<p>I think you should go after your dream. You will alway regret not doing it and wondering “what if”. Try scholarships and loans to fill the gaps. I know a lot of people who say I could have gone but, and regretted not taking the opportunity.</p>
<p>And a lot of people went and bitterly regret having thousands of dollars in loan payments a month for 10-20 years of their lives.</p>
<p>A “what if” isn’t worth $800/month for 20 years.</p>
<p>I’d like to second that thought that a student who’s worked hard for 4 years of hs is rewarded with an education and is not entitled to finaid based on need. You are rewarded in other ways, too. For one thing, it is probably all that hard work that got you the grades and test scores to be accepted by that fancy school you can’t actually pay for. That school rejected LOTS of kids who’ll never get the chance to gripe about how much it costs. There is a study out there about success after college that shows the same success outcomes for kids who are accepted to the ivies as for those who actually attend the ivies, ie, the fact that you were good enuf to get in means you have what it takes to succeed in life even if you don’t attend.</p>
<p>Another thing that hard work gets you (in a lot of cases) is $$$ to attend a less prestigious school. You can get a good adequate college education for free. There are many kids who are lucky to get admitted to state u and won’t get any money to help them attend. They will take out loans and/or work their way through a school you are turning your nose up at.</p>
<p>I think this discussion neglects to tackle the elephant in the room. Why is it reasonable for an undergraduate education to cost $40,000 - $50,000/year? What, pray tell, can warrant that cost premium? </p>
<p>My H and I both attended college, but at a time when aid was more generous and costs were lower. My eldest daughter went through this a few years ago - was accepted by her dream school and heartbroken when we informed her that, contrary to the EFC and the calculations of that aid office, we could not spend $40,000/year for that particular school. </p>
<p>As parents, we keep beating ourselves up over choices we made or did not make, sacrifices we should or should not make - what troubles me is that I don’t see a great outpouring questioning exactly why it is that so many of these institutions charge so much for what amounts to 32 weeks of classes (that’s right, they always quote the figure as a per year figure, but there are only 2 semesters on average with breaks in each semester). </p>
<p>The pragmatic parent part of me has established a ceiling for college expenses for each of my children. I’ve also strongly discouraged them from taking on substantial debt as undergraduates. That’s not to say that the emotional parent part of me doesn’t feel bad that I have to establish these limits, but more and more, I find myself angry at the colleges.</p>
<p>@ afruff23</p>
<p>That is a great argument, but shouldn’t colleges value the hard work you put into your education because you bring that work ethic and drive to achieve something great to the college (and thus more prestige and a greater reputation as a school that has many students like this)? Isn’t that what colleges are hoping for? Students and faculty who will bring knowledge and potential and possible create/achieve/discover/do something great that can benefit society?</p>
<p>@owlice
An education can be a great and valuable thing, but it only has as much value as you give it. If I went to school for years and years and majored in umpteen different subjects, but did nothing with it, then it was all useless. </p>
<p>I view hard work during high school (and later college) as a minor sacrifice someone makes for society. (Although most students don’t strive to help out society as much as they do to obtain a job that will make them financially secure in the future.) Give me a reason to work hard now and give me the best opportunity to pursue whatever interests me and in the future, I will repay you by becoming the surgeon who saves your father from heart failure or the civil engineer who designs the bridge that you drive over to work everyday.</p>
<p>@kaleigh3</p>
<p>When I say financial aid, I mean it in a slightly different way than I think you are thinking. If FAFSA says the EFC is 20000, the 30,000 to cover that should be in grants rather than loans. Or (like you mentioned) colleges should award merit based aid more generously (assuming they have the endowment to do so).</p>
<p>I’m in the exact same situation. I am one of the smartest people at my school, and I was accepted to a lot of really good schools, but I can’t go to any of them because I don’t qualify for financial aid and I didn’t recieve enough merit money. Most of my schools offered me about $10,000 a year in merit scholarships, but it isn’t nearly enough to pay for the estimated $50,000 that I am expected to pay. I have decided on attending U Pitt on a full tuition honors scholarship. It’s tough to hear from your friends (which happens more and more now that financial aid offers are filtering in) that they can go to a top twenty school because their financial aid offers were “amazing.” It’s disappointing to know that you can’t go to these schools, but realize that you had more opportunities growing up than they probably did. Realize that you will do well probably anywhere you go just because you work hard and you feel guilty when you’re lazy =) It isn’t fair to families to try and cough up 50 grand, but a college education is just that. An education. And there is always graduate school…</p>
<p>It is amazing that any admissions officer would say that you should not consider the affordability of the education. I suppose that is why in these tough financial times the “top” schools have tens of thousands of applicants for far fewer spaces. In my logic, if you can not afford it, applying on the hope of need based aid is like a trip to Vegas and betting on 26 black. You probably won’t win. Either it is necessary to bite the bullet and take out the loans or go to the less expensive school. By the way, when my dad died only six years after I graduated high school, my mom needed every penny of her home equity and savings just to get by (she sold the house to get income from the invested proceeds.) You never know what can happen to your parents.</p>
<p>Sandybeach:</p>
<p>Having said some pretty harsh things about some of the other posters on this thread, I want to compliment you on your mature approach to this situation. With three college and near-college age children in a very affluent school district where students (and their parents) are NUTS about going to the “right” college, I know how frustrating this must be for you. You are to be congratulated for being able to keep the whole situation in perspective.</p>
<p>What would you consider a reasonable loan to pay? My dream school would requireroughly $10k a year in loans. My parents feel pretty strongly about “no loans, period.” I don’t know much about them, but I wondered how hard they are to pay off and what a reasonable amount would be.</p>
<p>Greetings.</p>
<p>It isn’t unreasonable to FEEL that you should be able to go to the best school you got into if you’ve worked really hard in HS. But at some point you have to come to terms with reality. My D applied to top LACs on my recommendation. I’ve been in higher ed for almost 20 years, and I still didn’t know that most of those schools don’t give merit aid! (I discovered CC later.) She certainly had these feelings; but we’re simply not the family that can afford $30-$50K per year. So in the end, she had to decide between two safeties: honors college at state uni or a good (top 100) LAC that offered her almost full tuition. She opted for the latter and is doing fine there. She hopefully will be able to go abroad TWICE (intercession soph year and full semester junior year), and will graduate with little or no debt. Bottom line: As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s important to consider financial fit as well as programs, environment, etc. (NOTE TO CHRYS: $40K debt for undergrad is CRUSHING DEBT.)</p>
<p>Getting into ivies and top LACs is an honor in itself. Congratulations on that! Now think about what will work best for you, your family, and your future. Then go for it, and take advantage of every opportunity available to you wherever you go to school.</p>
<p>chrys - it depends on what you think you can make when you graduate, doesn’t it. If you can improve your earning potential, you can pay it off. More years ago than I like to think, I graduated with over 20k debt, and a 40K starting salary. The salary went up, and the debt was paid off ten years later. Will it be worth it to you to pay 400 or more a month?</p>
<p>why don’t u take a loan?..
I mean, if ur parents can pay 20 k, then u can borrow 20k from the bank, right?
I know many people say it’s not recommendable to take such a high loan.. but if it’s ur dream to go to this school..</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why is it that everyone who probably have not had any experience with credit or borrowing money (whether it is for a car, home or education) think that it is the easiest thing in the world to borrow money?</p>
<p>Who is going to loan this 17/18 year old with little credit history and no money a 20k loan with out a co-signer?</p>
<p>NOBODY!!!</p>
<p>THE most that OP can borrow through the stafford loan (his family probably does not qualify for a perkins loan ) is </p>
<p>3500 freshman year
4500 sophomore year
5500 junior year until you earn your first bvachelors.</p>
<p>If the parents were rejected for a PLUS loan then OP would be able to borrow an additional $4000 in an umsubsidized loan.</p>
<p>I think the price of private schools is ridiculous- it should not cost that much</p>
<p>I think there is something wrong with the “system” but I also acknowledge the FAFSA is a govt form which has been adjusted over the years based on what was the most fair- not actually fair, but the most fair. Thank God they don’t count home equity.</p>
<p>My first kid had options like USC & NYU and UC- we have home equity from being home owners for 20+ years, but it would not be smart to access that value, so we learned the hard way that we should apply to FAFSA schools</p>
<p>The sad irony is that the schools that give the best aid- full aid, no loans = tippy top schools; this makes the quest to get in even more intense and the secondary fall back much worse- with the loan schools, you may have a $15k EFC with a Profile school plus $20k in loans, whereas the same person could have $0 FAFSA EFC and with the low income/special programs, could have $0 EFC at a top school- so the difference becomes the inability to fund any top 50 private school if you miss the top 10.</p>
<p>What is the solution? Well, we learned by reading CC and by experience. My youngest wants a private school. My others went to flagship state schools in the top 20-50 rankings, so good schools, but big. My other D wanted a private school experience. She went to community college for two years and she chose a lower tier school which is private, fafsa, and offers merit aid based on GPA/SAT. This makes it comparably priced to her siblings.</p>
<p>Yes, it is not a top 20 famous school, but I think she will get a good education and enjoy many small school advantages and have no loans. So- we adjusted the dream to fit reality.</p>
<p>The sad thing is that parents learn all this on the first kid, it is hard to believe until you see it, just how much schools expect you to pay and it is difficult to know what the composition of your package will be in terms of loans to grants. The cost of college is a hard lesson.</p>
<p>If your parents say they cannot afford it, they probably cannot. If you had started working at 14, I really do not think you would have enough set aside to cover $200k+ in college costs. The best solution is widening the pool of applications.</p>
<p>Here is my two cents: 1) Instead of looking only at the most prestigious schools, you should check out smaller, lesser known schools. They often give a better education and have more money available. 2) You should definitely apply for some scholarships. The Washington Post Forum just discussed where to find the best financial info on the web: <a href=“washingtonpost.com”>url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/groups/index.html?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3Aa70e3396-6663-4a8d-ba19-e44939d3c44fForum%3A5093b309-eb0a-47e2-b777-ea68b9dd478eDiscussion%3Ac879c19f-23cd-408e-b1d5-f83dccf76a17</a></p>
<p>You can use loan amortization calculators on the web to forecast your payments for school loans. Unfortunately it can be difficult to make your way thru the various loan options. Education loans allow you to amortize a loan over a long period of time – as much as 25 years! I used a 10 year formula for my sons. One of them will have 20K in debt at graduation and I think that’s enough</p>
<p>While you’ve explained something about your situation the details are missing. If you can attend a school with an excellent pre-mid program for 20K per year what school is that and why is that not an option? What is the 40K you got back from “both schools?” What schools? Was the 40K in loans and is that why they cannot afford it? If you are talking 40K in loans then I’m guessing you are expecting to attend one of the many high-priced schools in the country.</p>
<p>I’d really like to offer encouragement but I need to understand more about your situation.</p>
<p>You *only *got $40,000 a year? All I am getting is the inadequate $1750 student loan for need based aid. That’s it. I have been fortunate enough to get some scholarships. The schools you named are about $45-50 grand a year, so you only have to pay $5 to 10 grand a year. So stop your whining and be lucky that you are getting aid at all.</p>
<p>premed, you have to understand that some people simply can’t afford to pay even a few thousand dollars of year for school.</p>
<p>Yes, there are people that poor.</p>