@intparent Yes it was an essay of sorts. No I did not submit it to any college. I wrote this this morning so to get the thoughts rattling around my head out. I don’t write very often (I am a science girl), but I do enjoy learning all subjects. I guess while science is my flame in my soul, I do love the arts as well. Is it weird to write essays in your free time?
I have a physics major daughter who writes poetry in her spare time, and adores TS Eliot more than anything except maybe physics. 
So I’d say nope, not weird.
@suzy100 Affordable? God no. But it’s a price I’m willing to pay. It may sound stupid but I’m not going to put aside my happiness and because I’m scared of debt. I mean, I’m content with waking up every morning going to a job that I love to pay off my debt. I am a foolish child.
@menloparkmom Nope. Wrote it this morning.
So do you have a plan if you don’t get into MIT or any of the other schools you applied to? You can only borrow so much ($5500 as a freshman). How would you make up the difference?
@waterangel501 Poetry? Thank you, but I think that classification is way too flattering. I don’t write very often. I didn’t send anything of the sort to colleges. I write things like this, but I typically keep them to myself. I just felt that this had a message I’d like to share.
@suzy100 I applied to 6 UCs, and I am a California resident so it costs less and I am applying for cal grants and financial aid. Also, I’m looking at scholarships and generally, I’ll do whatever I need to. If I’m in crippling debt, I’d probably be in stress for a very long time, but my moms ex was in debt until 32, so it won’t kill me.
You can’t borrow more than $5,500 freshman year, as pointed out above. You can’t get yourself in over your head without an adult co-signer for more loans. Good thing, honestly. Don’t be so stubborn you do something stupid.
@intparent my mom doesn’t want to help me so she’ll sign it.
Is her credit rating good enough to get the loans? Also, she is then on the hook if you don’t or can’t pay them back. If they are private loans, she can be stuck even if you die. So she might be less willing than you think when the moment comes to sign the paperwork. And loans until you are 32 is nothing… you could end up with payments for a lot longer than that.
I am going to be honest. You sound so angry about your background that it has made you are reckless about how you move forward. You can ruin your life further on your own. Don’t load up on debt above your federal loan limits for a brand name. Go where you can afford to attend. Neither of my kids picked the highest ranked school they got into, and their choices worked out great for them.
I don’t agree at all. Several of my EE employees have debts in the $75K range and have no trouble enjoying life in the Boston area.
View loans as an investment in yourself. That kind of debt load may be fine if you excel and have special opportunities. If you’re going to average, which it doesn’t sound like you are, then don’t do it. You have to be careful to make sure you are entering a field where you won’t have trouble paying that back, but there is a calculation to be made, and rules of thumb are not that helpful.
@intparent She told me she would sign. Besides. I do believe I qualify for some financial aid. I won’t take out private loans because that sounds frightening. She does have good credit rating. I mean, I’m not going to ruin my life for a school. I’ll definitely weigh the costs and benefits. It the costs are towering, I will not go. However, my point is, I am more willing to take on debt than most.
Angry? Um, I don’t think I’m angry. I think I am reckless because I just want to be free. Like an animal who is chained and will chew its own leg off to be free. I know it’s bad, and I will try to fight it. But recognizing you have a problem is a lot easier than successfully fighting it. I try not to be reckless, and for the most part I think this is the only aspect of my life that qualifies as reckless behavior.
I don’t care for brand name. The schools that I applied to I choose for their undergraduate research programs in biology. The reason why I want to go to MIT in particular came when I had my interview. He described it as excruciating but well worth it. He described the community. He described the willingness to help others. The attitudes of people going there. Everything. He tried to deter me by describing the educational aspects, but that became the strongest attraction for it. I did reasearch for months asking around and looking up schools and science programs, trying to determine which school I think will provide me the best environment to me to flourish. This is the school I want. I just hope that they possibly could want me back.
@ClassicRockerDad
Thank you. I mean my mothers ex still lived a good life with his loans. It wasn’t like he starved himself or didn’t enjoy anything in life.
I do see loans as an investment. I see it as an investment in my happiness. My mom hates her job and comes home crying everyday. I don’t want to give up my dream because I will have debt. A lot of people’s happiness comes from items and traveling, but my true happiness comes from science. I get chills whenever I talk or learn about any awesome science.
I want to be a medical researcher. I want to study telomeres, HIV, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes type 1, and whatever else to come that strikes me like lighting where electricity is my excitement. I hope to develop treatments and maybe if possible cures. I will continue schooling while research (it’ll be slower but the end game is useless if I drop my research) so that I can become a doctor and hold clinical trials for anything I develop.
@geekysciencegirl Are you planning a MD/PhD route ? There are schools other than MIT with NO debt for MD/PhD. Have you done any shadowing of a doctor’s life ? Any volunteering in health care fields ? My DD is going through BS/MD application cycle this year. It seems you are stuck at a brand name. If you love STEM, you can succeed anywhere.
Honestly, you can’t get a job right out of undergrad with a bio degree that pays much. There are way too many bio majors who thought they would go to med school and didn’t get in. Plus, at a minimum you would have another 6-7 years to a PhD (at very low wages), and if you get an MD as well that costs a bundle and results in a lot of debt. You really could be crushed by debt in that scenario.
Don’t take out more than the federal loan amount, and take out less than that if you can.
@grtd2010 I don’t want to go there for graduate. Just undergraduate. Seriously. I want to go for their undergraduate opportunities. If I don’t make it, then I am not going. I won’t apply for graduate there. That sounds terrible.
@intparent We will just have to see if I make it in or not.
You seem blinded by MIT. Admittedly, it is a great school. But… practically every college in the country offers a bio undergraduate program. The undergraduate courses you take don’t vary that much from school to school. Many other schools can give you research opportunities, too. If you get into MIT AND can afford to attend without taking out more than federal loans, then by all means go. But if your mom has a reasonable income (and/or you have a dad or non-custodial parent who does, or their spouses do), your family is going to be expected to pay some, whether they want to or not. If they won’t, then don’t try to borrow yourself out of the situation. Go someplace that would leave you with less debt so you are positioned for the graduate level work you MUST do to have a reasonably paid career in a field related to bio.
Have you run the net price calculator for MIT yet? It is on the school website, and you should do that if you haven’t yet. Do you have a dad or non-custodial parent whose income & assets need to be considered?
In no way at all am I dissing MIT. I think it is an amazing school. But literally no college is worth going into too much debt, and especially when you have a major & career goals in mind that require years of additional schooling beyond your undergrad degree.
@intparent I did apply to other schools… I applied to 13 in general. Yes, I really want to make it in to MIT, but I don’t even think I am going to make it in. It’s just my mom and I, my father never paid child support. I think it is totally jumping the gun to worry about all of this without even thinking I’ll make it in. If I make it in, I’ll weigh my options.
It doesn’t matter if he paid child support. Do you know where he is and is it possible to contact him? You will have to get a waiver from schools that require non-custodial parent info for him to NOT provide FA information. If you have already requested those waivers and been granted them, great. If not, then you probably need to get going on them right away.
It is not jumping the gun to worry about finances – it is really one of the first things to do in the earch, and is best to only apply to schools you know you can afford. The net price calculators can be pretty helpful with that. If they look unaffordable with just your mom’s info, then you KNOW they are probably unaffordable if the schools do insist on your dad’s info, too. You can still run them while you wait for results to give you an idea of what the packages might look like.
@intparent I have already submitted my fasfa and idoc information. I have sent in the noncustodial parent wavier with third party documentation.
I have also been told the opposite. Apply to the schools you want to go to. Then find out how much they are willing to offer you, and then make a decision.
Besides, I already have applied, its not like I can just take it back.