I can’t really tell what is affordable. All I know is that some prices are higher, and others are lower. If I were to go to college, what would be something manageable, and how would I do it? If MiT were to have a net price of $4,500 a year, should I accept it (ignoring other factors), or go to UWMadison for $2,000/year?
This is assuming no help/slight help from parents.
There are two sides to the equation. What income/assets do you have at your disposable?
I have no personal source of income or any assets.
If you can’t pay the balance after financial aid…then a school is NOT affordable.
As a student, your ability to get loans in your name only will be limited to the $5500 Direct Loan as a guarantee for freshman year. That’s it.
So…you need to figure out how much you can absolutely contribute.
Also…if you are very low income, you would qualify possibly for some grant aid. If not…you won’t.
Your question doesn’t really have enough information to give you a complete answer.
What kind of information would you need for a complete answer?
If the $4500 and $2000 amounts you listed are after all financial aid INCLUDING loans, then you may still be able to afford either school by working full time in summer and 5-10 hours per week during the school year.
What scholarship(s) are you hoping to receive for UW-Madison that will bring the cost down to only $2000/year? Posse? Chancellor’s Scholarship (must apply): http://provost.wisc.edu/csp.htm
What are your GPA/ACT/SAT scores?
For a complete answer…I would need to know what your family income is. I would also want to know where you plan to get the balance of funds after financial aid is awarded. I would also wonder if any of the merit awards are guaranteed.
Also…can your parents afford to help you but aren’t…or are you a very low income family?
Do you have $4500? Do you have $2000? Do these costs include ALL of the expenses associated with college…personal expenses, books, travel, discretionary spending? Are any of your anticipated financial aid awards work study…because you don’t get that up front.
Are you a competitive applicant for a school like MIT? The school accepts a very small %age of applicants.
Do you have a financial safety school on your application list…one where you will attend if accepted, and you can afford the costs?
Are you a resident of Wisconsin? If so, have you considered any of the other publics in your state?
@Madison85 I think I was including loans? The calculator regards “self-help” as “loans/work”, and only let me off with about $2,200 from that. Yes, the scholarship would be Posse. I’m expecting a 2270 SAT to send in to colleges, with an 800 Math level ii and a 700+ Bio M.
@thumper1 I’ll give you a range. The income is between 40,000 and 60,000 before taxes this year in a household of three, but I also live in New York, which is naturally more expensive.
Those costs are the total according to the MiT’s net price calculator (which includes tuition & fees,room & board, books & supplies,transportation, and personal expenses), and an estimate of what Posse would make it cost. I guess I’m a competitive applicant? An MiT alum told me he wants me to apply, so I’ll lean towards yes I suppose. I do not have many financial safety schools because I assume that you can only know what the cost will be after you apply for financial aid and get your decision. I’m not a resident of Wisconsin, but am instead applying through a program. I am considering SUNYs.
Do you have a non-custodial parent?
How much can you earn/save over summers?
Ok…so you are out of state for Wisconsin. Don’t count on getting much need based aid…the scholarships you are applying for a very competitive.
Your family adjusted gross income is what matters. If that $40k is after tax income…then your before tax income is much higher.
Re: applying to MIT as a competitive applicant…how close to 1600 is your math/CR SAT total? How close to 36 is your ACT? How close to 4.0 is your unweighted GPA?
You are not low income. So that would mean you won’t be eligible for the Pell Grant.
BUT, you should be eligible for TAP…depending on your family adjusted gross income. Have you found out your TAP eligibility? If not…find out.
Between the TAP award, and the Direct Loan, you should be able to fund a SUNY education if you are able to commute.
@sybbie719 can you add anything to this info for a NY resident?
Your SAT is estimated, right? What is your CURRENT CR/math sat score?
I don’t have non-custodial parents. I have no idea how much I could earn… assuming minimum wage (in NY so I could save it all, $8.75), 5 day work weeks, with anywhere between 4-8 hours/day, for all of summer (about 10 weeks), I would earn anywhere between $1650 and $3837.5 (because $100 for transportation).
More if I can get a job that doesn’t pay minimum wage, but that’s rather luck based.
@thumper1 That 40-60k is before taxes, so it get lower from there. My expected SAT CR/M score is 1540. My current score is 1410. I never took the ACT. My GPA is barely a 4.0 according to this conversion chart, where I’d have a 95.52%(http://inquiry.princetonreview.com/leadgentemplate/gpa_popup.asp).
The Pell Grant thing is a bit surprising. If I’m not eligible for Pell Grant because of that, why would the Net Price Calculator include one of about $3,000 for me?
Wher are you going to get the money to pay the balance of your costs…regardless of whether this is $2000 or $4000? What can your parents contribute?
@thumper1 I edited the last post. I’m not entirely sure what they can contribute. I’d say they could at most cover one year with the net price of $4000.
I’m confused. Are you saying that your parents can contribute $4000 total for the full four years? If so, that is $1000 a year.
If they have only $4000 in total…where will the money for the balance o college come from??
If your income is $60,000 a year for a family of three (two parents and you) then I can’t imagine you would receive any amount of the Pell grant. If your income is $40,000 a year, you might get a portion of the Pell.
Have you looked at CUNY options?
And again…TAP funds should be available to you as well…and that is grant money. Did you run a net price calculator for a SUNY? Did the TAP award appear?
Yes, $4000 total… my mother said she talked with my father years back about setting up an account for college for me, but never got around to it. They also spent a lot of it on some other urgent stuff that I won’t go into. I don’t know where it would come from. I could work full-time over summer and part-time over the school year to get another $4,000, but that’s really the best I could do. Maybe try to get a job as a comedian and make fun of this whole situation to secure a few hundred dollars a set?
@thumper1 My income leans to lower 50k per year before taxes. The NPC did show a Pell Grant - I don’t know if that’s a mistake or not. I am looking at CUNY options, and I’ll be sure to check TAP in a moment.
I don’t think there is much difference between $4500/year and $2000/year. The main concern would be at which school that you’ll be more likely to finish in 4 years or sooner. Some schools would reduce financial aid after 4 years.
Sit down with your parents and last year’s taxes. Have them fill out an estimate on the Expected Financial Contribution Calculator. I think this is one:
I’ve noticed most college Financial Aid Calculators sites don’t spell it out well. Look for some meet need schools. Just because your EFC is say, $5000, it doesn’t mean most colleges will give you the gap money. Colleges that meet need usually will.
Personally if all that is keeping you from MIT is $2500 I’d find a way to make up the difference. If you don’t have the first $2000, though, it’s a tough gap to close. If you’ve finished all your applications maybe you can apply to a whole bunch of small local scholarship. Be mindful that you will need to pay for the other three years of college too! Good luck!
Parent PLUS loans?
@OspreyCV22 It would be about 4500 for MiT. And my EFC was in the 1k-2k range.
@4kidsdad Do you have some other manner of making the difference? Between 4500 and 2000, the former seems much more difficult to make and keep making for four years.