<p>I come from a high-income (140kish) + asset (2 houses, 3 cars) family that truly struggles financially. Looking at the financial statistics that CMU provided at my visit, I'm skeptical I'd be able to exit CMU without monumental debt that would seriously impede my progress in life. Even if by some miraculous chance that I am offered a Presidential scholarship and a grant, I would assume that the most I would receive would be 20k together and the rest loans, and I'm eve skeptical I'd receive that much. I'm thinking I shouldn't even bother applying. Any words of wisdom? I'm searching frivolously for outside scholarships, but it is tedious work looking for ones I qualify for.</p>
<p>The financial stats that scared me that I was given:
59% of freshmen receive financial aid
54% received need-based aid
Average Presidential Scholarship $7,704 (I'm nothing special, so if I do get one, it's most likely very small)
Average Need-based Grants $22,482
Average Need based package $27348</p>
<p>You need to familiarize yourself with how an EFC is calculated using the FAFSA estimator.</p>
<p>Bottom line- if your family income is 140,000, your family will be expected to cough up about 35,000 before any school (cmu or others) provide you with need based aid.</p>
<p>Few schools offer merit aid. There are many highly competitive external scholarships.</p>
<p>You should head to the “Financial Aid” for more information on the process in general. Pick schools that you know you can afford-- every year around April many families post major surprise and disappointment - it’s a sad fact of life …college is ridiculously expensive.</p>
<p>I now realize that I just made a ranting thread. I apologize for that. It’s just so frustrating finding schools I like that miraculously went through my criteria and then finding some factor that blocks me from that school. >.<"</p>
<p>You can treat this thread as dead now that I’ve cooled down and come to my senses.</p>
<p>CMU offers a scholarship if you major in bagpiping, its about 8k a year.</p>
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<p>I have a feeling you dont know what “struggling financially” really means, unless your parents make truly terrible monetary decisions. “Struggling Financially” for me means that your parents are under the poverty line(like mine).</p>
<p>Kalookakoo…talk to your parents now about this issue so you don’t apply or at least dont set your heart on a school that would be too costly. I remember that when we went to the first presentation about CMU when they did their road show, my husband literally stood up and walked out when they put the tuition and fee sum on the screen. He agreed that S could apply but that he would have to apply to financial safeties as well. </p>
<p>Several things brought CMU into the realm of possibility for us. My son won a moderate-sized outside scholarship. Then we were frankly surprised to find out how much his grandfather had put aside into a 529 plan. I knew he was doing it but we are a family that never talks about money so when s got into CMU with no financial aid but many scholarships elsewhere we were about to discard CMU but I first asked my parents about the amount they had put into the 529 funds…well, there was more there than we expected and S will be able to take on minimal debt (because not being eligible for financial aid does not mean that paying for CMU is a walk in the park). I am still uncertain whether it is the best choice, but at least S can do the degree without incurring major debt.</p>
<p>Your parents may have more (or less) resources than you know of. I went happily off to Duke without having a clue what my parent’s income or savings were…sophomore year when Reagan cut the pell grant program my parents had to tell me in August that there wasn’t enough money. I had more savings from working at Burger King than my parents had – $1,000! That was it! I sat down with them and went through the FA forms and for the first time understood that we were lower middle class and Duke was a real stretch. I may have made a different decision if I had understood how difficult it was for them. My parents have been squirriling away for their grandchildren for over 15 years in part so that they wouldn’t go through what I went through. It is incredibly generous on their part and their grandchildren will have more options for college than if they relied only on their parents for financing undergrad.</p>
<p>It seems unfair to me that kids have to make choices based on finances in the US and a too much depends on your parents’ luck, marital status, health, etc. However, we do have a great educational system with many great, and not terribly expensive choices. Apply to CMU but don’t set your heart on it…you may not get in, it may be too expensive, you may have better choices in April and wearing a Kilt has got to be a bit of a negative… Good luck!</p>
<p>@metalforever - We’ve unhooked our phones due to collectors calling at all hours. Both houses including the one we have now are being threatened for foreclosure. One of the cars sits in the garage 24/7 because we can’t afford insurance for it. My sister is having a hard time getting her college credits because we keep paying late or not at all at time of re-registration so she misses out on the classes she needs. My dad has taken the majority of his retirement savings out to pay for necessities while we try to get rid of baggage that is pulling us under ever since the economy took a turn for the worse. You don’t have to be under the poverty line to have financial struggles.</p>
<p>@fineartsmajormom It was nice hearing your story, and I already have started looking for negative in CMU to detach myself from wanting to go. Thanks again for sharing =)</p>
<p>@Kalookakoo Your parents money mismanagement is amazing. Please explain this situation to CMU and use it to negotiate your financial aid. As for you making excuses about how your parents are financially in the hole:</p>
<ol>
<li>We’ve unhooked our phones due to collectors calling at all hours. - My parents did this.</li>
<li>. Both houses including the one we have now are being threatened for foreclosure. - My parents rent- they dont own a home to be taken away. (Also, what the <em>hell</em> are your parents doing, exactly, with that 140k, holy hell)</li>
<li>One of the cars sits in the garage 24/7 because we can’t afford insurance for it. - Meh, one of our cars is sitting in a garage(not ours- paid storage, we obviously dont have a garage), because the timing belt on the motor went and they dont have the money to fix.</li>
<li>My sister is having a hard time getting her college credits because we keep paying late or not at all at time of re-registration so she misses out on the classes she needs. - CMU doesnt care about late payments. I owe them money from January, LoL. Also, congrats on your sister making it to college.</li>
<li>. My dad has taken the majority of his retirement savings out to pay for necessities while we try to get rid of baggage that is pulling us under ever since the economy took a turn for the worse. - My parents dont have a retirement savings</li>
</ol>
<p>See, we differ in a few spots here. 1. Your parents have a working car. 2. Your parents probably arent making the 140k anymore, or they wouldnt have problems keeping their house. 3. Your parents have a retirement plan, and a job(my parents are unemployed). 4. You are rich enough to own a garage.</p>
<p>/end poor war.</p>
<p>But, to get to the main point. It is obvious that your family, in particular, is having financial struggles. It would be wise for you to apply to a bunch of high roller scholarships(really try hard), and some smaller ones. If you are truly set on CMU, consider bag piping as a double major. If you arent, please apply here anyway, but have financial back ups(places you are sure you will get merit aid). </p>
<p>I got lucky with CMU because I had a lot of outside scholarship money. My parents arent paying a penny, and the debt I do have is not from education, but from room and board. Youll figure everything out,you are intelligent enough to be considering CMU, right? Get creative.</p>
<p>I don’t think their financial aid is so terrible but I have a 0 efc so it’s like…yeah. But we’ve never really been in debt since we never really use credit.</p>
<p>I don’t get why you don’t sell the car though.</p>
<p>But yeah, CMU doesn’t need to be your go to school but there are outside scholarships, a lot actually, just apply like crazy. My teacher would make us apply to apply to scholarships every week for a grade and at least one worth more than 10k each month. Just search like crazy.</p>
<p>Metalforever…I dont think we have enough information to comment on how the OPs parents manage their money…however, the OP may want to ask parents to work with a counselor (there are free, non profits that can help) about their financial situation since it seems that the kid’s college education is at risk. You can have high family income but financial problems that won’t necessarily be taken into account by FA applications.</p>
<p>CMU’s finaid office also isn’t a gathering of heartless wenches. Well, actually, there ARE a couple heartless wenches in there, but not all of them are. ;)</p>
<p>If your original finaid offer is going to suck, here are your options as a higher income family:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apply elsewhere, get accepted on scholarship. If you are a girl, apply to RPI. It is highly likely that you will get in and get financial aid, as their female ratio sucks majorly, even though they are an excellent university. Apply to your state flagship, other local schools, etc. Sometimes CMU will match the financial aid other institutions give you, even if you’re not the World’s Best Student Ever.</p></li>
<li><p>Work study. Work 20 hours a week, make an extra $600 a month or so if you have a decent job. (I made more like $800 because my pay was $13/hr, it is not unheard of). It’s not a bunch of money, but an extra $3k or so towards your loan premiums each year will help.</p></li>
<li><p>Beg. Tell the finaid officers about how terrible things have been for your family. Ask them to please up your grant amount, Stafford/Perkins, or even give you a Pell grant. If you are not speaking to one of the aforementioned satanic wenches, they will likely take heart and give you a bit more money to go on.</p></li>
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<p>That said, ultimately paying for a pricey college is not in the cards for everyone. My family is not destitute, but I am having to take out significant loans to pay for CMU as well as work two jobs during the year to afford being here. It is a matter of choice that ultimately everyone must make.</p>
<p>Perhaps it would be better to go somewhere less expensive, like a state school, for undergrad, and then attend a top institution for grad school?</p>
<p>A kid has no input as to what their parent’s financial situation is. They are completely blameless, but bear the brunt of their parents decisions.</p>
<p>The difference between your situation and metalforever’s situation, is that she will get practically a tuition full ride from them…and you will have to pay most of it. Metalforever has a tough family support system that she can’t rely on, but because of her families numbers, she will walk out of CMU with alot less debt than you would. So, the reality is, you can get the same exact degrees and the same exact jobs. And you will walk away with plenty of debt, purely because of your family income–though they are also struggling. But you should still apply, put in all the financial aid information, and maybe you’ll end up better than you think. Completelykate has great advice.</p>
<p>With all due respect Kate, complaining about thefinancial situation he is in most likely will not work. He said his parents make about 140K a year, I doubt the CMU will feel too sorry about the way his parents handled their money.</p>
<p>ohioman, you’re a current high school senior, aren’t you? Well, no fear, your doubts have been disproven by the cases of my family and many others. My grant amount was doubled last year after I went to the office to tell them about my father refusing to pay up his share of the divorced dad’s amount for college. And that’s nowhere near as dire a circumstance as the OP is in - with incredible amounts of debt going bad, this is a serious issue that she could discuss with the office. </p>
<p>CMU is open to renegotiation of financial aid based on a change in family circumstances. They make it quite clear that if someone falls ill, or there’s a sudden shortfall of income, or a debt goes sour, they want you to come to them immediately about it. They may be stingy about the initial offer, but if you push, they will give.</p>
Well, no fear, your doubts have been disproven by the cases of my family and many others. My grant amount was doubled last year after I went to the office to tell them about my father refusing to pay up his share of the divorced dad’s amount for college. And that’s nowhere near as dire a circumstance as the OP is in - with incredible amounts of debt going bad, this is a serious issue that she could discuss with the office. </p>