Need Help in Deciding School: Northeastern, BU, Suffolk, etc.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Heres the story:</p>

<p>My #1 school is Northeastern University and I Have been accepted and after financial aid I need to pay $36,000/year. </p>

<p>My #2 school is Boston University. I have not heard about my admission but I believe I will get accepted and get about the same aid as NEU. </p>

<p>My #3 school is Suffolk University. This was a safety school For me and I really thought I would get more aid than I did, especially because I got into the honors program. The cost for this school is $29,000/year. </p>

<p>There are a few other schools which I have pretty much ruled out and don't actually know why I even applied to them. One which was a safety is going to cost about $34,000/year after aid. Basically, we are receiving , much less aid than I was planning on, unfortunately. </p>

<p>So here are my questions:</p>

<p>How worth it would going to northeastern be as opposed to Suffolk? There is a 7,000/year difference, but they both still cost a lot so does that even matter?</p>

<p>At northeastern, financially do the coops help out? I've heard that what you make on coop pretty much pays for you to live and it's not enough to really save any. But at the same time, do you have extra time to get a second job and save that money? Or does the6 months of not paying tuition give your parents extra time to save more money?</p>

<p>I know that northeastern will not decrease my aid, once my current high school sophomore brother enters college I will still receive adequate aid compared to what I get now, and if I get any outside scholarships (which I've applied for many) they won't decrease the offer of aid. At Suffolk however, none of these are true. </p>

<p>Also, if anyone can give me some resources as to how to pay for college I would appreciate it. We really have no idea how to pay for any school on my list at this point. </p>

<p>Thanks for any help</p>

2

<p>Add to the cost of attending Northeastern, the high cost of living in Boston in general…paying for transportation, eating out, entertainment, etc. It sure isn’t cheap, and you aren’t just going to want to sit in your dorm room all the time. Yes, some people are paid on co-op, but that isn’t guaranteed, so it’s not like you can count on it. You also need appropriate work attire for co-op, so that adds a bit to your cost. I am sorry you didn’t get better aid, but NU, BU, etc, aren’t really known for super generous FA. What was your EFC? What can your family really afford? Getting into huge debt for Northeastern, BU, or Suffolk is definitely not worth it.
Did your FA packages include Stafford loans for you to take? That is the recommended limit each year for student borrowing. You won’t be able to get more loans privately without a co-signer. What, exactly, did Northeastern offer for FA? What did Suffolk offer? Scholarships and grants don’t need to be paid back. Lots of loans in the FA package is not what you want at all. If your family can’t afford any of the schools you applied to, you may have to consider community college, saving money and then transferring after two years to a 4yr school. You could also take a year off, work and save and absolutely don’t take any college courses at all, and then reapplying in a year as an incoming freshman to schools that would be more affordable. You don’t want any college credits because some schools may consider you a transfer student, and transfers usually don’t get as much aid as new incoming freshman applicants. You could take the whole year to really research and learn where you might be able to score the most merit aid for your stats, etc. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Suffolk gave 15,000 merit scholarship for their honors program, and them determined that would be enough aid so did not give any “need based aid”. Northeastern gave 17,000 grant as need based aid and did not give any merit. Both schools offered 5500 of the stafford loan (which is the max for the stafford as a freshman, correct?).</p>

4

<p>Someone loves Boston! :slight_smile: I’ve generally heard the best things about BU, but I guess that’s kind of up in the air for you right now.</p>

5

<p>Swimhockey, what do your parents say they can afford? That is the most important information you need right now. Did you apply to a safety? A “safety” is not only a college you can get accepted to. It also means a school you can afford that you would be happy to attend. If you can’t afford it if you get in, then it isn’t a true safety.</p>

6

<p>I had thought I had applied to true safety’s and thought I’d get enough money from them but that’s not what we have found to be the case. The only estimate my parents have given as to what they can afford per year is $15,000. </p>

<p>In anyone’s opinion on this site, what is an okay amount of debt for students to take on and an okay amount of debt for parents to take on for college education?</p>

7

<p>The guideline is for students to take no more than the available Staffords, $5500 freshman year, $6500 soph, $7500 each for junior and senior years. Definitely don’t take more total for all 4 years than what you would expect to make for a starting salary your first year out of undergrad in your chosen career. Parents shouldn’t take on any additional debt if they have not been saving routinely and at the maximum annual amounts for retirement. If they have good retirement, and no major debts, then a small parent loan could be safe, but otherwise they will put themselves in jeopardy during retirement when they are too old to earn much money. Do you want to do that to your parents? Find a community college and go there for a couple years. Then, look to your state schools to complete the BA. If you have to live at home, you will be with the majority of students in the country. If you take the Staffords for yourself every year, and earn about another $5000 between a part time job during the school year and full time in the summer, that would give you about $10,000 a year. Merit you can earn would give you that much more. Like I said in my earlier post, you could skip this year, and then apply as an incoming freshman with no college credits to schools where your stats put you at the tip top of the student profile. That would help you get the most Merit out of those schools. They might not be the “brand name” schools, but they will still give you a great education, and not create financial ruin for you or your parents. The goal is your career, not to be saddled with huge bills that you can’t pay, thus creating a life of complete stress. Student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, there’s no way out from under them except to pay them, and plenty of students borrow too much and then find they are financially in a mess before they have even begun their adult existence. Don’t do that to yourself!</p>