<p>There is a full ride on offer as well? Then why are we even having this conversation? Take that full ride! If you have some spare change left over from a summer job, give it to your mom for the family. But get that nearly free education so you can move forward in your life.</p>
<p>If your aunt still wants to help you, let her chip in for a decent used car or for your your books.</p>
<p>OP, if there’s a full ride on the table, I would take that for sure. However, I would also attend community college before I went on the hook for $80,000 in loans. And even if your aunt is co-signing and intends to pay those loans back, you ARE on the hook, and you’re primarily responsible. Out of curiosity, if your aunt can afford to help you, why is she doing it through loans? Is it a liquidity thing, where her wealth is tied up in assets that can’t be readily liquidated? Or is she relying on future income to pay the loans? If these loans are at all a stretch for your aunt, I would NOT want to take them. If she’s independently wealthy and using loans strategically, that’s a different issue.</p>
<p>There is no full ride on the table. This is actually the best FA package I’ve gotten (it’s a small private school, I got 75% paid) lol, I have no idea where this full ride came up. I wish I had a full ride somewhere!</p>
<p>My aunt is a doctor, and on my uncle’s side, (who is a lawyer), is a very wealthy family. As far as I know, they are pretty good on the financial side of things.</p>
<p>The other thing that bothers me about this is that the OP is supposed to find these loans. The best source, for the best deals on student loans would start with the aunt’s banks and resources. At age 18, and a family where there is not a lot of extra money, there are not the banking connections. If this is truly going to be your aunt’s loan, she have the contacts to get the best deal on them. </p>
<p>Do ask her to split the loan in half and pay half the amount even on a monthly basis to your school which will have a payment plan, if you are going this route. You can be in serious trouble if anything happens so that your aunt cannot or will not pay. You really don’t need that.</p>
<p>OK, then we are back to a gap that is unaffordable for a student with an EFC of 0 and whose family finances will go into a tailspin as soon as the family loses the social security income when the student ages out.</p>
<p>If your aunt wants to take out PLUS loans or a home equity loan or just a plain old personal loan in her name, that is fine. However, you absolutely are in no position to be cosigning anything.</p>
<p>If you can take a gap year, earn some money, and apply to a better list where you can get a better aid package, then do that. If your grades and test scores won’t make that possible, go to the community college for two years. Earn that affordable AA or AS or AAS degree. You can probably pay for it with your Pell and the federal loans and still have a bit if money left over. Get excellent grades. Make friends with the Transfer Advisor on your campus so you have help selecting good transfer options. Then if your aunt is ready, willing, and able to help with the last two years, let her take on whatever loans she (not the two of you) wants to for that.</p>
<p>Aunts cannot take PLUS. Only the parents of the student. The outside loans are supposed to be primarily the student’s with the cosigner necessary if the student does not pass the credit check, and few students do, and then both cosigner and student are on the hook equally.</p>
<p>I am certainly confused, too, because I saw the two full rides in previous posts, too. Also, another post in which OP wrote that cost is not an issue. It certainly muddies the conversation when the OP claims different scenarios in different threads…</p>
<p>I think the aunt should look into a home equity line of credit or something. The co-signing thing is scary.</p>
<p>Here’s what I think is happening - because a good friend’s father did the same thing years ago (before the age of Parent Plus). She took out loans to pay her tuition. Her father then invested his own money (maxing out plans at work, buying company stock in the employee plan etc…) From the appreciated assets, he paid her loans off at graduation. That was their deal and it worked. Back then, however, the stock market was more stable.</p>
<p>There is another possibility. If the Aunt really does have the cash but its tied up in investments (real estate, stocks, etc.), taking it out may trigger larger capital gains then she is comfortable with so she prefers to withdraw the money in smaller amounts - or pay it from liquid assets that won’t raise her tax liability.</p>
<p>There may be some logic in this. But as everyone else said - private loans (unlike Parent Plus Loans) are permanent. You can’t get rid of them through illness, bankruptcy, etc. And the terms are not as favorable.</p>
<p>A better idea is for the parents to take out Parent Plus loans which are adjusted by income and have the aunt help pay that back.</p>
<p>Mostly, i get the disappointment, but I’m struck at the fixation (regardless of what the Aunt promised) of having someone else pay for the college education. It’s her money - the price tags these days are huge, and the economy and market returns are down. So her circumstances may have changed. And although you say she’s rich - wealth is “relative” especially if she is nearing or at retirement age.</p>
<p>OP, so you don’t have a full ride at the girl’s school in Boston or the local U which already accepted you?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1485042-i-cant-chose-between-2-schools-because-my-family.html#post15741123[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1485042-i-cant-chose-between-2-schools-because-my-family.html#post15741123</a></p>
<p>Perhaps you should look at a gap year to find a more affordable alternative.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes…why did you write this. this is your story.</p>
<p>*I got accepted into an all girls school in Boston. I’ve always wanted to live in Boston, and I go visit every year because I have family over there. However, now that the option is actually here, I’m freaking out. </p>
<p>It’s not that I have a problem separating from my family, I’m just afraid of how my family will get on without me. Everyone in my family is disabled and can’t work. My mother is having really bad back and leg problems, and it’s difficult for her to walk and drive. Right now, I do all the driving, and shopping. My father can’t drive either. </p>
<p>I know that, obviously when I’m in school, my mom drives, and she goes to the doctor herself when I’m not home, and if she has to shop she can. But I feel bad, because I feel like I would be intentionally making life harder for them, and that I would only be thinking of myself</p>
<p>My English teacher, who I am very close to, said that if I stay, and go to a local university which has already accepted me, I will probably eventually be angry at my family for keeping me down and not letting me study and live where I would like to go. To be honest, I know that I stay where I am now, I will most likely be taking care of my family for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>Money isn’t an issue, since I’ve been offered full rides to both places. What is your input? I have no one else to ask! A part of me kind of hopes I really hate the school in Boston when I visit next week so I don’t feel too bad if I decide to turn it down and stay, but I highly doubt that will happen.*</p>
<p>The aunt just doesn’t seem like she’s being truthful. As a doctor, she should be able to pay for some/most/all out of current income or make monthly payments to the school (is she aware of that option???) The fact that she wants to borrow the entire contribution is odd.</p>
<p>Tell her about the option of making monthly payments to the school…she’d have to pay about 1500 a month or so.</p>
<p>The aunt might have every good intention, and I tend to believe that she has. The problem is that there can be so much that can happen that is out of her control She probably does not have the excess cash or want to pay it out, and figures she can take it on as a bill to be paid…later. Normal, natural. The OP has no leeway, enough financial issues at home that s/eh cannot possibly ask for help. S/he has to find a job and not have any issues on her credit and she needs the money paid each year. School costs go up each year; we all know that. She’s already taking out the Staffords to the tune of $26K plus interest on the unsub portions. An additional $60K in debt at God only knows what interest rate and terms means a life sentence. Period. Life.</p>
<p>No that is poor, working class is about $45,000</p>