Looking for advice....

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello, I am currently a college Freshman from Minnesota that is looking to transfer out of state for next fall. I am currently looking at Universities in Oregon, and Washington (Washington specifically). And as I am sure everyone knows, it is a lot more expensive to transfer out of state. At my current university (St.Cloud State) I pay around 20,000 (Tuition+Housing) for an academic year. I am currently thinking about applying to University of Washington Bothell and the tuition there would add up to around 34,000(Tuition+Housing) a year for three quarters of classes. </p>

<p>My problem is that I am not familiar with financial aid options and the limits on student loans. Obviously I don't want to get too far in debt, as I come from middle class background where my parents make around 85,000 per year. My name would be on the loans with them cosigning and this makes them very nervous, and I don't blame them. I really would like to attend the school, and I have friends who attend private schools in state that come from the same economic background as me, and they are able to afford school through aid. </p>

<p>My question is basically, how flexible is financial aid? Are there limits on what you can loan? and obviously there boundary's on what you SHOULD take out, but how much is too much? Again, I really would like to attend this school (if I am accepted, which I should be). I just want to know if it is realistic for me to figure this out financially without getting in over my head and being so deep in debt as an adult that it gets to be too much to handle. I am also trying to figure out whether I should even approach my parents with this or not.</p>

<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks</p>

2

<p>My advice is to stay where you are and keep your debt as low as possible. I don’t know how much in loans you can get, that will depend on your parents’ credit, but I have a feeling that it’s more than the amount of loans you SHOULD be taking on.</p>

<p>About friends being able to afford privates, be very careful about what others tell you about their financial situations. Those kids and their families could be taking on a lot of debt, or they could be attending a very generous need based FA school (which neither UW or UO are for OOS students), or they could be receiving merit aid.</p>

<p>Expect only minimal FA from any OR or WA schools, both states have been in extremely difficult fiscal situations for years. I’m in the PNW and have seen first hand the reduction in teaching staff and academic opportunities along with annual, often substantial, tuition increases.</p>

<p>I understand your wanting to leave and attend college OOS, but you would be much better off educationally and monetarily staying at St. Cloud and perhaps transferring to UM-TC.</p>

<p>If you want to know more about how loans work, post on the FA & Scholarships forum, there are many knowledgeable and helpful membes there.</p>

<p>[I see that you just posted there, hopefully people will be able to answer your questions.]</p>