Help!

Paying for College
1

<p>So... My parents make 500,000 + BUT they only want to pay 25,000 a year.... I live in california and applied to some UC's and some reach schools aroudn the east coast.
3.2/4.1 gpa (I know it is odd)
29 act</p>

<p>They refuse to fill out the fafsa or the css profile and I am at a loss.... I have no idea what they are thinking.... </p>

<p>(FYI 25,000 = tuition +room + board + fees + books etc)</p>

<p>I want to find some school that will give me a fill scholarship even though it is lower caliber. I am just at a loss so any other advice you have... I am down for anything. Just do not suggest talking to my parents. I've been there so ahs my counselor.... </p>

<p>HELP</p>

2

<p>The in-state cost of attendance at the UCs is about $28,000/year. (Tuition/room/board/books/expenses) With a summer job and part-time work during the school year it should be no problem to come up with the $3,000 your parents won’t cover. You are in excellent shape - MUCH better than most.</p>

3

<p>I don’t know what you mean when you say the “make alot of money” (by the way “alot” is not a word – it’s “a lot”) but if their income is high, as you say, there may well be no point in them filling out the FAFSA or the Profile. It’s likely all that would get you is the option to borrow money through an unsubsidized Stafford loan.</p>

<p>So if you’re looking for private, lower caliber schools that might award you a merit scholarship, it may not be necessary for them to file the forms for that either. (Some merit scholarships require it, but others don’t.) But isn’t it late to be looking for more schools at this point? You’d have to find colleges whose deadlines haven’t passed, and especially whose scholarship app deadlines haven’t passed.</p>

<p>$25,000 is quite a bit of money. I’m not sure about the costs in CA, but in my state that is enough for instate tuition at the flagship state univ, with fees, room & board and books. If you can do that in CA, that’s a pretty good deal to have parents willing and able to foot that bill.</p>

<p>In any case, if they are as well off as you suggest, you are not missing out on anything by virtue of their refusal to fill out the FAFSA and the Profile.</p>

4

<p>I suppose I should add this part. I want to go to law school eventually, however, they will not pay a penny towards that. The agreement is whatever I can spend under their budget can be put towards law school.</p>

<p>I also only applied to reach UC’s…
I have been accepted to University of Oregon, Indiana University (with 5000 a year), St. John’s (17,000 a year).
I applied to: NYU, BU, Trinity, Connecticut College, Smith, UCLA, Cal, UCSD</p>

<p>The problem with their refusual to fill out the fafsa is that it makes it difficult for me to get loans.</p>

5

<p>Then go to your local community college for two years and then to a CSU to which you can commute. (CSUs cost about $4,000/yr in tuition and fees.) You can save most of the $100,000 they are giving you for law school. Again, you are in excellent shape.</p>

<p>Yes, with your GPA those UCs are reaches for you.</p>

6

<p>I do understand they are generous, the difficulty is that this just recently came up. They previosuly indicated they would pay for whichever school accepted me, that it was my choice.</p>

7

<p>You could take a gap year and apply to less expensive schools - the CSUs would fall into that category, but as mentioned above two years at a community college first would be the least expensive option.</p>

<p>The loans you would get if your parents DID fill out the FAFSA would not cover the costs at the private univeristies to which you have applied - you would be eligible for $5,500 in unsubsidized Stafford loans your freshman year.</p>

<p>I am sorry your parents changed their minds about college funding - I am sure it is making an already stressful time even more stressful. It is good you are able to see that even though they are not being as generous as they originally indicated, you still are in a much better position that most.</p>

<p>I can think of no schools that would be offering full scholarships at this late date.</p>

8

<p>Re: Your UCs being reaches</p>

<p>Assuming you are UC-eligible (minimum 3.0 UC GPA, all A-G requirements, SAT or ACT plus two SAT subject tests) and are not accepted at the UCs to which you applied, you will be placed in the referral pool and offered a place at UCM and/or UCR. The cost of attendance at those would be about $28,000 - which you could manage with a summer job and part-time school year work. That is an option if you prefer not to attend community college or take a gap year. In graduate school you will be eligible for unsubsidized GRAD PLUS loans up to the cost of attendance.</p>

9

<p>Western New England College (WNEC) in MA offers merit - and I’ve known of students that applied late last year and not only were accepted, but also received merit. They have a merit calculator on their website…<br>
The campus is very nice. They are also well known for their law school.</p>

10

<p>The online merit chart for the above <a href=“http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/index.cfm?selection=doc.4133[/url]”>http://www1.wnec.edu/admissions/index.cfm?selection=doc.4133&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You could also apply to Hampton U <a href=“http://www.hamptonu.edu/studentservices/admissions/scholarship.htm[/url]”>The page you requested cannot be found.;

<p>Well, it is unfortunate that they’ve only recently told you about the money limitation. Unless they’ve recently had a sudden change in financial status, that was pretty lousy of them to do. </p>

<p>It’s too late to apply to Cal states which would be affordable. I hope that if you get accepted to a UC that they will stretch the $25k requirement to at least pay for that. If not, you’ll have to works summers and during the year to build up some savings and pocket money.</p>

11

<p>Some how there is more to this tale – but, ok, you have a budget of $25 K a year. Many kids would feel like they had died and gone to heaven with that sort of backing. I suspect the reason that your parents won’t fill out forms is because they do NOT want you to sink under a world of debt. Please respect that. It is very easy for students to sign their lives away and live in the moment – and not have the debt be a meaningful part of their lives until graduation – at which point it RUINS lives. </p>

<p>I doubt you will get a full ride anywhere at this late date unless you are a superior athlete or a National Merit Scholar. </p>

<p>You may be looking at a year or a semester of community college while you sort out your options. Do not be whiney if this is the case. $25K is still $25K. It may be your parents are keeping you on a short leash because they think you are immature. Don’t make that be true. Don’t whine. Do the best you can with the resources you have in a mature fashion. </p>

<p>Look at Humboldt and at Albertson’s in Idaho. Look at Western Washington U in Bellingham, WA (beautiful campus, smaller school). Look at Pacific U in Oregon which offers some strong merit aid (particularly for IB diploma kids). </p>

<p>Ball State University is $28K for out of state students – very close to your budget. That’s where David LEtterman attended. You might search for Best Buy in Colleges. That got me to the Forbes Best Buy college rankings:</p>

<p>[Center</a> for College Affordability and Productivity: The Forbes/CCAP Best Buy College Rankings](<a href=“http://collegeaffordability.blogspot.com/2009/08/forbesccap-best-buy-college-rankings.html]Center”>The Center for College Affordability and Productivity: The Forbes/CCAP Best Buy College Rankings)</p>

<p>Your challenge right now is that it is past application season for fall 2010 except for those schools that have rolling admissions (somewhere here there is a rolling admissions thread). </p>

<p>You might also read “Toxic Parents” and “Emotional Blackmail”, two books by Susan Forward. She talks about the push and pull that can sour family life and how to have both love and boundaries. </p>

<p>Lastly, you might (maturely – no eye rolling or door slamming or foot stomping) provide your parents with information on how college costs have sky rocketed. Thirty years ago a kid could wait tables part time and pay a significant amount of college costs. These days it is not possible. Pencil out for them how much you would make if you worked 20 hours a week while in school (even a cheap school of their choice) and they may be surprised how small a % of campus costs you can earn. </p>

<p>Lastly, listen carefully to what it is they WANT from you and for you. What is their vision for your life? It’s not that you have to do things exactly their way – but if the tight strings are because they are worried for you, then how can you address the worries? </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

12

<p>College of Idaho is $27K a year. Very doable on your budget</p>

13

<p>Are the above recommended schools still taking apps?</p>

<p>I think the frustrating part is that the parents recently told the student this change in budget limit. That’s a problem because the Cal State’s app deadline was last NOVEMBER.</p>

14

<p>The frustrating part is that my parents recently bought a SECOND house and are in the process of building another one. They currently have four cars that cost more than 70,000, in addition to 3 that are less. They dream for me to be a mother and have five kids just like them. They have always encouraged me to go to college, but are being so odd about it now. They are currently encouraging my younger brother to work for MIT.</p>

15

<p>dconfused…you DO have options. $25K per year is enough to cover your instate costs with you working to make the additional money you need. If you chose the community college route for one year, it would be even less costly.</p>

<p>Many students do not have the options you have. I guess I’m saying…be grateful for what you have and work with it.</p>

16

<p>*They have always encouraged me to go to college, but are being so odd about it now. They are currently encouraging my younger brother to work for MIT.</p>

<p>The frustrating part is that my parents recently bought a SECOND house and are in the process of building another one. They currently have four cars that cost more than 70,000, in addition to 3 that are less. They dream for me to be a mother and have five kids just like them.
*</p>

<p>Have you asked your parents if your brother will have the same $25k budget? If you haven’t, you should.</p>

<p>My gut is telling me this… They are a bit old-fashioned and aren’t comfortable spending $200k+ for your college education because they…</p>

<p>1) don’t like the private colleges that you’ve applied to</p>

<p>2) think that your likely career isn’t worth the money.</p>

<p>3) don’t think you’ll be a strong student because you’ve gotten a lot of B’s in high school.</p>

<p>4) they think that you’ll marry and have kids, and may not have a “big career,” so spending more than $100k on your undergrad is “enough.”</p>

<p>Are any of the above true?</p>

<p>BTW…is it too late to apply to Azusa Pacific and get a scholarship?</p>

<p>*Vassar
Connecticut College
Smith College
Trinity (CT)
Wellesley
NYU
Boston U
U Rochester</p>

<p>caucasian female
public high school in california
top 250 school…</p>

<p>-GRADES-
3.17 uw gpa
4.1 w gpa*</p>

17

<p>What is your UC GPA? </p>

<p>Your chances for Berkeley and UCLA are lowish, but your chances for UCSD are good.</p>

<p>You should at least try to get your parents to commit that they will pay for all of your UC costs.</p>