Okay so I want to go to my dream school, Drexel University. It has a co-op program, and that is absolutely awesome so it can give me exposure to what I wanna do. Its not too far away, only like 4 hours away from where I live. The only problem is that I dont think my parents would approve of this. I know college can be expensive, but my parents outright said they arent going to even put a nickel into school. I know we can put some sort of money into school. Our 2017 FAFSA said that we have a EFC of $31k, I mean thats a lot of money. My mom wants to send me ONLY to SUNY UAlbany. One of the reasons is that they have the tuition free thing going on now, and I dont even think we are going to qualify for that. But also its only like 20 minutes away and I can stay at home and keep my nasty gross job that I absolutely dont like to do. Unfortunately, its bad enough this job is keeping me from doing a lot of stuff I wanna do as a 19 year old, but that is a different discussion and not for this website. I want to get out of the house, I want to go on my own. This college is awesome from what I have research and seems pretty legit to transfer into and I have the stats to get in. If money was the problem, I would understand. But our EFC is around $31k and my parents are outright refusing to pay a single penny to send me to anywhere else but UAlbany. I am by no means knocking UAlbany, its a great school and I have done a few things there. How do I convince my parents to stop acting like this and help me out with my decision??
I support the argument to let you go away to another SUNY. No, if your parent’s EFC is $30+, I doubt they will qualify for the full tuition but I forget the income cutoff.
Drexel, on the other hand is $67,000/year. Your cost after aid will be a minimum of your FASFA EFC and likely higher. Have you run their Net Price Calculator? Drexel is not worth the cost if your parents were cooperative.
Your parents sound like they can afford SUNY tuition, and that’s it.
You can’t get loans yourself to fund Drexel…which is not cheap by the way. It’s a lot more than the $30,000 EFC…and there is no guarantee that is on,y what you would pay there…as Drexel does not guarantee to meet full need for all.
What are your SAT or ACT score and your GPA? If your parents can pay for just SUNY tuition…you would need significant merit aid to cover the balance anywhere else.
I think you need to think about how college is going to be funded. how would YOU fund attending Drexel.
You know…nothing is preventing you from moving out of your parent home. Go and get a full time job. Support yourself. Rent a room someplace. Save your money. Ou don’t have to go to college to. I’ve put of your parent home.
Moving away from home and not attending college sounds really dumb and stupid. I really don’t know if that was sarcasm or not? I’m not being picky, I am just saying my parents wont cooperate with me with school. Its not just this school, its everywhere. They will only pay for school if I go to UAlbany, no where else. And like, we know nothing about the place. The only reason they want me there is bc its 20 minutes away from our house.
Maybe you can’t. Just because the FAFSA formulas say they have 31K per year does not mean they actually have 31K per year. Do what you can to make your situation better, such as keeping your eyes out for a better job.
@Sportsman88 I totally forgot to add I’m a transfer, so the net price calculator wont work (As I was told net price is not for transfers).
Your costs will be higher than the NPC as a transfer. You can run the NPC and know that your costs will be higher than that, potentially much higher. But, at least you’ll know the lowest price.
What’s really awesome is graduating without much debt. Education is expensive and often more than a lot of families can afford. If you have the opportunity to go to college which is more affordable I would consider that. Apply also to schools where you would be considered for scholarships to keep the costs down.
You maybe able to take some loans for college and pay that off when you graduate and get a job but parents need to also save for retirement because they can’t borrow for that and put their financial future in jeopardy. Right now you are only looking at the cost of college but parents are looking at all their expenses that need to be paid. Also do you have other siblings that will apply to college in the future? Parents needs to consider those future education expenses as well.
Where are you attending college now? Albany? How many years have you completed?
As a transfer, you will likely have to pay the full cost of attendance at Drexel. That is over $71,000 a YEAR. Even working a co-op every other term is NOT going to cover those costs.
I was very serious about moving out of your house of you want to get away from your family. You sound like you want to be independent from your parents. Nothing is preventing you from doing this.
For the record…money IS going to be a problem…because you aren’t going to get $71,000 a year in financial aid from Drexel. You aren’t.
@thumper1 I go to my local community college, Hudson Valley COmmunity College and I just finished my first year. I have a 3.3 GPA. And no no I do not expect full rides from anywhere. Maybe I worded the question wrong, the problem isn’t Drexel. The problem is my parents won’t let me go anywhere else but Albany. Like yes I know money is a problem, but my parents don’t even have valuable reasons to send me to Albany other than its less than 20 mins away from home and I can get free tuition there, something I wont qualify for.
I don’t think keeping you close to home is a valid reason, but money is a valid reason, and it’s their money. Regardless, if you don’t think their reasons are valid, then you have to make enough money so that you have the freedom to make your own decisions. If you use their money, you have to play by their rules. And if they say they can’t afford college, how do you know that they can? EFC is just a number that has little to do with your family’s finances and doesn’t tell you what cash flow is like.
If you won’t qualify for free tuition, you need to find out how much it will really cost and whether your parents will pay that amount. Are they paying for your community college?
@aroundhere The first semester they did. The second and third my grandfather is. It like a little over $3k a semester
@purpletitan Yes exactly. I understand if it was a money issue, but it’s not. Obvisiously if schools dont give us what we need, I wont go to them and I really won’t mind it, I wouldn’t be having this discussion. But they want to send me to this one particular school, which is also one of the more expensive SUNY schools, bc of free tuition we dont qualify for and the fact that I can keep my part time job (THAT I REALLY DONT NEED, ITS ONLY FOR PERSONAL THINGS ITS NOT LIKE IM RAISING A FAMILY OR ANYTHING) and that I can stay at home.
Your parents have an EFC of $30,000 or so. But that does NOT mean that they have $3000 a month or so of extra money lying around to pay for college EVERY MONTH. That is a huge chunk of money every month.
You have a number of posts avoutmtransferring on this forum…and you included a LOT of very expensive private colleges on your list. With the exception of Cornell…none guarantee to meet full need. This means your family would be paying MORE than their $31,000 RFC per year…and because these are expensive schools…a LOT more.
Here is my suggestion. Go and talk to the transfer advisor at your community college. Ask him or her where you might be able to get accepted AND would be able to get some kind of merit aid. It’s possible that at one of the SUNY schools, you might qualify for something.
Sit and have a calm discussion with your family about college funding for your final two years. Do NOT mention any schools. You want to get a sense of what your parents are willing to contribute. Forget about the FAFSA EFC…it’s not relevant to the discussion at all. Just see what, if anything, they can or will contribute.
You are working 20 hours. Week according to your other threads. How much have YOU saved towards your college costs?
For your 3rd year, you can take a $7500 Direct Loan in your name if you file a FAFSA.
You come off sounding very petty and ungrateful. Wait till you are 24 and and independent student for financial aid purposes and go to school then. Other than that, be appreciative and go by your parents rules.
If you hate your job, get a different one. I’d ask if they’d consider any other SUNY, not a $70K per year private school. If not, then I’d go to Albany, get a degree, then move to where you want to live. It is their money. They don’t have to spend it on college if they don’t want to.
OK, they want you to go to Albany, but can you find schools cheaper than Albany?
If you can, you can make a good case. If you can’t, then all this pouting won’t get you anywhere.
I would gather the information to show how much each school would cost. Transfer students can use the NPC but you have to carefully look at the requirements for any merit scholarship it gives you, or sometimes the NPC ask what year you are in school and if you are a transfer and then omit anything you aren’t qualified for.
Your parents have probably heard about the new NY program that makes tuition FREE, but you’ll need to point out that it’s only for family incomes under $100k, and it is only tuition, not the fees or room and board. Make a spread sheet, show them the costs. Look at some other SUNY schools if you are interested in moving to Buffalo or New Paltz. Where are the programs you are interested in - engineering? math? business? Does your grandfather live somewhere where you could live with him and go to a different school, yet still save money by not having r&b charges? Think outside the box on how to make your situation work on your budget.
If they can’t be reasoned with, you have the option of finishing your AA and then working for a few years to build up money and to become independent from your parents for financial aid too (age 24). Personally, I’d take the free education offered and go to grad school at Drexel or Cornell or wherever you really want to go.
My guess is that the parents have income under $100K, and Albany is close so the student can live at home. So it is sort of free for him to go there. Agree that if the OP has relatives elsewhere in the state, that might be an option if you could live there.
@twoinanddone Yes, youre reasonable and not calling me greedy haha. But yes, this is how all of this began when NYS passed the Excelsior scholarship, and we do not qualify for that. I know Buffalo and Stony Brook are very very nice.
@intparent YES youre reasonable to haha. I do not qualify for that