<p>Hey parents, I'm wondering if anyone can offer advice to me (high school senior)</p>
<p>I'm filling out the FAFSA which means that I'm really looking my family's financial situation.</p>
<p>My parents have ZERO money saved up for college.</p>
<p>They also have no clue how much they can pay per year.</p>
<p>Our houshold income is >$150,000 annually; however, we live in California where things are EXPENSIVE.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what to do, I feel so in the dark about the situation. My parents really don't like discussing these things with me and are quite secretive about their financial details with each other (neither knows how much the other has in savings). However, they both constantly talk about how difficult is is going to be to pay for college...but I don't the specifics of the situation. Some people assume that this means I shouldn't have to worry about paying for it; unfortunately, this really isn't the case. They've explained to me that we don't have a lot of money to spend...and there's hardly any in the bank.</p>
<p>What can I do? I fear that I'll pick out a school and find out that, because they never gave me money specifics, I'll not be able to attend. I also am afraid that they'll tell me not to worry about it and then I'll be majorly surprised later on when they claim to be unable to afford it.</p>
<p>You need to see if your school GC knows of any colleges with late app dates for merit aid. With $150K you won’t get any FA. The ultimate way to get your degree on the cheap is start at a CCC and transfer to a CSU or UC for your last two years.</p>
<p>Apply to in-state publics and to private schools likely to offer substantial merit aid to someone with your stats (if your stats are good enough). As your parents are talking about how hard it will be to pay for college, it sounds like they see it as their responsibility to pay. With their income, they should be able to afford the CSU’s, if not the UC’s. You should expect to be contributing some on your own through employment – there is no reason that you can’t earn your own spending money and enough to pay for books and incidentals, assuming your parents are willing to pay your tuition and housing costs. </p>
<p>With an income of $150K, you would not be eligible for federally funded grant aid, and you would not be eligible for any Calgrant money either. </p>
<p>Have you talked to your parents about college costs? MOST families do NOT have money saved for college costs. Many pay of current earnings or take out loans (not my suggestino beyond the Stafford loans). You need to discuss this with your parents. Find out what they can contribute for your college costs. You will need to work within the financial guidelines of your family.</p>
<p>As noted above, have you applied to any schools whereby you would receive any merit aid to help with college costs? You will be eligible for a $5500 Stafford loan by completing the FAFSA.</p>
<p>If your parents plan to somehow pay for your college, or at least contribute to it, they NEED to work out what they’re able to and are willing to pay. They don’t need to discuss all of their finances with you but they do need to do this step so you’ll know what your options are. Costs of college range all over the place from almost $0/yr to over $50K/yr and you can’t go without paying the costs.</p>
<p>Some options for you - do CC then transfer to a local CSU you can commute to (lowest cost), start out by going to a local CSU (skipping the CC), go to a local UC you can commute to, (stepping up the cost), go to a CSU/UC elsewhere and live on campus but keep in mind the living expenses are higher than the direct college expenses, investigate privates that might offer you merit money.</p>
<p>They’re obliged to at least spend the time to let you know where you stand even if it means they’ll pay nothing.</p>
<p>If nothing else, apply to a local CSU you could commute to, a local UC if you have one, then other CSU/UC schools you’d like to go to, then some privates. Once you see acceptances and any finAid and your parents apprise you of what, if anything, they’ll cover, you can then determine where to go.</p>
<p>Applying out of state is not an option for me (I live in California)</p>
<p>I applied to mostly UC’s as well as two CSU’s and USC (UC/CSU deadline has passed)</p>
<p>I just wish my parent’s were straightforward about things. They say that a CSU will ultimately be easier to afford; however, they go ahead and list off the UC’s they want me to apply to (some were non-commutable and they realize this). Then they suggest applying to USC “just to see”.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I can get any merit-based scholarships…my numbers aren’t outstanding. 3.6UW, 4.1 W, 2160 SAT.</p>
<p>I have already been accepted into one CSU.</p>
<p>Sigh…they just told me not to worry a few minutes ago…but still…</p>
<p>ZRammy - It’s actually your parents’ responsibility to talk to YOU about funding your college education. And yes, that discussion is certainly a year overdue. </p>
<p>But no use crying over spilt milk. You’ll want to ask your parents how much they can commit to your undergraduate years. Based on what you posted, I doubt they’ll be forthcoming. Try anyway. If they’re still reluctant to give you a commitment, start another thread: </p>
<p>“My Parents won’t cover my EFC and it’s too late to apply for Merit Aid. What are my options?”</p>
<p>ZRammy,
print out some of the cost calculators from the websites of the schools you have applied to, and have your parents sit down and work them out. It might be a good way of introducing a realistic discussion of your options. </p>
<p>If it is difficult to talk to them, right them a polite letter explaining that you don’t want to have difficult discussions come April, or even worse, August…and put the calculators with the letter.</p>
<p>In the letter, I would include a request along the lines of "…and I would like to talk to you about this next Saturday afternoon… and let them know that you realize that they are avoiding the topic maybe because they don’t want to disappoint you… but that you would rather be informed and disappointed now, while you can consider a full range of options, rather than later, when your options may not be as broad.</p>
<p>It’s important that you have knowledge of what your concrete constraints are…and that your family work constructively with them.</p>
<p>ZRammy: I agreee with what the other posters have said. </p>
<p>I’d like to add that at this point you should assume that they will contribute $0 and plan accordingly. Then, if they do contribute something it will be a pleasant surprise instead of expecting them to contribute something and then being unpleasantly surprised by nothing from them.</p>
<p>I think it is great you are thinking about the financial piece. Most students do not until the FA awards come in, or lack thereof (and like yours, many parents do not want to think about it). When I asked, my sister, who has a HS senior D, doesn’t know the 1st FAFSA deadline for the schools her D applied to. She couldn’t say if any of those schools required the CSS Profile. </p>
<p>Now that FAFSA is available online you might nudge your parents gently to take a look at it so they can start gathering information (and perhaps as a result begin a conversation with you about $$).</p>
Most likely they are going to pay for your college, wherever you get in… but gripe about how hard it is every step of the way. (Some people are just like that).</p>
<p>They may try to use finances to influence your decision in favor of a college they prefer. It sounds like they may be thinking that they are willing to pay more for some of the colleges you have applied to, but not necessarily every college. If they had specific UC’s they wanted you to apply to, that might be a key to their thought process. (For example, some parents might think it’s worth paying extra to send their kid to UCLA, but not to UC Riverside --so rather than tell you what they can afford, they are taking a wait-and-see approach to see where you get in. If it’s the preferred campus, they’ll do what it takes to send you there – if it isn’t, they may encourage you to go the CSU route instead).</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is what you want to major in and whether there is likely to be grad school as a possibility. IF finances are a serious issue, probably the cheapest route is going to CCC & then transferring to a UC for your final 2 years & degree. My friend who is a CA resident said that when they attended orientations at UCs, they were told it is much easier to transfer to a UC from a CCC than from a CSU.</p>
<p>If you want to and your family is able to afford it, there are a lot of good UCs out there.</p>
<p>One thing for you & your family to consider is that many do NOT pay all of the college costs out of savings or even all out of current income. Many pay some out of whatever savings they cobbled together, some out of current income and some out of loans. It is expensive for most folks but somehow folks DO manage to make things work out.</p>
<p>Your parents are not alone being secretive about money–that is unfortunately very common. I admit we didn’t provide all that much guidance for our kids, other than telling our S that he needed to apply somewhere he’d get significant merit aid if he wasn’t attending in-state flagship U (where he didn’t even apply).</p>
<p>With an income of >$150K/year, I’m sure your folks will be able to help you make things work out (yes, even tho CA is expensive), which is why not much in FAid is offered for such families. If your family completes the FAFSA, you could qualify for Work Study and student loans, which could be helpful. Work Study is especially nice because many of the best campus jobs are work study.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, why is out of state off the table? With the current cuts\increased tuition in CA state schools, and considering how many of these students take more than 4 years to graduate because of class availability, maybe it might be less expensive to look at oos? I feel for you: sounds like you are trying hard to be adult about this, and aren’t getting much support.</p>
<p>I have thought about going the CCC to UC route; however, it’s not really in my or my parents’ best interest. They’ve mentioned it once, but it’s not something we are considering at the moment.</p>
<p>As for going out of state, it’s not something my parents and I ever discussed. I also haven’t looked at all into out of state schools. I honestly love California way too much to leave right now and I don’t think I’m ready to move so far away from my family just yet. I’ve been quite “sheltered” for my entire life…I haven’t been exposed to many things and I feel that suddenly relocating to another state may be more trouble than it’s worth for me.</p>
<p>@calmom: You bring up an interesting point about my parents perhaps using finances to influence the school I attend. Neither of my parents went to prestigious schools nor do they seem to really have preferences as too which school I attend. I know that one parent has always assumed that I would live at home (I was never asked…I grew up assuming that most people just lived at home during college). The other realizes that I may end up living on campus and is now realizing, after talking to other parents, counselors, etc., that most freshman live on campus. I REALLY want to live on campus…but Parent A is still trying to convince me that most college undergraduates live at home (that may be true…but the percentage of college freshman living at home is quite low, isn’t it?).</p>
<p>Really depends on the U & how far from home the U draws from. Some schools have a LOT more commuters (people living at home) than others. Our public flagship is very much a commuter school & has very few dorms or other student housing. The U our kids attended (a private OOS U) has housing guaranteed for all freshmen & now also all sophomores who want to live on campus; many choose to do so.</p>
<p>It is nice if you can live on campus for a year or two and makes study groups and going to office hours to talk with your instructors and do research MUCH more convenient. If you can convince your family of the academic benefits of living on campus, including holding an on-campus job, it would be more likely that they could be persuaded of its benefits.</p>
<p>I’ve actually compiled a lot of resouces about the benefits of living on campus…I plan on showing them when the time is right…I just don’t know when that time will be. I’m actually very scared to do so. I know it won’t be easy at all to convince them…they think it’s strange that any student would live on campus if the school is an hour or less away by driving. I actually don’t even have my license yet…and am not close to getting it. It hurts to hear my classmates, teachers, as well as current college freshman talking about how great on-campus living is. All the college presentations/discussions seem to be based on the assumption that freshman will leave home. It really frustrated me when my parents and I were talking to other parents and one said that I wouldn’t have to worry about a driver’s license because I wouldn’t have many places to drive to during college…then my parents automatically said “She’s commuting”…like they’ve already made the choice since I was born (and they have).</p>
<p>And only two of the schools I applied to aren’t residential…</p>
<p>Sorry, now I’m just venting…I don’t have anyone I can talk about my feelings about college with. As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t have much of an open relationship with my parents.</p>
<p>Is there a family member that your parents respect that might be willing to be your ally, AFTER you’ve received your acceptances and are trying to choose your college? This might be an uncle or aunt or someone else they respect? Sometimes that might be better received than something you would say to them.</p>