Yesterday my dad told me that our combined income was $325,000 which is very unfortunate for college aid. He also told me that he will only pay for $20k a year for an undergraduate degree and will not allow me to take out loans because he doesn´t want me to have debt. This shatters the dreams of most of my OOS schools, considering their notoriously bad for merit aid for OOS students (UNC Chapel Hill, William & Mary). Is it worthwhile for me to still fill out FASFA, will I even have options with it? Are there any scholarship suggestions you have that don´t really look for demonstrated need?
Also, will I be eligible for work-study?
Look at schools that give merit scholarships.
I see from earlier posts you are from Indiana. Your flagship is Purdue. At least you have an excellent fall back option in state.
Work study is for those with financial need.
@goldensrock Yes, I have applied to Indiana University since that is where my major (International Relations) is. Purdue is a great school, and has a better reputation, but is geared towards STEM subjects and such. Thanks all for your help! I´ve been looking at colleges with automatic scholarships for my ACT score, that might be my best bet. Thanks!
Good luck. I know this situation is probably very disappointing to you but a successful life is about taking the lemons and making lemonade out of it.
You are fortunate in that both Purdue and IU are within the $20000 range for instate students. You can also apply to schools wih automatic and competitive merit scholarships. You can fill out FAFSA and receive unsubsidized Direct student loans. Although you won’t be eligible for work-study, you may be able to find a part-time job on or off campus, as well as a full-time summer job, to pay for additional expenses.
OP, essentially your Dad is “directing” you to one of your instate options (Indiana University or Purdue [$21K-23K], etc.). I suspect that one or both of your parents went to one of these institutions. There are a significant number of parents out there that do not get caught up in prestige follies and do believe that their State University System can provide the requisite quality education that will allow their children to lead successful lives. I agree, you should “Look at schools that give (large) merit scholarships”
There was another CC Poster whose father made over $400K/yr and refuse to pay more than $15K/yr in college cost for his kids. BTW, most of our state’s best and brightest (irrespective of income) attend of state 's flagship university.
No, you can’t get work study because you have “no need.” WS is a need-based aid.
The only thing you can get from submitting FAFSA is a loan, and your dad says “no” to that.
What are your stats?
You can still fill out FAFSA in case you may want to borrow in your own name (perhaps 5500 next year I think). But you are not likely to be offered anything else.
Please understand that your parents may have lost everything in the last recession, and can only afford what they can pay out of current income. And carving out $20k from $325 while still maintaining daily life and saving for retirement is a challenge. So try not to resent it.
You may be able to go a few thousand over the $20k if you include your savings from your summer job the past year or two, and the next 4 summers.
I suspect that once parents find out that FAFSA was used to get a loan, they will not fill out FAFSA the following year…so don’t depend on getting that loan every year.
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Hello! I am a white female from Indiana with a combined family income of about $200,000. I'm looking to study international relations at either Boston College, William & Mary, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Georgetown, George Washington, Michigan, or UNC-Chapel Hill. I know that's a long list of schools, you don't need to respond with chances for every single one! I know many are far reaches, don't be afraid to hurt my feelings.
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Also, should I include my SAT IIs on my common app? They are not stellar, and not required because I’m sending ACT. Worried they might hurt my chances.
Here are my stats:
ACT-32 (35,33,32,28,10)
SAT IIs-660 Math II, 730 Lit, 650 USH
APs- 5 APLAC, 4 APUSH, 4 APPsych, 3 Calc AB
GPA- 3.81/4.0 UW, 4.32/4.0 W
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lol…guess your parents earn a lot more than you thought.
You’ve spent a lot of time making college lists and exploring pricey colleges…did you only recently ask your parents about how much they’d spend?
You have the stats for good-sized merit awards, but the $20k limit means that the awards would have to be for nearly full-tuition. A half tuition award at a school that costs $60k won’t help you.
Focus now on schools that will give you HUGE merit for your stats.
I know that this is quite a blow to you. It’s very hard to start looking at Toyotas after you’ve been dreaming about BMWs and Mercedes Benzs. However, you can get a very good education at “Toyota” schools.
Here is your merit scholarship shopping list if you want to look at schools besides your in-state publics:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
3.81 HS GPA and 32 ACT will give you a full ride to Howard University if a Washington, DC location is important to you; see http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman . Be careful, though, since the renewal GPA in college is 3.50.
Obviously you are being steered to Indiana University. Ohio State has some decent scholarships and may be an option that would come in less than 20K. Miami U might have some also. I don’t understand why you can’t take out your own Federal loans, and I don’t understand why they can’t spend more.
If you were my kid and I had that kind of income in Indiana, a very inexpensive state, you’d be going to college wherever you wanted to.
Perhaps he wants you to stay close and make babies. If you had debt, you’d be harder to marry off.
Especially if the $325,000/year income was providing a luxurious lifestyle without apparent cost constraints up to now, and college is the first time that the OP has to face the possibility of something being too expensive.
I like the suggestion!
Keep talking to dad (which is a good idea anyway). It is important to know if this is a financial issue or a philosophy issue or something else. You are old enough to realize that money does not go on trees, that it is your parents money (and they may have more kids or other priorities) … etc.
I also think that people need to realize that growing up upper middle class has a lot of benefits, beyond just serving as a convenient banker for free ride at top school (and top is relative). Including say, loafing around your big house all summer and getting a nice bank account to spend on Starbucks in college and not working in the cafeteria.
It’s not shocking that your dad doesn’t want to write a $250K check … really most people just don’t have that sitting around.
Also, being poor is not as good as people think, getting full financial aid might be more difficult than dredging money out of daddy’s pockets.
If you can find a really top school for say $40K, he may find the money or at least let you take those $5k/yr student (not parent) loans (and I would think $20 or $30K would not be horrific for an international relations graduate, but I don’t know). There are very good top 60 schools with large merit rewards leaving a cost in the high $30s and top 100 schools like 'Bama that will come in under budget.
Honors programs at many state schools can really up the quality of a state school.
OOS state schools are really not a good value, with a few exceptions. UCs are $60K and so are many of the others on your orignial list. Other than not being IU, they may just not offer much more for that money. That said, some schools like Ohio State have good merit aid to OOS, 'Bama of course. You will have to look for schools that are either cheaper or with some good chance at merit aid.
You want to investigate possible merit scholarships at colleges that are well-known for IR. Unfortunately, Tufts or Georgetown won’t work for that amount, but American and Goucher might. Run the NPCs. Most colleges though, as far as I can tell, now expect families to contribute 25K.
You’re in a better shape than kids whose parents make 45k in that respect… but it’s still a huge blow. :s
Do you have a part time job? If not, time to start looking.
Does your dad know how much college costs?
Have you run NPCs together - is this the first time he’s mentioned a price limit?
Does he have a college degree (from your state university or from elsewhere)?
Is he trying to 1° keep you instate and 2° keep you away from IR? Or is he okay with you trying your luck
Your best bet to work in IR though is to combine a technical major (agriculture, etc => most applicants only have IR+language, and most postings need that + a technical skill) with International relations, plus a foreign language or two. If you’re angling for the Foreign Service, you’ll be expected to be fluent in one commonly taught foreign language and have at least intermediate fluency in a less commonly taught language (Arabic or Turkish, for instance). The Ag or technical skill will come in handy too (you get “bonus points” for that).
Indiana U is quite good for languages and you could add an ag minor fairly easily. The IR aspect will require a graduate degree from a top school.
If you want to go out of state, UAlabama Tuscaloosa would give you full tuition for those stats, plus Honors College, honors housing, and a possibility to compete for other honors-within-honors programs.
Check out the link for competitive full tuition scholarships and try to compete for as many as you can.
Ask dad what he thinks about a free ride to Howard University with your stats. Would he allow it (HBCU)?