Financial Advice Please!!

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>HELP! Because of unfortunate circumstance, my husband and I had to declare bankruptcy 2 years ago. Because of this, I just found out we will not be eligble for student loans!! My daughter got her financial package and she is getting about 1/2 the tuition in merit scholarship/loans/work study. How can we come up with the balance???? I am having a major panic attack over this. She has worked hard and deserves to get an education. Does anyone have any advice for us???? She is so excited about being accepted to her number 1 choice, and now we have to tell her that she might not be able to go?</p>

2

<p>I sympathize! If the college costs as much as many private schools, many families would have trouble coming up with the balance beyond 1/2 tuition. Does your daughter have other options? To be honest, even if you could get loans for the remaining half tuition and room & board, that would be way more in loans than would be good for your daughter upon graduation. Oh - and I just noticed part of that half tuition is in loans to your daughter.</p>

<p>Truly - it’s may be tough for her to hear, and tough for you to say, but if the school isn’t affordable with the scholarships and grants she’s received, then the kindest thing to do is help her understand this. My older son (a couple years ago) had about 6 acceptances that were flat out off the table because of cost. It’s just part of the reality of college options. You won’t be doing her any favors by taking out $20,000 or $30,000 in loans every year. With interest, that will be over $100,000 of debt when she graduates, and keep in mind - student loans are NOT forgiven in bankruptcy. She would have a terrible weight around her neck starting out her adult life.</p>

<p>Advice - show her why it isn’t doable and look to affordable alternatives.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your response. Here is my dilemma. For many years now, she has wanted to go to school for Pharmacy. There are only a handful of schools in our area that offer this program, so she does not have many options. None of which are in commuting distance. I cannot squash this dream of hers. I do not expect a free ride, just a way to finance this dream. She should not have to suffer because of mistakes that my husband and I have made.</p>

4

<p>Why would anyone who just got out of a BR want to take on a bunch of debt for college? :scratching.my.head:</p>

<p>Anyway…you’re at where you’re at right now. You can’t borrow (nor should you!), so does your D have any financial safeties? These are schools that have offered her big merit for her stats?</p>

<p>Your D can borrow 5500 and she can borrow an additional 4k after you’re denied a Plus Loan. However, it sounds like her aid pkg already has the 5500 in it, so all she can get now is the extra $4k.</p>

<p>If your D didn’t apply to any financial safety schools, then she may have to take a gap year and reapply. If she does this, then don’t let her take ANY classes during that time. She can’t ruin her incoming frosh status.</p>

<p>I know this is frustrating, but many families can’t afford to send their kids to their “number one choice”. Many, many, many kids work hard and have great stats…that does NOT mean that families should take on debt to send them to a “dream school.”</p>

<p>Edited to add…virtually ANY school can prepare a student for pharm school…all you do is take the pre-pharm pre-reqs. you don’t need a pricey school for that.</p>

<p>How much can you afford to pay out of pocket each year?</p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

<p>What other schools did she apply to? Are any affordable?</p>

5

<p>We live in NH, and there are no Pharmacy schools in this state. She has applied to and been accepted to MCPHS, UCONN, URI and WNE. All are about the same costs.</p>

6

<p>You may have misunderstood me. You don’t have to go to a college that has a pharm school for “pre-pharm”. You can do that instate and then apply to pharm schools.</p>

<p>Are you saying that your D has NO financial safety schools? If so, she may need to take a gap year and reapply.</p>

<p>What are her stats? If they’re high enough, contact Miss State and find out what they’d give her…they have a good pharm school.</p>

7

<p>Hi, have your daughter exhausted all the scholarship search engines? Pharmacy programs are so competitive, because of the demand today. I volunteer in the pharmacy department at a local hospital and I see firsthand that many pharmacists today count their blessing that they have their degree instead of trying to get into pharmacy programs now. I can only suggest that she try seeking employment with a health and beauty aid store like Walgreens and CVS. These companies offer some type of tuition reimbursement for their employees, especially if you are seeking a pharmacy degree.</p>

8

<p>She has applied for some scholarships, but has not heard back from any as of yet. I am not sure when they send out the notifications? Actually, she does not want to work in a Pharmacy, but more in the field of pharmaceutical research.</p>

9

<p>I have a pharmacy degree and I second what mom2collegekids said - your daughter can do her pharmacy prerequisites at almost any school. Typically they can be completed in two years, and generally include two semesters each of chemistry, biology, calculus, physics, and organic chemistry, plus a semester each of English comp., economics, and a humanities course or two.</p>

10

<p>Private scholarships aren’t likely going to be a solution since most are only for FROSH year…not multi years. So, you’d have the same prob next year.</p>

<p>With Pharm research, again, she doesn’t need to go OOS for undergrad or go to a pricey school for undergrad. She can get a chem degree or biochem degree and do grad school. </p>

<p>Frankly, it’s ridiculous to even be considering large debt for a particular major because many, many kids change their majors or career goals during their college years.</p>

<p>Did she apply to her instate public? Did she apply to any SCHOOLS that will give her HUGE merit for her stats?</p>

<p>What are her stats? GPA and ACT/SAT scores?</p>

11

<p>We live in NH, and there are no Pharmacy schools in this state.
I can’t think of one university that doesn’t offer biology & chemistry degrees.</p>

<p>MCPHS has a campus in New Hampshire.( for post bac & transfer students)</p>

12

<p>I would suggest that you do some more research on what exactly pharmaceutical research really is. A pharmacy degree is largely a professional degree…the vast majority work in the field as pharmacists, not researchers. Researchers will typically have a PhD. Taker a look at the UIowa faculty members in this field, only 4 of the 14 have Pharm D. The rest have PhD’s in all types of fields.</p>

<p>If your D does not want to be a practicing pharmacist then I suspect that a PhD would be better.</p>

<p>[College</a> of Pharmacy - University of Iowa](<a href=“http://www.pharmacy.uiowa.edu/pharmaceutics/people/index.htm]College”>http://www.pharmacy.uiowa.edu/pharmaceutics/people/index.htm)</p>

13

<p>My apologies. Yes she is looking to pursue a PharmD.</p>

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<p>A pharmacy degree…the PharmD… is largely a working professional degree. The vast majority work in the field as pharmacists, not researchers. Researchers will typically have a PhD in somethiing like chemistry or other related fields.</p>

<p>If your D does NOT want to be a practicing pharmacist but a researcher, then a PhD might very well be (and probably is) a better option. Either way, she does NOT have to go to an undergrad schools that has pharmacy.</p>

15

<p>St. John’s University has a fabulous program and is known to be generous. Perhaps a gap year and then re-apply to other schools?</p>

16

<p>Have you taken advantage of the New England Regional Student Program?</p>

<p>[Overview</a> : NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION](<a href=“http://www.nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview/]Overview”>Tuition Break | New England Board of Higher Education)</p>

<p>If she is accepted at UConn or URI, Your daughter can attend at a reduced tuition because UNH doesn’t offer pharmacy. Check out the link for details and other institutions where it would apply.</p>

17

<p>I think we need more info…</p>

<p>Reduced tuition OOS may not work if this family was planning on borrowing most/all of the costs. </p>

<p>If this family has now learned that they can’t borrow at all, then they will be limited to the following:</p>

<p>1) finding a school NOW that will accept D and give her huge merit for her stats.</p>

<p>2) go instate and commute to a local state school and pay with a 5500 student loan.</p>

<p>3) take a gap year and reapply to schools that will work.</p>

<p>Mystic…how much can you pay out of pocket each year? Were you planning on borrowing most/all of the costs that weren’t covered by aid/merit??? That is important info. Without that info, people will just be suggesting options that may not be affordable if you can’t contribute much.</p>

<p>What are your D’s stats? GPA and ACT/SAT?</p>

<p>Also…since PharmD programs are pricey, borrowing a lot for undergrad wasn’t a good idea to begin with.</p>

<p>PharmD does NOT require that the student attend an undergrad with a pharm school. She can go to her state school, major in Chem or BioChem and take the pre-pharm pre-reqs and then apply to pharm schools as a junior.</p>

<p>JLN…PharmD is a grad degree. Even if NH doesn’t have a pharm school, that may not mean that she’d qualify for tuition reduction for Undergrad since she can major in anything as a pre-pharm student. That said, even reduced tuition maybe too expensive if the family planned on borrowing much of the cost. Going to an OOS public (even with reduced costs) would likely cost at least $25k per year.</p>

<p>Again, I know that this must be very upsetting to find out this stuff at this point. I know that the last thing you want to do is tell your D that her plans must change because (according to you) mistakes that her parents made in the past. However, this may end up being a blessing in disquise. Parents who are getting out of bankruptcy should not be taking out more loans…it just puts you back in a hole. If your D is a strong student (which a pharm student needs to be) then she can get great scholarships from the schools that give them.</p>

<p>If you could tell us more info, we probably could come up with an affordable option for you. Just getting scholarships to this or that school will not work if the merit isn’t large enough to make the remaining costs affordable.</p>

18

<p>Franklin Pierce has a Biology major and Chemistry minor and they gave my D amazing merit and grants that are making it more affordable than the nearby state univ. she was accepted to. They have an honors program, and although not at all her first choice, she is loving it, glad things worked out the way they did, and the happiest she has ever been in life! She was accepted to her first choice in Washington DC, but we just couldn’t make it work financially without straining ourselves so badly we would have had to eat boxed mac and cheese for 5 years and take out too many loans. Things do have a way of working out the way they are supposed to.</p>

19

<p>Ohio Northern gives very good merit money. Butler U has good need based aid. Ferris State is relatively inexpensive, even OOS. There are many, many options. However, it is too late in the year for next year …</p>

<p>Here is my advice: Sk8ermom and I can vouch for the fact that many kids who are sure they want PharmD will change their minds. Both of our kids did … and my son had attended a pharm camp at UToledo & was sure it was what he wanted to do. So DO NOT borrow to do this!!! Your D should take classes at an affordable school that will prepare her for pharm school … investigate the courses required at various pharm schools, then take those classes. She will need to take the PCAT in October of sophomore year, so a school with pre-pharm advising will allow her to get the information she needs to plan her courses in a way that will maximize her PCAT preparation. This way, if she changes her mind you are not out a lot of money … and she can still get into pharm school after 2 years. Pharm school is expensive, so don’t pay any more the first two years than you have to pay. If your D does very well the first two years & scores well on her PCAT, there are good pharm scholarships available at many schools.</p>