I'm desperate and unsure about my future..

Paying for College
1

<p>Here's my situation.
I'm a senior in highschool, going off to college in the next september.
My family will not pay for my college tuition, I don't blame them, because the financial situation is critical in my family.
I'm willing to get student loans for all of my tuition. I applied for a state university(Stonybrook), which I'm sure I will get in. my family income is between 35k-44k, the state university costs 20k a year but I think the financial aid will take it down to 8k a year. I wonder if I can get a student loan for around 10k a year. does the federal student loans loan you that much?
I will look for jobs while i pursue my degrees; is here anyone who's been doing the same thing? I wonder how much are the monthly expenses.
I plan to pursue a engineering degree, I know there's many scholarship opportunities laying around but most of them are so competitive and seem too distant to me. Would be nice to know where to start.
I have scored 31 in ACT and my GPA lies around 3.5.
Any advice would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>

Did you use the school’s NPC? The max. Federal Direct Loans for first year dependent student is $5500. See <a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized#how-much”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized#how-much&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I hope Sybbie sees this thread. </p>

<p>You are a NY state resident. What is the TAP amount you will receive? Is there a SUNY to which you can commute?</p>

4

<p>“I have scored 31 in ACT and my GPA lies around 3.5.”</p>

<p>You need to read through this thread, and re-consider how far you are willing to travel from home: <a href=“Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums; Your GPA and test score qualify you for some guaranteed scholarship money at the right places.</p>

5

<p>@4kidsdad‌ thanks for the link, I read everyting in it. should I get other student loans to cover up the part that the federal student loan cant cover?</p>

6

<p>@thumper1‌ what do you mean by the tap amount? I have friends whos family income is at the same level as mine, they had to pay around 3-4 k a year out of their pockets after all the grants and aids.
as for the commute, I do not wish to stay with my parents when I go to college. They are already pretty upset about me going to college. I’ll just either live on campus or rent a room somewhere in longisland, whichever is cheaper</p>

7

<p>Do use the NPC and look at how Stonybrook shows what aid you get. I don’t know about Stonybrook, in particular, but a lot of the SUNYs will only meet need up to the tuition and fees and will use the Direct Loans, PELL, TAP to meet that need, dipping into Perkins, Seog, workstudy and school funds to meet that amount. But that doesn’t cover room, board, ttransportation, books, supplies, and other living expense. You can only borrow $5500 as a freshman without involving your parents. </p>

<p>You could likely do well commuting to a SUNY. Room and board…mmmnnn,…is high at most SUNYs and is often not funded by the school. </p>

<p>If you are in the top 10% of your class and major in stem, SUNYs offer free tuition in exchange for staying in that field and working in NY for, I believe 5 years in such a field in NY. </p>

<p>Also, SUNY BUffalo does have some merit awards. Don’t know how much Stonybrook has. Depending on your stats, those are possibilities.</p>

8

<p>@cptofthehouse‌ unfortunately my stats are not outstanding enough to be eligible for the STEM program…will SUNYs offer full tuition for second year students with outstanding GPA?</p>

9

<p>@happymomof1‌ Thanks for the link… I read all of it along with the hyperlinks within which led to other awesome threads. I found U of Alabama a good school to consider because they award full ride to students with my stats</p>

10

<p>

It has deadline for the scholarships! See <a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/freshmen/index.html[quote]The”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/freshmen/index.html

</p>

11

<p>@4kidsdad‌ wow thanks I’m on it!</p>

12

<p>I love how all you parents put so much time into researching for your kids’ college education, if only my parents cared…</p>

13

<p>Glad that you’re getting great help! I will note (as the parent of a kid in a large urban “tough” public high school), most kids are on their own when it comes to college…some are lucky enough to have great guidance counselors…and some have involved parents. But you’re building independence and confidence by doing this your way…those traits are going to serve you well.</p>

<p>And when you need an extra hand, we’re all here. :slight_smile: </p>

14

<p>Apply to Bama asap…app is super easy…takes like 5 minutes. </p>

<p>Since you’re an eng’g major, you’d get free tuition, plus $2500 per year. </p>

<p>Can you copy/paste the NPC results of that SUNY? The aid may already have a full student loan in it. </p>

<p>You need to ask your parents if they’ll give you the money that they’ll get from the Tuition Tax Credit. </p>

15

<br>

<br>

<p>??</p>

<p>Why do your parents not want you to go to college???</p>

16

<p>@mom2collegekids‌ they genuinely dont care, but they do care when bills come in the way</p>

17

<p>I’m looking into it right now :)</p>

18

<p>@bigfatcarrot, since you are in NYS, check out Syracuse, which based on your stats, this is a possibility. Syracuse offers good to great institutional aid. The net cost could even be the same or lower, depending on the institutional aid. If it is possible, get your guidance counselor to advocate for you - write an OUTSTANDING recommendation and explain your circumstances and ask for scholarship $. </p>

<p>Syracuse admissions:
<a href=“http://admissions.syr.edu/apply/firstyearrequirements/”>http://admissions.syr.edu/apply/firstyearrequirements/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Its Engineering School:
<a href=“http://eng-cs.syr.edu”>http://eng-cs.syr.edu</a></p>

<p>Its School of Information Studies:
<a href=“http://computerinformationscience.syr.edu”>http://computerinformationscience.syr.edu</a></p>

<p>Also, if you apply to SUNYs which you over qualify for, your chance of merit aid increases. therefore check out Oswego and Oneonta. With the SUNYs, you won’t have to write additional essays.</p>

<p>SUNY Alfred State and Farmingdale also both offer engineering majors and are safety schools for you, which you might get qualify for merit aid along with financial aid. I highly recommend you apply to one or both. Don’t rule safety schools out because in the end, you will need to evaluate your decision inclusive of net cost.</p>

<p>SUNY Cortland, which doesn’t offer engineering major, but which you might get some scholarship money in addition to both federal and NYS aid:
<a href=“http://www2.cortland.edu/cost-aid/scholarships/freshmentransfer.dot”>http://www2.cortland.edu/cost-aid/scholarships/freshmentransfer.dot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Ask your counselor if you qualify for SUNY and Common App fee waiver.</p>

<p>For the SUNYs, apply ASAP so you’ll be first on line for any potential scholarship…</p>

<p>Hope this helps. Best of luck! : )</p>

19

<p>Carrot,</p>

<p>How many people are in your family? Are you a NYS resident?</p>

<p>If yes, with $44k income, you will receive TAP and some Pell</p>

<p>If you are in NYC, you must put in an application to CUNY (city college) so that you can have a financial safety.</p>

<p>You may very well be EOP/HEOP eligible</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/summary-sheets/EOP_profile.pdf”>http://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/summary-sheets/EOP_profile.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.highered.nysed.gov/kiap/colldev/HEOP/documents/EligibilityRequirements2011-12through2014-15.pdf”>http://www.highered.nysed.gov/kiap/colldev/HEOP/documents/EligibilityRequirements2011-12through2014-15.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are EOP eligible, then you would get 4 SUNY fee waivers </p>

<p>You can apply for some SUNY schools using the common app (Note; potsdam, fredonia will kick your application out if you already have a fee waiver from suny because their stuff goes through the processing center)</p>

<p>Apply to oswego, get a teacher to write you a recommendation for the possibility scholars</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.oswego.edu/possibility.html”>http://www.oswego.edu/possibility.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.oswego.edu/possibility/eligible.html”>http://www.oswego.edu/possibility/eligible.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are HEOP eligible, go big (make sure you have 3 SAT II subject test and blanket the HEOP list). While you may have the scores, you may not have the gpa for some of the more completive schools, but it is a balance because you would probably be inadmissible through general admissions</p>

<p>See your counselor this morning and get the HEOP list of schools (there are approximately 64 of them in NYS) and get your applications ready; toss one at Columbia, Cornell, RIT, University of Rochester (you must either go big or stay home)</p>

<p>all the best</p>

20

<p>Just in case you don’t know, you need to fill out the FAFSA application to get federal aid (loans. grants). You will need to have access to your parent’s tax returns and asset information. Will that be a problem? People here recommended filing this application ASAP after it is available on Jan 1. You can use estimates for the income and then correct it after filing the tax returns.Some schools (such as Syracuse) also require the CSS Profile. Check each school for the deadlines and FA requirements. </p>