When it comes to financial aid and different grants and need based scholarships, I do not qualify for anything based off my parents income, investments, and savings. However, they will not be paying for my education as they feel it is my duty to do so as a student (it’s what their parents made them do). Does this mean that I will still not qualify for any aid, even though it’s my parent’s money and not mine?
Yes. You will not qualify. Your situation is not unique and is faced by a lot of college students across the country.
Thank you for your reply
Unfortunate but true and one of the reasons I’d like to see some governmental solution to education funding. I don’t think one’s access to higher education should be limited by parents’ income or parents’ willingness to pay for it.
The conversation now needs to be how much are they willing to pay?
There is a big difference between them wanting to pay for the local commuter school and the
'No way are we paying 65K/year for private."
Will it be community college while you live at home
Do they expect you to Earn some scholarships to help defray the cost
Do they expect you to take out the maximum loans
You would be surprised at the number of families that look rich on paper but are actually cash poor
What are your stats: gap and sat scores
Are there any schools where you may be eligible for free tuition, then with the 5.5 k loan some Monet from summer earnings and a little from your parents can make things work…
In another thread you said they are willing to pay a total of $65k. That would go a long ways. Student loans, scholarships, summer jobs. In-state or merit school options. Doable.
You posted this back in July:
“I am going into my senior year of high school with a 4.0 GPA, number 1 class rank, and 34 ACT score. I am trying to make some major decisions as to which schools I should start applying to.
I don’t know what I want to major in, I’ve had some interest in law and engineering but I am unsure exactly where I wanna go with that. I live in Arizona but I really have no desire to go to U of A or ASU. my parents have said that they will give me a max of 65k towards college overall, which is generous but won’t even cover a year of school at an Ivy, duke, u chi… Any of the well known privates.
I guess I am wondering is it better to try to and go to a public university that offers full tuition scholarships, or to try and pursue a very competitive school and take out massive student loan debt?
Also I’m prepared for brutal honesty- am I even qualified to get into a top institution?”
Are your parents now saying they won’t pay anything at all? What happened to the total of $65K. That is VERY generous of them, by the way…especially since they completely paid for all of their own college.
You have a 34 ACT which will totally get you free tuition at some schools and lots of people responded to that on the other thread.
Are you still wanting to go to one of the “well known privates?”
You are not in an unusual situation at all. Lots and lots of families and kids with amazing stats have to make the affordable decision. Are you feeling pressure from others to go to a name brand school?
It seems that your parents have made a generous offer. If you can snag free tuition and there are quite a few schools where you may be able to do so with your stats, it seems that your parents are willing to pay for room and board.
Did something happen where they now want to rescind their offer (you don’t want to attend a school where you may get free tuition and you are stuck on the Ivies, Duke, etc, which they have told you that they would not be paying for?)
I think you should develop a desire to go to one of these great schools.
You need to understand…the schools YOU have on your list primarily give need based aid…and you sound like you are not eligible for need based aid. Is that correct? Plus…those schools have admit rates hi being at 10% or so. Getting acceoted isn’t exactly a slam dunk.
You need to cast a broad net of schools that your parents say are within their budget…including possible merit aid schools, and instate schools. But most of all, you need to understand that you can apply wherever you please, but won’t be able to attend if you can’t pay the bills.
Based on the additional information provided by other posters, your situation is very similar to what my children face, not bc we don’t know the costs or bc we expect them to do what we did, but simply bc we can’t afford what schools say we can. Their budgets are actually smaller than yours.
They have managed to attend college and complete their desired majors, and the 2 who have graduated from college have good careers w/o having attended a $65,000/yr school.
My current sr is on the merit hunt. Her list is carefully crafted to incorporate schools where she is in the top 10-25% of their stats. She has looked for schools that offer competitive scholarships based on her strengths and what she can bring to the school. She has looked for elite honors programs that offer special mentoring and opportunities in her desired area.
She will not be attending a top school bc we can’t afford them. But, we hope that her experience will be similar to her siblings. Her current college sibling is part of Bama’s CBH program which is an elite honors program focused on developing research skills. It has been a great program for him and has met his needs.
You’ll find a lot of top students face similar financial restrictions. The idea that top students only attend elite schools denies financial reality.
Or is it that your parents are saying that they will not pay for you to go to an expensive private college?
What you mentioned at the bottom is how my daughter financed her college expenses. At her first year, we managed to pay fully on our own (she went to a good, but inexpensive college in Canada). No loans at all outside the US there. Second year, she was in the states (homesick and too cold, although she loved it there) and I had saved some for her, her father paid some, and then I had also gotten one of those college savings plan (I used the Utah one for less fees). She also got a job–yes! And has been working since. A loan was taken out for $5500. Helps out a lot and I don’t have to scrounge as I had been doing before. A state school --much cheaper than a private one, helps immensely. I don’t want her to graduate with a big college debt on her hands–and so far its working.
Our D16 also had her heart set on going to a selective private school. Frankly, her self-worth was getting wrapped up by the high school pressure cooker, where she got accepted, and where she would attend.
What we can reasonably afford is much less than what the schools expect us to contribute. We don’t have the $$ tucked away and earmarked for college. We’ve had a recent increase in income, but that is making up for some rough years post-2008.
In the end, we told our D she needed to accept the best deal on the table, for everyone’s financial well-being. Initially, she was very unhappy that she wasn’t going to any of her top picks, and she wasn’t being given much of a choice.
We felt that she was under the influence of this mindset: very selective & very expensive must mean it’s so much better. And, conversely, less selective and practically free must mean it’s not very good at all.
She’s come around, and she seems happy, so far. I think it helped to have other people, besides her parents, gush over how lucky she is, and how wise it is for her to take the scholarship money.
Try to stay open, and look around for opportunities that may be right in front of you, even if on the surface, it doesn’t sound as exciting or prestigious. Good luck!
My suggestion…find at least two sure thing colleges…places that are affordable where your kid has a great chance of being accepted…and likes. Say…two. It is nice to have a choice at the end of the process.
Will your parents still pay the $65k TOTAL towards college???
$65k divided by 4 years = 16.25k per year. With your own summer earnings, that amount can very realistically be raised to $20k per year. Then there’s the choice to supplement a bit further with student loans.
That amount of money, plus a 4.0 & 34 ACT should present you with many opportunities, not just ASU & Bama.
I’m guessing the U of A this student was talking about was University of Arizona.
But University of Alabama would be worth looking at as well!