<p>Not sure if anyone has said this already but Cornell states in their acceptance letter that you can be let off the ED hook for monetary reasons, ie your situation.</p>
<p>You have till February 1 to submit all documents for admission to the College of Architecture at Kansas State University. My understanding is the program is well respected, but you'd have to check into that yourself.</p>
<p>estimated costs:
In-State $18,758.77
Out-of-State $29,406.65
Midwest Student Exchange $21,835.21</p>
<p>If necessary I guess you could take a gap year & try to work someplace, then apply to potentially affordable programs for the following semester.</p>
<p>Cooper Union has free tuition I believe; living in NYC is costly but not $30k.</p>
<p>how can you not afford 30k off a 127k gross income? my family makes a little less than that each year and we have a bit higher mortgage...but we are fully ready to pay 40k a year for college. i am wondering if the problem is that your parents aren't willing to make all the necessary sacrifices (which is completely understandable, don't get me wrong), not that you are physically unable to pay.</p>
<p>i would say you should definitely appeal because with a second look, colleges tend to be more favorable. but if that doesn't work out, you should really talk to your parents about looking into your family budget and living expenses. i really hope you can work something out!</p>
<p>Well, now we know why your loans weren't capped at $3k.</p>
<p>Not to be curt, but $127k a year is a lot of money. Maybe only 7% of all households earn more. Your family needs to determine how much they are willing to spend on your education and how much you are willing to take out in loans to finance your education. My rule of thumb would be to not take out more in loans than what you would expect to make upon graduating. </p>
<p>Also note that it is pretty easy to lower expenses at Cornell by living off campus, etc. It's also pretty easy to hold down a job for 10+ hours a week and earn more than work study anticipates.</p>
<p>Other than that, I don't know what to tell you other than life isn't fair.</p>
<p>i was thinking about this -- but you know how like if you get into any college ED, you aren't bound to attend if the college cannot meet your financial need. in essence, you can observe your various other financial offerings.</p>
<p>however, numerous colleges force you to withdraw your application if you are accepted ED -- hence, leaving you with very limited financial options (you only have the colleges who have given you their decisions/financial packages before april 2009). so basically, you're screwed with the ED package, or some state school which offered you a full ride. you will never know if another school will give you a better package later in april, since they will have you withdraw your application.</p>
<p>If it is any reassurance, your family's life won't be different if they cut back 30K. In fact, there are families that get by with just 20K a year.
I guess I was right about them giving you a 7.5K loan.</p>
<p>Whether a particular salary is "a lot", or even adequate, depends on many factors. In particular, costs of living in various areas vary tremendously: housing costs, fuel, insurance, taxes, etc. A salary of $125k in some areas would not even offer as much disposable income as a salary of $75k in some other areas. It depends largely on how much you have to spend on mortgage payments, and these other items. Regional hosusing price differentials are huge.</p>
<p>And how much of current income and savings one should be rationally willing to part with depends on other factors such as: how many other tuitions loom in the future; when you hope to retire; and how much equity you have in your home. If you will have to use all your savings to buy a home when you retire in two years, obviously you can't spend them all now on college tuitions. Even if now you make $127k this particular year (too bad that this is not guaranteed to continue forever), and some people, who don't walk in your shoes, think that's a lot.</p>
<p>Fair enough. I was just trying to put the amount into a broader context.</p>
<p>But it is OPs context that is actually the most relevant.</p>
<p>People who lean more towards the lower end of this "broader context" resolve this matter very simply. They either don't entertain even the vaguest notion of sending a kid to a private college. Or they will only do so if they are offered boatloads of financial aid. Which, given their circumstances, they actually may be more likely to get than OP.</p>
<p>Ironically, in some cases there may be people who report nominally much higher income, do not qualify for as much aid given the formulas applied, but may in actuality be worse off . Per #27 above.</p>
<p>If you need FA, you don't apply ED. </p>
<p>College is also not something you pay as you go. Your parents need to have saved up over the years to fund your college tuition. </p>
<p>127,000 is gross, net is probably 85,000. assuming you spend about 30% on housing, it leaves you 49,000 for everything else. Your family can't pay 30,000 a year for your tuition and live on 19,000 for a family of four. As a matter of fact, around NYC area, it would be very hard for a family of four with income of 250,000 to afford to pay Cornell's tuition. I personally think it's silly to take out a huge loan to get an architect degree. </p>
<p>Going to college is a privilege, not a right. It is a harsh reality that we can't afford everything we want. It is unfortunate parents and kids do not have a frank discussion on what they could afford. What your family needs to contribute is not that difficult to figure out. I see it more as parents' fault that so many kids are disappointed each year.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As a matter of fact, around NYC area, it would be very hard for a family of four with income of 250,000 to afford to pay Cornell's tuition.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Give me a break. It would only be "very" hard if you expect to be going out to eat every other week for $40 a person plates and spending a lot of money on things that amount to frivolous conspicuous consumption. Maybe you won't be able to afford a new car for every one of your children or a completely new wardrobe to impress your business associates every year, but nobody every suggested there shouldn't be lifestyle trade-offs when paying for a college education.</p>
<p>Assuming a normal family situation, nothing is hard about the lifestyle of a family grossing a quarter million dollars a year. Let alone "very" hard.</p>
<p>The only jobs that would pay 250,000+ are in NYC, your price drop by half once you cross the river. Unfortunately housing in the tri-state area, commutable to NYC, is very expensive, and the cost of commute to NYC is also very expensive. I have lived in this area for 25+ years. I see how people live and they do not live lavishly, and certainly not going out to eat often. As a parent I see where the money goes - unexpected medical bill, car accident, sports equipments, field trips, leaking roof, new driveway...Many people also do not make 125 to 250 right away. When you are in college you may think making 50,000 or 100,000 is a lot of money, but once you start paying for everything yourself and then start to have a family, there isn't that much left. It is the reason why I feel taking out a large student loan is a very bad start to your life.</p>
<p>Do a search around NYC area for housing. You would be hard press to find a house for less than 500,000, it's more like around 750,000. Real estate tax in NJ is around 25,000 for that housing price, on a conservative side. If you make 200,000, your take home is 10,000/month. You are all smart people, do the math.</p>
<p>It is also the reason I think institutions like Cornell are missing students from families that are making 120-250. If there are students like that at Cornell, many of them are there with large student loans.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is not on FA, was able to work in the summer and at school. I think her total earning will be around 8,000, so you could contribute more than 2500 through work study.</p>
<p>Regarding the view posted above by Anonymus that architects statistically do not receive starting salaries comparable to other professions: he or she is ignorant of an important variable to the field. I've been in architectural practice for many years, and know that the way most architects "make good money" is by investing in development and speculative construction at a financial level -- this after they have established themselves over the course of some years. In other words, they invest up front in a percentage of their own projects.</p>
<p>I, and many other architects like me, are only able to weather the current economic and real estate meltdown by having been involved in better times at the development and speculative level of construction. Yes, many architects struggle mightily in the first years of practice (and some after), but quite a few have managed more than acceptable incomes.</p>
<p>Frank Lloyd Wright used to tell his students and apprentices that the first key attribute for an aspiring architect was the willingness to work relentlessly, while the second was a love for the profession beyond the prospect of monetary gain -- though that "gain" can manifest down the road, after a few years of practice. It could well be that 'Anonymus' finds his or herself a bit short on these important attributes for budding architects. Conceivably Air Painter has a more genuine dedication.</p>
<p>Good luck to you in your aspirations Air Painter!</p>
<p>Again, CR2005, I do not appreciate your delivery.</p>
<p>Let's assume your household is grossing $250k a year. After $30k in contribution to your 401k plans and $10k in health care premiums, you have a taxable gross of $210k, and a take home of $130k. But for ease of math, let's assume you only take home $120k a year, or $10k a month, as you suggest would be appropriate for a gross of $200k.</p>
<p>You have a house valued at $600k that you purchased at $450k 12 years ago with $50k down. After taxes and insurance, your monthly housing costs probably come close to $3k a month.</p>
<p>And let's say your transportation costs come to $1.5k a month, which may be on the high side. </p>
<p>You can do food between $.5k and 1k a month. And assume all other misc. expenses, including health, clothing, communications, home improvement, and fun come to another $1k a month.</p>
<p>That's $6.5k a month. With $3.5k a month left over for vacations, savings, or college education. Or $42k total. Add in the student's self-help package and Cornell is very attainable. </p>
<p>I don't think it will be "very" hard to pay for Cornell. Your child will have to work during school and over the summers. And there won't be much play money. But it shouldn't be considered a hardship by any means.</p>
<p>My parents did the contract colleges on an upstate New York income of $110k, paying between $20k and $25k a year for my education. The way it worked was that basically my father's entire salary went towards my education, and my on-campus jobs went to cover all of my out of pocket expenses -- I never had to ask my parents for money. But we could still afford a vacation every year and a summer house in Canada. I was even able to afford six months studying at Oxford by taking out $15k in loans. I consider myself very fortunate that my parents were so supportive and were willing to make some sacrifices for me, but I also qualified for financial aid the year I studied abroad.</p>
<p>I don't know. I don't have a family so maybe it gets more expensive than the budget I laid out. But I do know that a lot of people live well beyond their means. When I first graduated and started working in Boston on $45k a year I was able to live like a king on less than $20k a year. I traveled to Europe twice and California once, and still had plenty of money left over for normal savings and retirement, as well as to start paying off my $15k in student loans. And I was amazed to learn the number of my colleagues who weren't saving much.</p>
<p>Apologies for the delivery. I just get very agitated at people in the top of this country's income spectrum complaining about their budgets. Most of my extended family lives hand to mouth on incomes that pale in comparison to what we are talking about. But they don't complain.</p>
<p>Just so you know, a current partial budget for a family in suburban NYC today, if they bought their house less than 5 years ago, could easily look something like this, and not necessarily for a palace in the swankiest area either:</p>
<p>Mortgage $52k/ year
property taxes $18k
Utilities, phone&tv $13k
Insurance $8k
Home Maintenance $3k</p>
<p>Real estate tax alone in Nj is around 2000 per Mon. Most people probably spend 5000 total for housing. My sister in NC pays 7000 per year for tax on her 1 mil home.</p>
<p>I suppose that might make sense if you had a mortgage/home value approaching $800k-$1MM. But the amount you are spending on utilities seems completely out of whack. </p>
<p>I would figure at most $400 a month for gas, electricity, and water and another $200 for phone and TV. If you start to want iPhones then things get expensive.</p>
<p>My parent's property taxes in one of the best school systems in Upstate New York is around $500 a month. Our house might be worth $250k. Any property taxes more than 3 percent of the value of the house strike me as really high.</p>