That would be ideal if someone else were doing the giving. You are not “giving” yourself 4 years to explore, you are borrowing heavily for the privilege. That is consumerism and is fraught with peril. The amount of debt that you are undertaking IMHO, requires that you take more of a return on investment approach. That’s why I think the debt will limit your ability to explore whereas the Honors College provides you with just the freedom that you are looking for.
Have you done an overnight at Barrett? Sure, ASU historically has a party reputation, but you’d be safely tucked away in “the nerd cage.”
Schedule an overnight with ASU Barrett and see if you can do the same with UCF Honors.
At CC: Is the issue that your parents can’t pay their EFC? (because you said they gave you a huge grant that makes your net cost even lower than EFC).
What are the other LACs?
I did the overnight at Barrett and it just didn’t feel like me. It was very nice but I didn’t like the campus ad a whole and in engineering there really isn’t as many honors section courses which stinks. CC was very nice: my efc is 35k and after grants and direct loans cc is asking for 25k from my family. Also any outside scholarships would reduce this, not the grant aid. It’s feasible but not ideal
Good luck OP, it seems like you have decided your path. Would you please be so kind as to report back your experiences/results as far as the debt you incurred goes, and how it has (OK, I’ll play - or has not) impaired you? I think it would help future students. It’s an honest request - not being sarcastic. Good luck to you.
Even for tippy top students, engineering courses at good schools are challenging on their own. And engineering students at those schools aren’t spending tons of time partying if they want to graduate. Think you are overestimating your need for honors engineering classes across the board.
You are looking at your situation using best case scenarios. Could I ask you to consider a few potential potholes your family might experience on your journey?
A parent is laid off, becomes disabled, gets cancer, or passes away, Or parents may assume the responsibility of caring for an elderly relative. Ability to qualify for all four years of Parent Loans could disappear. You might have to transfer or interrupt your education to work.
Are you an only child? If not, your choices may leave siblings without choices for their future education.
You can not know for certain if your future involves anxiety/depression or other medical issues that cause you to fail out or withdraw from college. I know a college student who has struggled with the death of her father and it has meant several starts and stops in her college education. Throw in a boyfriend/girlfriend who takes your focus off your studies, or an unplanned pregnancy, there are multiple ways your education could be derailed.
Your indecision on a major/career could lead to extra semesters of college, and the price tag for your education increases. What if you discover you want to write, or act, or work at a non profit?
Employment wages are not a guarantee, and costs of living and taxes eat away at your ability to pay off loans.
My D just graduated with $20,000 in federal student loans, and we see the reality of what she is facing as she heads into the real world. I can’t imagine her having to repay $70,000.
Please, please take a moment to think of worst case scenarios. If you aren’t able to work at a high paying job for whatever reason, your future is ruined for decades.
You posted the following in another thread:
It looks like you’re an IL resident whose parents can pay $20k/year without borrowing. You can borrow $5500/year on your own and you can probably earn ~$3k/year if you get a summer job. That gives you ~$28k/year. You have excellent stats that will likely qualify you for merit aid at some very good schools. So why does your list seem to contain only unaffordable schools you love and affordable schools you don’t like at all? Find some colleges that you like that will offer you enough merit aid to bring the net cost down to the ~$28k/year you can afford and apply there.
Or the OP could graduate into an economic downturn, where jobs generally are hard to get. Or an industry downturn, where jobs based on a normally in-demand major are hard to get.
Those are really impressive stats. Not sure why you didn’t apply to the tippy top schools.
The basic problem is that the schools expect your parents to pay from their own resources. If all your parents are willing to do is co-sign loans, then I think you are borrowing too much money for not enough school and need to change strategies.
It is unfortunate that you didn’t pursue strategy earlier of parleying your 35 into a full-ride somewhere, but you have ASU Barrett in the bag, and that’s a huge win and you shouldn’t poo-poo it lightly.
Why are your parents not contributing their share?
It looks like the OP’s parents are willing to contribute by taking parent loans (PLUS loans), however bad an idea that is. That implies that they do not really have the money.
^^taking or co-signing. There is a huge difference. An EFC of $35K is not poverty. I don’t have any problem with OP’s parents borrowing the money. I have a problem with the debt falling on OP’s own shoulders.
My parents are able to contribute around 10-15k per year out of pocket but the rest of my efc comes out of a house and other non-flexible assets. That’s why I say the loans arnt unreasonable but it would obviously still be a burden. I still have full ride options but they arnt where I want to go. I don’t want to go to college just to get to a job; my entire college search I’ve been looking for schools that will make my next 4 years awesome and allow me to learn alot. That’s why it is frustrating that that goal is locked behind loans
I am baffled as to why you applied only to schools you could not afford and schools you do not want to go to. If your EFC is due to home equity, why don’t you apply to more FAFSA-only schools while there is still time? (Only institutional method schools count home equity.)
And yes, the parent brigade at CC is going to be very anti-loan. That’s what we’re here for. Especially if you want to use undergrad to explore and then go to grad school, taking all those loans is terrible. Do your parents have a budget for how much in loans they will be responsible for? You need to have that conversation.
Going to college is awesome almost anywhere, just because it’s college.
Continue to explore. Look at Ctcl schools for instance.
Some colleges don’t factor assets, especially real estate, the way others do - compare Vanderbilt and Boston College, for instance.
@blountwil2 - here are the monthly payments on a $70k student loan using a 48 month term
At 2% interest - $1519/month
At 3% $1549
At 5% $1612
At 7% $1676
Estimate your gross and net pay with a 4 year degree, and subtract reasonable living expenses. Do you have enough room to pay this student loan off in 4 years? I’m guessing you’d need to clear those loans before going to law school and incurring that debt, which will likely amount to more than the 70K from undergrad. So you graduate at 22, take 4 years to pay off the $70k, then law school. You’d start off paying on your law school loans around age 30. That’s the reality of what you’re considering.
OP can you still get some apps in before deadlines? It seems with your stats you could try for a couple more LACs that would have more generous financial aid.
It looks like the OP would be helping the parents pay off any parent loans, so there would not be a conceptual difference between parent loans and parent co-signed loans in this aspect.
There would be no way I get more aid from any LAC, the one I applied to is already giving me a large amount over what I was expecting and I do have the option of full rides if it comes to that. I would be helping my parents pay if off or they would be helping me, depending on whose shoulder it falls on
Some LACs may give you a combination of need based and merit aid, especially national LACs ranked 40-60 or so. Look into it.