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Let me say first that with a high EFC like mine, I was looking at about the same debt when it came to the public vs private schools
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If that were true, that just means that you weren’t looking at the right schools. It is never necessary to have $170k in undergrad debt.
Happykid graduated from Towson and has friends at UMBC. The Towson financial aid office was very helpful when our family had a crisis due to unemployment. I don’t know how they treat medical bills. I do know that Happykid found exceptionally cheap off-campus housing near the TU campus when she and potential housemates read the Craigslist ads. She and her housemates were also able to come up with plenty of decent-paying student type jobs on or near campus.
Can we decrease the negativity here, please? I’m looking for help, not judgment. I know we screwed up in our decisions. Nothing I can do about that now. And, not that it matters, but I overestimated debt by $7.5k, so it’s more like $58k. But that’s not the point of this thread.
@dodgersmom - Thank you so much! I will definitely look through those threads. I called UMBC this morning, and the supervising FA officer said that while my case is a little unusual, she will do her best to help me. Next time I speak with her, I’ll mention that loan pathway and see what she says. The FA rep at Towson told me that they don’t recognize high medical costs as a reason for aid re-evaluation, but I’m trying to get in touch with my counselor to see if they’ll make an exception. I doubt it, but I won’t know until I ask. If they say no, they made my attendance decision for me, which is kind of nice, haha.
@happymomof1 - Thus far, I haven’t had a very good experience with the FA office. The moment I mentioned medical expenses on the phone, the person rather rudely shut me down. I’m hoping she was just having a bad day. As for housing, I have to evaluate all of my options, but I’ll definitely check Craigslist. I’ve always kind of been wary of the site, but I’ll give it a chance. What did Happykid think of Towson? I have a mixed opinion. I still have to visit UMBC.
Any thought to changing your major? Given your goal of graduating with a degree in music, I disagree that college graduation is going to make your loan payments more affordable. Music majors are frequently underemployed and many are working in the same jobs you could get right now without a degree (e.g., barista, retail, part time nonprofit work, or a combination of the three). I also disagree with the belief that dodgers/mom2collegekids sent to me in a pm that we must encourage you to keep going, accumulating more debt while taking classes you might not need at a community college without giving any thought of your earnings potential and your ability to make the loan payments as a new graduate.
There are students who finish the first two years of college without a declared major and are still able to declare a major and finish in two years. Perhaps an advisor can help point you toward some possibilities that would be of interest to you and would enhance your future earnings. At some schools (and depending what gen eds you have completed) an econ degree can be earned in the last two years. I wouldn’t overlook that National Guard suggestion, either.
If a goal is to defer the loan repayment, having courses towards the degree but working as much as possible. Paying OOS? OOS tuition is a luxury IMHO. Good if one can be a RA. Pick up extra jobs. Seems you want to stay on track for your degree, OP, and I just encourage you to do it in the most cost-effective way possible. The adults/parents and advisors have helped you get in the financial hole, and I do not ‘beat up’ on young people with good intentions but are misguided into the bad financial situation.
If you are very competent musically, there are limited opportunities in military bands. Many musicians work very hard for low wages. I know a very competent gal that graduated from a flagship state school (and was a drum major) was a HS band director for one year and realized what hard work it was for the pay! Since there was a college near her parents’ home, she got a second degree in engineering and is making a nice six figure salary.
OP, you have got to look at the debt level and how far you are from graduation, and what it will take to complete a degree. I am glad you are investigating ways to continue your education and lowering your costs.
The whole thing with debt is counting on being able to repay it. What if your job after college is low paying? You are responsible for the loans, with or without family help which may or may not be there. And it really sucks if you never finish the degree and have the huge loans - they are big already.
I don’t want to just do music. I was actually going to declare anthro as a second major at my old school, but I left before I got to add it. I want to do research related to music and the brain. I want to get my PhD in music cognition. I don’t want to work in a field I hate just to live comfortably.
My last school didn’t have general education requirements, so most of my credits are music credits. Changing focus isn’t going to help me any. If anything, it will probably add a year or two to my studies.
Happykid was a theater tech/design major and transferred into Towson from a community college in Maryland. She was very happy with her department. Because of the transfer agreement in operation at the time of her admission, the only class she took at Towson that was not in her department was for a science credit. Your situation would probably be quite different.
Happykid’s HS friends and classmates who ended up at UMBC all were happy there. Really, I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these universities.
Since you haven’t collected many gen eds at your original school, you might be able to get them cheaper at the CC than at UMBC or Towson. Check the Gen Ed requirements at UMBC and Towson, and then see how much of that you could get out of the way at your local CC using Artsys http://artweb.usmd.edu/ Don’t forget to check the websites for UMBC, Towson, and your local CC for information about any guaranteed transfer agreements or articulation agreements.
To be honest though, your money issues raise a lot of concern. Rather than assuming that your only good option is to continue down your current pathway, it might make more sense for you to pursue a short program at your local community college that would lead directly to a job. Preferably one that you could continue to hold at least half-time while you finish up the degree that you really want to have.
If you’re missing gen ed, wouldn’t that be least expensive at a community college?
OP I cannot imagine the stress level you are feeling with this debt (or how one would realize how crushing this debt is). So what does it take to get into the music cognition PhD program? Adding more to UG if you do go through to your intended focus is just going to add more and more debt. At graduate school, you can perhaps get an assistantship and other ways to keep payments low.
If you have a ‘little shovel’ with massive debt, it will interfere with your quality of life. If you could not attend school and had to start paying back the student loans, how would you earn even the minimal debt amount and how would the interest stretch the payments out?
You need to have a career that you can earn pretty good money, esp if you continue to rack up more and more debt.
What happens when you ‘run out of gas’ - be it energy, focus, money during your UG studies?
So many students do not finish UG due to financial issues.“it won’t happen to me” - well you have this thread stating the financial problem.
It will be very important for you to secure a cost-effective plan - very specific (sort of like a budget) - where you have the focus on the intended goal(s) and have a way to have each semester ‘funded’.
I would not want to continue to rack up debt for UG with extra semesters…it is one thing if you have a balance of work and school with a solid plan and costs under better control, but another where you are taking courses and courses, and adding semesters for added major/minor.
You have to slow down drastically the debt going up, and you would benefit from a cost-effective plan to finishing your degree.
???
@CheddarcheeseMN >>>I also disagree with the belief that dodgers/mom2collegekids sent to me in a pm that we must encourage you to keep going, accumulating more debt while taking classes you might not need at a community college without giving any thought of your earnings potential and your ability to make the loan payments as a new graduate.<<<
I didnt’ send you ANYTHING in a PM. I’m going to report this.
Anyway…My point posted here (and not in a PM), was that the student might need to take CC classes (paid for out of pocket, not with more loans) to delay the coming of due of loans.
If the student still has either Gen Ed or lower division courses for that second major (likely does), then doing so at a CC is a good idea.
A summer job can pay for those classes.
Definitely agree that you do not need the additional stress of being away at college with huge loans and uncertainty. Stay home for a year or more and get those Gen Ed credits at a less expensive community college. Work a part time job, if needed.
Later, when you apply to transfer, your parents’ tax numbers will reflect their medical expenses.
Good luck to you and your family.
mom2collegekids already denied sending you a PM, but I must point out that revealing a PM on the boards without permission is a serious breech of trust and etiquette. If they had wanted to tell you that publicly they would have done it here.
@fallenchemist. I was mistaken. Sorry about revealing a PM. Can we alter a setting to disallow private messages? Not all of us are interested in private exchanges.
I’m not sure how you have borrowed and spent that much on just 3 semesters of college, but you have to stop borrowing right now. If you only go half time to work full time, so be it. If you can only afford community college and living at home, so be it. You admit you’ve made mistakes, but don’t compound them by continuing to borrow. Towson will only care where your parents were residents for the last year. Was it Maryland? If so, and you are still a dependent, you are a Maryland resident. Drive there and fix the error.
Sorry to be harsh, but now is not the time to be sympathetic as it won’t get you through college. You are against a wall and have to finish school without borrowing any more money, even if it takes more time than a typical 4-5 years, that’s just your reality.
You might actually be eligible for more money at one o the HBCU schools - Morgan State, UMES.
I don’t believe there is any way to turn off someone being able to send you a PM. There is a way to put certain people on ignore, but that’s about all. At least as far as I can see.
@CheddarcheeseMN Well if someone sends you a PM (I didn’t), and you don’t want to open, read, and respond, then just don’t. You’re under no obligation to click on the PM notification. Ignore it.
" I could defer enrollment and go to the community college by my house for another semester, but then I’d be 2 semesters behind (I’m taking classes at the community college this semester), which isn’t ideal and doesn’t help me with the spring semester at all."
Just re-read this. Tomorrow, march yourself in to the Transfer Advisor’s office at your CC. Find out how close you are to completing an AA or AS in anything. Find out about your overall GPA. Find out about transfer scholarships. Find out what the current articulation agreements are with all of the MD publics are. For example, Towson used to accept a full AA or AS from any of the MD CCs as fulfilling all of the gen eds except for the advanced writing course. Finishing your AA/AS might make a lot of things easier for you if something like that is currently in effect.
Also, in the past Towson didn’t have space in the dorms for transfers in the fall semester, but did have space for them in the spring semester. So waiting until next spring might not be such a bad deal.
While Tolson sounds like a nice place to be, it may not be affordable either.
The parents don’t likely have $90k to hand over to that program, so there’s a good chance that they are signing up for some kind of loan or payment plan for that.
I’m guessing that next spring the parents won’t be a situation where they can help pay for college. And borrowing the COA for Tolson would be a lot.
I’m going to have to step away from this thread for at least a day. I was reading through all of your responses, and I think I had a legitimate panic attack. You all can continue to discuss if you’d like. I’ll update you all on what the schools say.