<p>Working full time will hurt Ashley in financial aid. In fact, the reason that NYU offered no grant is most probably a combination of her social security and her job right now--they won't consider the fact that her earnings go to paying home expenses. Every dollar of SS, and much of her income, are expected to go to school, as unfair as that is. The next year (if she got through the first) could be very different. I know NYU is stingy, but I have difficulty thinking that they wouldn't give some additional aid to a student who is Pell-eligible, which she will be next year, when her SS and earnings are gone. </p>
<p>AShley, have you talked to an FA officer at NYU to discuss how the anticiapted changes in your income will affect subsequent awards?</p>
<p>I could have been you thirty years ago. I was in the last graduating class to get SS during college; I never would have made it without it. I also know many students at the school Iwork at who are penalized for working too much, when their earnings are going toward helping their families.</p>
<p>These kind of financial aid inequities are the ones which get to me the most.</p>
<p>I bet Smith, Wellesley, and Bryn Mawr would give Ashley excellent financial aid. I know women going to all three who were offered full, or close to full, rides despite financial circumstances that are much better than what Ashley has described. One in fact lives in an expensive house, but, because her father was laid off a year ago and therefore the family has been living off savings alone (read: college funds), she received an extremely generous package.</p>
<p>Ashley, NYU may be a dream school for you, but, given your circumstances, it could end up being a nightmare. NYC is an expensive city to live in, even without having to pay tuition, and so you need to consider this fact as well. If you come from Ohio (I think you said you had Ohio State as an option), then you will be shocked by the cost of living. If you have to find your own housing after a couple of years, then you'll have to borrow much more than you think.</p>
<p>Many, many schools offer better FA than NYU. In fact, NYU may be the absolute worst place to attend if you cannot afford it outright. You need to go to a school that acknowledges the financial difficulties of your situation and is willing to look at the individual facts and not just the FAFSA as is. As many have already said, transferring may decrease your odds of FA.</p>
<p>I know this isn't helping my situation but I also thought no bank would lend to an 18 y/o w/o a cosigner but CampusDoor.com approved me. I also realize that their approval leads to higher interest rates. Next year, I should have cosigner (my mom should be able to in about a year, maybe to, once her credit goes up). </p>
<p>My counselor came in contact today with a local private school who is willing to take me. However, while they promise me some fin. aid, I doubt it will be enough. It is Otterbien University in Ohio. I don't know much about prestige but if they offer a lot, I will look into it. The thing is, while I may be able to find another option, I don't want to take out loans for a school I don't want to be at.</p>
<p>Ashley, your mom as co-signer, given that your SS has been bridging the gap between her income and her expenses, is a really really bad idea for both of you. I can't imagine you wanting her wages garnished down the road if she hits a rough spot financially to pay the interest on your loan.</p>
<p>I still think you need a professional here. Your GC's willingness to call Otterbein is great; I'm assuming that like most GC's s/he is not an expert in financial aid, nor on the implications of a financially independent 18 year old. Without the right kind of institutional financial support you could end up in a nightmare situation.... piles of debt, income low enough to qualify you for food stamps but not enough to cover your EFC or your living costs in a place like NY where a tuna sandwich at the local deli costs $8.</p>
<p>Please see if your GC can put you in touch with a social worker, with a representative from your local Community chest or a church group which provides scholarships for needy kids, or a private foundation which is interested in getting low income kids into four year colleges. You sound like a very special kid.... please let some grown-ups help you.</p>
<p>Ashley, as expensive as you already think NYC is double that and you might have an idea. There are so many other affordable options for someone like you. Explore them and then put NYU or other NYC schools on your list for grad school. Some have mentioned Smith. You seem like just the kind of student Smith would love to have. Go to a local state or cc for the fall semester and try the transfer route with a better eye to your financial aid options.</p>
<p>The kicker is that while Ashley is being cut off from social security at 18 in the eyes of the financial aid departments, she would not be considered finanically independent until she turns 24 or get married, has kids, joins the military.</p>
<p>Her being pell eligible next year is not going to do any thing for Ashley's cause next year. IF she and her family were NYS residents, then she might be cut a break through HEOP, but even then, I think Ashley's mother's salary places her above the poverty level.</p>
<p>The one thing about her going in her home state is that she may be eligible for the Ohio choice grant, the Ohio oppty grant. Otterbien states that they do give need based aid but they do not state how much.</p>
<p>Ashley, get on the phone with every tier 2 state uni in Ohio - some of them are bound to have space for you. Yes, state unis, especially second tier can have very little FA, but the cost of attendance and the cost of LIVING should be so low, that even if you have to borrow, and work as much as possible, you will be less in debt than at a private school. Make excellent grades and transfer to a more generous school next year. Be sure they have dorm space for you, or that the cost of living is very low, if you have to move out from your mother's home, then just keeping a roof over your head will eat up a lot of any income you can get this summer. If it wasn't so far off the wall, I would say come South, the tier 3 commuter institution in my town and in the neighboring city is very cheap - fulltime OOS tuition, R&B, books and landline phone service in $13740 a YEAR - that's less than half what you were going to borrow at NYU! The school in the neighboring city is a little more expensive, but the jobs there pay a little better. Almost every other business in town has a help wanted sign, although realistically, you would eventually need some sort of car to get most jobs.</p>
<p>I'm with Jpro and Blossom, NYU sounds like a potential financial disaster, and you don't have the safety net of a middle class family to bail you out - I 'm worried that you could get into lifelong trouble that you will never be able to overcome.</p>
<p>I hate to be there bearer of bad good news, but you aren't going to NYU. No one is going to loan you $120k. It's really as simple as that. It's not a matter of what you would like, want, or be willing to do. You aren't going.</p>
<p>It's really quite simple as to why no one is going to give you the loan. $120,000 at 11.5% interest (which is what it would be), comes out to $1,687.15 per month, every month, for the next 10 years! And you will need to start paying it back immediately, not four years from now. If the loan repayment was considered at 10% of your salary, you would need to AVERAGE a salary of $202,458 over the next 10 years to afford the loan; at 15%, a salary of $134,972 would be necessary. I am 56 years old, with two graduate degrees, and I make less than half the latter. </p>
<p>But it's irrelevant, as no one will give you the loan. So you aren't going to NYU, and your gap year in the larger scheme of things isn't going to help (NYU costs will go up another 5-6% next year.) It's not a matter of being bound by NYU's contract - they won't allow you to enroll without the dough, and that's GOOD news.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I would probably take a year off (perhaps take some cc. courses), find a job, and regroup. What you have learned is that life changes, and it will likely change again during the next year. At the end of it, you will likely be in a much stronger position to make good choices to secure your future.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. It's a long row to hoe. You will get yourself grounded; you will survive it, and will come out the better for it.</p>
<p>"I don't know much about prestige but if they offer a lot, I will look into it."</p>
<p>Ashley, it's not the prestige that matters. It's the education. When you get your college degree, hopefully with a minimum of debt, then you will be able to rely on your own intelligence and ambition to find your way. NYU does not have enough prestige to make up for the kind of debt you're talking about. Not even Harvard does.</p>
<p>"You will get yourself grounded; you will survive it, and will come out the better for it."</p>
<p>I'd like to second Mini's wisdom.</p>
<p>Ten years from now, you will wonder why you ever thought you could swing NYU financially, that you ever thought it would be worth it. The realization that your dream school is out of reach is painful, but you will survive it. You will be more mature and more focused than you were yesterday. </p>
<p>And please listen to Blossom: get professional, adult help with all this. You need to lay everything out to your GC and ask for a referral to someone, maybe a social worker, who can help you. Remember: there are many schools, some of them more prestigious than NYU, that want students like you and are willing to support them.</p>
<p>Seen around Harvard: "You can't eat prestige." I second Mini and Momwaitingfornew. The important thing is to get a good education, and that can be done at many many schools. The other important thing is not to condemn yourself to a life on indentured servitude, which is what a debt of !20k (not counting inflation!) would do to you strting next fall.</p>
<p>See, right now, I realize this. I am not planning on going to NYU for four years now. I am not at the point as to whether or not I should take the loan I was approved for for this year and transfer out next year. It will give me somewhere to go next year, get me away from what I need to leave but...leave me with a good amount of debt. That is my problem. </p>
<p>The c.c. just isn't as feasable as it may seem. I explained previously the impossibility of living, working and attending school on my own. At least at a school I could have loans in order to survive. You can't get loans around here for just working.</p>
<p>The thing is, my state school would require 20,000 of loans as well. I do not need to take all 30,000 out. I have saved up a lot already and plan to work two jobs this summer. It would be 20,000 either way so I see why not go where I want to, even if for only a year, when it costs the same. </p>
<p>Yes, it may be cheaper but as of now, I have no where else to go. If I find another school willing to accept me and that I can afford, I will definatly consider it. But right now, this is where I'm at.</p>
<p>Clermont College of the Univ. of Cincinnati (the two-year feeder into UC) costs $4,500/yr, and living costs would not exceed another $7-8k (maybe less, depending on circumstances.)</p>
<p>So a loan of $4,500, plus your savings and summer, and you are already covered.</p>
<p>Here is a list of Ohio colleges and universities reporting they are still open to applicants, and many of them are still offering financial aid:</p>
<p>Marite, on another thread, Ashley posted that she was "approved" via an online operation for a $20,000 loan without a co-signer. The loan is a variable rate loan with a rate of 1% over prime, plus a 7% loan fee added to the cost of the loan itself.</p>
<p>Just because she's been pre-approved does not mean she should take the loan. I have pre-approved credit lines in the high digits but would not dream of spending up to my limit. I also get offers of supposedly advantageous mortgage rates every other day. They got into the Spam folder.</p>