<p>Hello,
I'm a senior looking at colleges. My top choice is Dartmouth and I would love to go there, especially after going on an official. I've looked into a ton of other schools, but nothing feels as right as Dartmouth did when I visited. You guys know the feeling. My worry is paying for it. I'm planning on doing a double major in business administration and biology and either continuing into the business world or getting a DDS. My parents said they'd cover half of the tuition. Can you guys please offer me some tips? I'm willing to take out a loan to go to the school I enjoyed so much. Financial aid has said there's nothing available for me.</p>
<p>If your parents are only covering half of the tuition, I don’t think you’re going to be able to borrow enough to pay the other half plus all the rest of the costs such as room, board, books, fees, transportation, personal expenses. Unless you can score a great scholarship you’re probably better off turning your attention to your second favorite school. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but…</p>
<p>The Cost of Attendance for Dartmouth for 2010-2011 was $55,000 a year. Of that, was around $40,000. If your parents are willing to pay half of tuition (@$20,000) that leaves you around $35,000 to come up with. You can’t borrow that in your own name. You would have to have a cosigner. Even if your parents are willing to cosign, you certainly should not even think of borrowing $35,000 a year just to go to a school you will enjoy. Unless you are paying the interest each year while you are in school, the debt (including interest) will have grown to around $170,000 by the time you graduate, leaving you with payments of $2000 a month every month for 10 long years</p>
<p>Unless you are eligible for some really good financial aid or some good scholarships, you need to also apply to more affordable schools.</p>
<p>$20,000 a year at 8% interest will be a little under $100,000 at the end of 4 years. The monthly payments would be around** $1200 a month every month for 10 years**. What do you think?</p>
<p>And of course your parents would have to cosign the loans as no one will lend you the money without a cosigner (without a cosigner, you can only get $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore year, and $7500 the last two years in federal loans).</p>
<p>I would have strongly discouraged either of my kids from taking on this sort of debt.</p>
<p>I agree that $80K is way too much debt for an undergrad degree. At the most, $40K might be reasonable. What will you do if you decide to go to grad school after that and you’re already buried in a mountain of debt?</p>
<p>Do you guys think it will be worth it later if I go do Dartmouth? The local school is the University of Washington, which is not a bad option either, and much, much cheaper. I really did love the feel of Dartmouth though, it just felt like the place for me.</p>
<p>I hate to say this but if your parents have set a financial limit on the amount they are WILLING to pay…you will need to live within their budget. You (the student) will not be able to get loans sufficient to cover the balance at Dartmount in your name only. You will need a cosigner to do so. Even with that, as Swimcatsmom pointed out, you will have staggering monthly repayment bills for at least ten years…staggering.</p>
<p>Dartmouth doesn’t award merit aid (you already know that) so any aid you get from the school will solely be based on your parents income and assets. If financial aid says “there is nothing for you” that would imply a pretty “solvent” income for your parents.</p>
<p>If you REALLY have the stats to be a competitive admit to Dartmouth, then you have the stats to garner significant merit aid from another school that offers merit aid.</p>
<p>I know you “love” Dartmouth, but someone has to pay the bills or you won’t be able to attend.</p>
<p>Re: convincing your parents to pay more? What would be your compelling reason that Dartmouth is “the” place? To be honest, the majors you are listing are offered at more than hundreds of colleges/universities.</p>