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Thats an interesting WSJ article, but its 5 years old. Is there an updated article?
It’s a tough position. You may not be able to attend a state public college either. It costs from $20K to 32K.
You can apply to schools that give merit scholarships.
I’m afraid it is, Courtney. It’s true for most students. Even small fish learn to survive in the big pond by very quickly learning new tricks.
From a CNN Money interview with Google head of people operations:
When the company was small, Google cared a lot about getting kids from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. But Bock said it was the “wrong” hiring strategy. Experience has taught him there are exceptional kids at many other places, from state schools in California to New York.
“What we find is the best people from places like that are just as good if not better as anybody you can get from any Ivy League school,” said Bock, who just authored a book titled “Work Rules!” and stopped by CNNMoney to share his smarts.
Full article:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/09/technology/google-people-laszlo-bock/
- The reasoning behind it is that it is determined on a household basis. Your mother + stepfather are married, presumably living together and you are living with them, so they are raising you together. For financial need intents and purposes, the parents you are living with before adulthood (i.e., your mother and stepfather) are expected to pay for your college education. While there are exceptions (you are over 24, a veteran, married with dependents of your own, etc.), I don't think you fall into any of them. Ergo, the calculators are correct in saying you have no financial need.
- No college can force any parents (true or step) to pay anything for college. If your natural parents were married, your father made $300k, and they said they would not pay for college, well, it doesn't matter what the FAFSA and schools determine - you would still have no financial need (because of their high income), and no support from them. The difference is that certain private schools use the CSS Profile and also consider your natural father's income as available to pay for your college expenses.
- So the only way you'd have any financial need is if your custodial parent's household income was low enough, i.e., she was not remarried to your stepfather or their combined income was low enough. If your father's income is low enough, you might consider living primarily with him for your final year of HS - this is a perfectly legitimate way to get around your problem.
- Recruiting can be helped by a big name school - certain employers are more likely to go on campus to recruit if they know they are more likely to get enough competent entry-level employees there. And the name on your degree can get your foot in the door for an interview even with places that don't recruit on campus. But it's the interview and your own demonstration of competence that will get you the job, and in every job you will be paid for the work you do, not for the school you went to. You basically have no realistic prospect of paying back that much debt.
^
Absolutely!
There are exceptional students everywhere. The idea that the most talented and creative people can only be found at MiT, S, or the Ivies is just silly. Many people don’t “bloom” until they’re in college.
Also, it’s not just brains these companies are looking for; they’re looking for someone who can be part of the team, and perhaps later, lead the team. They’re looking for a “full package.” Employees need some “people skills”. They need to have “presentation skills”. They need people that they can send out and be an appropriate “face” for the company.
I am lucky to have family members who are very high up in eng’g and CS companies (VPs, Directors, Sr Mgmt,etc). Their companies recruit and hire from everywhere…from MIT down to the CSU’s (which aren’t crap by any means). Before my H retired, he hired mostly from the SE, NE, and midAtlantic, but the new hires could be from Cornell, Purdue or UAH. They look at courses taken, grades (including math grades), experiences, etc. They really don’t care where the person went to school as long as it’s a decent school.
The idea that there are only 20 or so schools that are qualified to turn out excellent CS (or eng’g) students is just crazy. This country and each state has a vested interest in having many, many schools that can produce these high-tech graduates. The state of Calif alone has over 25 of such schools.
It really isn’t that difficult for an established school to have a very good CS or eng’g school.
I know that you’re from a foreign country (I’m guessing either Asian or India), and therefore you may be under the impression that only top schools matter (because that’s what you likely heard back in your country). It’s not like that here…at all.
Before you go off thinking that you now have funding in place because SF has agreed to lend you the money (and find out what the TERMS are to pay back $260k!!), please realize that it’s NOT NECESSARY at all.
BTW…even if your SF lends you that much interest free, you’ll be paying him $26,000 a year for 10 years. Do you have any idea of how that will affect you??? You may naively think that that is only a fraction of what you’ll be making. You don’t understand that you will NOT be taking home your salary. You’ll be hit hard with taxes, etc.
You need to “fast forward” in your head about 6 years from now…You’ll have graduated with $260k+ of debt and you’ll be at your first job. You’ll be seeing that a big chunk of your paycheck is gone before you get it (taxes, insurance, etc). Then you’ll see that a big chunk has to go to living expenses/car/etc. Seriously, your living expenses alone can be $35-40k per year. Then a big chunk will have to go to SF for the loan. You’ll be broke.
BUT…you’ll also be seeing that your fellow new-hires from “lesser schools” will be paid the same as you. UGH!!! And, you’ll see that they aren’t struggling with the same debt. They will be buying homes, getting married, having kids, and moving on with their lives…while you’ll be anchored to that debt.
$260k is an insane amount of debt to take on for a bachelors degree. That’s $500 a month for 40+ years, even if you aren’t charged interest.
If you are a competitive applicant for Stanford/Princeton ,etc, you should have no trouble getting significant merit aid from very well respected schools in your chosen field of study.
Let’s see if he’s really so great when the time comes for him to show u the money. Even people who earn 300k aren’t so keen about presenting 65k/year of unbudgeted funds.
U need to sit and
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ask him what the maximum amt/yr that he is realistically able to lend you.
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consider what u can realistically pay back.
My general rule of thumb is that max total loan amount for an undergrad degree should be about half the expected starting salary for your major. I don’t know of any undergrad degree that pays half a million dollars for a starting salary.
SF earns 600k, so he is able to do that.
Though he won’t pay for my college, he has been a really great dad so far and he is fully supportive of whatever decision I make.
I’ll wait and see what colleges I get in and what they offer me. For now I want to focus more on my application, and I’ll read more about the industry and salaries and check on my abilities after admission and decide carefully. It doesn’t hurt me to apply anyway, and my college list includes a wide range of schools. Thanks all you guys!
BTW I got 5s in all my 5 AP tests and I’m so happy today 
I don’t care how much money your step father earns. you are asking for $250,000 in loans. If he is a wise business person, he will be drawing up a loan note with a lawyer that includes the repayment plan. You might want to get THAT information before you apply to colleges.
And in my opinion, you should be less optimistic about repayment. If your SD researches college loan repayments, he will see that the usual repayment schedule is 10 years…with the ability to increase that payment time and the interest as well. If he expects a ten year repayment…that would be about $3000 a month for ten years…with just a modest interest charge.
Thumper is right. His income is irrelevant. He could be Bill Gates for all we care.
WHAT will the repayment terms be?
My concern is this…He’s new in your life.
At some point, the money could become a “weapon” (you do what I say or…) or (I’m not lending you the money to major in …) or he may just realize at some point that there’s no way you’ll be able to afford to pay him back and refuse to lend you for junior and senior years.
Who knows what he’s thinking. Maybe he thinks that you’re going to live at home once you graduate so that you can repay him “quickly” since you won’t have to pay rent. The problem with that is…you may not find a job within commuting distance from your home…or you may be in a committed relationship at that point, and not want to live at home.
If he charges you no interest at all, you’d still have to pay him $26,000 a year for 10 LONG years.
Don’'t just assume that everything will work out. Find out what the details and expectations are.
Ask him what the repayment terms will be.
As an aside…I’m curious how this all works for the mom with no income. Is she given an allowance? lol I can’t imagine marrying someone with that income, and having none of my own. I think I would feel like a child instead of an adult having to ask permission to spend money or have access to money.
Sorry she is not great enough to start working without citizenship in another country. That’s too risky.
^^ that post is confusing.
Does your SF have a green card or is he a citizen? Has he lived in the US very long?
do you and your mom have green cards or are you here on visas? If you don’t have a GC, are you getting one?
What country are you in? The US, or elsewhere?
If you are in the US, what is your mom’s status? With a green card she can work here (except for certain government jobs that specifically require citizenship). What is your status?
If you are outside the US now, are you a US citizen now living abroad with your mom and the step dad, or are you an international applicant who has moved from one non-US country to another? The information about student loans, and about college admission in general, is very different for non-US applicants.
Here is an AAMC debt fact card giving examples of how long it takes for physicians to pay off medical school debt. Note that the amount of debt used in the examples is less than what you are contemplating, and even low paid physician specialties pay a lot more than what bachelor’s degree graduates are likely to earn.
https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf
Build a merit-seeking application list, since there is no realistic way for you to afford college immediately after high school otherwise. You need to apply to schools where you can get a purely merit-based full ride or close to it.
Borrowing that amount from your stepdad, even if he did agree to it for all 4 years and even if it were a good idea (which it isn’t) is a recipe for disaster for your mother’s marriage. Not only would he have the potential to control you, he’d be able to control her as well. For your mother’s sake, attend a school that you can afford. If that means a community college followed by a local 4-year school, then do that.