<p>My family is stuck in that all-too-familiar spot of having too much money for FA but too little to spend 60k a year on my education (which I totally understand). I think my mom can contribute 25k and my dad around 15 (they are divorced). These numbers are not 100% yet. Add in the 5.5k student loan and I'm short about 20k of going to the school of my dreams.</p>
<p>I am a current junior and got a 228 on my PSATs, so I have financial safeties backed up. My question is where do I start to find this money? I can try getting a full time job of some sort, and applying to scholarships, but after that I have no clue what to do.</p>
<p>Go to your guidance counselor. Mine has helped me in more ways than I can count over these past few months, not only with applications, but with scholarships as well.</p>
<p>The simple answer is you don’t. Plenty of colleges out there that are perfect for you.
You could earn ~5000 per year during college and summer in addition to what you could make here in high school. But that is not going to cover 20k per year and college will get more expensive every year.</p>
<p>Getting outside scholarships is possible and/or even probable. You should start applying now. But the 1000k here and 1500 there do not add up to 80 very fast. The large outside scholarships are super competitive and generally require financial need. </p>
<p>With your parents as co-signers you can get private loans to cover that amount but that is a moronic idea; having tons of student loans is not going to help anything. </p>
<p>Not every school is affordable to everybody. If you really want to have $100k in debt after college, you may check with the FA office or other sources for additional loan to cover your need.</p>
<p>Billcsho…the ONLY loans available to this student without a cosigner are the Direct Loans. He/she is NOT low income so even a Perkins loan is not likely. The only"additional loan" the financial aid offices can tell this student about is a Parent Plus Loan. The PARENTS would need to be willing to take out these loans. The student alone will NOT be able to secure loans in that amount.</p>
<p>To the OP…look at those stickies at the top that talk about guaranteed merit scholarships. It sounds like you would be a candidate for a number of those.</p>
<p>And then talk to your parents. THEY are the ones who will tell you what they will and won’t do regarding college financing. </p>
<p>First of all, getting into an ivy is a total crapshoot so you can’t assume that you’d get accepted.</p>
<p>" I think my mom can contribute 25k and my dad around 15 (they are divorced). T"</p>
<p>You need to ASK your parents how much each will pay. Sometimes divorced parents will only pay as much as the other parent will pay, and sometimes one will pay more. Either way you need to ASK how much each will pay.</p>
<p>There aren’t private entities that give affluent kids $80k to go to the college of their choice. Why would there be? What would that entity get out of that? “gee, I helped an affluent kid pay for an ivy”???</p>
<p>Private scholarships are usually ONLY for frosh year, and they’re hard to get. Those that are for multiple years usually require the student to be lowish income (have lots of need). </p>
<p>What is your major and career goal? Going to an ivy isn’t necessary to be successful. </p>
<p>Ask your parents how much each will pay so you’re not guessing. You need to know.</p>
<p>To the OP…the colleges will compute your eligibility for need based aid based on you parent’s incomes and assets primarily. For the Ivies except Princeton), your custodial parent (the one you reside with the most) will complete,the Profile, and your non-custodial parent will complete the non-custodial parent Profile. Your custodial parent will also complete the FAFSA. The schools will use that information to determine IF you qualify for Ned based aid, and if so, how much. Quite honestly, they don’t CARE what you think you can pay. That does not factor into the calculation. They compute what they EXPECT you to pay.</p>
<p>Princeton uses its own form in addition to the FAFSA. The Princeton form uses custodial and non-custodial parent information.</p>
<p>The net price calculators are not particularly accurate in situations where the parents are divorced. But you could try one to get a VERY rough estimate. Some folks have suggested running the NPC with the mom’s figures…then running with the daddy’s and add together the net cost. But really…it,is going to be a rough estimate.</p>
<p>I will,say, if your mom is planning to contribute $25,000 a year out of current earnings, that suggests a pretty high salary.</p>
<p>“Quite honestly, they don’t CARE what you think you can pay. That does not factor into the calculation. They compute what they EXPECT you to pay.”</p>
<p>This is true. But the OP already thinks he won’t qualify for any aid. He thinks he’ll be expected to be full-pay.</p>
<p>If the dad has equivalent earnings (or greater earnings), the mom may not appreciate paying more than he does. That’s why it’s important to ask them for actual numbers. </p>
<p>Intent…when your parents divorced, was anything put in the decree about how college would get paid for? </p>
<p>Hi guys, my older sister went through this process so I’m fairly knowledgeable on this. She received zero non-loan aid at a 50k a year school, and our income has since increased. Regardless of what my parent’s salary is, I won’t be getting 60k a year from them. It just won’t happen :/</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids , nothing is written down but both my parents want to see me succeed more than to tear each other down. Mom makes more than dad. </p>
<p>I have a range of financial safeties. If Vanderbilt comes through with a scholarship I’ll definitely take that Fordham, I believe, gives full scholarships based on my PSAT score. So I’m not screwed haha.</p>
<p>My only real hope, besides that, is to apply to Ivies other than Princeton (sad face) and see if I can get some FA. I could always get married too 8-> </p>
<p>If you and Sis are in school at the same time, that can help. And, aid depends on the school. Is she at a “meet full need?” Do you know if she got no aid because your Fafsa EFC was too high or because of that college’s policies? And, how does/did she make up the remainder?</p>
<p>Reminder: the meet full needs schools only work on the gap between what they think the family can pay and COA. Minus some. </p>
<p>You need to talk to your parents and see if they can help you with this gap. 18 years olds have trouble finding a job full time that nets them $20K a year just to give you some perspective on how difficult it 's going to be for you to come up with the money. And even if you want to borrow, your parents would have to cosign, putting them on the hook if anything happens to you. If they can’t afford the hit to their credit and really should not be borrowing, you are putting them at financial risk.</p>
<p>You can look into scholarships but getting an outside one of that size is not likely, and most all of these awards are one year only. The schools go up in price each year you know. </p>
<p>“I have a range of financial safeties. If Vanderbilt comes through with a scholarship I’ll definitely take that Fordham, I believe, gives full scholarships based on my PSAT score. So I’m not screwed haha.”</p>
<p>Since all of Vandy’s students are top students with high stats, their merit awards are highly selective. I wouldn’t count on getting one. </p>
<p>Fordham gives a full tuition scholarship for making NMF. You’ll likely be a NMSF with your PSAT, and then hopefully you’ll move on the NMF after completing that process.</p>
<p>Do not try to work full time while going to school. Your grades (or graduation date) will likely suffer. Your parents aren’t going to pay for a 6 year process. They’re going to want you out in 4 years. </p>
<p>You can probably count on earning/saving about $2k during the summer and earning about $2k during the school year to pay for "day to day’ expenses…which college kids have a LOT of. </p>
<p>You have the means to get either large merit or to find a school that costs about $40k. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids , yes I understand Vanderbilt’s scholarship system. I am a qualified candidate for them but I do have fall backs, i.e. Fordham, if they don’t come through.</p>
<p>I’ll look into scholarships, work, and whatever else I can. We’ll see</p>
<p>You may be a qualified candidate for admission. (what are your SAT or ACT scores?). But, that doesn’t mean that you’re a likely candidate for a merit award.</p>
<p>I remember having this same conversation with a girl who wanted to go to Vandy. She thought she’d get a merit scholarship. She seems to think that if she got accepted, then she’d likely get some merit money…even though her stats weren’t “well within” the top quartile for the school (and even that isn’t a guarantee). She got nothing. My nephew who had an ACT 34 and was Sal of his class, got nothing from Vandy.</p>
<p>However, as a NMF, you may get a $5k award (if Vandy still offers that for NMFs)</p>
<p>Fact is, not getting finl aid makes Ivys out of reach for many kids like you. You aren’t alone. There are so many wonderful schools that will “recruit” you. Definitely cast you net wide when applying bc you never know which school is going to give you the best merit scholarships (aside from those that specifically award NMF). With NMF you will have near full ride options, full tuition options etc. The Ivys accepted 14,000 student in 2013. There are 15000 NMFs, 43,300 valedictorians, 43,300 salutatorians and 70% of Ivy applicants are worthy,but only 1/10 of those are accepted. And the same extends to Ivy-esque schools like Vandy. Merit will be tough at those high end schools that give it, tough as in “do not count on it.”</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply to the top 20 schools you can afford w merit bc you may be just what they are looking for. But also apply to that next level of schools that are reputable and give large merit pkgs to kids like you. The key here is search for schools you can afford, either via potential merit or initial COA. </p>
<p>Just my 2 cents. I have 2 in the process now. We’ve saved, we’ve given each kid a budget and from there we will make a sound decision that won’t put us in debt. Maybe you should read the book “Chasing Zeroes.”</p>
<p>And btw, we started the process just like you… Starry eyed and hopeful. The $ realities set in and people on CC grounded us. It’s all good though, you will have plenty of wonderful opportunities. </p>
<p>The only big question here is if the PARENTS are willing to cosign those $20,000 a year loans. The student will not be able to get loans in that amount without a cosigner. </p>
Fordham, I believe, gives full scholarships based on my PSAT score. So I’m not screwed haha.</p>