MY family is in the middle class but my dad (the main bread winner) lost his job for 2 years so they exhausted their savings, invests, etc. These were the prices of the colleges I tried Swarthmore- $11,000 Boston Univeristy- $20,000
Boston College- $19,000 Vassar- $17,000 Macalster- $18,500. My parents make $110,000. I live in Illnois and this summer I was going to plan a trip to the northeast to look at these colleges. I am the only one paying for my college. I need to know if these are accurate because if they are I will visit them. I really don’t want a whole bunch of debt. Please help! Would it be good to contact a fiinacial admissions person and ask for their advice? Or will they just try to sell the college to me?
If you will get no family contribution, your realistic net price limit (after deducting grants and scholarships – not loans or work study – from the list price) is probably around $10,000 ($5,500 federal direct loan plus about $4,500 in your work earnings). If the Swarthmore $11,000 price is after deducting only grants and scholarships (not loans or work study), it is a super stretch for you, while the others are pretty much unaffordable.
This means that you will need to have a merit-seeking application list, since you will likely need at least full tuition plus a few thousand dollars in merit scholarships to make a school affordable. Start here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html .
You can only borrow $5500 freshman year without a cosigned private loan.
Stats?
Zero from your parents?
Siblings in college now?
There is no point to call the school about your net cost because they can only refer you to the NPC. They can’t give you any aid estimate until you file the financial papers (FAFSA and CSS Profile). The aid of heavily weighted on parent income for the previous year, plus 5.6 percent of parental assets. Student income and assets are also assessed heavily.
The calculators are usually reasonable unless divorced parents, self employe or small business and additional property owned. You may also be awarded merit aid that won’t always be reflected in the NPC, at those schools that give it. 20 pct of current income is in line with a lot of colleges. There are college that are more generous and they are the ones that are harder to get into and have the big endowments.
As for paying yourself, have you been saving money all through HS or have a trust fund? Your parents are not willing to contribute one cent even though they will have some expenses lessened and they can claim a tax credit? That’s pretty harsh, do they not care if you go to college? As a student you can borrow:
Dependent
freshman 5,500
sophomore 6,500
jr 7,500
sr 7,500
Do you have the stats possible for merit aid too? For example, my D won a $25,000 merit grant to BU (annually renewed)…and had we qualified for financial aid, that might have been layered on top.
From your list I can only speak to Boston College, but my D’s award was pretty close to what the NPC predicted.
My sister is currently in college, they are paying half. They paid for my brother for community college. I have $2,000 saved. My family has no investments or assests. I have no trust funds either. When I say my family cleaned the house with savings. Its true.
I am working 3 jobs this summer to try to save more.
So the numbers you gave us earlier are with a sibling in college?
What year does she graduate from undergrad?
How much is the one-half they are paying for her?
Why would they pay half for her and zero for you?
Ask them if they would give you the up to $2500 per year American Opportunity Tax Credit they could get on your tuition. (See IRS Publication 970).
They probably committed to paying for the older siblings, then had the job loss that drained most of their money, so that there is no more money left to help the OP (without forcing the older siblings to drop out). At least the OP has advance warning so that s/he can build a merit-seeking application list to avoid getting financially shut out.
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MY family is in the middle class but my dad (the main bread winner) lost his job for 2 years so they exhausted their savings, invests, etc.
These were the prices of the colleges I tried Swarthmore- $11,000 Boston Univeristy- $20,000
Boston College- $19,000 Vassar- $17,000 Macalster- $18,500.
My parents make $110,000.
I live in Illnois and this summer I was going to plan a trip to the northeast to look at these colleges.
*** I am the only one paying for my college. ***
***I need to know if these are accurate because if they are I will visit them.
I really don’t want a whole bunch of debt. Please help! Would it be good to contact a fiinacial admissions person and ask for their advice? Or will they just try to sell the college to me?
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???
If you’re the ONLY one paying for college, and BU, BC, V, and Mac will really cost you more than $17K…then WHY would you visit them when THOSE prices are unaffordable???
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I want to apply to law school. However, I know they really care about your gpa. ShouldI go to a school that challenges me ? But take shots at my gpa? Please help.
ACT- composite-26
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Your ACT is too low for Swat, BC, and maybe some of those other schools. Don’t waste your money visiting schools that won’t likely accept you and won’t likely be affordable.
My parents paid for my brother and sister got 2 years paid from my parents for both 2 years. My sis graduates in 2017. But she is going to trade school after. Also, I haave chronic migraines that inhibit me from doing homework or study once I get home. I was hospitalized right before my ACTs.
“haave chronic migraines that inhibit me from doing homework or study once I get home.”
This is what you need to be dealing with right now. College can wait until you get your health under control. You will not do well in college if you are battling chronic migraines.