<p>okay, so let me preface this by stating that my parents are highly irresponsible. i dont mean that as an insult or to be a bratty kid; it is merely fact.
what happened: my parents allowed me to apply EDII to Colgate, and I got in. However, we didn't get ANY financial aid...my parents seemed to expect that we would.
Colgate is about 55,000 dollars a year. I LOVE Colgate, obviously, but my parents now tell me that if i want to go, they will pay 35,000 a year and they will lend me the other 20,000 from their retirement fund.
That means that I will be 80,000 in debt to my parents when I graduate, and that doesn't include grad school debt, if I choose to go.
I'm also worried that the 36,000 will be a terrible burden to them, as they plan to retire fairly soon, and like I said, they are not great at money management. We have a house in Colorado, Connecticut and Canada that they have to pay for on top of all of this.
Now, I got accepted to Tulane with a 20,000 scholarship, but I don't want to go there at all!! I absolutely do not like the school and only applied on a whim.
I applied to McGill, which my parents have told me they can easily pay for, but I have not heard back yet because my second quarter grades have not been sent yet (due to tons of snowdays at school delaying the whole process).
I have to send my deposit to Colgate in 2 weeks, and then I am locked in for good.
I could say no because we can't pay, and then pray I get into McGill, but the problem is, my grades weren't great for quarter to (they went down to a 3.5 from a 3.9) and I'm concerned that this will affect my chances at McGill. If I got into McGill, I would be fully willing to go there, though its not my first choice.
I know you probably have a headache just reading this, but please, please help me. I don't know what to do and my parents refuse to advise me, stating I can do whatever I want.</p>
<p>80k is too much debt for an undergraduate education. Your parents can pay 35k. You need to find a place that is less expensive.</p>
<p>Colgate is out. You don’t like Tulane. Where else did you apply besides McGill? Do either Colorado or Connecticut consider you an in-state resident? If so, take another long hard look at the institutions in those states. One might work for you.</p>
<p>Hi there. I would not want to see you “trapped” in a position where you feel ethically that you have to look after your retired parents financially and that seems quite possible if you were to borrow the $80 k from them based on your comments. That’s just too much pressure for a young person starting out. It is unfortunate that your parents were naive about what financial aid is available and what types of life situations qualify (owning three houses, for example, is usually not a characteristic of the needy ;)</p>
<p>However, you still have some great options. Don’t go to a school you don’t like just for the sake of going to school. McGill is not likely to penalize you for a single quarter of sub-optimal performance provided you stay above a 3.5 (their national cutoff). If for any reason you don’t get into McGill, there are some additional great options in Canada that will accept a late application, I believe. Do you have dual citizenship? Is your parents’ Canadian house in Montreal? Canadian applications and acceptances are on a later cycle than the US, as you’ve discovered. In this case, however, you can use that fact to your advantage.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a smaller, intimate LAC environment, there are a few of those in Cda as well (Simon Fraser, Mt. Allison). </p>
<p>Good luck! FYI - One more thing. The average debt on Graduation is approx $22k – which makes for a payback of roughly $280 a month. That’s pretty much a car payment or part health insurance or part rent. That’s considered a “reasonable” amount of debt. As you can gather, payback on $80k is going to be four times that amount, more than $1,000 – and THAT’s a HOUSE, or THREE CARS or ALL GROCERY/ENT BUDGET in a month etc. You get the idea. You have to scale your debt to your future earning power very conservatively if you want to build your wealth steadily and be in a decent position later in life. So – you’re off to a good start by contemplating the impact of college debt now. Best wishes to you!</p>
<p>Financial reasons are a valid reason for breaking a ED contract - particularly if a college offered you 0 aid.</p>
<p>There are still some good affordable colleges that are accepting applications until March 1st. </p>
<p>If you would need to use non-federally subdized loans, the costs would be much higher. For the $21K or so of allowed Federal subsidized loans, the Feds subsidize the interest rate and pay the interest while you are in college and for a few months afterwards. </p>
<p>With other loans, the rates are higher and the interest starts to accrue a couple months later. Therefore, $12K of non-subsidizied loans may end up costing as much in the end as $21K of subsidized loans. The more debt you take on, the higher your interest rates may become for the next loan. If you add on any quickly multiplying late penalties, many people end up paying twice as much for a private loan as they borrowed.</p>
<p>Hmmm, there’s a thread from August where the OP stated that the family income was in the 250K range and advice at that time was that OP would likely not receive financial aid with that family income level. Yet OP applied ED anyway? (250K plus 3 houses?)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/977212-my-parents-make-250k-but.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/977212-my-parents-make-250k-but.html</a></p>
<p>If you can’t afford to pay the bills for Colgate, you need to turn down their offer of admission. Hopefully you have found a school that your family CAN afford (and that you wish to attend) and have already applied there.</p>
<p>With THREE houses and a family income of $250,000 a year, you will not receive need based aid ANYWHERE.</p>
<p>Why the HECK would a family that owns several homes think it’s going to qualify for FA? </p>
<p>Anyway…$80k is waaaaaaay tooooo much for undergrad…it’s over twice as much as what is recommended.</p>
<p>Why don’t you like Tulane?</p>
<p>What other schools besides Tulane and McGill did you apply to?</p>
<p>There are still some schools accepting apps…</p>
<p>What are your stats? What is your major?</p>
<p>I can’t argue with the advice you’ve been given above, but there is one correct answer to your question. You applied ED to a school with no reasonable expectation of financial aid. You were accepted, so the deal to which you agreed was that you’re now to commit to Colgate and withdraw all other applications. There’s an out for ED applicants who applied needing aid and didn’t get as much as they needed, but $250K per year + three homes makes that argument moot. Can you back out now and get away with it? Probably, but other schools have every right to deny you admission if they find out that you took an ED slot from another applicant and reneged on it.</p>
<p>Boy oh boy I’m almost speechless and I agree with gadad’s opinon. You are entitled to take out the full amount in Stafford loans for college and if your parents have poor cash flow they can certainly take out PLUS loans until they sell one of the houses and so they don’t have to dip into their “retirement funds” but clearly there was going to be “no need” involved with your original EDII application. Sounds like you applied to more than one school “on a whim.”</p>
<p>Gadad has a good point. The school MET your need (which was no need). Your family owns your primary residence PLUS three other homes. Income is VERY high. </p>
<p>I hope you applied to UConn or one of the Connecticut State University schools. As an instate resident of CT, these should be affordable for your family.</p>
<p>Colgate is not going to tie you to a tree and make you attend.</p>
<p>After reading this (and the other thread), I wouldn’t call your parents “highly irresponsible” - it sounds like they’re trying to support you and both sisters as best they can. But for sure, they were naive about the financial aid (and ED), but lots of people make the same mistake. </p>
<p>From the other thread, they’re unfortunately locked up in real estate, just after a historic market meltdown. It’s not so easy to sell a house in those circumstances. Their houses came from an inheritance, a job transfer, and an investment to help your very sick sister. So their cash flow is a problem. </p>
<p>I suppose that I’m suggesting that you stay respectful and grateful; that $35k/yr plus loan is a very generous gift, and you should remember that!</p>
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<p>Actually MrK, the $35K is what the family will PAY. That will more than fund this student’s education at MANY schools.</p>
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<p>Including Tulane where she got at $20K scholarship.</p>
<p>bkuegoldfish, are you a US citizen/permanent resident? You mention on your other thread that your family is from Canada. </p>
<p>It’s a tough decision, especially since you clearly love Colgate (I do too), but I think that you have to consider whether it’s fair to your 60 y.o. parents and your sister to take them up on their offer to lend you money in excess of their already generous offer of $35K/year. What will happen if they need that money before you can get it back to them? How will you pay for grad school if you’re already $80K in the red? Are you still intending a Classics major? I think you may have to compromise on your undergrad selection in order to achieve your longer term goals. Hopefully McGill will come through for you but, if not, Tulane is a good school and there’s always the option to another school after 2 years if you find that their program does not meet your expectations. In the meantime, you will have saved yourself (and your parents) a considerable amount money/stress over the financial situation.</p>
<p>Classics Major? Canadian? Why haven’t you applied to U of T? [Department</a> of Classics](<a href=“http://classics.chass.utoronto.ca/]Department”>http://classics.chass.utoronto.ca/)</p>