I will probably not be eligible to receive a lot of aid, and my parents are getting old and i dont want to be a burden on them. they will pay for some of my tuition, but not all of it.
My dream schools are all very expensive, and i dont think its fair that i wont be able to go to them just because of the high cost. If worse comes to worst and i receive little financial aid and not a lot of help from my parents, could I just take out loans and work to fund my undergraduate and graduate education? Will there be a limit on the loans I can take out?
A response to one of your other threads on this topic -
It sounds like you need to look for some schools with guaranteed merit aid. You’re smart to have realized that your parents’ high income/no savings scenario will not likely produce enough need-based aid to count on. There are always kids in the spring of their senior year who do not have any financially viable options, so kudos to you for being proactive in the fall. Good luck -
Not to those schools. The amount you can borrow is quite limited. Your best bets are schools with guaranteed merit for stats or in-state public schools.
You need to get over the dream school thing. You know your parents’ income will prevent any FA being offered so you need to structure your college list based on merit aid options. You have good options with your stats
And make sure you add your in-state schools like Rutgers. Keeping the undergrad costs down is doubly important if you do actually go premed.
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My dream [homes] are all very expensive and i don’t think its fair that i wont be able to [live in] one just because of the high cost.
@“Erin’s Dad” do you think i could get money from northeastern, university of rochester, or lehigh?
Revise your dream. Find schools you can afford.
The issue isn’t whether you can get money from Northeastern, Rochester, or Lehigh, the issue is whether you’re likely to get ENOUGH money to make it feasible. $10K/year off a COA of $63K is still a huge annual bill.
What can your family realistically afford per year?
@arabrab my parents combined really cant pay a lot (around 20k), and they said they will help me take out loans to cover the rest and help repay them over time.
You have the answer to how much YOU personally can take out in loans. Now you need to figure out how much your parents can take out in loans, which probably means you’ll need to get their input. What they want to take out (esp. with a new spouse in the picture for one of them) and what they actually can/should take out are completely different things.
It will help you to understand the numbers if you do a few things:
a) run the FAFSS4caster at the U.S. Dept of Ed to get an idea of what type of federal aid you might qualify for. You will need financial information from your parents - tax return, etc. Have them sit with you for this process.
b) look up the COA (cost of attendance) for schools you are interested in
c) run the NPC (net price calculator) for schools you are interested in
d) discuss the results with your parents to find out exactly how much they can help.
e) Look for schools with automatic or generous merit aid. Search the links here - this is discussed often.
Forewarned is forearmed.
And stop with the “not fair”. Life isn’t fair. If this is your first brush with unfairness, then you have a great life…that will now be full of unfairness. You have to learn to roll with it, make compromises and adjust.
Please don’t drown yourself in loans…please. That would be unfair.
Yes, stop with the 'not fair."
Do you know how a “dream school” becomes a nightmare? When you’re stuck living like a pauper after you graduate because you’re burdened with big loans.
for you to get a good paying job, you likely will not be living in your parents’ town so that you can commute to work and pay off loans.
Also, by the time you’re done with undergrad and grad school, you’ll likely be in a romantic relationship and not want to live with parents anyway.
Don’t drown yourself or your parents with loans.
BTW…you say that your parents are getting old. Well, if true, then you won’t want them co-signing loans because if the cosigner were to die, you would be ordered to pay all the debt back at once.
Oh gag! You’re premed!!!
The LAST thing you should be thinking about is taking out loans for undergrad as a premed.
The DREAM is your career…not some ridiculously priced undergrad!
Any why were you considering OOS UGA??? UGA isn’t known for great merit for OOS students?
Why would you consider UGA for premed and not the other schools that WOULD give you large merit for your stats???
BTW…you CANNOT work AT ALL when in med school. When in med school, you do NOT get summers off.
This summer, at most, my son has gotten one month off while in med school. This summer, he got NO DAYS off.
Do you have any idea how HUGE your undergrad debt would be by the time you finished your residency???
Look at the list of schools that guarantee merit scholarships. You do not need a top tier school in order to apply to med schools. GPA and MCAT scores are more important than the name of the school.
Your parents are going to have to cosign any loans for your undergrad degree other than the federal loans. They do not deserve the financial risk of those loans for expensive dream schools if you can get into a less expensive school.
Neither of my kids could afford their dream schools. They were happy where they ended up and are happy with their careers.
@mom2collegekids that is a good point.
and i am no longer considering UGA, now that i know they wont give me merit aid. will i still be able to even get into med school if i go to a less rigorous undergrad school though?
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they said they will help me take out loans to cover the rest and help repay them over time.
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You cannot trust this.
Your parents are divorced. One has remarried. The parents have good incomes and the step-parent has a good income.
I can almost bet that at some point, the step-parent will refuse to allow his/her spouse to co-sign a bunch of loans. And your unmarried parent may remarry at some point, too, and that may also happen.
You’ve indicated that your parents have no savings, and no money “left over” each month. So, how are they EACH going to come up with $10k per year (for the $20k contribution that you’re expecting). And, I wouldn’t be surprised if the single parent really balks at paying his/her $10k since they have the MUCH smaller household income…and no savings.
You need to be reasonable…otherwise, we’re likely going to see a post from you in a year or two saying that you have to transfer out of your expensive school because no one can/will cosign and/or pay.
And at that point, you will have lost all merit hopes.
Yes!
Med school admissions primarily depend on undergraduate gpa, MCAT scores and the quality of your recommendations. What college you attend is of much lesser importance. Find an undergraduate school you can attend for no debt, and be happy.
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will i still be able to even get into med school if i go to a less rigorous undergrad school though?
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I don’t know what you consider “less rigorous”. Med schools don’t care as long as the school is a known school (not some podunk school.)
My son went to Alabama and applied to 6 med schools (all MD). He was accepted to 3. He’s now a 3rd year med student.
Alabama cost us almost nothing for undergrad because of his merit scholarships…he got free tuition, an eng’g scholarship and a national merit corp special scholarship.
Med schools don’t care where you went. They care about grades, MCAT, LORs, and medically related ECs.