<p>M2CK, IBR and PSLF works only for Stafford loans…the OP will undoubtedly have much higher Stafford balances once med school tuition and limits kick in. Forbearance applies to for all student loans and is very common among residents.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t know if some of the OP’s loans are student loans. She mentions getting private loans. Don’t know if forebearance would apply.</p>
<p>First…Rutgers is a fine school for students who want to learn and for students who want to go to medical school in the future. YOU don’t happen to like it…but that doesn’t diminish the quality of the school.</p>
<p>Second…if you work this year and earn $40,000 of income, this income will be added into your financial aid equation and your EFC will go UP…it will be higher than it is this year…and by a LOT. </p>
<p>Third, as others have noted, your family debt is a family decision and is not factored into the financial aid equations.</p>
<p>Fourth, have you considered staying at Rutgers, doing well, and applying to medical school? You should not take on $55k per year in debt for two years IF you plan to go to medical school where you WILL be amassing significant loans.</p>
<p>Fifth…most schools do not award very significant aid to transfer students. The most significant aid is reserved to entice incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>Sixth…yes there are some schools that do award significant aid to transfer students…but their acceptance rates for transfers are VERY low…AND the OP indicates he wants to transfer NOW. It’s MUCH to late to apply as a transfer to these schools…the deadlines for fall admission have long since passed.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I think the family income is too high to get aid anyway.</p>
<p>Well…yes…an EFC of $60,000 exceeds the cost of attendance at most colleges in this country…therefore no need based aid would be awarded.</p>
<p>You are in a situation many kids are. Your parents make and have too much in assets for you to qualify for financial aid, but they are not willing or able to pay college costs. We are sort of in that same predicament.</p>
<p>My oldest went to a top 25 university and didn’t get a dime of money from them. So we paid. We had some savings that we used, paid a lot from income, and borrowed. Son also worked during the summers, had some savings, but did not take out any loans. We wanted to do the same for all of our kids, but three years into this scene made it pretty clear that we could not. H’s job was in a danger zone, finances were shaky, health issues and some other crises made college costs a lower priority. We wanted to sell our house, but the market tanked. Our credit took a hit as well as our income. I am grateful our second child went to a state U and saved us a ton of money. Saved himself a lot of money too since he is loan free. </p>
<p>We had to take a long hard look at our finances, the future and the job market as we tried to assess what we could pay as a family without getting into financial problems. We are not young and we still have one in grammar school. We also have elderly parent issues. When we did the numbers, it was pretty clear that paying $60K for a private school for our third one was not doable without really putting us in a precarious financial position. We already were in a danger zone in many ways in terms of retirement and emergency funds. Yes, we could do it. On paper, it looked simple. Sell the house and we have the money. But there is no market for the house, we have 9 living here, alternate housing here is expensive, etc, etc. We came up with $30K as what we can afford, and truthfully, it hurts paying even that. I get a sick feeling in my stomache about making the payment in August as I think of it. So my third one, found a school for that price. Thankfully, it was his first choice school and they did work with him on the merit money. He also has gotten some outside scholarships, not a lot but it adds up. He also works two jobs over the summer and works a job during the school year. </p>
<p>Even so, it is close. I dread the thought of having two in college in less than a year and a half. We will have to borrow, and it will put us at risk. That’s even to give our fourth one the same $30K allocation. He is working and saving his money and intends to pay $10K a year of costs, and borrow about $5K a year if he has to do so. That would give him $45K a year max for college. As much as that amount is, it would still rule out colleges like Wesleyan. No way would they give fin aid to him,nor do they give merit money, so unless he gets outside scholarships which is highly doubtful, such schools are not in the running for him. </p>
<p>This is the sort of situation many of us find ourselves facing. You need to sit with your parents and work out realistically how much you and they can and are willing to pay, and what is available out there. There is no easy answer to all of this. Just because the financial guides say your family can pay a certain amount, doesn’t give the consequences and issues of actually doing so It may not be the wise financial move to make, as much as your parents and you would like to do this.</p>