Hey everyone. I was just wondering how everyone’s paying for college, specifically Boston University, which is where I’m attending in January. My sister and I just had a huge fight about this and I’m seriously feeling a little overwhelmed and wondering if anyone else is feeling the same. I took out a loan for $65,000 for a year and the accumulation for four years is a little breath-taking (in all the wrong ways). I know this might just be for one year and next year hopefully I’ll get a better financial aid package and apply for more scholarships and grants but someone please reassure me that this is normal. I mean, it’s college, right? And it’s just for one year. I’m honestly holding onto a thread of stableness.
Also, would anyone happen to know how long it takes for Sallie Mae to send BU the information and for BU to approve it? I have just under ten days and it’s definitely stressful, as I keep saying.
Any information/suggestions help. Thank you so much just for listening and hopefully helping out in any way. I would appreciate that so much.
Check out Dave Ramsey’s warnings against college loans/debt. He is a very well know talk show host and has a radio show and website. I really suggest that you take a look at what he has to say.
Have you considered any other options besides full cost at BU?
No, 65,000 in loans for one year is NOT normal, and it won’t be for just one year. If you didn’t qualify for financial aid this year, why do you think you will next year? Student loan debt never counts as a way to qualify for more financial aid.
Most financial aid comes from the school or the government. Your odds of getting 65,000 worth of outside scholarships for each of your following years of college are practically zero.
Stop trying to talk yourself into this idea. Pick a school you can afford.
If you could post more about your academic stats, major and career goals, and financial situation maybe someone here would have some suggestions.
It’s about 50k, I applied for financial aid but only got 5k, which was really disappointing and we thought we could’ve added to that with scholarships but they kind of fell through. My dad cosigned though my parents file together
Wait - your family income is 50K per year and you only got 5K in financial aid? Do you happen to own a million dollar home or something? Did you file all required financial aid information by the deadlines? Did you appeal your financial aid award?
@suzyQ7 I’m going to BU in January and my dad wanted me to take $65k out for the year so he would only have to pay back the loan and I’m not sure it makes too much sense in the long run. I was considering other options for next year, such as a lesser loan, ton of grants and scholarships but for now, this is all we have. Any advice?
@harper8 I’m going to call my financial aid office tomorrow to discuss any possible grants/scholarships because of course I realize that is wayyy too much to pay. I’m going to get a part-time job to help my parents pay for it, of course, but you mentioned other options. Any suggestions?
@TomSrOfBoston my parents think it’s better to pay fully for the loan rather than some for the institution. Their income together is just above 50k. What do you think?
@AroundHere yeah I have absolutely no idea where they got off with that 5k in financial aid. We don’t have any assets that are valuable enough to cover any of that. I filed all financial aid forms by their deadlines and accepted what I got
@TomSrOfBoston I filled out the FAFSA with my dad and our tax returns and went over the numbers multiple times. I assure you there’s nothing wrong there and I’m kind of left here clueless
Are you sure you did everything required for aid? It looks like besides the FAFSA, BU also requires a CSS Profile and income verification. If all you did was the FAFSA, you were not considered for BU’s own aid program.
Some schools (I don’t know about BU in particular) will do “admit-deny” (admitted for attending, denied for financial aid). It’s a “consolation prize” for someone that’s hard to deny outright (say, someone connected to an alumnus) but they don’t really want you to come. If that is what happened to you, I’m really sorry, but you really should not go to BU.
You are considering borrowing more than one year of a typical BU graduate’s starting salary just for your first year of school. Add up another 3 years of attendance to get a bachelor’s degree, plus the interest on all those loans (Sallie Mae loans are not subsidized)… You are seriously harming your future: Do you want your first decade or more of working life to be about keeping your expenses as close to the poverty line as possible and trying to pay off loans? And if you don’t pay them off, your parents, as cosigners, will be responsible for paying them off, which means they will not be able to retire.
Why are you going to BU if it costs so much, or “accepted what (you) got”? Choose a lower cost school. There are so many of them. Go to your state school instead. Go to a school that recognizes your family’s income and inability to pay and a school that offers some form of scholarship. BU is one of the notoriously hyper inflated colleges. University of Massachusetts is about $15,000 in state tuition and $30,000 out of state. (I just checked their site) That’s around half the price of BU. You aren’t guaranteed a job upon graduation and will have the same opportunities regardless of where you go, regardless of what BU (or any other school) tells you.
What are your stats? Were you offered scholarship money anywhere?
Unfortunately it is a bit of a “firedrill” now, since you have already taken out the loan and agreed to attend. It might be worthwhile for you to reflect on your decisions and your priorities.