<p>soo....I just got my "award" letter. all I see are loans...nothin' else. how the hell am I going to be able to repay all this debt in the end?! the COA for my schools range from $35000 to $44000 (i haven't decided what school yet). help, i'm not even in college yet and i'm already freaking out about the potential debt that i can be in....</p>
<p>Well, you now know that you can’t afford that school. You cannot borrow more than $5,500 in federal loans your first year of college. Anything more than that would have to be through your parents or a co-signer. Taking on significantly more debt than that each year is a recipe for financial disaster.</p>
<p>If all your schools have COA of $35-44,000, did you not apply to any affordable, in-state public schools?</p>
<p>Edit: I see from your previous posts you’re in Illinois and were accepted to UIUC. Are there any state schools you can live at home and commute to - such as Illinois State or the Western/Southern/Eastern/Northern/SIUE group?</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>how much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>What loans are in the FA pkg? </p>
<p>Are there any Parent Plus loans in there? If so, your parents would have to agree to those.</p>
<p>I see that you have an ACT 32 and a 4.0 GPA…did you apply anywhere that would give you large merit for that?</p>
<p>Either apply quickly to a school that would give you large merit or do a gap year and reapply.</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>our EFC is $11000. no, i did not apply to any safety schools that would give me money based on my merit or achievements. i applied to UIUC as the only public university in illinois. the loans in the letter were $5500 in federal loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) and the rest in parent plus loans, which comes out to be around $16000. at this point, i plan to major in chemical engineering</p>
<p>Safety schools are not only schools that give money based on merit or achievements. In fact unless the awards are guaranteed based on certain achieved scores, they are not financial safety schools. </p>
<p>UIUC, like most all state schools, does not guarantee to meet 100%$ of need, and does not meet most of their students’ need. They did not give you any money from what you have said. The Stafford loans are from the government and you can use them at any accredited college. PLUS is not awarded. It is just an option for your parents who will have to apply for the loan, and may or may not get it, depending on their credit report. If they are turned down, the government will allow you to borrow another $4K in Stafford money. </p>
<p>What is the total cost of attendance for you at this school? Do you have any less expensive options? Bear in mind that both the Staffords and PLUS are loans that you can take out and apply (if your parents pass the credit screening) to any of your schools. So what you need to do is to take the bottom line cost of each of those schools which is their Cost of attendance for you minus any Grant money they award to you. You can then compare costs and see which ones your family can afford.</p>
<p>If your family is not in position to pay for any of those schools, look for a local state school to which you can commute. If you then take out the Stafford loans, you can either stash the money for future use, and you and your parents pay for the school out of earnings that year, saving what you can, you might have enough saved up to be able to go to UIUC after your second year locally. </p>
<p>Otherwise you need to look for a local school for all four years.</p>
<p>Oh my…with your stats, if you had applied to schools that give assured LARGE merit, you’d have an affordable financial safety. 
</p>
<p>Who advised you with your app list? You weren’t advised well. </p>
<p>Since you don’t have an affordable school, you should take a gap year and reapply. Work during the next year and don’t take any classes. Don’t ruin your incoming frosh status.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t have more than $30k of debt at the end of graduation…that’s TOTAL for all four years.</p>
<p>Now, if you take a gap year and apply to a few schools that give assured merit and a few other schools (like UMinn), you’ll have at least a few VERY affordable schools. Ones where you might not have to borrow anything!!!</p>
<p>How much are your parents paying???</p>
<p>You’re not a NMF by any chance???</p>
<p>If you refuse to do a gap year and reapply, then do this…(please!!)</p>
<p>Apply to UA Huntsville immediately (app is easy …no essays, no LORs). With your stats, they will give you…</p>
<p>Free tuition (including OOS)
$500</p>
<p>(they may even offer more to sweeten the pot).</p>
<p>Your remaining costs would be about your EFC. So, if your parents can pay all or some of your EFC, you might not need ANY loans at all. </p>
<p>Do not worry about scholarship deadlines. They are still awarding to OOS students. They want more. </p>
<p>UAH is located in Cummings Research Park. It is strong in engineering and because of it’s location, internships, co-ops and jobs abound. </p>
<p>the area is very nice (I live a few miles away). </p>
<p>The school is very attractive and well maintained. And, well funded. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uah.edu/images/admissions/Financial%20Aid/Documents/scholarship.pdf[/url]”>http://www.uah.edu/images/admissions/Financial%20Aid/Documents/scholarship.pdf</a></p>
<p>[UAHuntsville</a> - Home](<a href=“http://www.uah.edu/index.php]UAHuntsville”>http://www.uah.edu/index.php)</p>
<p>Look here for more info about ChemE at this school and what the school and the area have to offer.
[UAHuntsville</a> - Why Study Here?](<a href=“http://www.uah.edu/eng/departments/cme/prospective-students/why-study-here]UAHuntsville”>http://www.uah.edu/eng/departments/cme/prospective-students/why-study-here)</p>
<p>Huntsville is known for having a very high concentration of PhDs…which it was named one of the “geekiest cities.”</p>
<p>it’s nickname is Rocket City because of NASA. </p>
<p>The city was named Best City by Kiplingers
<a href=“http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2009/05/25/daily5.html[/url]”>http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2009/05/25/daily5.html</a></p>
<p>i’m not going to take a gap year. since i was waitlisted recently to Northwestern, i think i’ll just wait and see if i get admitted or not…(hopefully i will) because i know they would help A LOT. if not, then i think i should try to go to a public school for one year and then try to transfer to another school. does that sound like a good plan or not?</p>
<p>BAD plan.</p>
<p>Transfer students get poor aid and little merit. You’ll be in a worse situation than you are now.</p>
<p>Don’t wait to learn about NU…few get off their WL. </p>
<p>Get an app in now for a school that will still award you lots of money. </p>
<p>If anything, you can go to that school (with money in hand) and IF you find another school that will let you transfer AND give you money …then do that. </p>
<p>But go for the MONEY now.</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that very little merit funding is awarded to transfer students–nearly all of it goes to FRESHMEN that the U is trying to attract. Please re-think your options. Any plan that includes a potential >$100K debt is NOT a viable plan.</p>
<p>There are way too many people who incur a year or two of crushing debt and then drop out or have to transfer & don’t even get their degree from expensive U–either they get it from another U or don’t even get a degree because they’re busy paying down debt.</p>
<p>$100K is a LOT of debt, as has been pointed out. Agree with above post–if you don’t want to take a gap year, go for MONEY – NOW while there are still being funds awarded for kids with your stats, like Huntsville.</p>
<p>Did you know that NU’s stats for coming off the WL are THIS bad???</p>
<p>Wait list Statistics
Offered place on wait list…3,537 </p>
<p>Accepted from list…0</p>
<p>See that??? ZERO were accepted from NU’s WL. </p>
<p>Even if they accept a few, then very likely the kids will have higher stats than yours AND won’t have need (since schools are often “need aware” when choosing kids from the WL)</p>
<p>well, i have a fun future ahead of me…</p>
<p>Right now, you’re allowing your life to be affected by a lot of unknowns. You’re hoping that NU will accept you (but that’s really HIGHLY unlikely). </p>
<p>You’re thinking that maybe you’ll go to a state school for a year and then transfer. That’s not going to work out since you need lots of aid/merit to avoid large unaffordable loans.</p>
<p>There are 1-3 schools (that I know about) that will give you LARGE merit if you apply now…UAH, UABirmingham, and likely Mississippi State. Having been to all three schools, I would say that UAH and UAB are tied for first choice. Both are very good, good locations, well kept schools, well funded, etc. both schools are populated with kids who are transplants to the south. </p>
<p>Not applying to such schools and let life just smack you in the face with whatever comes along is just a bad idea. </p>
<p>Take control. Give yourself some back ups. </p>
<p>you don’t have to go if another option opens up.</p>
<p>Read the thread “At a Loss” on this board. The young woman, Franny, was in the same sort of situation you are. It happens a lot. There is a lot of advice there that can pertain to you as well. Basically, if you want to give it another go next year, it would be beneficial to retain your standing as a freshman because as others have said, most money goes to the freshmen, both financial aid and merit. Even schools that say they are need blind and meet full need, may not have that policy extended to transfers.</p>
<p>As for NU, of course you can hope. But you see the numbers. Also some schools do not have the same aid package policies for waitlisted students. Not that it matters much, looking at the admit stats from WL. So, yes, file the wait list material but recognize it as a lottery ticket and make some other plans. You can look at some other options that may be affordable, or sit out the year and try again with the new knowledge you have. Also, next month, schools that still need students will come out on a list, and some have financial aid available, and you may want to check them out. </p>
<p>You should discuss the situation with your parents and get their feedback. Let them know of the options we are listign for you. See what their take is on the situation.</p>
<p>Take care and let us know what you end up doing. Good luck.</p>