<p>It gave me a need based grant of $1,000 though a year</p>
<p>University of Miami REQUIRES all undergrad students residing in the dorms to have a MEAL PLAN. So…you should add that cost back into your calculations.</p>
<p>I know it does, but ill eat food wherever I go, so im not counting it as an added cost</p>
<p>Shaun…that food cost is a billable cost. This means that it WILL be included on your bill from th university. You can’t pretend that dollar amount doesn’t exist. It does. You need to include that in your calculations. Or,ismthere some kind of fairly godmother who will be providing you with food?</p>
<p>Your deletion of the board cost makes NO SENSE. You also have to live somewhere regardless. But you can not delete the housing cost.</p>
<p>Your cost of attending University of Miami includes tuition, room, BOARD, feed, books, personal expenses and transportation. </p>
<p>You can cut costs on personal expenses, books, and transportation, but you MUST pay what the school charges for,tuition, room, board and fees.</p>
<p>It makes NO SENSE to delete the cost of food (board) from your costs,when thismisma required cost.</p>
<p><<<<
I know it does, but ill eat food wherever I go, so im not counting it as an added cost
<<<</p>
<p>lol…no, you’re not eating $5k of food at home. And if you are, your parents are paying for that. And it will need to get PAID for at school. You’ll get a BILL FOR THAT.</p>
<p>SO…you need to ask your parents if they’ll give you an ADD’L $5k for your meal plan …IN ADDITION to the $20k that you’re hoping that they’ll give you.</p>
<p>Do you realize that if your parents do NOT give you that add’l $5k for your meal plan than your logic goes straight out the window. So, instead of needing them to pay $20k…you NOW need them to pay $25k per year.</p>
<p>If there wasnt a required meal plan, i would still be paying for food every day. This is basically just an upfront cost so I dont have to pay for much food. When looking at the costs of another school that doesnt require a food plan, we dont factor in “plus about $5,000 for food” Its not even a big deal. Im just looking at the main costs</p>
<p>And anyway, if a meal plan is only required for the first year, doesnt that mean 3/4 years it will cost $55,000?</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>you’re going to have a $5k bill from UM for your meal plan that will have to get paid. Right now, your parents are providing your food at home.</p>
<p>They have said that they’ll pay $15k for college. You want them to pay $20k. But you’ve neglected to include the $5k you need for food. So, NOW you need them to pay $25k (at least). </p>
<p>Right now you’re not thinking straight. </p>
<p>Even if the meal plan is only required for the first year, you’re going to have to spend a few thousand on food - that your parents are currently providing at home.</p>
<p>YOU need to ask them if in addition to the $15k, will they ALSO give you money for FOOD/meal plan…and will they ALSO give you more money to cover more of your uncovered costs.</p>
<p>Listen again. A meal plan is required for all undergrads residing in the dorms at University of Miami…not just freshman year…but for any undergrad year you are residing in the dorms. And even IF you move off campus, you will still have to pay for FOOD. It won’t be free. There will be food costs for you even IF you choose to move off campus after your freshman year.</p>
<p>You are trying to rationalize these costs down…and you are making no sense in doing so. You WILL have a meal plan cost this coming year, and the school WILL bill you for it. Where is that money going to come from? </p>
<p>You MUST add the cost of,the meal plan back into your calculation…and you also MUST have a way to pay the bills.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like you are hoping for a full tuition scholarship to University of Miami. Those would likely go to their top applicants. At this point all you can do is wait and see what they offer you.</p>
<p>You do have an affordable option if the money isn’t there from UM…and it just might not be.</p>
<p>Actually, several of the schools in Florida do not require a meal plan even if you live in the dorms. Many do, and it looks like Miami does, but it is a little hard to compare the costs. FSU and UF both have many dorm choices that do not require the meal plan, but others not only require them but they are expensive! One of my daughters is going to an OOS public and her room and board will be about $8200 because there is an option of a 12 meal/wk plan and rather standard dorms. Other is going to a private school in Florida with a suite set up and no choice but unlimited meals, and her cost will be $13,200, so a $5000 difference. D#2 will be eating each and every meal in the dining hall.</p>
<p>Twoin…even IF the student doesn’t have a required meal plan, the student still needs MONEY for food. The student still needs to EAT. It won’t be free. There has to be some line item in the costs for meals…one way or another. This student is just crossing this off like it won’t exist. That is not the case.</p>
<p>And anyway…Shaun is talking about U of Miami…which DOES require a meal plan for all dorm undergrad students. So that cost MUST be included.</p>
<p>But several of his other choices are Florida public schools that may not require meal plans. Yes, he has to eat but not at $2600 a semester, which is my daughter’s cost and way more than she’d spend if she cooked at her dorm, which has a kitchen (suite). If I were using a line item for food for my child, I’d estimate more like $750/sem than $2600.</p>
<p>Most Florida residents estimate the COA of instate schools at about $20k per year, and private schools at about $55-60k, so parents are looking at it as a $35-40k gap. Question is can they close that gap. A $16k merit award doesn’t close it. A $25k award is closer. You just have to work the numbers. Prepaid tuition is a big deal because parents have been paying into it for years with the idea that college is paid for, so many don’t want to suddenly have to come up with $40k extra.</p>
<p>I appreciate this guys. Im just trying to see all the possibilities. I am just really confused because I had everything UF wanted (i thought). And I didnt have a clear back up. So now i have to choose between UM, FGCU honors, or UCF. I feel like UCF is too big for me. FGCU honors, eh, i looked a little at it and i dont really like it. UM seems perfect except for the money. </p>
<p>Did you only apply to four schools?</p>
<p>Is UCF that much bigger than UF? </p>
<p>Can your GC call UF and find out why you were rejected? Maybe that was an error.</p>
<p>Is USF still accepting apps? What about FIU?</p>
<p>Two in…I agree that feeding oneself outside of a meal plan MIGHT not cost $2600 a term. That is assuming the student cooks themselves, and doesn’t eat the majority of meals in a restaurant. :)</p>
<p>This student luckily has two affordable options. Two! And all he can do now is wait to see what UM offers him. But I would strongly suggest he be prepared to walk away if the money is not forthcoming…do NOT guilt the parents into funding college beyond their means.</p>
<p>This has been explained to you by others, but here’s my take on it: You have a FAFSA EFC of $42K. What that means is that before you get any FINANCIAL AID from the federal government and most colleges, you will have to come up with $42K in payments, whether it is from your parents, from unsubsidized loans, scholarships, Prepaid plans, Bright Futures or other non fin aid type plans. That EFC is too high for you to be getting ANY financial aid from the state schools that use FAFSA only for their financial aid. So you will have to come up with the money, though those above venues to pay for anything that is public.</p>
<p>University of Miami is a private school. They likely use a different calculator, in addition to FAFSA to come up with what your family should be paying, and usually those institutional calculators want even more than the FAFSA EFC. Your need, (IF we use the $42K FAFSA EFC) would be $18K, but any Bright Futures monies, any merit money the school comes up with, would reduce that $18K figure first,not the $42K EFC. UM does not guarantee to meet full need anyways so who knows what they will be giving you in their aid/merit packages.</p>
<p>When your offers are all on the table, you can look at what the bottom line cost will be for each school. Make sure you subtract out work study and loans from any packages–you can borrow and work towards cost to any of the school. Look at what the bottom line costs would be AFTER all of the school specific goodies reduce the sticker prices. Then decide what you can afford after what your parents piece, your savings, the $5500 in Direct loans, what you can earn, BF money, outside scholarships come into the picture.</p>
<p>You are wise to note that,yes, costs can go up after the first year. The tuition, fees, and other expenses base charges have been only going one direction, and I would not assume otherwise. You can borrow a little more each year ($6500 as a soph, $7500 for the next 2 years), but your expenses are likely going to go up correspondingly. At some schools there might be cheap student off campus easily available, and maybe you can cut some of the increases that way. At some school, upper class years mean a lot more expenses because upperclass housing, usually costs more as they often include suite/apt style living and some schools are in areas where the rent is high–can’t beat the dorm prices. That you get your own food, is something that makes that a discretional cost, but not all kids do better when they go that way. But that is a possibility when one lives in a place with a kitchen and board plans are not required.</p>
<p>If you can commute to a school, some of your living expenses can be absorbed by your parents and you can maybe get a little more out of them that way. If our son had done so, that would have been the case, and he could have gone to a local private pricey college within cost constraints due to the nature of marginal costs of feeding and housing an extra person that we could handle. </p>
<p>But try not to get too attached to a school until you have the full picture, and the costs are definitely an integral part of that picture. Make sure you have some sure things in terms of admissions AND costs on your list. </p>
<p>Before getting too much into the details of food cost, I think the biggest problem is the $42K EFC while your parent would only pay $15K. If you cannot solve this problem, you cannot go anywhere unless you are top student and receive near full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>OP can make ~2-3k in Work Study during 2 semesters, and probably work in Summer to make anywhere from 3-5k. But OP still needs a good UM Merit Scholarship like 12-18k. And YES FOOD cost money in the dorm or off campus…</p>
<p>Is UCF that much bigger than UF?
^^</p>
<p>It’s big. Second biggest school in the US. UF is big, but Gainesville is smaller than Orlando. </p>