Hi! I am a senior, and I plan on majoring in biology/ botany with a minor in environmental science. I am extremely interested in plant science and human effects on environmental systems. I’m really looking for a small liberal arts university that’s preferably in the northeast. My current top two schools are Middlebury and Bates. I applied for Prologue to Bates because it’d be my only chance to visit, and I’m a minority first-gen student.
However, after doing extensive research about each of these universities, I’ve found that their prices as projected on their NPC’s are a bit unaffordable (Midd would be 5k including an additional 1k loan, and Bates would be 2k with a 1k loan). When I told my parents about this, they were really adamant about me not applying to either of those universities as we’re poor enough as is. They absolutely refuse to let me take out any form of loan which is understandable but also extremely frustrating. I’ve managed to talk them into applying regular decision for both of those schools ( I was planning on doing E.D. for Bates), but now they’re telling me that I should E.D. for Brown, which isn’t really something I’m ok with. I’d be fine applying R.D. but I don’t want to be bound to a school that I only have marginal interest in.
My biggest concern right now is being able to go anywhere given that my parents cant pay for college, and won’t let me take out loans. They’ve told me 1k annually is basically their cap. And no loans. So far the only school I’ve found is Vassar.
I’m also applying E.A. at Umass Amherst, and R.D. at Temple just to see what kind of merit aid I can get.
I might apply at Brown and UPenn just to see if I could get accepted, and I’m applying at a local univ that I’m basically guaranteed admission to.
If anyone knows of good LAC’s with great financial aid, please let me know. Also advice about Middlebury and Bates would be nice. My parents make 36k annually and I have a sister. I would love to go to either of those schools but I’m just super concerned about getting swamped in debt.
(My stats:
ACT: Superscore 34 One sitting 32.
SAT: 1460 with a 6-6-8 in writing
UW GPA:3.89
W GPA:4.137
Class Rank: 16 (Top 4%)
I’m taking 4 AP this year, the rest are either Honors and I have one block of an elective I need to take for me to graduate.
I’m co-president of my school’s French Club, I’m a Section Leader in Marching Band, and I have a massive amount of other E.C.'s (Mostly Music.)
Most students need to take out at least their federal loans ($5,500 freshman year, goes up a little each year after that). These loans would be in your name, not your parents’ names. You would be getting a $60,000 a year education for a very, very low price at the schools you are listing.
Does Brown not offer the courses you are interested in? It has a very open curriculum so you can really take what interests you the most. It also may have the best financial aid.
Remember that you can work part time during the year and summers. Most students earn at least $2500 per summer.
The real question is this: Can you pay the application fees yourself? Because you CAN apply for a loan, and you would be able to pay it off easily yourself (even if it means waiting until after college to do so). $80,000 worth of student loan debt is a bad thing…$5,000 worth of student loan debt is nothing.
I hate to advocate being a rebel, but there’s no reason you should follow your parents’ no-loan advice if you’re going to be financially independent very soon. Maybe talk to them about working part-time during college? Or full-time during summers? Anything to convince them that a 2k/5k education is an incredible bargain.
Unless you’re living at home going to a commuter college, $1K is going to be very difficult, if not impossible. You’ll have to travel home for holidays, spring break and summers (and during the academic year, buy food when the dining halls close if you don’t go home.) Working part-time during college should be fine, and taking a small subsidized federal loan each year can make up the difference.
Are you in-state for UMass Amherst? It actually doesn’t really matter, it’s near impossible to go to UMass for less than $1k/yr. PrimeMeridian is correct, your parents are way out of touch. Basically the only schools that will give you enough aid + expenses to have almost no cost are Harvard and Stanford. (Remember that you will need money for transportation to/from school, living expenses while on campus, books, etc)
Your parents probably cannot spend more than $1k/yr and it’s probably that they cannot take out loans themselves. You do have the option of ignoring them and taking out federal loans, and you most certainly will need to get a work-study job. The school will include these options in their finaid offer.
However, you are a first-gen URM with family income of $34K/yr and a strong academic profile. If you are able to get in to an Ivy or other top ranked school, you are likely going to get a finaid package that makes the school more affordable than UMass, which almost never gives full rides. And don’t be fooled by the “free tuition”, which is a
There are also schools that are “no-loan” schools, which replace loans with grants for needy students. Here’s one list, no idea if it is accurate:
There are a few schools in the New England area on that list (Colby, Bowdoin) that compare to the schools you mentioned. It also might be worth a conversation with the finaid department at Bates and Midd to see what their policy is for very low income students. For example, Midd caps the amount of loans to 7K for needy students. This is just not that far off from what your parents are willing to contribute.
Bottom line: I would recommend applying to the schools you want to go to, including some reaches (since they will have the best finaid) and see where you get in and how much need based aid you get. I think you’ll find that a place like Bowdoin will be cheaper or same cost as your state schools.
Also make sure you reach out to the schools for application fee waivers.
Also, the general wisdom is that very low income students should not ED anywhere, as it is binding and there are no guarantees as to how much aid will be offered. This is a bit conservative in my view, as no school will want to put a student in a difficult situation and will generally work with the student to make sure they can afford to attend.
But don’t apply ED to a school that you are not that thrilled with just because they give good aid. You might actually get in.
If you apply for aid, then likely small loans will be in your aid pkgs. Since ONLY you have access to your school’s portal for acceptance of aid, your parents have no control over YOUR choice to accept…and frankly, they don’t have to know about it. Their signatures aren’t needed for those student loans. They’re yours alone.
I’d encourage you to dig into the hidden costs of each school. For instance for FA purposes UMass assumes the DC Basic meal plan, which includes 224 swipes + 9 meal exchanges a semester. That seems to assume 16 meals/week. If you’re someone who will be eating out a lot (for instance at a job that includes food) or who normally skips meals on a regular basis it will be fine, but if you’d like to be able to join your friends for breakfast every morning or to stop by the dining hall for a snack in the afternoon you’re going to be spending extra money on the UMass plan. In this case you’d be much better off with Midd or Bates’ unlimited meal plans.
Of UMass, Middlebury, and Bates, none are in a city with a great bar scene, but if you were looking at say, NYU or even BU you’d have to tack an entertainment premium on to your cost to attend. Look at the culture of the school. Is it more of a “$5 beer and pizza” school or a “$7 margarita” school? Do kids buy expensive Halloween costumes or select them from pickings in the $2 bin at Goodwill? The same is true of things like football games or costs for the outing club. You may not be a big football fan or hiker, but most people will want to go to a game once or twice or go on an outing club sponsored trip to the beach. Are there hidden cost here or can you attend for free? The school culture may be largely independent of the income level of students. IOW, you may find a surprising number of full pay kids rooting around that Goodwill bargain bin at some schools.
Middlebury has a 9th semester FA plan for kids who could not finish on time due to extreme extenuating circumstances. It’s probably rarely granted, but if you really couldn’t attend without FA it might be something to factor in.
Bates has a program which provides a substantial stipend for what are offered by companies as unpaid internships as well as the more standard paid campus research and internship opportunities. It’s the kind of thing that can lead to a first job whose salary will more than cover that $3,000/year deficit.
Look at the informal and formal support structures for low income and first gen students. At which schools are you more likely to be able to get help from the Dean of Students or an emergency loan from the school if you’re struggling to put together the cash for a bus ride home at Thanksgiving?
Bates at $3K is something most students can only dream about. Is there some reason you aren’t able to make $2K year working each summer (and during the school year if possible)? Have you not saved anything during high school to help pay for college?
It can be pretty hard to find a net price under $1,000 for any college. Remember that food, utilities, and commuting costs for a college student living at home are non-zero, and then you have to add tuition and books, which likely exceed $1,000 even at the cheapest community colleges.
Perhaps the only exceptions would be those full ride merit scholarships that include enough to cover books and miscellaneous expenses in addition to tuition, fees, room, and board.
I certainly understand not wanting to cause a riff between your parents, especially since it seems money is a sensitive topic. However, it’s worth pointing out that you do not need your parents consent to take out a loan. All you have to do is login and accept them. They are in your name. They are 100% your responsibility to pay back. You aren’t going to go to any of the schools you or your parents have your sighs on for 1k with 0 loans. It’s just not going to happen.
Second, I would strongly urge against applying ED to any school you aren’t crazy about. Respectfully tell your parents that you’ll apply to Brown RD.
But to answer your question, Reed College promises to meet 100% of demonstrated need. It’s my current college and the aid offer they gave me blew all of my other offers out of the water.
You should be able to make enough to cover the 1K loan by working in the summer.
I agree that you should not apply anywhere ED as comparing financial offers will be an important part of your decision.
You are extremely lucky to have the option to go to these colleges for below $5k. Most parents would kill for this opportunity but your parents are probably scared of hidden costs and their inability to pay or for you to go under big debt.
I say you go with what you like but discuss details with school counselor and college financial aid department. If loans are indeed below $5k and under your name then look for work, outside scholarships or jobs to cover as much of it as you can.
Agree with a lot of the advice you’ve been given so far. But I will encourage you not to slice the bologna too thin on your major/area of interest. If you are knocking out colleges which will fall into the affordable range (and attending ANYWHERE for under a thousand dollars a year will be next to impossible, even if you commute to a local college you will need bus fare, books, etc) but don’t have the exact major/area of interest you want, you are making a mistake.
Zero in on the course catalogue, not the name of the major. The bigger the college, the greater the likelihood that they have what you want even if you have to be creative in piecing together the right courses in the correct sequence. And recognize that your intellectual interests are going to change. You’ve likely never taken linguistics. You’ve likely never taken anything involving urban planning or sustainability or macroeconomics. Your first course in one of these areas may change your focus either marginally or substantially.
So if you find a college which falls into the “I can make this work financially” (which will involve work study, modest loans, and a summer job) and meets the other things you are looking for in terms of fit- don’t knock it out without researching further.
Get a job. You can take out a total of $5500 in Direct Loans in your name. This would make Bates more than affordable, and it would bring you within $500 at Midd…which you should be able to earn working.
I can’t think of any college where you could attend for this amount of money…unless you attend a community college where a full Pell Grant would pay your full tuition.
These are $65,000 colleges…and if you do get acceoted, and the aid is this good, you can do it.