<p>I come from a family that does not qualify for financial aid. My parents technically could pay upfront the entire tuition, however, it’s still a lot to ask. I have a good shot of being accepted to Barnard early decision, but my parents feel that there is no reason to spend around $60,000 for an undergrad education there when I could get merit scholarships elsewhere that would bring our total costs anywhere from 30k-free.
Schools that I am comparing are BU, Fordham, Northeastern, GW, and UW-madison. I am interested in communications, mostly journalism, so I believe that NYC is the best place I could go. Also, Barnard has been my dream for so long now I can already picture the way that the next four years of my life would look!</p>
<p>Basically my question is, is Barnard worth taking out my own loans for the money that my parents will not contribute (around 20k a year, there willing to pay max 40k, but even that much is pushing their limits) or should I settle for another school? Also, is there any other way I could bring down the total cost of attendance? </p>
<p>I would hate to see you take out loans----I don’t know of many journalism jobs that will allow you to repay those with any confidence or comfort and you probably will want to go to grad school at some point. You can look in to independent merit-based scholarships to supplement things, but you need to probably seriously consider some of the alternative schools you talked about. </p>
<p>Paying for Barnard for our daughter was surely a stretch for us. But we now feel that she was able to be admitted into her present PhD program (which is fully funded) BECAUSE of her Barnard degree and experiences. So you might share that with your parents as another point of consideration…</p>
<p>@outofstategirl i have the exaaact same situation as you! i love the school, but don’t qualify for financial aid and it just seems like a HUGE burden for my parents </p>
<p>@outofstategirl-- there is no way for you take out that much money in loans. I believe the maximum you can borrow in federal direct loans is $5K – which would leave you $15k short. The question isn’t whether the college is “worth” the money – in your case you simply don’t have the money. So either you will have to convince your parents to pay more, or you will have to find a school that you can afford within the limits they have set.</p>
<p>Barnard does not have a communications or journalism major. </p>
<p>You could probably do well with another major-- many journalists started out as English majors. But I don’t see how you would go about convincing your parents to pay +$20K or more for you to attend a school that doesn’t offer a major in the area aligned with your stated career goals. “NYC is the best place” is not exactly an argument in favor of Barnard – perhaps you might consider applying to a CUNY like Hunter or Macauley instead? The point is: Barnard is merely one of several colleges in NYC.</p>
<p>If you think your parents might be willing to pay more, then apply RD and make a decision when you know the choices and costs in the spring. If they have made it clear that they won’t be able to finance college unless you have significant merit aid - then I think you need to shift your focus to finding colleges that are going to offer the kind of aid they are hoping for. </p>
<p>I’d add that if you think you can get substantial merit aid at the other colleges you listed, then you should have good chances of admission in the RD round. This whole ED thing is ridiculous. </p>
<p>@churchmusicmom, – in fairness, you were willing to stretch your finances for Barnard when you thought your daughter was a likely dance major, with aspirations in musical theater. And somehow I believe that if she had stuck to that path — you would still be happy with the choice of college and you would probably still feel very proud of your daughter, even if her time was being spent at auditions instead of in a university lab. </p>
<p>But maybe your experience could provide some inspiration to other parents who are concerned about the value received for their tuition dollars. </p>
<p>The value of Barnard is that it provides a good foundation for students to pursue their life dreams and goals, whatever those turn out to be – and an added value is that the environment encourages students to explore widely and to stretch boundaries. </p>
<p>But so do many other colleges-- including the others that the OP has listed.</p>
And somehow I believe that if she had stuck to that path — you would still be happy with the choice of college and you would probably still feel very proud of your daughter, even if her time was being spent at auditions instead of in a university lab. </p>