<p>Your sister “is hearing impaired and is partially deaf. She has a cochlear implant and an auto-immune disorder that made her partially deaf and almost blind.”</p>
<p>And you think you had the short end of the stick? Sheesh.</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for siblings of disabled people to feel resentful growing up: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/health/04sibs.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/health/04sibs.html</a>.</p>
<p>Paintgirl, I feel sorry for you. It sounds like your family is very dysfunctional and there’s a lot of pressure on you to redeem/rescue them. You come across strong in your posts but I think a lot of it is just things you’ve been told by your dad. I bet he figured you’d get much better aid (possibly an athletic scholarship since that is what he and his brother got?), but, although you didn’t and although he is probably unable to help much financially, he, as well as you, won’t give up on certain ideas about what your college education should be like.
You have gotten lots of good, rational advice here and I wish you could benefit from it. However, it sounds like you have a lot to overcome on the home front. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>OP, you got an A in AP English Lit. What was your AP exam score? How are your other AP exam scores?</p>
<p>1 AP Lit (surprising when I thought I did great)
1 AP Human Geography
2 AP United States Government
3 AP United States History</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>You feel that you are entitled to your father’s hard-earned money? While the government does expect parents to be the first in line to pay for their kids’ education (though I disagree with that principle), they are not required to - especially if they cannot afford it.</p>
<p>$1,200 per month is a lot of money. That is an amount equivalent to a mortgage payment, for pete’s sake! With your father earning $48K/year, he has NOWHERE NEAR enough money to pay that for you. Why he even applied for a Parent PLUS loan for your ungrateful self is beyond me.</p>
<p>This is YOUR college education, not your father’s. So pay for it yourself. You feel entitled to his money just because you are his daughter - THAT is what is ridiculous.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford attending your current expensive PRIVATE university, then go to another one. One that is public and not overpriced. Sorry, but you need to finance your own education so that you can become a physician. It is not your father’s responsibility.</p>
<p>Another thing: with AP exam scores as low as yours, it sounds like you were not a good student in high school. That is your own fault. If you couldn’t earn any merit scholarships, then you have to pay the price and take out loans to cover the difference.</p>
<p>If you still cannot afford a public state university, then go to a community college for two years and transfer to a university. This saves money, and you can get all of your bs general education FKL requirements out of the way.</p>
<p>I never said I was entitled to money he “promised” me. I know a girl who got a full academic/ athletic ride to the University of Richmond with the same AP scores that I have gotten on all of my AP tests. As a matter of fact she never got higher than a 2 on any of her AP tests. I am not taking out a loan if I need to pay for medical school with private loans. $1,200 a month is a mortgage payment, I do realize but like I said earlier. He pays no mortgage payment, car payments, or bills except for insurance, cell phone, and my sisters hearing bills when they are needed and those aren’t very high. Like I said before also, I have two jobs this summer and I have already paid off a portion of my education, he is paying part of mine as well. My sister is also paying a majority of her education and he is paying a smaller portion of hers. $48,000 is his salary after taxes.</p>
<p>It sounds like this other girl you speak of got a full ride because she was recruited for the athletics department. That is why her AP scores didn’t matter. Yours, however, did matter because you could only go for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Insurance is expensive, cell phones are expensive, food is expensive. Even if he didn’t pay for any living expenses, he doesn’t have to give you any money for college. I have an EFC of $5,581 and my parents aren’t giving me a cent.</p>
<p>If you’re unwilling to take out loans now because you will need loans for medical school, then you may need to rethink things. If you can’t afford the private university that you are going to, then you simply cannot afford it.</p>
<p>Also, why are you going to a private university for undergrad? You’re going to go to medical school. Your school of choice for graduate school is what matters. Where you get your undergrad degree does not matter. Instead of paying tons of money for your undergrad degree at a private uni, you could be going to a public state university that is still respectable. And you could be saving up thousands for when you will need to take out loans in med school. The first two years of classes is mainly BS FKL requirements anyway.</p>
<p>OP, I’m sorry for your situation. We don’t always get what we want in life – that’s true for everyone, not just you. I guarantee you that every single parent on this thread has had some major disappointment or hurdle. Besides the specific advice they are kindly giving you, they are also trying to show you that just saying over and over, “But I want it!” isn’t going to get you what you want, and it prevents you from moving forward. </p>
<p>It is time to take a deep breath and accept that your route to med school is going to be a little different than you expected. It isn’t the end of the world. Lots of doctors didn’t start out at pricey private colleges. And you could still get there IF you are patient and work really hard at school. And if you listen to the very good advice you’ve gotten here.</p>
<p>I believe the question about AP scores was to learn how YOUR grade(s) rated in a national test. Not about some other kid, who lives her own life. Like the example of your 5 friends’ aid packages and what * their* families are paying, it doesn’t bear on your situation. Clearly.</p>
<p>What bothers me is how piecemeal the info comes out here. Posters tried to steer her toward the big picture. Now we learn the AP scores…</p>
<p>I am beyond whether she should go to cc and have a chance to excel, at the right pace, improve her prep for a competitive college, build chances for med school, adhere to her financial realities. Her dad doesn’t want that and her acquaintances don’t like the cc. And someone else is doing such and such. She knows she took some advanced classes, knows some other kids with lesser stats. It doesn’t seem to matter that she doesn’t have the math foundation, her A’s didn’t prove out, and her family is enduring financial challenges. </p>
<p>Her disabled sister gets to go private, she wants to go private. Dad made the first EZ payment. Dad this, dad that.</p>
<p>One either gets the big picture. Or doesn’t.</p>
<p>I agree with the many posters who think a community college or lower-priced state school is a much more reasonable option. However, it isn’t necessarily unfeasible for the OP’s father to contribute $900 (or even $1200) a month on a $48000 (net) income, since he isn’t paying a mortgage, rent, real estate taxes, or (I think) even food. Cell phone plans don’t have to be expensive (ours is $25 a month for 4 people/phones). Medical insurance certainly can be, but maybe not if it’s a group plan through a former employer. If this school is what both the OP and her father want, it’s just a matter of priorities and how families choose to spend their income. Granted, a lot depends on the health, longevity, and financial status of Grandma. I do think med school is a long shot, given the OP’s difficulty with math, but as all of us parents know, many kids change their minds about a career during college.</p>
<p>Your father’s lack of significant bills is the result of tough lessons learnt through foreclosure. His income is enough to live austerely and have something left for retirement. Many elderly folks live in poverty because their retirement savings were inadequate. At 63 years old, this has to be on your father’s mind. </p>
<p>Notwithstanding, your family’s traditions, counting on a kid who must attend an overpriced private undergrad to take care of him in retirement, is a risky proposition. You’ve already made up your mind but I hope you recognize that it is a HUGE sacrifice your father is making. When it’s your turn to fund his retirement while you pay off college loans, I hope you harbor no resentment that your peers have less debt and less family obligations.</p>
<p>Paintgirl, colleges do not give full merit awards on AP scores, or any merit awards, for that matter. It might be a “tip factor” in giving out scholarships, but unless there are some specific AP test scholarships out there, the way it usually works is that merit money is given on SAT1/ACT test scores with good grades. There is usually more play in the grades given the huge variation in schools and grading scales, but those SAT1 or ACT test scores are usually the biggest factors. Athletic awards are a whole other story, and those kids who get Athletic scholarships only get them from those schools that have them for that sport and when they are the top recruits for that sport at that school. You are comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>Not that it matters. Unless a school gives auto awards based on pure numbers, two students with identical scores in something can get a differential ranging from zero to full ride. That’s how much it can vary. Throw fin aid in there and schools that do not guarantee to meet need, but have merit in the mix, and there is no telling what anyone is going to end up getting in money. </p>
<p>All that matters is what YOU got. Counting other people’s college awards go into that category of counting other people’s money.</p>
<p>Other gal seems to be a recruited athlete for a meet full need college. And, in post 1, Dad was retired, earning 48k, not net. If we can’t get a straight picture…</p>
<p>If people do not like me comparing the examples I have then why are posters commenting on what his/her son/daughter got, did, or went through. I know how AP scores affect college credit, as well as dual enrollment and I am aware of that. But I do not understand how you can say that I need to go to community college when my sister had a much lower GPA and significantly lower standardized test scores than mine and she can continue to go to her private school whereas I should go to community college when I am much better at math than she is as well as reading comprehension and other areas.</p>
<p>and btw, no matter where I got my EFC is going to be a good chunk of change coming from my pocket. He makes 48,000 a year after taxes and I made 13,000+ after taxes during 2012.</p>
<p>Paintgirl…did you apply to the same private school your sister is attending? </p>
<p>If your dad’s net income is $48k then his gross income is at least $60k.</p>
<p>And your income of $13k contributes heavily to your EFC for every dollar earned over $6000. </p>
<p>Look…if you can make this work, fine. But have a back up plan in your side pocket just in case this one doesn’t work out for ANY reason.</p>
<p>Stop comparing yourself to your sister. You don’t deserve something just because she ready has it. This sibling rivalry is frivolous.</p>
<p>If your sister can afford to remain in private school, then she can. If YOU cannot afford to remain in private school, then you cannot. It is very simple. Just because she is in one does not mean you are entitled to follow in her footsteps.</p>
<p>You earned $13K in 2012, so a large chunk of that will be expected to be used to pay for your education.</p>
<p>Our sons and daughters are not third parties to us; we know the details, the processes, the agonies, first hand. When you say 5 friends got x aid and are paying more, that’s just the tip of the story, the piece you heard- if it’s even accurate info from them. It’s hearsay, not an explanation for your choices. “This is how it worked for us” versus “I know someone with the same AP scores.” </p>
<p>We do sometimes use young friends as examples- and the info revealed shows how much we know of their stories. And, sometimes, no matter what, we still think another poster doesn’t get it.</p>
<p>Plus, when we mention our kids, it’s part of a willingness to share their details, now or later, if it helps someone get their bearings.</p>
<p>@tryandsucceed, this isn’t a sibling rivalry. I would much rather go to a private school than a public institution. I do not like large crowds, I do not wish to go to a school where my anxiety ( which i was diagnosed with at an early age) can spike, which it has since living in this area I graduated in. My father paid for her bill last year. She never had a job in her life until my dad said she needed to get one to help pay for her school, which she is doing now. I am doing the same thing. You get it? I guess not since I have repeating myself throughout this thread. No one is trying to be someone else. I have held 3 jobs, my sister has only had this one as of last month. She has had stuff handed to her all her life. Good bye!
@thumper1, I have my back up plan, I was originally going to do my gap year before this all of this applying to schools and stuff. I will start school next summer if needed and save even more money. I had not applied to my sisters school because I did not like it, it reminded me of my hometown too much and did not have much diversity.</p>
<p>@paintgirl417:</p>
<p>You are comparing yourself to your sister again. Your sister is irrelevant to this whole situation. Get it?</p>
<p>Your original post complained about how your father told you that he wasn’t going to give you $1,200/month for college. So guess what? You cannot afford continuing at your private school unless you come up with the funds another way. It is very, very simple. No mention of your sister or your father’s lifestyle or money situation is necessary. You can’t pay for your school? Then you can’t afford it. End of story.</p>
<p>You need to understand that. Good bye to YOU!</p>