<p>I was lucky enough to be admitted to JHU recently as a Biology major (I think, it didn't say in my admissions letter but I got the email from the Bio department and I put it as my first choice). And with all the decisions in, I can say that Hopkins is my 1st choice in schools. Like many JHU students I aspire to be a doctor and so I wish to pursue a premed curriculum in college. However, Hopkins did not find me worthy in need, due I think to the fact that my father has about 500k dollars of savings for his retirement but since he is a self employed small business owner he has no pension, and Hopkins assumed that that money would be used for paying college fees. My other options are the considerably cheaper but slightly less reputable, UC Berkeley and UCLA. While both are amazing schools, I feel like I would enjoy Hopkins more and it would prepare me for my future better. My Did is adamant about me going to one of the UC's (which he plans to finance by taking a 2nd mortgage out on our house) rather than Hopkins, but my mother said she would cosign student loans if I really wanted to go to JHU that bad. </p>
<p>So my question to the JHU community is would it be justifiable to take out student loans in order to finance my education in this scenario?</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on being accepted at 3 great schools! Because of the vast price difference, your Dad is probably thinking ahead to the additional costs for medical school. According to About.com, the median debt at graduation for medical school is $160,000. It is easy to develop sticker shock. Further, if you live in CA and have to travel back and forth to Baltimore then those travel expenses add up quickly.</p>
<p>One thing you could do to try to convince yourself and parents that the additional investment is worthwhile is clearly articulate the value. What does JHU have that the other schools do not? Why do you feel that you would be better served at JHU? What is the return on the investment? Collect the facts. Put together your business case and share it with your parents. If JHU is the clear decision then together you can determine the best way to address the financial gap.</p>
<p>Another thing that you might want to do is spend a day at each of the other schools and picture yourself attending there. Perhaps you will find qualities about those schools that you enjoy and decide to save the money for medical school.</p>
<p>First of all, just to clear things up, you weren’t admitted to a biology major. You were admitted to the Homewood Schools of Johns Hopkins (Krieger School of A&S and Whiting School of Engineering) and, if you matriculate, you officially will be an “undeclared” major until you file the paperwork to declare a major. You can major in anything you want. If you decide to be a biology major, you can do that by filing the paperwork. </p>
<p>Second–I am no expert on financial aid but I was surprised by your story. Is the $500,000 in a retirement account (such as an IRA, HR-10, etc.) as opposed to regular savings or investments? If so, I believe that they would be viewed differently because, among other things, taxes have been deferrred on that income and there are significant penalties for withdrawals before retirement. Perhaps these funds were misidentified on the financial aid forms as savings and an appeal to the financial aid office might be in order. In any event, I certainly would communicate with the Financial Aid Office to see if anything can be done.</p>
<p>Assuming that you have no grounds for appeal–despite my belief that Hopkins offers a significantly better undergraduate experience than your alternatives, I have a hard time recommending to anyone that they go heavily into debt to finance undergraduate education if you have reasonable alternatives available–and UCB and UCLA are certainly reasonable alternatives.</p>
<p>Thank you for the clarification concerning the major for Johns Hopkins. I can visualize myself loving each of the 3 schools, its just that Hopkins has been the clear forerunner in that regard. I am visiting UCLA this weekend, Berkeley the next weekend, and then Hopkins during the second SOHOP event so that will give me a chance to view each of the schools more in depth. </p>
<p>And I should have been more specific about the 500k, I filed my FAFSA and CSS Profile so I know how bad generalities can end up in the world of finance. From what I remember the vast majority of the money is in the stock market and not any sort of savings account. I am going to contact the office of financial aid soon but I still am not exactly sure what my grounds for appeal would be (if any honestly). Thanks for your replies!!</p>
<p>Don’t expect much. My families EFC is right at the cost of attendance and we basically got laughed at when we called the financial aid department. They guy even said “Don’t bother filling out the CSS profile”. Hopkins and other elite schools have a way of squeezing out the upper middle class from attending. Half the kids at JHU are receiving an average of 34k and the other half isn’t receiving anything.</p>
<p>Money in a designated retirement account (a 401K, a Keogh, etc.) is not supposed to be tappable for college, and therefore isn’t counted for financial aid purposes, but most people who can save a significant sum for retirement make a salary that precludes their receiving much in the way of need-based financial aid. Self-employed people can also be at a disadvantage because they must pay for things like health insurance that many employers offer as part of a benefits package. So it may well be your dad’s income, not his savings, that prevents you from receiving much FA. Their EFC often takes upper-middle-class but not really wealthy people by surprise–ours, for instance, was nearly equal to our take-home pay after taxes and retirement fund deductions. And the calculations don’t take into account the higher cost of living in places like California. So contact Hopkins, but your wisest course is probably to go to Berkeley or UCLA. You really, really don’t want to be carrying a ton of debt before you even get to med school, and if your dad is already mortgaging the house in order for you to go to a UC, then it seems to me that Hopkins is unaffordable for your family.</p>
<p>Since the IT Bubble burst at the turn of the millennium my dad’s business has been getting progressively worse, from filling out the financial aid information this year I know that our Income was about 60,000 this year. His company was successful in the late 90’s and almost all of the money he has in stocks (which he says is reserved for his retirement) was amassed during that time. My mother called the financial aid office friday and from what she relayed to me it sounded like they were going to review our information, but I am not entirely sure. I did visit UCLA yesterday though and loved everything about it so if Hopkins isn’t meant to be I know I will be happy ay either of my two schools.</p>