<p>^^^ thank you for your effort. so from your post I gathered that WS is for my personal expenses and not to lower my COA? I was also going to by used text books also I my parents might have an extra laptop lying around…it would need a new hard drive but I think that would help to. however COA at Miami is now 60960 not ~55k</p>
<p>Beautiful …initially you asked about whether you could get more money from University of Miami. I was responding to THAT query saying that given your family finances it seemed unlikely, but sure ask. Just have a plan for if they say no. And yes, you can get a Direct Loan. </p>
<p>That being said…you need to look at the billable costs…this is what the university directly bills to you. Billable costs include tuition, fees, room, board. They do NOT include books or any other personal expense money. Your parents can likely set up a 10 month payment plan with your university through one of the tuition pay services for these billable costs. Perhaps this will help them allocate the money more easily. It will also give you time to earn some money to contribute.
As noted, you can likely waive the health insurance charge IF you have an equivalent plan that will cover you in Florida.You can buy used textbooks. You can limit all discretionary spending such as new clothes, eating out, spring break trips, and things like off campus entertainment.</p>
<p>Yes look at the shaded area for the direct costs billed to your parents.</p>
<p>With a ten month payment plan, ask if they could pay $4500-$4600/per month for 10 months?
That is my estimate for the budget plan if there is health insurance that can be waived.</p>
<p>First, my apologies to all who read my first post way back at the top of this thread. I made the generous (and unwarranted) assumption that the OP had misspoken when she said her cost was going to be $5,000 more than her parents “wanted” to pay. I chided her gently and pointed out that she needed to phrase her request in terms of what her parents “were able” to pay.</p>
<p>My mistake. Clearly, her parents are able to pay what’s being asked, plus a significant amount more. As noted by others on this thread, both the OP and her sibling are attending expensive private schools. The OP wonders why her sibling’s school expenses aren’t taken into account by FAFSA in calculating her family’s ability to pay. As noted by thumper1, the cost of a private elementary or secondary school is taken into consideration only if there is a demonstrable NEED for the child to attend that school. Otherwise, it has about as much bearing on a family’s ability to pay as the monthly lease cost for the parent’s new BMW!</p>
<p>And this, as far as I was concerned, was the icing on the cake:</p>
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</p>
<p>So, first, the OP’s parents can’t afford to pay for college because of all the money they’ve spent (and are continuing to spend) on pricey secondary schools. But, above and beyond that, the OP can’t get a job because her school (or perhaps her parents) won’t permit it! Some people just don’t get any breaks, do they?</p>
<p>For the record, my son also attends boarding school and works TWO jobs in order to pay all the expenses that aren’t covered by the very generous financial aid he receives. One of these jobs is doing private tutoring. I frankly do not believe that the OP could not work if she wanted to, either tutoring another student or babysitting for faculty.</p>
<p>And NONE of these circumstances prevent her from getting a summer job!</p>
<p>^^^^ i am not saying that I do not want ot work I worked every summer for the last 2 years. however the school that I go to does not allow people to have jobs because it is in an unsafe neighborhood. You cant even leave campus without a staff member. Also I am a seven day boarder and I am not allowed to have a car on campus… Also not to be rude but please do not compare me to your son. me and him have very different capabilities and 2 different people in 2 different circumstances. Also I never once said I would not get a summer job. Thank you for your advice though.</p>
<p>I am not saying that my parents are broke. I think that is pretty clear and I am NOT saying that I am ungrateful for what Umiami gave me. regardless of what my parents make. I SHOULD DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO LOWER THE COST OF COLLEGE FOR ME NEXT YEAR…its called responsibility. so I posted this question in hopes of brainstorming so that I could contribute the most I could to my college tuition. Arguing over the fact that my parents spent too much on my siblings and my education doesn’t solve the issue that I want to contribute to MY COLLEGE FUND!!! If I offended anyone for my parents making more than the average american and me wanting my parents to pay less for my college tuition then I am sorry!</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t expect a boarding student to have a job off-campus, or to have a car for that matter. But I’ve never seen a boarding school that didn’t, at the very least, have babysitting opportunities on campus.</p>
<p>^^^^ i do babysit but that goes toward my living expenses and I dont babysit that often or regularly so I would not consider that a job. I have been responsible for all living expenses since freshman year. If I run short on money and desperately need something then my parents will get it but for the most I pay for what I need.</p>
<p>
OP - what is being pointed out is that the university will only bill you for $55K. The other $6K are for expenses that are more under your control.</p>
<p>For example, the COA includes $1500 for a computer. If you already have one you can use then you obviously don’t have to spend that.</p>
<p>Which meal plan is included in the COA? Are there options for freshman for the meal plan? There is a $1000/year difference between the 21 meal plan and the 14 meal plan. Most students don’t eat 21 meals in the dining hall.</p>
<p>Are some dorms less expensive? Is there a triple or quad option that would be cheaper?</p>
<p>The COA includes $2060 for personal expenses. This is over $60 per week. If you are frugal this number can be reduced a lot.</p>
<p>Used books… etc.</p>
<p>The point is, there are a lot of ways to trim the cost down from the official COA. You can close a lot of that $5000 gap just by making smart choices up front.</p>
<p>^^^ thank you for your response. I am going to wait until the rest of my RD decisions come out before I make my final choice and I talked to my parents and they said that they would think about the COA of UM because it is not unreasonable. Yeah I am pretty good with money. so hopeful that would help!</p>
<p>The OOS cost for Umich is almost $52,000 THIS academic year. The cost for upperclassmen is $54,000 plus. </p>
<p>Earlier, you said your parents would only pay $45,000. Is that still the case?</p>
<p>Yes at maximum!</p>
<p>I’m confused…which UM is reasonable…Miami or
Michigan? I was assuming Michigan because it is slightly less expensive than Miami.</p>
<p>Did your parents reconsider paying the cost for University of Miami?</p>
<p>OP has $7500 in grants and $3000 in work study.</p>
<p>Added to the $45K from the parents, that’s $55.5K, leaving them $5.5K short of the COA.</p>
<p>They’ve already been offered a Perkins loan of $1500, if they can trim $2K from the COA (for the computer, books, personal expenses, etc) they are now only $2K short.</p>
<p>Summer earnings should/would be able to cover this, if not then a small Stafford might be necessary.</p>
<p>@thumper1 Umiami. I did not receive anything from Umich besides a stafford</p>
<p>I know you didn’t receive money fro UMich…but your NET costs would be about the same as Miami.</p>
<p>If your parents find the $55,000 per year cost (billable costs) of attending U of Miami “reasonable”, then the costs of attending any of the schools on your list are reasonable. Just saying!</p>
<p>Just as an FYI- it is not too late to apply for local scholarships around here and I’d assume that we are not that different from other areas of the country. The majority of our local scholarship deadlines is 4/29.</p>
<p>^^^ yeah I apply to scholarship every month and I don’t win anything :(</p>
<p>Around here, many of the local scholarships have a need component as well. You really don’t have financial need.</p>
<p>Keep trying…some smaller local scholarships should become available for applications about now. At our school, these were posted in the school guidance office. Since you are at a boarding school, presumably not in your home town, you may have less ready access to this information.</p>
<p>^^^ yeah i figured I applied to the smaller scholarships that do not ask for FA information but still no good results :(</p>