My fin aid package at my dream school is as follows: $20k in merit aid, $9400 in grants, $2000 in federal work-study, and $5500 in federal loans. Total cost of attendance is ~$66k, so we’d be paying a little over $35k (counting the loans) out of pocket, which is equal to our EFC as calculated by the FAFSA.
My family income is about $130k. Would it be ridiculous and unfeasible to attend this school? I think my parents have about 35k saved up, but obviously that’s only a drop in the four-year bucket. Is there a way to make this work or should I go with other schools that I don’t like as much, but are way more affordable?
This place has met your need. You need to ask your parents how they feel about shelling out $35k each year for your education. Some parents are OK with that. Some aren’t.
We considered our FAFSA EFC to be unaffordable. Happykid only applied to places that would cost us what we believed we could pay. Things have worked out very well for her since finishing at her cheapest option.
^ Same here. It really will depend on how deep your parents will dig for their share of college costs. I don’t recommend going over the Direct loan levels for a college education.
Congratulations on getting into your dream school . . . and even bigger congratulations on your willingness to look at the big picture. It’s hard to give up on a dream, and it says volumes about you that you’re handling all of this so maturely.
As everyone else has said, talk with your parents and find out what they feel they can afford. Best of luck to you!!!
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (34M, 35E, 33R, 36S)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.15
Rank: 1/200
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), Bio (4), Calc AB (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Chem, AP Gov, AP Lit, Honors French IV (have taken all but one of the AP classes my school offers)
Major Awards: AP Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist (likely Finalist
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What are the schools that accepted you and how much would each cost?
What is your major?
What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay???
It’s not about income only, if your parents have debts, mortgage, other kids, insufficient savings for rainy days etc then they just simply can’t do it. IMHO $35k is a lot for $130k income but let your parents decide if they can make it happen or not.
You sound like a bright and mature kid, you’ll do fine no matter where you go. Just keep working hard and doors will open. Good luck!
I agree that’s a lot of money. Listen closely to your parents. Even if they say yes, they might not be telling you that they’ll have to dig into their retirement, take out extra loans, or make other sacrifices that would trouble you if you knew about them. So listen for what they might not be telling you.
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Even if they say yes, they might not be telling you that they’ll have to dig into their retirement, take out extra loans, or make other sacrifices that would trouble you if you knew about them. So listen for what they might not be telling you.
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^ This
@WasatchWriter I know several parents who are taking out huge loans to give their kids “their dream”. I doubt the kids know about the loans or know the future impact of those loans. I know other parents who are digging deep into retirement funds or home equity to give their kids “their dream.”
I wonder how many of those kids realize how these options will negatively affect their parents later…not being able to retire, even if their health is suffering, or some other uncomfortable consequence (which may impact the student later).
@mom2collegekids I did make NMF - the school mentioned in this post, BU, gave me the $20k in merit aid as a result. My major is English+pre-med with plans to go to med school. My other choice is Ohio State which is giving me full tuition and potentially a full ride. Parents are saying they would be willing to pay if I really insist on BU being my dream school, but based on the advice here I’m thinking I’ll probably end up at OSU. Thanks!
You want a dream life, not a dream college. Your comment above indicates to me that BU is a real stretch for your parents. I’d take Ohio State. I’m sure you’ll do great there. You can always attend grad school later once you have a job that makes it affordable for you.
For premed escpecially, I would not go into debt if possible. OSU is a top public research university, you will have top opportunities there!
You don’t want to get into a situation where your parents can pay for first year barely and then not for future years.
That great merit scholarship at OSU is only available to you as a freshman, not a transfer.
If you save money in undergrad your parents might be able to help you with med school, reducing your med school loans and giving you more flexibility in choosing a specialty.
You have super stats, take advantage of the great financial offers you have because of that!
@redandblack My D also was accepted to her dream school and we took it off the table. It’s not possible without taking on enormous debt relative to our income and savings. She is going to “take the money” at an OOS public flagship, and graduate debt-free! Look at the big picture. It’s not going to be the first emotionally-charged giant financial decision you make in your life. Good luck! Take the money!
Did you get into any other college, beside tOSu and BU? Or apply to any other college?
While BU’s package is pretty good for them, Ivies and similar will likely award you far more if you applied (BU doesn’t meet need and isn’t known for being generous).
Otherwise, my guess is that you have Honors College at tOSU, which should be terrific for English/premed (great choice of combination).
You got into your dream school but, really, it’s not worth it. Your parents can’t pay what BU wants them to pay and it’s not significantly better than tOSu’s honors college.
If you get into an Ivy or something similar, things may be different financially because they give super aid (where else did you apply?)
@MYOS1634 I got into Case Western with a similarly generous scholarship, but I would still have to pay like $33k there as well. The only Ivy-tier school I applied to was UChicago.
In my opinion, Case Western is better than BU for premed (BU is a bad choice for premed anyway because they have rampant grade deflation), but not for English. I suppose you didn’t get into UChic.
Right now, your best choice is tOSU.
@redandblack We took D’s finalists on her short list and made a spreadsheet with a four year COA. For each year, I added in price increases, books, est. other expenses (especially if it involved plane tickets), backed out merit or FA, made adjustments for # of kids in college, etc.
Before this more detailed spreadsheet, we had been talking about various colleges in terms of a single, first year COA.
For example, School A is $27K, School B is $22K, School C is $12K, School D is $3K. This minimized the cost differences between schools in our heads.
The estimated four year COA on the more detailed spreadsheet injected some much-needed reality. It didn’t allow our excited brains to do mental gymnastics & minimize cost differences. Those numbers swelled and (rightly) magnified the cost differences.
All of a sudden, we’re looking at $144K, $92K, $26K, and $14K.
It was humbling. But, it helped us firmly take some schools off the table and not look back. I don’t know if your parents have done this exercise or not. It’s really important to have your eyes wide open because it’s possible to borrow way more than you can reasonably pay back.
@MYOS1634 I actually just found out that I a) received a full ride scholarship to OSU and b) got into USC, so now I’m conflicted as USC was a big reach for me and the best school I’ve gotten into. Is there a point where academic quality/opportunities outweigh the benefit of a free education? I was willing to accept that there isn’t that much of a difference between BU and OSU but I’m not so sure that i’d get the same opportunities at OSU that I would at USC.
@redandblack
Look at the four year overall cost as Midwest67 suggests.
I cannot think of any opportunity that one college would offer over another that could ever justify or rationalize a 100,000 greater price tag, even a 50,000 greater pricetag, especially if that money is coming in the form of loans.
Also, if USC was such a reach, then will you be able to get those opportunities, or will they go to the bigger fish who easily got in there? Just a thought. I’m not clear on what opportunities are in your mind, so you could help by clarifying that.
I didn’t see numbers for USC, but $140,000 in loans for BU vs a free education?