<p>Is Cannednish's information correct? If a family has major equity in a house but not much in the way of income or savings is the student not likely to score needbased aid? Or is this case by case depending on the college?</p>
<p>momrath, some schools count the equity in your home as an asset since they feel you could borrow against it (HEL). Others don't.</p>
<p>To clear things up: as of now, I'm not considering medical school, but rather, a Ph.D program...which doesn't change much in terms of cost. I agree with everyone when they say I need to have a serious talk with my mom and dad to discuss options and cost, because everytime I've asked...I haven't gotten a clear answer. My sister who finished medical school mainly used loans to pay for it, and her total debt (undergrad + med school) is around 200k. Debt is a real concern for me, so I think I need to talk to them. However, to clear up questions, my dad owns a small 4-plex 30 or so miles from where I live, and selling the house and living there is an option. My mother works at a local Target, so her income goes towards the smaller bills and most spending money. </p>
<p>Thank you all for all this great advice, I truly hope to put some of it to work.</p>
<p>It's much easier to get funding for a Ph.D. than a M.D. In fact, some schools fund all Ph.D. students as a matter of policy. At the HYPS level, nobody pays for a Ph.D. There's usually a modest living stipend as well. </p>
<p>However, it's a bit unrealistic to think you are SURE you want a Ph.D. or M.D. when you are 17. Having said that...it's usually the professional degrees--M.D. , J.D., MBA, and terminal master's that must be paid for.</p>
<p>It is really so outrageous for a man who's been in and out of a job for three years not to want to spend $160K on a school 3K miles away that he's barely heard of, especially when his own state has an excellent State U system and the child is taking about still more school after college?</p>
<p>I agree that money might be the real thing on his mind. I can't blame him, really.</p>
<p>PhDs in the science area are often funded through being a teaching assistant or researcher (or both). Not like med, law, or biz school (but if you go to med, law, or biz school, you can go on career tracks that will earn you enough money to pay off school debts). I can't speak to PhDs in humanities. </p>
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<blockquote> <p>It is really so outrageous for a man who's been in and out of a job for three years not to want to spend $160K on a school 3K miles away that he's barely heard of, especially when his own state has an excellent State U system and the child is taking about still more school after college?<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>In order to do it, the parent must be convinced that the small LAC education/experience has something to offer that big State U doesn't, something worth spending the extra money. That's what OP must try to do.</p>
<p>With investment property, in addition to the house, I think OP is right that finaid may be hard to come by.</p>
<p>To answer momrath's question, yes his information is correct for most schools using the profile. This is a major issue for families in places like CA where modest homes are often worth millions. A large part of the huge popularity of the UC system which does not count home equity. You see kids turning down HYPSMAWS for just this reason.</p>
<p>I can't see why it shouldn't be. Investment gain is investment gain, only in the case of home ownership you get both a tax write-off and free rent! No has to sell their house to pay for tuition - that's precisely what home equity loans are for. And if you have a modest million dollar home, if you borrow $40k a year, real estate values are going up far faster than 4% a year, so you come out ahead, with an essentially free education. I've got a friend who paid for four private college educations for each of her kids this way, then eventually sold the 6-bedroom house, and moved into a $750k condo. </p>
<p>No pity here.</p>
<p>A $750,000 condo is a dump in some parts of Northern California.</p>
<p>Cannednish, find some cheaper schools. If your dad doesn't feel comfortable spending the money, he shouldn't spend the money.</p>
<p>Not asking for pity, but for many families, finding the dollars every month to pay for the newly bigger mortgage is difficult. And many areas in CA are high on the list for expected house price deflation.</p>
<p>No one suggested it was a picnic; at the same time, the homeowner supposedly has paid in equity in addition to the capital gain. Higher mortgage? Bigger tax write-off. House price deflation? Same thing happens with many folks' college savings when the stock market comes down.</p>
<p>I am not suggesting anything other than that home ownership is (and always has been) a fixed form of savings that you can live inside. It is has always been the single most important form of small business capital formation in this country, and can fund education just as well as it can businesses, so there's no reason why a college shouldn't consider it. Californians, in addition, are doubly lucky, with probably the best and most highly developed system of public higher education in the country.</p>
<p>Mini, this is one area where I don't agree with you. It is very expensive to live in California. I would never tell someone to mortgage their house to pay for their kid's college. I believe in Marin County, a family of three needs an income over $60,000 to stay out of poverty.</p>
<p>I find the following link scary. </p>
<p><a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/special/live05.html%5B/url%5D">http://biz.yahoo.com/special/live05.html</a></p>
<p>The fancy homes in most areas, won't buy much more than dirt in many parts of California.</p>
<p>The median family income in San Francisco is $52k - that means half the families live on less than that. Not talking "poor" people here - just the average ones. It IS expensive to live in California (remember, I moved from Santa Cruz); owning a million-dollar home is hardly equivalent to wearing a hairshirt.</p>
<p>I happen to live well - VERY WELL - on less than a third of what the article you posted suggests is necesary to live well in Billings, Montana (and I put away $20k/year toward retirement.)</p>
<p>At any rate, Cannednish's dad owns a four-plex - isn't that the very definition of an "investment property"?</p>
<p>There are no kids left in SF. so the median family income comes from 1 or 2 person households. (I am only slightly exagerating). Families of three making $52,000 are not doing well in SF.</p>
<p>Didn't suggest they are "doing well" - only that they are "doing". If they've got a million-dollar home, it would probably help a little. ;)</p>
<p>It helps when you need to go to a retirement home. It also helps the beneficiaries of your estate. :)</p>
<p>I know some people in the situation of the OP's dad. They would take out a second mortgate, but they can't make the payments. :(</p>
<p>PS How do save $20,000 a year on that income? That is amazing.</p>
<p>Saw this on another thread.</p>
<p>To the OP, I know a number of students who were in the same situation with their families who demanded name-brand schools and pre-med majors or else they would withold support. Some chose to go to Harvard/Princeton, etc. and rely on their parents while others chose to go to "lesser" schools with superb scholarship programs that gave them all the money they needed plus a plethora of opportunities and personal touches that probably exceed what name brand schools can provide. If you're a national merit finalist, you can get fullride scholarships at a number of schools around the nation. Though it may be a step down in the prestige department, it'll save you money for med school and liberate you from the financial whims of your parents while still giving you a great education.</p>
<p>Maybe you should request a Swarthmore video. I don't know if they offer one, but if they do, that may be a good way to see the campus, so contact the office of admissions.
Also, as an incoming student at Columbia, class of 2009, maybe Columbia is a good compromise. You say it is one of your top choices, and it is a research university with a "brand name." Your dad knows it's a great school for pre-med, but you can take world-class humanities classes or whatever you're interested in.
I'm not sure if US News rankings would be the best source, because LAC's are ranked separately, so one could not get a good sense of how Swarthmore compares to HYP.</p>