I gotta say, this thread is a great example of why I love College Confidential. People are genuinely interested, to the point of being passionate, about helping an anonymous young person make the right decisions.
My EFC for 2016-2017 FAFSA is $34,053? Any advice for how to deal with these Financial Aid packages?
Re: thinking about siblings & the entire family’s financial picture.
We didn’t exactly plan it this way, but when money was tight for us (digging out after 2008), D1 going to community college (and paying for most of it herself) helped us keep our heads above water & catch up. This freed up money to send D2 to private high school.
Now, by D2 accepting her best financial option for college (full ride at UK) we can turn our attention back to D1 and help her with her two years at our state flagship.
It’s not “equal” in the sense that each kid is getting the same amount of $ for college, but it’s the best solution for our family as we try to meet everyone’s needs.
@Midwest67 yup! It goes beyond what each kid cost. more than anything it’s just making sure each sibling has the best opportunity possible without sinking a hole in your family’s ship 
This was posted by the OP. EFC exceeds the cost of attendance at ASU. That is why the student got no need based aid from ASU. EFC is too high.
With an EFC of $34,000 or so…and only one student in college, the family income exceeds $100,000 a year very likely.
What have the parents REALLY said about how much they will pay? The tone of the posts here are of “panic button…parents won’t pay”. But then there is backpeddling saying they will.
You have two weeks to figure out whether your parents can and will pay for Barrett. If not…get plan B going.
If I recall correctly, your GPA was excellent, and the test score was much lower than would be expected. Judging by this, I’m guessing you could do very well at a CC, and after two years your score won’t matter for transfer admissions.
I’m not sure that you’ll be eligible for significant merit scholarships at ASU as a transfer, though, so someone else could probably comment more on that.
In your previous posts you mentioned that you could only afford to apply to a few schools (2?). Then in this post you mention having a hard time affording retaking the ACT. This implies that you don’t have a financial safety net or maybe parental financial support. You are now trying to afford a $120,000+ purchase. This is why posters are trying to steer you to affordable options. Even if you managed to cobble a plan together could you afford a financial setback such as an expensive textbook or medical expense?
In your case, it makes little sense to pay 60K for your first two years of general education requirements. Community colleges are set up to provide the solid foundation you need to be successful for the last two years. Most (you need to verify this) have agreements with the state colleges to guarantee that your credits will transfer.There will be many students who work hard in HS but could not afford to start at a four year college. There will be bright kids there. Yes there will be some that need help in preparing for college. However they will likely be in college prep courses. CC is NOT for losers or slackers. It is for student that wants to succeed. It is any path to your goal of attending ASU.
Hello @noname87, yes, I did apply to two other schools. If there is one thing I could say I regret, it would probably be that, and I only mean that in the sense of App fees, money that could have instead just been dedicated toward savings, if that makes sense! X_X
I just want to clarify, I promise you all I do NOT think Community College is for losers/suckers/bad students, etc. I do not believe that at all. If I offended anyone or rubbed the wrong way, I deeply apologize. I am happy for all students/parents on here who took the CC route or will take it and are still wonderful and successful for it!
Now it is hard to realize my dream since I was a Junior to attend ASU and Barrett won’t be easily implemented all because of money. But like many of you have said on here, life has no promises. Again, thank you all.
I’ve tried asking how much my parents can pay and I just keep getting dull answers. I know everyone on here is asking to verify, ask, be specific so you can all help me. I’ve been nagging them (Like last night when I talked to my mom), and even mentioned I’m gaped at $28,128 ( Minus a small scholarship I did receive and others I am still hoping to hear back from) and that’s when they pulled the "We’ll figure it out " card. So I am trying, please believe me!
I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I feel so stressed in this college stuff without my parents really understanding what it entails.Despite my rocky relationships with both of them, they are wonderful parents who are the reason why I work hard, because they do, you know? And it’s not the finance part of college, just in general.
I made my own way for filling out all applications and their fees ( And by this I mean just my parents knowing where I applied and when. They didn’t even know what Barrett was until I got accepted, though I explained to them that it’s an honors program and that I was interested in applying… 
)
I relied on my counselor so much, I would completely understand if she didn’t want to see me ever again, lol!
My dad has usually only been the one to come to my school events and ASU events that I try to sign them both up for so they can understand. Seldom has my mom attended, because of our relationship at times.
I’m completely freaking out because no one else in my family has ever been to college (Just to clarify, because I know I mentioned my mom in a prior thread, my mom has a certificate. So while she did technically attend college, she didn’t earn a degree. )
Have you tried laying it out for them cut-and-dry? Say, for example, “mom, dad, school is going to cost $120,000. I can only take on ~$25k of loans on myself, and I need you to cover the rest. I need to know right now if you can afford to pay that, and if yes, how. If I don’t get an answer, then I can’t accept the offer to go to college.”
Make sure you mention time constraints - deposits are due May 1.
@Lovenetc, Since you’ve been gapped ~$28k/year (~$14k/semester) then your parents have to write a ~$12k check in a couple months to pay for the fall, and another one a few months after that to pay for spring. (The exact amount will depend on whether or not the $28k includes the $5500 federal student loan.) This time next year they’ll have to start all over again.
If they can’t tell you now that they can do that without additional debt, I wouldn’t commit to Barrett. You could take a gap year so you have time to consider other options if you don’t want to commit to a cc yet, but I wouldn’t sign on for $120k of debt. If your parents don’t know by now where that money’s coming from, I’d assume they don’t have it.
It seems like you need to face a worse case scenario @Lovenetc: your parents are bluffing and they may not be able to realistically make anything happen immediately with ASU. They may not be able to help you either with community college if it’s really bad…that’s why starting from the ground up where you can control everything YOURSELF with a small loan and working is the best option. You just want to avoid jumping into a really really really deep hole that you may find yourself stranded in if your family decides later this fall that they couldn’t afford it after all and they leave the debt on your shoulders with nothing to show for it…nothing is worse with student loans than no degree or progress to show for it! This happened EXACTLY to one of my best friends I mentioned earlier when he headed to UCCS in Colorado with zero scholarships but almost $10,000 in state/federal grants…he still managed to screw even that up and put his own father into debt and even though he finally enrolled in community college this spring, he is failing that too and costing taxpayers like me a pretty penny for it. Sorry for the rant but you have to face up to the reality that maybe you’re on your own for college plans until your family figures out a funding game plan!
And I get it. You are trying to acknowledge the information we are trying to instill on you. But we just want you to be informed of the consequences of going head first into ASU without a plan. You may find yourself with regret that first semester when just the interest payments alone kick in for Parent Plus loans and make you queasy…
I understand what you are coming at with vague parents. My dad is as reserved and introverted as it gets with finances and he never wanted to be clear what was affordable or not. He never once mentioned in my senior year what he could contribute towards college. I only knew what was not affordable whenever I brought up price tags and he just winced and cringed and that alone was enough to tell me I needed a game plan where I could pay–whether through scholarships or work–on my own. Mind you my family is making $120,000+ but the Great Recession killed our finances. 7 years later and $60,000 in credit cards (22%+ interest…yeah it’s bad) our family cash flow is hurting so college cost coverage had to come from me. I only knew how bad my family was hurting when my dad didn’t want to fill out the fafsa with me and just handed his budget balance sheets. I mouth dropped when I saw how bad our situation was…you can never trust those that love you to be brutally honest when it means devastating you on your dreams. I only share this intimate information because I was about to sign myself and my family on $50,000+ student loans for a prestigious engineering school near by. Instead I took a deep breath and chose a different path. This issue means dearly to me.
In the end I did get the scholarships to cover ALL my educational expenses for college and I was prepared to work and take on debt if I had to to cover my living expenses alone. In the end though, my father got some inheritance and with that he decided to give me some “skin in the game” and do a match-income scheme for the rest of my living costs. Essentially he would give me $1.25 of inheritance money for every dollar I earned working towards living expenses. 11 months later and I am set for college and a nice sum left over for a car and some real estate ventures of mine. A lot can happen in good fortune if you push on the brakes with a gap year and just work a little to figure things out. For better or worse, you have time on your side in a gap year and while making money to save towards important things. It is way better than signing your life away with debt.
Love I’ve followed your story since the beginning and know how stressed you are. I also know you have received and acknowledged all the excellent advice. In addition to the 3 options ASU- finding out exactly how much your parents can pay each semester, community college- finding out about the program and affordability and the GAP year,- with a definite plan for what you will do during that year; I thought there was a 4th option, University of Arizona and you could commute. Is that no longer the case? I know Arizona is not ASU and Barrett, but do they have an honors college? Could you talk to someone there about being admitted to their honors college? Most importantly, would Arizona be affordable for you alone or for you and your parents together? My apologies, if you’ve already answered about UA.
There is a Univ. of Arizona branch in Tucson (about 12 miles from the cc @Lovenetc mentioned earlier). Tuition is ~$12k. The college estimates another ~$2500 for books and transportation. If she took the $5500 student loan and found a job (which has so far been difficult) to raise another $3k over the summer, her parents would need to pay $3k/semester. If she can’t find a job, they’d need to pay ~$4k/semester. Whether or not they can afford that is unknown. The [application deadline](First Year Application Deadlines | University of Arizona Admissions) is May 1st, so she has time to get an app in for fall. ACT scores don’t seem to be required.
Another option would be to attend the cc (~$5k/year) then transfer to the Univ. of Arizona in Tucson.
^Yes, please look at backup options
If your goal might be med school, getting the premed requirements at U of Arizona in Tucson with as little debt as possible would be an excellent idea.
A friend of my D’s is graduating soon from college, he commuted from home and worked as an EMT on weekends.
https://www.pima.edu/programs-courses/honors/index.html
https://www.pima.edu/programs-courses/honors/honors-transfer.html
Also look what I found about honors program at Pima CC
Good find, mommdc! That looks like a great alternative.
OP is well aware of all the alternative. We are just listing the same information she was offered in her 1st thread. She is dead set on going to ASU. I don’t think anything we say on here will change her mind.
And nothing will convince her parents either. The bill for fall will come in July, they will then either borrow the money or set up a payment plan. The bill will come in Dec and panic will set in because that will be the tipping point.
The family isn’t realistic, but neither is the OP. She applied to Stanford which was just throwing $100 bucks away… She lives in a city but can’t get a job so is going on a vacation to PR. All the advice on these 2-3 threads is answered with, basically, ‘but I don’t want to go to any school but ASU HONORS.’ There are jobs. She may not like the jobs available, but there are jobs. I didn’t like picking potatoes when I was 14, but it was a job.
We tried.
It looks as though ASU does have a scholarship for instate transfers. It’s not a great deal of money but OP would have saved a lot by attending Pima for two years.
Transfer Achievement Award https://transfer.asu.edu/transfer-awards
Northern Arizona U also has some scholarships for transfer students