It's still not easy for a "low-income, high achieving" student to go to college?

Paying for College
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<p>I'll get straight to the point.</p>

<p>Aspiring comp sci/engineering major, deciding between USC, UCLA, UCI, UCSB, and Notre Dame. </p>

<p>I live in southeastern California (yes, right where the 7.2 earthquake hit on Easter Sunday), 20 minutes away from the Mexicali border. El Centro, the city I live in has been declared the city w/ the lowest unemployment rate (recognize from CNN, NY Times, anyone?). </p>

<p>I have worked extremely hard in high school, beyond any student in my class, with a goal of receiving at least one of the famed Gates Millennium, Questbridge, or the Coca-cola scholarships that pay special interest to low-income & high achieving applicants. Plan B was acceptance to the Ivys that would pay full ride to students with family income less than $60k. Unfortunately, those two plans failed (some people try to console me by saying it's because I'm Asian, but I truly hope that is not the case), and now I am left with a big financial dilemma.</p>

<p>I've seen a lot of posts around which state that only rich kids or poor kids can attend privates w/ adequate financial aid. However, as a student in a family with a yearly income of 10k, I beg to differ. USC, for example, is a school I would like to attend. Their financial award letter was posted the other day, and it said that even with all the financial aid, my family is still expected to contribute $4500 for the first year. Now, that may sound not much to many people, but to me and my family, that is a lot of money that I will not be able to pay out of my pocket. With federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans adding up to about $5500, my parents are about to freak that I will have to take even more loans to cover the $4500. I myself would rather not worry about so much loans, as already I will be having to help with my parents' debts in the future. </p>

<p>I feel like I have gone off track, but I guess my basic question is this:
Will it be worth taking out the extra loan for USC? Or should I stick to my public schools (UCLA, UCI, UCSB) which require around $6k-$7k of loans. (Notre Dame financial package has not been received yet)</p>

<p>On additional note, my parents will not be able to contribute ANY money towards my college. Maybe a few hundred, but no significant amount. Having to take care of all this financial thing by myself is quite scary. If I am over-analyzing anything, or have wrong information, I leave it all up to you experts for advice. Thank you!</p>

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<p>However, as a student in a family with a yearly income of 10k, I beg to differ. USC, for example, is a school I would like to attend. Their financial award letter was posted the other day, and it said that even with all the financial aid, my family is still expected to contribute $4500 for the first year.</p>

<p>What? How can USC expect your family to pay $4500 if their income is $10,000? Is there a Non custodial parent’s income being considered? Do your parents have assets???</p>

<p>What exactly does the package list as aid? Is part of the $4500 a student contribution? What do you mean by “extra loan”? Are there already loans in the USC package? </p>

<p>Your ND package may be better. </p>

<p>If you don’t have a non-custodial parent, and your EFC is 0, it’s doubtful that CSS Profile would have indicated that contribution unless your parents have assets. If there are no assets, and you don’t have an NCP, then you need to contact USC for an appeal.</p>

<p>However, I’m suspecting that there are some assets that haven’t been mentioned.</p>

<p>BTW…just curious…if you live in the city with the lowest unemployment rate, why is your family income so low?</p>

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<p>Starlight, something in the USC formula doesn’t sound quite right - but, assuming that it is the best they can do, you have really good public options with more reasonable loan amounts. Don’t rack up the debt! You will have plenty of opportunity for that in the future - grad school is closer than you think.</p>

<p>Everyone is reassessing their financial situation (colleges included) - and who knows what the job market will be like in your field even 4 years from now. Get the best value in education that you can without resorting to private loans, given the long dark economic road ahead. Going the private loan + federal loan route, you will have too much stress for a person your age working toward a degree and watching your personal debt climb. As you’ve indicated, your parents aren’t able to bail you out later if you get in over your head. Be cautious now!</p>

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<p>USC promises to meet need, so either a mistake has been made (either by USC or the family doing the CSS/FAFSA), or there are some family assets or there is an NCP with income/assets.</p>

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<p>I was wondering the same thing… my EFC is 0 yet it says under my Expected Family Contribution = $4500. No, there is no Non custodial parent being considered nor do we have very much assets. I had done the CSS profile before my parents’ 2009 income tax was filed, and it had changed significantly from what I had put as my estimates. So I reported the changes to USC, but perhaps they did not see it. I will have to check up on that. However, on my FAFSA it clearly stated that EFC = 0, do they not look at that? </p>

<p>On the package list, the $4500 is the EFC and there is a total of about $5500 listed as the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans.</p>

<p>Oh, well my parents owned a small retail jewelry store in downtown Calexico, the bordertown 20 min from here. It has made just enough for our family to live with, but now with the economy, the business has been making huge deficits. So my parents closed it early this year, and now our sole income is my dad’s job as an acupuncturist, which makes about $1000 a month.</p>

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<p>"It’s still not easy for a “low-income, high achieving” student to go to college? "</p>

<p>True. Take me for example. I’m no merit scholar or anything but consider myself pretty succesful. 3.7 GPA, AP courses, 700 math, 660 CR, Eagle scout, Varsity tennis captain in a family earning 30k. Guess what though. TAMU gave me a package that would require 25k a year Out of pocket and U of Michigan would require 16k a year out of pocket. These figures include the various loans, which are considered aid for god knows what reason, and gaps in aid vs COA. So don’t feel bad. All of us low income students are stuck too. Your best bet is in-state for sure. OOS is pretty impossible. Then in your situation I would go wherever required the least amount of debt. If your family only makes 10k then you can’t risk debt even with an engineering degree (good choice btw. I’m doin that too). Plus, undergrad really doesn’t mean much to employers if you can go to grad school. And who knows, in 4 years your situation my change and allow you to do so. So go wherever cheaper and make sure it is ABET accredited if you do engineering. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>*I had done the CSS profile before my parents’ 2009 income tax was filed, and it had changed significantly from what I had put as my estimates. So I reported the changes to USC, but perhaps they did not see it. I will have to check up on that. However, on my FAFSA it clearly stated that EFC = 0, do they not look at that? *</p>

<p>Yes, of course they look at the EFC = 0. That’s how you got Pell grants in your package and other federal aid. EFC is a FEDERAL number that is used to figure out how much federal aid you get. </p>

<p>You need to contact USC and find out if they got your changes to your CSS. </p>

<p>Does USC list the $4500 as your parents’ contribution OR does it list some of it as the student contribution and some as the family contribution?</p>

<p>When your parents closed their business, did that cause a higher report of assets. Did they sell their inventory?</p>

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<p>Talk to USC. And wait for ND … their package may surprise you (I hope so).</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids: the $4500 is listed under simply “Estimated Family Contribution.” At the very end it has it like:
Estimated cost of attendence = $55,728
Total financial aid = $51,228
Expected contribution = $4,500</p>

<p>And yes, when I checked again we had an inventory asset worth about $20,000. Will that have made a difference?</p>

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<p>and thank you all for your input! I appreciate it a lot.</p>

<p>One thing I’m a bit worried about UCs is its impacted campus… I have heard many stories of where students can’t get the classes they needed cuz they got full too fast…</p>

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<p>Agree with the others. Definitely check with USC and any other school that you feel should be checked with, it never hurt to ask.</p>

<p>Since the difference is several thousand dollars, here are other ideas that might add up.</p>

<p>Have you tried more local, smaller scholarships?</p>

<p>Do you have a job now? My son tutors several students and works as an assistant coach on Saturdays. He doesn’t make a lot but every dollar counts.</p>

<p>Do you have a summer job line up? My son applied to 3 places beginning of March and got 2 responses. He accepted an offer and declined to continue the process with the other company. He probably will make ~$1000-2000 this summer.</p>

<p>Jobs are not easy to find but they are out there. Be very aggressive.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>If you plan out your schedule early and well, you can get the classes you need in the UCs. But you do have to be following that plan; you can’t just explore the first year and then decide what you really want to be majoring in, or you may have problems getting in classes. If you want more freedom in course choices, yeah, the UCs aren’t the right fit.</p>

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<p>I have/had several nieces and nephews in the UC system. They have all managed to graduate on time or are on track to graduate on time. </p>

<p>There’s been a lot of exaggerated hype which has been used to discourage kids from the UC system.</p>

<p>IF a student is that worried, he take some CC classes during his summers to get some Gen Ed classes out of the way.</p>

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<p>BusyMei: Yes, I’ve been going all out on local smaller scholarships. Most of the deadlines for them were last month and this month, so I won’t know for sure about them until May-June. As of right now I hold $800 from Elks, and have been listed as a finalist for two other scholarships. (Wal Mart and APIASF). And yes, I have a pretty decent job right now as an English tutor for some newly immigrated Korean kids, but that money is being saved up for plane tickets to Korea for the summer. I haven’t been to Korea in 6 years, and thought this year would be the best to touch-base with relatives and etc. I am actually reconsidering if I should even go to Korea this summer. </p>

<p>Also I have one question. What is difference between Unsubsidized and Subsidized loans?</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Sub loans…the gov’t pays the interest while you’re in school.</p>

<p>Unsub loans…interest accrues while you’re in school, so the balance grows while you’re in school.</p>

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<p>Thanks, and what about Perkins loan?</p>

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<p>very simple </p>

<ol>
<li><p>talk to USC about a possible mistake, maybe confusing the inventory in your parent’s business with another liquid asset.</p></li>
<li><p>Wait for the ND financial aid, which should be much better than what USC has on the table right now…</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>Starlight68, I’m from El Centro. What school did you go to? What’s your major? PM me. </p>

<p>1) Yes, it’s very possible for a poor student with great grades to go to a great school, in California. You’re a California resident. We have the Cal Grant, Pell Grant and UC system has one of the best gift aid’s of any public university in the country. If you’re poor but you work hard, the money will come. </p>

<p>2) What colleges did you apply to? I sure hope you applied for the UC application waiver and at least applied to 4 different UC’s. If you’re top 5% of your school, you get into really good schools regardless and really good private universities have amazing financial aid for students they accept (I’m talking about Ivy Leagues).</p>

<p>3) What scholarships did you apply to? Aside from the Fafsa, did you fill out the Cal Grants application as well? </p>

<p>El Centro sucks. I was there at my uncle’s house when the quake hit.</p>

<p>Anyway I’m dirt poor, I got accepted to UCSD as a transfer student and my total gift aid per academic year is $22,280. I only have to come up with $5400 a year and that will come from the federal subsidized loan. </p>

<p>There’s money out there and in California, it’s easy to get.</p>

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<p>Don’t think about impacted classes. There are always classes and if you can’t take one, just take another. UC’s even let Community College students take classes there.</p>

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<p>Your experience is all too common. There are quite a few colleges that offer “financial aid” packages that first of all include loans in greater amount than your FAFSA EFC, and that second of all don’t even match the full costs of attendance. I’ve seen it done, this year, for a National Merit semifinalist who mostly took college-level classes for high school. What that leaves as a choice is going to some other college with a better offer. Our state university system steps up for low-income, well prepared students, and essentially makes it possible to be paid to be a student. A lot of other colleges expect our family to pay more out of pocket each year than the difference between spending per student </p>

<p>[College</a> Results Online](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1b.aspx?institutionid=174066]College”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1b.aspx?institutionid=174066) </p>

<p>at the state flagship and at that college. That’s a like a negative “financial aid” offer, one could say, unless the college’s reputation and alumni network has a huge difference over the reputation alumni network of the other college. </p>

<p>Families with more income have more choices. Low-income, high achievement puts a student in a bind and limits choices.</p>