I’m going to turn this into a “Mad Lib” Hopefully it should give a different perspective. I took the emotion out by replacing the school name with the debt amount. Enjoy!
I am currently between two universities -(63k plus interest) and (23k plus interest). I’ve dreamed of paying (63k plus interest) forever but was very interested in (23k plus interest) as well and did not talk about (63k plus interest) much as I was aware of the competitiveness and price tag. However, I was awarded my financial aid for my freshman year and (63k plus interest) is about $10,000 cheaper (I am OOS for both schools, btw). BUT, my parents called the financial aid office to ensure that this amount would be the same for all for years, and they told us that the main reason it was so cheap was because of having a second student in college (my sister is going to be a senior next year), so they said the aid which was about $45,000 for Fall/winter 2018 would be around $20,000 - leaving me with about (63k plus interest) in loans. The issue is that my parents do not have the money to spend on (63k plus interest), and I was OK with taking out (63k plus interest), but they both refuse to take out PLUS loans or co-sign on any loans.
So basically my question is 1. which school do I go to because I know i will not be as happy as I will be if I attend (23k plus interest) over (63k plus interest)? and 2. Is there any way I could ask financial aid to give me more grants in subsequent years if the package is not enough and I am already enrolled at the university? and 3. How do I get -(63k plus interest) w/o my parents?