<p>I want to go to UMich but I have a $15,000 gap and $6000 in loans. Now I plan on working over the summer obviously, so some of this may lower, and I also applied to about 10 scholarships that are need based. I have an EFC of $0 so my parents are out of the equation.</p>
<p>I love this school and I got accepted for engineering.</p>
<p>Since I definitely plan on staying in engineering (Civil, Operations Research, Chemical, Computer Science), I wanted to know how much debt is too much debt?</p>
<p>I know most people graduate with about $25,000, but from what I can see, I may graduate with about a little over $50,000. of course, If I earn most of my scholarships, this is no longer a problem, but it is for now.</p>
<p>IMO, with parent’s that can’t help, that’s too much. School doesn’t matter that much for engineering. Do you have a SUNY option? Any of them will get you the same jobs and you would have little debt.</p>
<p>My SAT and GPA and Regents are too high for me to be accepted into that program… I was told by three schools.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I do have a SUNY option. However, I disagree with “the school doesn’t matter for engineering.” Your bachelors degree is usually the only degree you need and the school you go to helps when it comes to recruiting. Most SUNY schools usually have you working in “westbumble*uck town” or NYC, which quite frankly I’ve had quite enough of this city.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you’re referring to the University of Buffalo, I got accepted into the school. I did have %100 of my need met with $6000 in loans. (which of course is great) </p>
<p>What I think I will do is accept both acceptances and get a deposit waiver for both. Then, when scholarship decisions come in, I will just ignore the other school. Since I applied to only need based scholarships (a total of 12 so far and more to come) I expect to get many of them, but I will only find out somewhere in the middle of May. (fingers crossed)</p>
<p>BTW, is what I mentioned above allowed or conventional?</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean about deposit waivers. Afaik, UB offers these only to certain groups like EOP students and otherwise needs a $150 tuition deposit and a $200 housing deposit. If you want a spot on North Campus at UB, I’d get that housing deposit in fairly quickly as it is “first come, first served”. You can do everything online.</p>
<p>It is not really allowed or conventional unless you’re waitlisted at another school. Your acceptance signals a commitment to that school. Not sure what the affect of dual acceptances would be if the colleges found out, but I’m sure it would not be good. If you need more time or better FA, you should contact the school immediately and discuss your concerns with them. </p>
<p>If you haven’t done so, you might want to attend UB’s accepted student day on 4/17 and speak directly with the faculty and advisors for the engineering school. Btw, UB is not really like most SUNY’s - it’s one of the leading research institutions in the country and has many distinguished and award-winning professors and students. I understand their engineering school is doing some very interesting things these days and it might be worth a closer look.</p>
<p>On the financial side, I will say that UB seems to overestimate their COA so you very well may not need the full $6K/year - in fact, you easily could not take any but the subsidized Stafford loans. Also, SUNY has historically only increased tuition every 6-8 years while most school bump annually. Since they just had an increase, you might find that there isn’t another until after you graduate. I’m really not trying to sell you on a SUNY, but those are things to consider. </p>
<p>A debt of $50K @6.8% will leave you with monthly payments of $575 for 10 years vs. $276 for $24,000 or even $152 for $14,000 of subsidized loans. What will that extra $300-400/month mean to you after graduation? A better house, car, vacations, family, or just freedom from financial stress or having to stay in a job you don’t like? It’s for you to decide.</p>
<p>Well, either way I’m not giving up without a fight.</p>
<p>I emailed UMich basically asking if accepting two admissions was allowed (stressing the fact that I really wanted to attend UMich) and if not to provide me with other options.</p>
<p>Hopefully, they give me permission to accept both and give me more time.</p>
<p>You need to be realistic. Chances of getting $15K in outside scholarships, renewable for 4 years, is slim. Michigan will not allow you to accept 2 offers.</p>
<p>You will do just fine with a SUNY engineering degree. You can apply for jobs anywhere in the Country. School truly matters little in engineering. Post on the engineering board for more opinions.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your loans are going to increase each year as the amount that you will be able to borrow is also going to increase year over year. In addition, you must take into consideration that your COA will increase each year (calculate ~ a 5% tuition increase alone). Your graduating Mich with 25k in loans is a pipe dream. If your parents have a “0” EFC, it will be very hard for you to get the $ to fill the 15k gap.</p>
<p>the cost to attend suny is ~18,000 a year (which is less than the gap and the loans you have received at michigan). </p>
<p>I agree with sk8rmom that UB is a great financially feasible option. I know plenty of engineering students who attended UB and Bing for engineering and had no problems getting jobs after graduation.</p>
<p>Did you apply EOP/HEOP to any of the NYS privates: Cornell, Columbia, RIT, Polytech (which has now partnered with NYU), Rensselaer, U of Rochester?</p>
<p>You should see your GC to have him/her make a couple of phone calls on your behalf, even toss a couple of applications at schools that are still accepting applications.</p>
<p>UMich, you say will be 15K + 6K minus summer and scholarships, let’s say your lucky and find a job this summer and you make 2K and you get three scholarships at 1K each, or 3K total, then thats 5K. But where is the money going to come from to pay for the airplanes tickets and incidentals? So knock off 1K+ for that and your back to 4K on the plus side. So now you have 15K + 6K- 4K, or 17K per year in loans minimum. That is 68K by the time you graduate, not including interest or tuition increases. (this is assuming it is a 4-year degee program, although I think engineers usually get 5-year degrees, so the numbers will have to be adjusted.)</p>