Yes, Pomona has a bigger endowment amount per student…but Amherst has more generous need based aid awarding policies for students like this one…with incomes in the $90,000 range.
OP wrote: “I want to understand if my financial aid offer is reasonable.”
Pomona College costs about $68,900 per year for tuition, fees, room & board. You received a grant of $59,000 leaving a balance of $9,900 of which $2,800 can be paid by a student work study job. The balance is $7,100. A federally subsidized loan of $5,500 will further reduce your outstanding obligation to $1,600.
Pomona College is one of the best colleges in the world with an admission rate of less than 9%… The Claremont College consortium gives you access to courses at four other outstanding LACs.
Then you ask for a comparison between Pomona College & Texas Southern University as to which would be cheaper.
Although you have an outstanding ACT score of 35, you are not in the top 10% of your high school class, although very close at top 11%.
Your parents want you to consider Texas Tech as it should be cheaper.
Yes, your financial aid offer from Pomona College is reasonable.
Your parents need to read this thread. You got into two of the best colleges in the US and received incredible financial aid. You didn’t fail anything AT ALL.
Hiw about getting your parents to read this thread? It’ll be eye opening fir them!
Hey guys, thanks for the help so far. So this is an update to those who might care.
My parents said that they will be putting money in my private bank account (indeterminate amounts), that I will be able to spend on things that I may need. I chose the monthly installment plan so my first bill is $1250 which I will be able to meet with the money that I’ve saved up from work. My parents will be paying for school supplies. Also, Pomona corrected my FAFSA such that my EFC is 11485 instead of 8280 (i may have misrepresented some numbers) , but my financial aid is the same.
Finally, im almost done with the trade school that I got a scholarship for, and I’m hoping to get a job as an ER tech (~$16/hr) when I get to California.
Again thanks for the help, BTW I talked to them about this thread, but I didn’t physically show it to them, cuz ya know foreign born parents. Plus this laptop is really expensive so I don’t like picking it up (didn’t pay for it though, Dell did)
Hi ochuego – Thanks for the update. You sound like a very determined student. Great that you can pay the first installment, and great that your parents will pay for your books and supplies. Do you have a plan for the rest of the installments? When you say your parents will be putting indeterminate amounts into your bank account, is that for tuition payments? Will you be taking the $5,500 student loan?
I’ll probably end up taking the loan. It depends on how hard getting a job is going to be. My parents are putting money for me to use at my discretion so that is likely what I’ll be using it for (tuition).
I heard private loans were better than Federal loans because you can default and not be liable anymore. Is that true?
Sallie Mae seems like a really bad person.
“I heard private loans were better than Federal loans because you can default and not be liable anymore. Is that true?”
Uh, no that’s not true.
And are you planning to default on your loans?
“I heard private loans were better than Federal loans because you can default and not be liable anymore. Is that true?‘
Nope. Sure you can default on both and they will chase you to the ends of the earth to collect (with a federal school loan, the only excuse is both feet in the grave) and your credit rating will be trashed for seven years or more if you default on a private loan. Even getting a cell phone will require a deposit. I’ve been there with the bad credit (not a loan, but a default on a credit card when I was in my teens, it followed me for years and what started as a $300 in default turned into $1000 over time until I paid it off), it’s not a great place to be.
This is a VERY bad idea. do not even THINK about defaulting on a loan. Besides, this is not correct. I think what you might have read is that federal student loans are not dischargeable if you declare bankruptcy. So, to get out of paying a private student loan, you’d have to declare bankruptcy.
You need to have a more firm plan than just the"indeterminate" amounts of money your parents will put in your bank account. You need to take the student loan of $5,500. I assume that was part of the FA package you received. Check with Pomona FA office to see if you have to do anything to accept the loan. At some colleges, you only have to act to opt-out. Some you have to actively opt in. Call tomorrow.
Let’s use a round number:
$10,000 is what you owe for the year. That will be billed as $5k per semester.
$2750 from your loan will be applied to each semester’s bill.
$2250 will then be your balance (per semester) to pay out of pocket.
$563 will be your monthly bill with your payment plan. $2250/4months = $562.50
You said your first installment is $1250. That’s because your student loan was not yet applied to your balance. You can easily see that your $5,000 per semester was divided by 4 equal installments to equal $1250 per installment. Once the proceeds of your loan are applied (make sure you have taken the loan!) to your balance, your installments should be, as I said above, $562/month. The loan is applied usually sometime the week before school starts. Ask at your FA office.
You said you have $1250 from your summer job. Great. Plan to divid that by 8 (8 installments). That will leave you with $406 left to pay per month. Do you think your parents will be giving you at least $406 per month? If you can get them to commit to giving you, let’s say, $425/month (a little cushion) you’ll be able to pay your tuition bill, have a tiny bit left over, and use your work-study earnings for additional spending money as you earn it. You said you are eligible for $2800 in work-study. That’s $350/month. That will be more than enough for you to comfortably cover your personal expenses.
If you are planning to take loans with the intent of defaulting…just don’t.
And anyway…who is going to co-sign for you on these private student loans? When you default, THAT person will be the responsible payer of your loan balance.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: We don’t allow threads in which users contemplate illegal/deceptive actions, so I am closing this thread.