<p>How do people go on about paying for college if their parents income fall bellow 40K?</p>
<p>I mean I've heard many stories of people who get accepted to top schools (ivy league , etc) but attend another college beacuse of financial problems... does it primarily apply to people with parents who dont make the 40k mark?</p>
<p>It depends...The total cost of attendance is different than what the colleges publish. For example, at Princeton they calculate it at around $42 K....But if you add up everything, it may come to around $45 K. Thus when Priceton calculates your need based aid, it is based on 42. In addition, many top schools have a self help portion and your EFC. EFC is what your family is expected to pay and the self help portion will have loan + work study components. Many parents might feel that they the out-of-pocket cost (with realistic total cost) which includes EFC + self help is higher than what they can afford, thus their children might turn down a top tier school and attend another school.</p>
<p>There might be other reasons besides $$ too.</p>
<p>If your parents make less that $40,000 Harvard wouldn't expect you to pay a thing. Many private schools have excellent need-based aid. Yes, you might have to choose a college based on financial aid, but don't automatically eliminate applying to any college just for that reason. However, when researching colleges, DO look for ones that guarantee to meet 100% of need. </p>
<p>And yes, this will probably include loans, but perhaps not as much as you might expect. My son is graduating from Stanford with only $7500 in loans, due to great need-based aid which basically allowed him to pay no tuition at all. And we made over $40,000.</p>
<p>So, if money is a big issue, don't get your heart set on one school; but don't give up on any either.</p>
<p>I live with my dad and he made around 18,000 last year, and my mom made roughly 20k but quit working and pays no child support. I applied to a lot of top LACs, all of which said they would meet full financial need. Amherst was the best deal, and where I'll be going, because they don't give loans to low income students. However, most of the colleges would have been possible for me to attend without going heavily into debt, especially if I worked a little extra and/or got an outside scholarship or two. Out of 7 colleges that I would have liked to go to, there was a huge range of financial aid offers, varying from expecting my family and me to come up with over 10K/yr (including loans and work study) to practically nothing.
Go ahead and apply, but if you will need a lot of financial aid, it is worth the extra effort to find a good number of colleges you like and do the extra applications. Don't pick a favorite until you have all the information back in April. Have a safety that you know you can afford and get in. Most of all, don't be afraid to apply.</p>
<p>If you don't have much money and good grades etc. you are fine, good! Don't be afraid to apply anywhere.</p>
<p>Hmm I found a problem.. even though my father is divorced and doesnt make the 40K mark he's always had good "credit" all his life and so he went ahead and "lend" his credit to close family members so they could buy a house under his name and pay for it themselves. I'm not exactly sure if this is even legal... I saw no problem with it until I started thinking about college and my "Estimated Family Contribution". </p>
<p>We dont even live in the house because it technically its ours... but it's still a great problem as the calculator on this website has demonstrated....
We cant even afford to pay the 5k and I doubt my father will care much about this problem... and there is no way he is going to pay that amount (doubt he would do it even if he could). </p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I guess its about time to figure out how taht Gates scholarship works... if its not already too late to even apply =-/</p>
<p>Well, technically it's under his name so it's his money/assets. How do they claim tax deductions? Unless he only co-signed the loan and withdrew his name out later, that is legal not a problem. But if his name is on it entirely, than it's his house. How does any one know otherwise?</p>
<p>I'm not sure.. and yes that is exactly my point.. it is his because it's under his name even though he is not paying for it... =-/. Oh, and he is self-employed.</p>
<p>I'm just wondernig how the "family's expected contribution" thing works.. cant it be taken out on loans or covered in some way that doesnt require my parents to get involved? </p>
<p>I'm starting to worry now becuase a friend who had descent grades and got into several schools is not going to college this year (he's going to city college) because I guess his parents coudlnt afford it or they were not willing to risk not being able to pay.. Im not exactly sure how it went.</p>
<p>I was in your boat and I didn't let it stop me from applying to some of the top schools, including two Ivies. And they actually offered me better financial aid than most other top-tier private colleges...and most importantly, no loans. Between that and the Gates scholarship I got a free ride..</p>
<p>Hmm I just found out the house under his name is 300,000 so basically that destroys all hope =-/... now what options do I have if my family cant absolutly contribute anything at all?</p>
<p>Don't worry, that is nothing. Most houses in Ca cost more than $500K. So you are fine. If that is the only house under his name, then don't worry. If his income is less than $40K, you'll get a free ride.</p>
<p>"If his income is less than $40K, you'll get a free ride.
"</p>
<p>True only for colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of students' demonstrated financial need. Unfortunately, in general, only the most competitive colleges make such promises. Places like HPYS will do this while most schools that are far less competitive will do things like provide you as much as $20,000 a year less than you need. Meanwhile HPYS are extremely difficult to gain admission to.</p>
<p>Boston U and NYU are infamous for doing things like this. Most colleges can not afford to meet full financial need of very low income applicants. </p>
<p>And do not think that your state university will provide your full financial need. Typically, they have less $ available for need-based financial aid than do top colleges, which have huge endowments.</p>
<p>Take a very close look at the financial aid information of any colleges you're considering applying to. Also, make sure that you apply to at least one financial safety -- a school that you know that you can gain admission to and can afford to attend.</p>
<p>Often such schools are local 4-year public universities (where you can save costs by living at home) or 2-year community colleges.</p>
<p>First, if the house is worth $300,000, that is not the number colleges will use. They will look at the equity, how much more the house is worth today than when you paid for it. Not all colleges, including many state schools, consider home equity. Most private schools do.</p>
<p>Usually when someone used their credit to help another buy a house, both names go on the house deed. If fact you'd have to have incredibly trusting family for this not to be the case. If this is the case, your father can quit claim the house leaving them as sole owners easily.</p>
<p>I'll look into that... any schools that provide great aid besides the ones mentinoed.. perhaps some in CA ....</p>
<p>The story of the house is that it has not even been fully paid for at all.. it was bought perhaps around 1 .. at most two years ago.... and I think my father didnt ask them to "co-sign" it or anything..</p>
<p>Anyways... I am wondering why Boston and NYU are infamous for fin AID?...</p>
<p>I was thinking on applying to the full scholarship/tuition covering at Boston.. but I had a question on how hard that was to get.. and who actually got it?.. Right now all I would really need to get super good SAT I's according to their average for it... hopefully I'll do good enough but I'm still wondering how selective it really is.</p>
<p>Of all the colleges that accepted me, Stanford gave me the best financial aid (no loans, no parent contribution. just a small student contribution + work study). Amherst, Williams, and Pomona (all top LACs) gave me similar finaid plans.</p>
<p>I was appalled by the finaid I received (or didn't receive) from the following schools: Duke, Northwestern, and UMich at Ann Arbor. UMich wanted me to take out $8000 in loans per year, wanted my parents to pay $4000, and then left another $8000 that I would somehow have to cover (not to mention the $2500 student contribution and additional work study).</p>
<p>So the moral of the story is: Don't expect a public university to give you anything. Make sure you apply to schools who WILL give you everything you need.</p>
<p>BU's full financial aid merit scholarship is very hard to get. I heard of a student who got it. She was an international who moved away from her Eastern European parenets to go to school in the states, living with a person who was not a relative and whose lifestyle was spartan.</p>
<p>She was at the top of her class in an extremely competitive public school program. She also was applying from far outside of Boston (i.e. not from the NE US), and had excellent recommendations, top scores and ECs with leadership and honors. Her GC and administration also did everything they could to convince BU to give her that scholarship.</p>
<p>Bottom line: That BU scholarship is a longshot for anyone.</p>
<p>With your situation, if your father's name is on the house, it will be hard for colleges to believe that he doesn't own the house. Your story is also very hard to understand because if your father only makes $40,000 it sounds impossible for his credit to be so good for him to be able to use his name in order to help someone else buy a house that's worth so much.</p>
<p>I am wondering whether your father has income or savings that you aren't aware of.</p>
<p>Yes I am still wondering about that.... but for those that get fin aid for schools like stanford... I'm assuming you would still have a low parent expected contribution right?...
Any other LACs that provide a lot of aid... like the ones you mentinoned..</p>
<p>"Duke, Northwestern, and UMich at Ann Arbor" how did they all compare (beside UMich).</p>
<p>Now that I think about it.. my dad actually has something else under his name that he co-owns with my uncle.. thats worth 80-100k</p>
<p>You don't need an income to buy a house nowadays. I have a friend who has been unemployed for years(at least 3-4) and he bought one last year for $700K , sold it for a small profit and then just bought another one for $800K. I know because I was his employer, I had a company and he sort of work for me part time, with very little pay, so I know that you can. That is why they call real estate a big bubble.</p>
<p>Places like Wellesley, Amherst, and Princeton would cost me about 3,000 dollars less per year than my state schools at Binghamton and Geneseo.</p>
<p>Elite, private institutions usually give generous financial aid packages to families who make under 40K. Sometimes, they will give you so much money that very little will actually come from your own pockets. Furthermore, if your stats are good enough to get you into an elite school, then you will most likely get a lot of good scholarships.</p>