<p>My parents are willing to pay 25K a year for my college education. Aside from attending state school (UMass Amherst, wihch does not have the best rep. if ur in MA), I will have a tough time meeting the tuition costs. I plan to apply to private schools like Boston University, USC, BC, Syracuse and such. As well as out of state publics like UMD, UIUC, which cost about 35K. It seems like the only way I can meet those costs is to receive merit aid, however my stats aren't impressive at all (3.5 unweighted, 2030SAT, 1380/1600). </p>
<p>Question:</p>
<p>How much debt is too much? </p>
<p>Are online scholarship search engines worth a try? (They all seem to require an essay of some sort, and lets be honest, I won't win them)</p>
<p>Should I just eliminate all my reach schools because even if i miraculously get in, I won't be able to attend because of finance issues?</p>
<p>To answer your last question, you should still apply. You never know what would happen. And plus, if you DO get in, you can brag about it to your friends/families/teachers. By the way, there are also need-based aid available if your family doesn't make a lot of money.</p>
<p>There are many schools that have total costs of $25K per year. I live in a neighboring state and U Mass Amherst is NOT viewed with that much disdain. </p>
<p>York College in PA is a small private school that would also be in this price range. </p>
<p>You might also want to look at some of the southern universities where even OOS costs are close to that price range...U of South Carolina, Clemson, University of Mary Washington, UNC Greensboro, UNC Charlotte.</p>
<p>^ Have you run any online financial aid calculators? You might still qualify for some need-based aid at some schools, even with family income of $165K, depending on your own and your parents' assets. But your EFC will probably be significantly higher than the $25K your parents are willing to pay. Still, if you get even a few thousand in need-based aid, $25K from your parents, and let's say another $7K or $8K that you earn from term-time and summer employment, it could significantly reduce the amount you'll need to borrow. Don't shelve your dreams just yey; you won't really know whether it's affordable until you try.</p>
<p>An affordable alternative you might consider is the University of Minnesota (ranked #61 national university in US News, about the same level as BU at #60 and in the same vicinity as Syracuse at #53, and ranked well ahead of UMass Amherst at #102). Out-of-state tuition at Minnesota is capped at $4,000/year above the in-state level, so currently $14,634 for out-of-state---a bit more than the in-state rate of $10,227 at UMass Amherst, but a lot more affordable than the expensive private schools you're looking at, and much more reasonable than out-of-state tuition at most publics. In fact, $25K from your parents plus your own term-time and summer earnings should just about cover all your expenses at Minnesota. Anyway, just a thought.</p>
<p>You should also look for schools which give merit aid, for example Baylor in TX gives as much as $10-12k each year and also Whitworth in Spokane does the same. There maybe schools that do the same closer to home, this can make a small private close to the same prices as a public. No, it's not an Ivy or a top ranked LAC, but is can still give you the private school experience</p>
<p>Are your parents willing to pay $25K for 4 years? That's $100K. Check on how prospective schools see AP courses. If you have enough AP credits (maybe even a commuity college course or two), you may be able to graduate in 3 years and, if your parents are still willing to give you the same $100K, it may work out. </p>
<p>I saw you are interested in business. Have you looked into co-op programs?
They alternate periods of paying work with ft school (like 6 months at a 40-hour job related to your major then 6 months in school). Here's a link to the one at Northeastern: Northeastern</a> College of Business Administration</p>
<p>I would call some of the schools on your list and see if they have a formal cooperative education program for business majors and then find out how to get into it. You could earn the difference between your ideal school and your parents' contribution.</p>
<p>Here is a list of a few other schools that have co-op programs (although I don't know if they're for business students). I know that Case Western which is on that list is pretty generous with merit aid.</p>
<p>You didn't list your class rank, but your other stats are not unimpressive and should qualify you for decent merit scholarships at many schools, including SU I believe (although it's been awhile since the ink on my diploma dried!). Also, when you're looking at merit aid be sure to check out honors college programs - sometimes there are very good things that go along with that. And then there's always student loans to consider which, in your case, shouldn't be too much. Good luck!</p>
<p>What is your projected major field? Take a look at the OOS publics that offer these programs. If, for example, you are dead set on Ag. Engineering, Iowa State U is probably a much better bet than U Mass, and 25K would come pretty close to covering everything there.</p>
<p>Have you considered University of Connecticut and University of Delaware?
Both are excellent schools & you could possibly get merit aid or get into UCONN's honors program. I am a little prejudiced, my oldest D graduated from UCONN & so did my parents.</p>
<p>thanks SLUMOM, UConn is actually on my college list, due to its reputation as being the best public U in New England, and not gonna lie, HUSKIES BASKETBALL! Delaware however I am not interested. I plan to major in business and as far as I know, Delaware's business program is mediocre...</p>
<p>I'm going to add my two cents about Northeastern and the coop since my son is rising middler (third year) student. I don't really think students should consider the coop income as a way to save for tuition. Many of the coops are in the Boston area, meaning that students from out of state end up staying in the dorm and on a meal plan during coop. The general salary range for coops is $12-$17 per hour. It is enough to save some but not enough to save money towards tuition.<br>
After the typical freshman year, generally on sophomore year it looks like this:
Fall: School (paying tuition)
Spring :coop
Summer I: coop
Summer II: school (paying tuition)</p>
<p>The way it worked with my son he has been in the dorm full time since September of last year. He was home for two weeks at Christmas and is home for two weeks now. That's it. </p>
<p>I don't think the OP's stats will see merit money from Northeastern.</p>
<p>Might be better if the student can live at home during their coop. One of my son's friends did and was able to pocket all of his coop money as he had no real living expenses.</p>
<p>ebeeee, my son had somewhat lower stats from an excellent public hs, and he did get merit money from Northeastern (12,000/year I think). He did have some good ECs.</p>
<p>My son did not get a dime in FA grant $$, so we felt that the school was too expensive for our family.</p>
<p>oops...I might be off on my guess re: merit money. I do know that NEU does not guarantee to meet need. Lots of kids every year apply and then are disappointed when they decide it is too expensive. I am not an advocate of anyone graduating from undergraduate school with 60-100K in debt.</p>
<p>You are fortunate that your parents are willing to pay 25,000 per year. That is more than what a lot of parents would pay. Combine that with SUB and UNSUB staffords loans 5500 first year, WS of 2000-4000 and that brings the amount to a potential 34500. Outside scholarships are definitely worth the effort.; Even getting 2000 from a combo of scholarship wins can help pay the cost down. Also, on top of all that the school may meet some of your financial need with grant/scholarship money. The best advice though is to look at schools that give good merit aid and also OOS public schools that actually like students from other states. I know you are not interested in Univeristy of Delaware, but they gave my daughter more money than expected and the COA ended up less than our instate public college.</p>