I was given 28k in merit award and no institutional award.
My EFC is 56521
I was offered 5,500 in federal subsidized loans with that merit award.
My question is what are the best loans and amounts for each that I should take, in order to start undergraduate college for 2017 class of 2021?
I’m guessing I should accept the 5,500 federal subsidized as the first, what’s next after that in order?
Thanks
Your federal loan of $5500 for freshman year…I believe only $3500 is subsidized, and the remaining $2000 is unsubsidized.
what is the cost of attendance at your college? Are your parents blue to pay their $56,000 EFC?
@thumper1
cost of attendance at rpi is 70,180
we have 28k grant
11.5k in savings
2k in planned work study while at school
and the 5.5k from that federal loan.
that’s 47k that we have so far.
70 minus 47 is 23k that’s left to borrow.
$23,000 MORE to borrow. You already have $5500 in loans.
Don’t count the work study as you need to find a job and earn that money to get it.
How much are your parents saying they can pay every year?
If you are planning to take $28,500 in loans everyneyar, you will,have well over $100,000 in loans when you graduate.
Are your parents saying ALL of the remaining costs must be paid via loans? If so…maybe this school is not affordable for your family.
But with an EFC of $56,000, your family income is likely on the $200,000 range or close to it.
Are your parents going to help pay for college costs…at all every year…or is it all going to be loans.
Do,they know that they will either need to take out these loans…or cosign them?
ETA. For the record…your merit award is an institutional award.
You didn’t get a need based award. Simply put…when you subtract your merit award from the cost of attendance, the balance is less than your family EFC so you would not get need based aid.
about 12k, that’s the 11.5k that I mentioned earlier.
all remaining costs will be paid by loans, that’s why I’d appreciate a list.
parents are willing to co-sign for any loans.
Any suggestions on a list of loans types would be appreciated, thanks.
Take the $5500 Direct Loan. I seriously doubt that any of it is subsidized with your EFC. Check that again…
Your parents can take a Parent Plus Loan.
Or they can look at private college loans.
But seriously…think about the $100,000 plus of debt you will have. My opinion…it’s too much loan debt for undergrad school.
ETA…did you get a work study award as part of your financial aid package? If not…don’t plan on doing work study.
Honestly…you don’t have 1/2 the cost of attendance covered without loans. Is this really affordable for,your family?
I looked at private college loans at wellsfargo and other local banks, they look to be around 6%-11%
Parent plus looks to be 6.31% so it seems pretty good and was my initial guess but I was wondering if there weren’t any other hidden secrets.
I guess we’ll go with parent-plus then.
Thanks for the help @thumper1 !!
Looks like RPI is far too expensive. Do you have any other schools where you would not need more than federal direct loans and a small amount of work earnings?
This school is not affordable. Do you have other options that are?
@ucbalumnus we have a
full ride at njit if we commute.
11k for carnegie mellon
0 rutgers
29500 at case western
21300 at rit
with the central focus of getting a quality job in the future, rpi wins over njit. The others would be nearly equal in CoA. The safety full ride just seems like an uncomfortable dangerous choice as well as the fact that the prospects of a good future job seems bleak.
RPI sets my mind at ease.
100k in debt should not set anyone at ease
You could come out of NJ IT, not get a job for two+ years and still be in a better place then rpi
What is your major?
@blountwil2 Computer Engineering
??? “as well as the fact that the prospects of a good future job seems bleak.”
Says WHO?
I assume you’re going into engineering or a similar technical field given your choices. Engineering is THE LEAST PRESTIGE-DEPENDENT FIELD of them all. Where you go for undergrad, so long as it’s an accredited choice (NJIT is) does not matter at all. NJIT also has good recruiters coming on campus – I know several people there working for top employers (Google, Microsoft, etc). The idea that your ‘job prospects are bleak’ is completely untrue and misinformed.
I’d choose NJIT or Rutgers given their 0 cost. Both will set you up just fine for a great career, and won’t put you in the massive and unsustainable debt that RPI will.
I’m not gonna tell you what to do/not do, but just understand what those loans mean. If you feel comfortable with what it will cost (longer time waiting before a house, car, lower net monthly income) then rpi is a good option. Just know exactly what these loans mean first
Well you shouldn’t feel comfortable with 23k/yr + 5500 (or 6500 or 7500 as you get older) because that is truly ridiculous for undergrad. Do not do that.
RPI is not affordable, AND it won’t do anything for you that NJIT or Rutgers won’t. Those are both great options: take it from another computer engineering major (hi) at a not-super-prestigious school. I’m working for top employers, my friends at comparable schools are working for top employers, right alongside kids from Stanford, MIT, etc. Your undergrad school doesn’t matter so long as it’s accredited: your jobs prospects DEPEND ON YOUR SKILLS.
Rutgers is much more affordable. Go there, but if your heart likes RPI then go there. How did you feel happiness or sad when you visited Rutgers or RPI?
Sorry but you’re telling someone that taking over 100k in loans for undergrad in a field where that’s 110% unnecessary is ok as long as you like the school more??
You know that 100k at 7% interest is a HUGE loan, right? Even in engineering that will take a long time to pay off.
You can be perfectly happy at Rutgers or NJIT, trust me. RPI is simply not a sane financial choice.
@CourtneyThurston rutgers is not free, I was listing the awards that we got from each school and Rutgers gave us $0.
NJIT is in a dangerous location and the food is terrible. The professors don’t speak English and average graduation rate is in the 60% area. Retention rate is low as proof. There may be more that I can list but I’d hate to dissaud anyone that wants to go to indeed go to it. So when you say
me, from the research that I’ve done.
When I say that job prospects look bleak, it is clearly a relative term. When you say it is “UNTRUE” and misinformed, I think you are reading too much into a gut feeling.
“Both will set you up just fine for a great career,”
I would suggest that this is more of an assumption, a rather large one.
@blountwil2 Thank you for understanding.
**edit correction on graduation rate.
“rutgers is not free, I was listing the awards that we got from each school and Rutgers gave us $0.”
Oh, gotcha. Okay so Rutgers also isn’t an option.
“NJIT is in a dangerous location and the food is terrible. The professors don’t speak English”
I’ve been there. The campus is very safe. The surrounding area is not my favorite, but neither is the surrounding area at my own school, and I’ve been very happy here, because I’ve tried. You can be too. As for the english thing, you’re going to find that most professors at any school were not born in the USA. That is a general theme at EVERY college in engineering, and you just have to try your hardest to listen through the accent. It is a learned skill and you will learn it.
“me, from the research that I’ve done.”
Well, you’re wrong. YOU are reading too much into a gut feeling. The numbers are on my side. You can look up the piece The Economist did on prestige-dependency in engineering, and how ROI in engineering actually tends to be higher for lower-cost schools because their graduates get the very same jobs at students at high-expense schools… so the kids who went to the cheaper schools actually got more out of their education.
RPI is NOT an option. Sounds like Rutgers isn’t either, unfortunately. NJIT is a great option, you WILL be able to have a great career (it’s all in your hands!!!), and you’ll save yourself from a permanently-life-altering level of debt.
@CourtneyThurston Thank you for the concerned responses, a little forward, but nontheless appreciated.