<p>okey dokey</p>
<p>GI bill funds are considered first payer and will reduce your need. If the balance left over is less than your EFC, that will affect need-based aid. It sounds like that is what happened at Vassar. I can’t tell if you are also including the monthly housing allowance paid by the GI in your numbers though. You have to somehow pay that upfront, so the schools don’t receive those funds and don’t count it “against” you.</p>
<p>My parents have said that they can only pay 20K per year for college. This prompted me to come up with the idea that i can take out 10K/year in private loans provided I earn enough scholarship money to cover the school’s loan and the work study. This will make my parent’s OOP cost 20K. The problem with this is that I don’t know if I can take out this loan and begin repayment after I’ve completed undergrad and if not, I have to work on campus, during the summer and over breaks to pay off the loan while I’m in school.</p>
<p>Start counting your blessings. It sounds like you have two parents who love you. You have earned a HS degree. You are healthy enough to leave home. </p>
<p>So you have to turn down Vassar. No one died. No arms amputated. No babies lost. No home flooded or devastated by tornadoes (see daily news) and no career path smashed. </p>
<p>You’ve got a dented pride and a frustrated heart. That’s a bummer but no more than a bummer. You have options. None of them come with a cherry on top but here they are:
- Ask Vassar to defer your enrollment. Work a year (not “loaf” a year) and save every nickel and then go. You may get your Vassar degree on the 8 year plan (alternating work and college).
- Go elsewhere. </p>
<p>This is perhaps the first time in your life that you really, really wanted something major and it didn’t pan out. You earned a spot at Vassar and now are having the rug pulled out from under your feet. This is a test of your resilience. There is no easy path forward. </p>
<p>So, either earn Vassar by working or swallow your pride and find peace with an alternative (worse alternative: go elsewhere and whine constantly). </p>
<p>You are about to find out what you are really made of. Good luck.</p>
<p>Does the GI Bill now have to be included for Vassar’s to give you the original package? Can your father decide NOT to give you that money and keep for his own education? If so, would you then be back to the original financial aid package?</p>
<p>If the above is the case, you have your parents borrow the amounts need from PLUS to pay what has to be paid for two years and then use GI bill resources for and not pay at all for junior and senior years. They can then use the money they were putting towards your education to paying back the PLUS loan. Of course, you can earn scholarships as well to reduce Vassar’s financial aid contribution. It may reduce your Staffords first which you can then take out to reduce your parent’s loan burden.</p>
<p>As to the amounts of scholarships you are thinking you are going to get,umm. I don’t know anyone getting those dollar amounts and when kids get that much they make the papers. Getting any scholarships over $5K is a tough propositon I"ve found unless they are from the school itself, and even that is not easy.</p>
<p>If the above is the case, you have your parents borrow the amounts need from PLUS to pay what has to be paid for two years and then use GI bill resources for and not pay at all for junior and senior years. They can then use the money they were putting towards your education to paying back the PLUS loan.</p>
<p>I would think that the dad can decline to give him the GI bill (and then give it later). But does that mean you get a larger amount from the GI bill for the last 2 years?</p>
<p>I would think that the dad can decline to give him the GI bill (and then give it later). But does that mean you get a larger amount from the GI bill for the last 2 years? >></p>
<p>Nope, it is figured by month. It actually went down this year for some students because they changed the way they figured the amount for the highest public school rates, which affected those at private schools in certain states. </p>
<p>It takes the school awhile to certify the GI bill funds, so if he planning to use them for this year, they will know and will adjust the package.</p>
<p>I live not to far from Dennison and it is probably one of the prettiest campuses I have seen. We were just there recently for a Specialy Olympics event and many students were helping out with that. It has a lot of lovely old buildings and they are remodeling the interior ofsome of them too. There are lots of hills so be prepared to get your work-out as you travel to and from class. I would not hesitate to recommend this university, it has a wonderful reputation and you will not be saddled in debt like you would with Vassar. I know it is a tough decision but Ohio has a lot to offer.</p>
<p>Bump. 
Thanks, guys.</p>
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<p>I hate to sound rough…but I would suggest you reconsider your “prestige” needs. The bottom line is that there are some outstanding colleges out there that do not have the “prestige factor”. Think about what the school has to offer you…not what it’s “prestige factor” is.</p>
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<p>Your FAFSA EFC is $58,000? Is that correct? That would put your family income in excess of $150,000 a year. If your family says they can only contribute $30,000 per year, you will need to find a college that fits your family financial criteria. That is the way it is for EVERYONE regardless of the sources of their college monies. Someone needs to pay the college bills. Your family has indicated they cannot pay for Vassar. That being the case, you have two choices…enroll somewhere else this year as a freshman where your family CAN pay the bills…or take a gap year and do something meaningful…and apply again next year as an incoming freshman…and pick schools where you will get guaranteed merit aid.</p>
<p>BTW…I didn’t think Tufts gave merit aid…I could be wrong but that’s what I thought.</p>
<p>Without knowing your stats, it’s hard to say if you would be a candidate for merit aid at Vanderbilt. Their merit aid is HIGHLY competitive.</p>
<p>You weren’t rough. I completely understand where you’re coming from.</p>