How do I pay for college?

Do what I did. Get a job. Yes, it will be a crappy one, and yes, it will teach you to so value your education that you won’t waste a single tuition dollar on mistakes or plans you haven’t thought through. By the time you’re 24, and your parent’s income is no longer considered on your FAFSA…with luck, you’ll have some money put away and will have established residency in the state you want to attend college. Sounds rough, but it’s doable. Many, many, people do this. You can even take a class or two per semester at a junior college and get your basics out of the way. Make sure they transfer.

First thing you need to-do is if your parents are willing and able to contribute the fill cost of attendance at a UC at instate rates.
Then you need to find out if they’ll contribute the same amount toward another university.
If so, it gives you leeway.

You need to work on your act. Right now it’s below thresholds for most merit scholarships.

My daughters have similar stats - they are very good students but not special. There are SCADs of very good students. They have had to come to this realization.

We agreed that we would contribute out of pocket each year no more than $14,000 for each of them. So they are taking student loans, getting merit scholarships at schools where they are more top of the heap, and making of it what they can. The oldest one had the pipe dreams like you and quickly realized that it wasn’t going to happen.

We DID save some money - but that said even with me having a great career, and my husband owning a business we cannot shell out $65k a year for ANYONE. If you multiply the $14k by 3 kids in at the same time believe me when I tell you THAT is choking us. AND we don’t live in CA where the cost of living is astronomical. $200k to raise a family is CA is not RICH by any means.

@thecardinal12 <<< live in California so I could do the UC system<<<

Who would pay for that?? It’s about $35k per year to go to a UC.

Massive loans??? Do your parents realize that THEY would have to cosign?? Do they realize that THEY would have to pay if you didn’t?

Massive loans WILL be on the parents for the first couple years. Most college graduates can’t pay back huge amounts each month. So, either the parents pay outright or take a loan and on top of the money pay interests on it, but there’s no miracle money tree where a student gets Loans for more than they would e able to pay back (IE., 27k). Everything else comes from the institution (so pick your colleges well) or your parents.

<<<
My parents make 200k+ annually but claims that he can’t help pay for my college much.
<<<

Reading between the lines (and guessing), it sounds like the family may live in a pricey area, money is tied up with mortgage, cars, and other expenses for their lifestyle.

Their money, their choice.

However, they need to understand that they would have to qualify and cosign those loans they want you to take. Likely they will NOT agree to that…(even if they say they will at this point).

So…

Time to get real…

What are your stats? You need to include 2-3 schools that will give you massive merit (not just half tuition or similar). You need MASSIVE merit as backups.

To all those putting in the time and effort to help advise this student, FYI, he/she has posted a new thread stating money is no longer an issue and is now asking for suggestions on what schools to apply to with the most important factor being “just the prestige of the college and the name” regardless of cost, major or location. Ugh.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1971933-what-colleges-should-i-apply-to.html

Checking for clarity. They went from saying they weren’t going to help,at all, to being willing to pay well over $70,000 a year for GWU?

They are not the first parents to do this. Sometimes pointing out what your friends parents are doing will “help” them realize that they need to step up to the plate or bring shame upon themselves. I’m not recommending it, but with the financial aid laws the way they are, parents are unwittingly hurting their children without doing the math.

OP is in a really tight spot since the parents won’t contribute, or won’t contribute much, and OP does not have the stats to pull massive merit as everybody is suggesting. Does anyone have relevant advice? Community college and transfer is probably one of the only viable options here.

OP has already recanted and posted that his parents and grandparents will pay. Game, set, match.