Is there anyone in the guidance staff at your high school that can help you with this… I am certain they will want a graduate of their school to attend Brown ~ the solution may even be a scholarship in your community for a student attending an Ivy that you have no ideas even exists. I am also certain that there is money there for you and that you will find it… even if it’s working in a restaurant on Block Island all summer and sharing a room in a house! Definitely let Brown know exactly what the financial issues are~ they may have an easy solution~! good luck!
As someone who paid my own way to go to an Ivy, I can tell you: the doors it opens will be totally worth it – not just when you graduate but throughout your life and career. Take on a little more debt if you need to. It will be like night and day between Brown and UNT.
Any other family members that can help you out? Each set of grandparents gifting you even $500 / yr can close much of that gap.
@Ibzfdr can you send me a pm? I have a friend who works at Brown and may be able to ask around for you - or even put you in touch w current students if you’d like
What about your own loans? Perkins is low interest and in your name, not your parents. Could close the gap.
Rooting for you!!
My son was in a similar position .the Brown name and connections got him well-paid internships in the summer and he also worked on campus. He graduated with $10 k in debt but got a job and easily paid it off. We did write about “ special circumstances” in the CSS Profile and before he attended I met with Financial Aid and said he wanted to go but we did not want to be in a position later of taking him out. I hope you can also talk to them. By the way community awards usually reduce your aid by the same amount. Also as I remember Brown did not require any work freshman year. I hope you can go for it! Brown is such a great school.
Brown just got back to me and said that they can’t reduce the cost, but can offer to replace work study and my summer contribution with direct and indirect loans. That still leaves over $7,000. If I can give $1,500 from my summer job and still have money for travel and other expenses, That still leaves $5,500 left unpaid.
I can’t take out a Perkins loan because that program ended in 2017, and I’m not sure if my parents are willing to cosign additional loans for me. Most likely not. At this point, it’s looking like I would end up $44,000 in debt, with my parents cosigned for half of that, on the off chance that they do cosign. It doesn’t look like other family members can help me. At this point, it just doesn’t seem possible. Does anyone have any ideas?
@Ibzfdr how about a crowdrise or other funding mechanism? Honest to god, I’d contribute! Anyone else have ideas? Local scholarships? Are your parents in a union? Does your high school offer anything?
We’re rooting for you!
After clarifying some things with the financial aid office, it looks like replacing works study will still allow me to work, which is good, but that still leaves me with an extra $3,000 to come up with (as opposed to $5,500 like I thought earlier).
In all honesty, I’m probably going to start a gofundme campaign to attempt to cover as much of that as I can. It looks like any outside scholarships that I earn will replace work-study (which is already replaced by loans) before they just start reducing need-based aid, so those won’t help much.
Thanks for everyone’s words of encouragement!
Congratulations, you should be extremely proud of all the work you put in to have such a great opportunity.
I can’t speak to how to close the immediate gap but I would highlight that in short order you will be able to get higher paying summer internships and obviously have greater post grad earning power to pay off loans. You also may be able to find some paying opportunities while on campus although time management may be a challenge.
Good luck and I will play in the Gofundme. Go Bruno.
Ditto. Just take care that the GoFund me proceeds don’t get counted by the school as outside scholarships. Best of luck!
I just found this thread and am eager to know where you are in your decision @lbzfdr Congratulations on your accomplishments! My S is facing a similar decision between Princeton and several BM programs—he is still unsure with a week and a half left to decide. My opinion is that the Ivy option is the best choice for both of you. Good luck!
I went back and reread your post with the additional financial info now. I think UNT with a full ride is a fantastic option. UNT is a great school for composition and for electronic work. One of the best for the latter. In fact, the composer at Brown that I know went to UNT for grad.
I think you should consider this. For music and specifically your interests, UNT is a good fit and for undergrad, if you are in music, avoiding debt may be important.