<p>Ok, so I am not a parent, but I am a senior who will be attending college next year and I need other parents advice. So firstly my parents don't have a lot of money at all, so they are very worried about where I want to go to school and that they can afford it. Now that is understandable, but I would like to go to (as of now) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology which is pretty expensive. My mom is freaking out because she doesn't want me to go far, and she doesn't think they will have enough money. My dad is only worried about finances. So basically, my parents are telling me that RHIT might be out of the picture because of the high price tag. I am looking into scholarships now, but will that even be enough? I really want to go there, but I don't know what to do. I have 3 siblings, 2 in grad school and 1 in undergrad, so it's not like my parents don't know how the FAFSA stuff works. Should I not get my hopes up about the school, or is there something I can do?</p>
<p>Scholarships: The biggest scholarships to schools often come from merit scholarships from the schools themselves. The top scholarships that pay tuition, room and board (a “full ride”) for a private school are VERY competitive and rare.</p>
<p>Scholarships from outside sources (think national scholarships like the Coca Cola one) that are enough to pay the whole nut for a school costing $50,000 are also VERY difficult to get. Most of the scholarships that you will get on the local level will be for small amounts are often one time deals that will alleviate the pain for one year, but aren’t of any help for future years. </p>
<p>One of the rudest awakenings that parents and kids have in this whole process is realizing the difficulty of getting enough scholarships to pay for college, even kids who are top students at their schools.</p>
<p>Financial Aid: Schools also offer financial aid based on your parents’ assets and income. The financial aid can come in the form of grants (yay!! no pay back), loans (ouch!), and work study jobs for you. </p>
<p>You can make guesses about how much financial or merit aid any school will offer you and what other scholarships you’ll get, but you can’t really know until you get the financial packages from each school and compare them. Nobody knows right now how much RHIT will ultimately cost your family out of pocket until you see the financial aid package. </p>
<p>What you can do: We often advise kids who are applying to college that they need to have a safety. Safeties are schools that you wouldn’t mind attending (or even like to attend) and one that your parents can afford. In your case, you need to apply to at least 2 schools that your parents feel they can afford now. </p>
<p>Your parents are trying to have the “money talk” with you. They are saying that you will have to take financial considerations into account when applying to college. You should take them at their word and make sure you apply to financial safety schools and NOT fall in love with a school that you may not be able to afford.</p>
<p>You cannot get your hopes up about RHIT–you can ask your parents if you could apply with the knowledge that if the scholarships/financial package doesn’t come up with enough money, you won’t be able to attend even if you are accepted. Try to find schools that have some of the same things about them that you love about RHIT. </p>
<p>Funding a college education is a family affair: money comes from current income flow, savings, investments, parent loans, student loans, parents taking a second job or having a stay at home parent return to work, home equity loans, student summer jobs, student campus jobs, scholarships, ROTC commitments, etc. There is much you can do to contribute money for your own education. But it would be a hard thing for you to swing a $50,000/year education.</p>
<p>I’d ask your parents what they can afford, for starters. It may be Purdue or another state school. If that is their limit, then you’ll either have to find a way to make up the difference or attend a school your parents can afford.</p>
<p>You may be disappointed, but I would save up lots of money once you are an adult so that your kids can go to any school they wanted to without a thought to the cost. You may find that financing college educations for 4 kids is a major undertaking and appreciate your parents’ efforts.</p>
<p>Don’t you think to get the part time job and you have 2nd income every month?
I think that could be another way to solve your problem and get some help
Mike</p>
<p>Well it looks like RHIT gives 97% of students some sort of institutional grant and that average is about $11 to 12K. ( per US dept of education) So it’s still a 35K a year school. Are you in Illinois? Is U of I engineering your instate safety? That makes it a 20K a year school. Yeah I can see your parents concern. I would suggest applying to engineering “financial safeties” and see where the chips fall come acceptance time.
Keep your options as wide open as you can in this economic environment.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, for most colleges are no different than cars or houses–you have to choose one you can afford.</p>
<p>RHIT will not meet your financial need. Even with Federal grant money and 17k in institutional merit awards, RHIT still left me with 18k in Parent loans, which sounds like it might be too much for your parents.</p>
<p>Look at in-state engineering programs. As long as they are ABET accredited, you will learn what you need to know to get a job.</p>
<p>Please try to be realistic along with your parents regarding college finances. The reality is that someone has to pay the college bills and that usually starts with the family contribution. </p>
<p>You can apply to RHIT but realize that if you don’t get sufficient money you will not be able to attend. As long as you understand that up front and don’t think you can somehow pressure your parents or conjure up the money from no where…go ahead and apply and see.</p>
<p>BUT in the meantime…look at other affordable college options so that if Rose doesn’t come up with the money, you WILL have another college option.</p>
<p>It’s probably not wise to fall in love with a school your family can’t afford. Try to find other schools where your finances won’t be an issue that have some of the same characteristics as Rose.</p>