pulling money out of retirement accounts, even if it’s as a loan and if your parents manage to avoid any tax penalties, means that they’re losing the opportunity to allow the money to grow in tax-advantaged ways. They shouldn’t be touching this money unless it’s a dire emergency. A dream college isn’t a dire emergency. Could they talk to a financial planner and get some advice on other possibilities? This is one case where taking out loans (and then repaying them later with retirement savings) might make sense. </p>

<p>This isn’t just for your parents’ sake–it’s for yours. You do not want the burden of elderly parents who don’t have sufficient financial resources. </p>

<p>I agree with others that you need to expand your search, looking for great merit aid that will cover study abroad opportunities. </p>

<p>How far is the commute to Cal from your house?</p>

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<p>If your parents can’t afford to pay ANY colleges expenses from income, how would they afford paying back a loan?</p>

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<p>One thing I cannot do here is link threads. Could someone please link the thread that discusses merit aid schools?</p>

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<p>Just a comment on Berkeley’s new program for the middle income range…</p>

<p>It’s more than just 15% of parent’s income. Last I researched it, there is an expected student contribution as well before aid kicks in. I never saw anything that directly stated the expected amount, but it’s included in many of the charts. Looked to be about $6k or so (but I cannot confirm this as the chart was unclear the exact amount). The program really just seems to be more of a help for those who are close, but just above the $80k cut off for Blue&Gold and will be living on campus.</p>

<p>I still have doubts about how helpful this new program of Berkeley’s will actually be especially since student contribution was shown but not clearly defined last I looked.</p>

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<p>Smiter, congratulations on your excellent stats. You will have some good options for college. I think sometimes the responses on internet boards sound a bit harsh, but there is something of value to understand amidst them all. Good students like yourself can easily get into an “I can make it happen” frame of mind, but when it comes to money (especially when it’s other people’s money --your parents’ or scholarship/grant money) you don’t have control over that. You should keep thinking, looking for workable options that can get you to whatever dream school you ultimately choose, but as others have said, cast a wide net. It can be part dreams, but needs to also be part pragmatism. At the end of the college search and application process, and once the money figures are all at hand, then you’ll figure out which option is best for you. Good luck. You will do fine in the end!</p>

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<p>Merit aid schools…</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html?highlight=automatic+scholarships[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html?highlight=automatic+scholarships&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>UC GPA is around a 4.7 weighted, UW 3.9. SAT is 2290.</p>

<p>Ok…so you have the stats for some excellent merit scholarships. Still, no guarantees that you’d be admitted to Cal.</p>

<p>$50k is too much for your parents to be withdrawing (borrowing?) from retirement accts. And, it’s not necessary. With a large and excellent merit scholarship, a student loan, a small contribution from parents, and maybe some income from a summer job, you should have some good affordable choices. </p>

<p>What is your major/career goal?</p>

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<p>OP posted it in their 2nd post:</p>

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<p>With law school in the picture(very expensive), you and your parents want the least debt possible for undergrad.</p>

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<p>Congratulations, OP, for your great high school academic achievements. Those stats will give you a number of alternatives. What I tell anyone and everyone is that the difficult part of the college search is finding a school that is certain to accept you and that you know that you and your family can comfortably afford and one that meets your needs and wants. From what I have seen with the UCs, even terrific stats does not ensure you a spot at a given school. So make sure you find some affordable schools that would love to have you.</p>

<p>Once you have that covered, go to town on the rest of your list. Since you need aid, you should apply to more schools than most kids because you are looking to hit the lottery in getting admitted AND getting money. The other posters on this board have some excellent suggestions on some venues for you to investigate. Throw in those “dream” schools, but do realize that they are lottery tickets. You don’t want to put your parents in the financial hole for you to have your choice in UG schools. It’s not worth it.</p>

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<p>Have a lot to reply to, so I’ll just reply to direct questions.</p>

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Well within an hour by car, a little over an hour by public transit.</p>

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They cannot pull out huge chunks of money without a loan. However, we do have many loans/payments working right now, and I don’t think we’ve ever missed a payment on any of them.</p>

<p>@'rentfo2: Thank you. I’m definitely going to try for as many colleges as I can - I can go pretty much anywhere on the coasts.</p>

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That’s why I wanted to go to Berkeley at first. Within commuting distance, can live at home, and I’ve got enough credit from AP scores to boost me through GenEd requirements, so I spend less time piddling around as a freshman/sophomore.</p>

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State schools would love to have me. I’ll be applying to state universities as well, where I already know I’ll be qualified to enter.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your responses.</p>

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<p>I don’t think you understood the very wise point that EK4 was making. If your parents can afford to make payments on a loan against their retirement, why don’t they avoid taking out the loan and just use the “payment money” towards college?</p>

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<p>I’m not really sure myself…? I think their rationale is that we have no college based savings (I asked them whether I had a 529 plan, and they didn’t even know what that was.) and no significant savings, so the nearest stack of money before private/federal loans is their retirement money. I might drag them with me to a college finance counselor.</p>

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<p>Let them know that colleges offer interest-free payment plans. That allows them to pay monthly without touching retirement accts. and, it means that you don’t need “stacks” of money.</p>

<p>Ask them how much they could pay MONTHLY towards college (as opposed to a loan).</p>

<p>That said, you need to explore the merit options that will allow you to get huge merit. That way, a student loan (by you), a monthly contribution from your parents, and maybe some summer earnings can make college more affordable. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t bother with a college financial planner. They cost too much money and I don’t think they’re worth it.</p>

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<p>Thesmiter, MOST families do not have 529 accounts or any other college savings. MOST students attend colleges that their families can afford without tapping into retirement accounts. MOST students go to college not far from home. </p>

<p>Going to an expensive college, that your family cannot afford is more than a luxury. It is a financial burden. Your excellent stats should give you a number of options where you will get significant merit aid…making college affordable for you and your family. </p>

<p>If your family has a financial limit on what they can pay…you should find some schools that fit the financial criteria…that are also schools you would be happy to attend. You really need to be a bit more open minded about this. </p>

<p>Also…remember that college is a multi year financial venture. You need to be conspcernes about funding for the WHOLE time. If your family has other debts, taking on more for your college costs may not be possible for all four years…or even three.</p>

<p>And remember…MOST law schools will also expect your parents to help pay…and will require their financial information.</p>

<p>Think of the long term.</p>

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<p>Okay. I’ll lay out the options to them once I get all the printouts and stuff. For this summer, I already have quite a bit of things lined up to do, but I’ll try and squeeze in time to make a few bucks here and there.</p>

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<p>I know it’s never safe to assume anything, but presuming that I do get into one of my reaches, would private school actually pay more financial aid than public? I’ve heard this from a number of people, including from a friend who originally was waitlisted at Amherst and was going to go to Berkeley, then was later pulled from the waitlist and went to Amherst because it was cheaper. As for merit aid, I should check each individual school’s websites to see how much merit aid I might qualify for, correct?</p>

<p>Also, while we’re on the topic of multi-year financing, I do have a question. How much is a sibling factored in? My younger brother is two years younger than me, and will presumably be going to college as well. However, he won’t qualify for nearly as much merit aid, based on what I know from his preliminary test scores and GPA. I haven’t read up too much on how siblings in college affect financial aid, perhaps someone has the low-down?</p>

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<p>In terms of need based aid…with a family income of $100,000 a year, your family contribution will compute to,somewhere in the $30,000 a year range. Most schools do not meet full need so,your family would likely be expected to,pay in excess of that amount. </p>

<p>At the very most competitive and generous schools (HYPS) your need based aid would,likely be higher…they meet full need and have very generous,financial aid IF you are amongst the 10% who get accepted.</p>

<p>There are some schools,where you would get very good MERIT aid based on your SAT and GPA. You might want to consider those as well. </p>

<p>As an FYI…those very generous need based schools do not offer merit aid.</p>

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<p>I saw the list of the schools that have pledged to fully meet need, and I was glad that a number of the schools I plan on applying to are on that list. I’ll look into the other schools listed to see which ones will meet need-based ed completely. And I’ve browsed through the guaranteed merit aid college list that mom2collegekids posted earlier, and I’ll check to see that they still offer the programs listed.</p>

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<p>presuming that I do get into one of my reaches, would private school actually pay more financial aid than public?
There is no hard and fast rule- some privates can be quite generous. On the other hand, total costs for a private start higher than publics for instate kids. For my two, after aid, we pay roughly what the instate cost would be. </p>

<p>The privates, even “meet full need” schools, will calculate your “need” according to their own formulas and policies. The way you or your family view your circumstances isn’t necessarily the view the schools will take. Eg, your family has loans payments now; the budget hit from these doesn’t matter to the colleges. Or, your non-retirement assets may be tied up and non-productive, but to the schools, they are still assets.</p>

<p>You can run the NPC/net price calculator on a college’s web site, but you don’t always know the final offer til you get the letter.</p>

<p>What we haven’t said yet is that FA can be confusing. Some schools word things to make themselves sound so supportive, then families are surprised. It’ a bit of a marketing ploy and sometimes hard to decipher. You need to understand the basics, terms, what’s counted as assets available to pay for college versus not, Fafsa EFC, CSS Profile, etc. I usually suggest you get to know finaid.org. There are also books available. </p>

<p>You’ve noted your confidence that many schools will want you. Understand that the privates are going to look at your total app package, not just stats, gpa, rank. Many top kids are surprised to be rejected, for a host of competitive reasons. So, your approach needs to be wise. There are very few “givens,” the exception being likely letters (usually to athletes, sometimes to other highly desirables.)</p>

<p>Your sibling makes you a four person faily and there is accounting for family size. But, you won’t see him affect your own aid til he’s in college.</p>