<p>Colleges don’t work on " what if".</p>
<p>“What if her parents can’t pay any more because they are getting close to retirement”</p>
<p>Retire later. There are very, very, very few jobs these days that have mandatory retirement ages. Many parents have to delay retiring so that they can pay for college. If that’s not an option, then the children choose less expensive schools. </p>
<p>When you think about it, many parents of college-aged children are getting close to “retirement age.” Many of us had kids in our 30s, and now the kids are going to college. </p>
<p>"or may soon lose their jobs given the economy? " </p>
<p>That would apply to most of the country. Nearly everyone could claim, “I (or my spouse) may lose their job in this economy.” As EMK says, colleges don’t based aid on “maybes”. </p>
<p>Many/most people don’t have funded retirements anymore, and most would lose their health benefits if they lost their jobs. Nearly everyone is in that same boat.</p>
<p>The family has the primary responsibility to pay for college. Most schools don’t give much aid no matter what the circumstances are…even if you’re low income. If you want to save your parents money, and you don’t want them to pay the amount that they’d be expected to pay, then look for less expensive options…commuting to a local CC or state school or finding schools that wil give you merit money for your stats. </p>
<p>As for taking “age” into account… I think that you mean that older parents are allowed to have a little bit more of their assets ignored by FAFSA.</p>
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</p>
<p>Is “both of the above” an option?</p>
<p>
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<p>Or later. That social security check is part of the college payment plan.</p>
<p>If you are are at least age 62, and you have dependent minor children attending high school, they are most likely eligible for social security benefits–in addition to your own.</p>
<p>You and your family can receive a benefit that maxes out between 150 and 180 percent of the benefit you would receive on your own. </p>
<p>[Retirement</a> Planner: Benefits for your children](<a href=“http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/yourchildren.htm]Retirement”>http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/yourchildren.htm)</p>
<p>Okay, as an update, I have done some more research on guaranteed scholarships at universities.</p>
<p>I am considering the following:
Ohio University
University of Alabama
Alfred State
Hampden-Sydney College
Norwich University
Wilkes University
Winthrop University</p>
<p>Other Options with Possible Scholarships:
University of Southern California
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Ohio State University
University of Rochester
University of Wisconsin–Madison
George Washington University
Boston University
Northeastern University</p>
<p>Schools with Good Financial Aid:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
UPenn
Stanford</p>
<p>Someone also mentioned to look into NYU as well.</p>
<p>As for outside scholarships, not all schools just take that much aid away from you. I got a scholarship and when I submitted it to my school for next year it just made my contribution go down. Also apply for a lot and look for ones that aren’t need based because I have a lot of friends who make less than your family and don’t get scholarships because they make too much according to the people giving it. Try for local scholarships too, they’re easier to get since there are less people trying for them.</p>
<p>You missed U Miami on schools with scholarships (not guaranteed). They’re also pretty decent with financial aid. Although this omission may have been intentional on your part ;)</p>
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<p>Note that there is an income restriction on receiving social security retirement benefits until you hit 66.</p>
<p>Apply to schools with full tuition merit scholarships. You have to apply to your state flagship and any other instate school that would give you a big grant. The most selective schools give no merit aid.</p>
<p>Avoid the most selective schools, with the exception of HYP, where you might actually qualify for a lot of aid, but the odds of acceptance are extremely low for everyone.
You still will be short because you will need more than 7+5.5 for room,board, books, travel, etc. Maybe your parents could take out a HELOC loan for about 5 / yr to make up the difference.
Don’t apply to Michigan or any prestigious OOS publics. Don’t apply to NYU, which isn’t known for merit or financial aid.
Consider Alabama, Pitt and any school where you might be in the top 10% and which give generous merit aid.</p>
<p>Are there any instate schools where you could commute? You could save room and board money, but would need a functioning car. You would still need a massive scholarship.</p>
<p>Flowergirl145, I am late in responding, but I noticed Boston University was on your list of potential schools. They do have a merit scholarship called the Trustee Scholarship. I am not sure how many they give out each year, maybe 20-30? It pays full tuition. Is this the one you were thinking of? If you have stats that are a match for the top 10-20 schools, I think you have a good shot at it. Your guidance counselor will need to write a recommendation, and maybe some teachers too. And you will need to write some extra essays on top of the regular application.</p>
<p>@LBowie</p>
<p>Thanks! I will definitely consider applying for that scholarship.</p>
<p>Also, how much can you expect to make over the summer for a paid internship? </p>
<p>What is the maximum amount of loans recommended for a student to take out? $20,000 total?</p>
<p>A general rule of thumb around here is not to take out any more than the staffords. Now, given your parents’ income, your staffords may end up being unsub, which means you may want to consider taking out less since you will begin to accumulate interest quickly. Others on this thread know more about this than I do, and I agree with the idea that, barring certain circumstances, it is best to borrow least.</p>
<p>I believe the maximum Stafford lifetime limit is $31K for a dependent undergrad. The maximum annual limit is $5,500 for freshmen, $6,500 for sophs, $7,500 for juniors and seniors. </p>
<p>About NYU… Call them and find out how they handle merit scholarships for Presidential Scholars. They offer the Presidential Scholarship to the top 5% of their class. I know they used to be quite generous but, when I googled, it looks like in the last few years, they basically meet need for those students. That’s not good enough for you. So try to get a financial aid counselor on the phone and explain your situation (that you won’t qualify for much need-based aid but need merit) and see what they tell you.</p>
<p>As far as your list goes… You have a lot of schools and will need to pare it down. Applying can be quite expensive. So, if you have several that have guaranteed merit there, you may want to consider what you want from a school: a big, state school (like Alabama), a rural school, etc.</p>
<p>@2collegewego</p>
<p>What I would ideally want from a school would to be surrounded by people who love to learn and talk about intellectual things. I would ideally like a smaller environment (no more than something like 8,000 students) and there to be small classes with lots of participation. I feel like some of the LAC colleges would be amazing (really love the look of Pomona especially, since it is a small college but with many other colleges on the same campus…so there are a lot of new people to meet) but they really won’t offer great aid for my situation. After doing many financial aid calculators, I would be able to afford HYP and probably Stanford or UPenn (though they would be a bit more of a stretch), and then the big state schools with merit scholarships. Really, I do not want to attend a big state school. I don’t care for schools where partying comes before studying, football is important, and there are way too many people. But, if that is my only option financially, I guess I will just have to deal with it.</p>
<p>The other thing that I notice is that most scholarships require you to put that school as your first choice on the application…obviously HYP would be my first choice as opposed to a second-tier school.</p>
<p>The other thing that I notice is that most scholarships require you to put that school as your first choice on the application…obviously HYP would be my first choice as opposed to a second-tier school.</p>
<p>I wonder how many applications the scholarship committee receives from applicants who put one of the ivies for their preferential school?</p>
<p>I’m not sure that’s the environment you would find at Alfred unless they group their honors kids separately. If it comes to it, I think, in general, you would be happier and have more opportunities at an honors program at a state flagship than at a regional state college. </p>
<p>When you say listing the college as first choice, do you mean for Natl Merit? Usually, people don’t list the ivies there; they list a college where they will get good merit aid.</p>
<p>Just be aware that you can get the Alabama merit aid without going to a “big state school.” Both Huntsville and Birmingham offer merit aid to OOS students - and they’re both quite a bit smaller than the main campus in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>Also, getting admitted to the honors college at any of the state schools you’ve mentioned would put you in a smaller, more intimate community of your peers . . . even if you are surrounded by a “big state school.”</p>
<p>Okay. I will definitely apply to honors colleges within state universities, then. Since they do typically consist of a brighter group of students. I don’t think I will apply to the lesser-known out-of-state schools though (like Alfred, I guess) just because I really don’t think I’ll fit in there.</p>
<p>At school, my friends and I sit and discuss politics every lunch period. Either that or something scientific, or about some experiment in science class, or about vegetarianism or atheism, etc. I would feel very out of place if there weren’t at least SOME students who have the same (uncommon) interests as me.</p>
<p>Uh, if you’re female (as your name suggests) - you need to eliminate Hampden-Sydney from your list. It’s male only.</p>
<p>At school, my friends and I sit and discuss politics every lunch period. Either that or something scientific, or about some experiment in science class, or about vegetarianism or atheism, etc. I would feel very out of place if there weren’t at least SOME students who have the same (uncommon) interests as me.</p>
<p>I find it hard to believe there aren’t many students who are interested in those topics where you are.
Those are dominate topics in my area, K-12, as well as older.
[the</a> greenest high school award goes to? - The Kind Life](<a href=“http://www.thekindlife.com/post/the-greenest-high-school-award-goes-to]the”>http://www.thekindlife.com/post/the-greenest-high-school-award-goes-to)</p>