<p>I suspect “low income” is only a hook if you have very high stats and are able to communicate your low income status to the schools. That is probably best done through programs like Questbridge. Outside of the better schools no-one wants a low income student.</p>
<p>I think that “low-income” is really only a hook for someone who has, at least, most of the following attributes …</p>
<p>1) comes from a severely depressed, high unemployement area</p>
<p>2) comes from a low-demanding high school, yet emerged with $2200+ scores and 4.0+ GPA</p>
<p>3) student is the first generation to attend college.</p>
<p>4) family income is very low income, perhaps on welfare or some kind of government assistance.</p>
<p>5) is a URM…under-represented minority.</p>
<p>6) has had to overcome some significant adversity in his/her life.</p>
<p>I just don’t think that the only child of a single mom who is a nurse would be considered “under privileged” in the same sense. Bundle has done a fine job providing a stable homelife for her D 
I’m guessing (I don’t know) that the OP’s D goes to a nice high school and lives in a decent area.</p>
<p>I was reading what you all posted about financial aid. My D did work this past summer, and she saved some money to help towards college expenses. Shes aware that shes going to have to do the same next summer. Oh, so students who have work-study as a part of their financial aid get the first shot at on-campus jobs?</p>
<p>Pugmadkate: nope, my D is not interested in ROTC. </p>
<p>I also know that students need to have pocket money. My D is a fan of Starbucks (overpriced, in my opinion) and clothes shopping. I think one reason she likes GW a lot was that it seemed like there was a Starbucks on every block! I want her to have some cash for some fun (not too much), so she doesnt fall into the trap of charging everything on a credit card, and graduating with that debt. </p>
<p>Ive heard about extending the payment period on a loan, such as the 20-year one that was mentioned by JustAMomOf4. The one that was mentioned didnt have a prepayment penalty. Is that true for all federal loans? </p>
<p>As far as a deduction goes, I remember that one of my tax forms (1040A) had a deduction for student loan interest. I cant remember if it was last year or the year before, though.</p>
<p>Bundle:</p>
<p>I had a thought–free and probably worth what you paid for it. Have you thought about sitting D down and asking her what she wants out of college–not just what she wants to major in, but where she wants to be in four years. It might be an entree to a discussion where (maybe) she realizes that she can get there at some school without going deeply into debt.</p>
<p>Just a thought.</p>
<p>My D’s approach was to view leaving home and high school as starting her life. She felt she was choosing a lifestyle and future, not just a college experience.</p>
<p>She wants to spend her life in NYC, so she really wanted a NYC school to start making connections.</p>
<p>I think it will eventually work out that way, but immediately after graduation just moved to Atlanta to be with her BF who was reluctant to move to the big city. And actually costs were so much more reasonable there, that it was a wise move.</p>
<p>She’ll be back in a year for law school.</p>
<p>BTW: She used her work-study money for all her own incidental expenses. We did not give her regular “Starbucks money,” though she is the twin of yours Bundle because she spent a lot of time there.</p>
<p>There worked in the Provost’s office for four years and stayed in the city with free housing for two summers because she worked at the same job through the summer.</p>
<p>Those skills actually made her more employable than her BA at this point, only because of the horrible economy.</p>
<p>My S’s work study job is in the college library, and since he is a Classics major when work is slow he looks at special collections and books in Latin and Greek. Apparently, he is very good at library work (though he says he can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t be, but his boss says he’s unusually fast.) It’s also a possible career path – to curate Classics collections, but he thinks it’s too nerdy. Probably is. Still, a random work/study job has become very important to him, too.</p>
<p>And yes, they did get first opportunity to apply for campus jobs.</p>
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<p>I don’t think I’ve ever been in a campus Starbucks that didn’t have a line and didn’t have nearly every table full (and the campus Starbucks are typically much larger than the street versions.) They seem to be the designated meeting places, relaxing places, get-your-caffeine-fix-places-to-stay-awake places for college kids. What a money-making racket! LOL</p>
<p>My son, who attends AU as a freshman, received a substantial merit award with similar stats to the poster. That and 6,000 in student loans made it comparable to our state flagship.
He was also awarded merit aid at Syracuse, Tulane, and Drew. You can PM for more info.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Was that $6k total in student loans? or $6k per year ($24k total)?</p>
<p>Hello OP,</p>
<p>My D applied to a financial safety and was accepted with good aid. It was a state school. Then in the summer, she was accepted off the waiting list to her dream/reach school with a grant that made our out of pocket costs for tuition,room and board about $3500. (Books and spending money not included, but she works 10 hrs a week to earn money for incidentals.) </p>
<p>So, I would suggest your D check with her peers and see what safeties they are applying to, and generally, orient her to the fact that safety/match/reach is a concept that applied to the process and she is no exception.</p>
<p>I would let her apply to wherever she wants. You never know. My D’s result quite frankly blew my mind.</p>
<p>Bundle,</p>
<p>The Starbucks atr GW is probably linked to the student’s debit/ID card. My D goes ot a school where their ID can be used to pay for food and items at local merchants. At this time, my D spends about $100 a month on incidentals and snacks and meals away when she goes on a trip for her sport. I provided her with all sorts of toiletries, such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc., and will stock her up again as a Christmas gift.</p>
<p>She has REALLY learned about money at college, I will tell you that. </p>
<p>But your D needs to budget for clothes, books, supplies, and what not.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I didn’t post for a few days; I was sick. </p>
<p>I guess I just don’t understand the apparent obsession with Starbucks. LOL</p>
<p>My D is still not finished with the Common App essay, but she did apply to Seton Hall! (It was free to apply online.) This was out of the blue. She told me that she found out that Seton has a reputable International Relations school linked with the UN, so she was impressed by that, and decided to apply. (Of course, when I mentioned these facts before, she didn’t seem interested. LOL) </p>
<p>She still wants to apply to GW, and she’s waiting on her Subject Tests scores to see if she will send them. They come out this Thursday.</p>
<p>I don’t know if my not talking about college apps did the trick, but I was surprised by her choice in Seton. She also told me she’s still considering TCNJ, but she hasn’t applied there, yet. I know TCNJ accepts the Common App, but she still hasn’t finished the essay for it yet. She says she’ll get it done, but I’m worried about deadlines. I would hope that she would have her applications done and out of the way so she can concentrate on her schoolwork. Plus, if she wants to apply EA to some schools, those deadlines are coming up (Nov 10 or 15). She does have a tendency to wait until the last minute, but even if she makes the deadlines, I warned her that some schools want applications (and supporting materials) by December 1 or 15 for scholarship consideration, so she needs to consider that, as well, but she doesn’t seem worried about that. I don’t want to add another ‘nag’ about deadlines, but I don’t want her to miss them, either.</p>
<p>Bundle, it sounds like your daughter is on top of things.</p>
<p>Instead of “nagging” about deadlines – why don’t you put up a big wall calendar or whiteboard in a common area of your house to write down the deadlines. Point it out to your daughter – you can use that to track applications as well, and you can use it for your own deadlines as well as hers. </p>
<p>I used the big-calendar in the kitchen for just about everything with my kids and it eliminated a lot of conflicts. No one could say that they didn’t know about something if it was written on the calendar – and it also helps as a reminder for parents. The year my older kid applied to colleges, I did more than my share of nagging, but the biggest mistake along the way was that I forgot to enclose a check in my son’s paper application packet to the college he ended up attending - he had handed me everything else all filled out and ready to go. Fortunately the college accepted the application even though the check didn’t reach them until at least 2 weeks after the application deadline.</p>
<p>Calmom, that’s a great idea about the calendar.(Why didn’t I think of that?) My D has something like that in book form, where students can keep track of deadlines and forms, that a college sent her.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot to add that she’s also thinking about a couple of schools in Virginia: UVA and College of William & Mary. I know they are both reaches, but at least she’s considering schools that are less than $50K per year! =)</p>
<p>
Yes - no prepayment penalty on any Federal student loans.<br>
About the 1040A - yep, student loan interest is tax deductible even if you don’t itemize.</p>
<p>Good for her to apply to Seton Hall! It is a very nice school and she’s right - they have a fantastic IR department.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that you’re feeling better!</p>
<p>Also, glad to hear about Seton Hall and TCNJ. Do they have scholarships that she’d likely get?</p>
<p>^^^^^</p>
<p>Sorry for taking so long to respond, mom2collegekids; been busy with work.</p>
<p>Seton Hall has the Provost Scholarship, which requires a minimum SAT score of 2010 and a 3.5 gpa. It’s for full tuition, which for this year is $30,470. Also, it has a University Scholarship that’s worth $8,000 and up, and requires a minimum gpa of 3.0 and a 1650 SAT. I believe that if the scores are higher than the minimum, the award amount increases.</p>
<p>TCNJ, on the other hand, states on their site that their merit aid is between $3,000 and $6,000 per year. Plus, I see posts on the TCNJ section of this site where students report that the max merit award was $6,500. That doesn’t cover much, considering that the total costs for TCNJ this year is $22,984. I’m a bit surprised, as I thought they would have more merit aid.</p>
<p>You’re cost after all aid and loans at TCNJ or Rutgers probably going to be around $8000
the first year. Their your state schools, it’s worth a shot but theyre unlikely to meet your
financial needs. It’s counterintuitive I know but you’re best bet is the high priced privates.</p>
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<p>She has a total SAT score of 2020. Gpa is 3.9. I have no problems, in theory, with any of these colleges. However, I have to consider the cost of going to college. My income is less than $33K per year, and I don’t own any homes/property/business. Also, I don’t have any family members with money to help us out. I expect that our EFC will be zero, or close to that.
<<<</p>
<p>I had to go back and look at your D’s stats… :)</p>
<p>I agree that “some” privates will be your best bets - but only if
- she can get admitted
- she’ll get most expenses paid for thru merit and/or F/A (without loans)</p>
<p>However, there are some OOS publics that will give her strong merit - perhaps a full-ride and grant money could take care of the rest.</p>
<p>I guess we have to know what is it that she really needs?</p>
<p>Does she need to find someplace that will meet 100% of her college costs? </p>
<p>If so, some prior suggestons of $15k here or $12k there per year aren’t going to cut it.</p>
<p>^^^^
Mom2collegekids, my D does need to find a place where 100% (or close to that) of her college costs are met. She wants to go to graduate school, which is one more reason why she needs to consider undergraduate schools that will leave her with no debt, or as little debt as possible. She wants to get a graduate degree in international relations. She believes that she has to attend a more “prestigious” undergraduate school in order to get into grad school. </p>
<p>Oh, and she also applied to Drexel (the online app was free). I know that the school will not meet 100% of her need (and she knows that, too), but she considers that her safety school.</p>