<p>In late May, you posted that your parents will pay for college. Why did they suddenly change their minds? And they expect you to apply to elite colleges? Did you raise that 29 ACT score? What’s your class rank/gpa? You posted that you joined a lot of clubs to look good for college admissions, but what’s your passion?</p>
<p>They said that cost should not be a problem, and I guess we interpreted that in different way initially. I did raise my ACT score to a 34. I am in the top 5th percentile of my class and I have a 3.9 unweighted. I really don’t know how this is relevant to this thread…</p>
<p>Start loading your application list with schools from these lists:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078</a></p>
<p>Here is the thing: colleges will expect you/your family to pay a certain amount. THe school most generous with financial aid often have a no or limited loan policy so that you can borrow up to $5500 freshman year in direct loans, less if the subsidized amounts of this loan are used in your financial aid policy. Beyond that there are no gurananteed loans for you. Where do your parents think you are going to get all of these loans they want you to take? It’s not as though the lenders are lining up to lend you the money. Your PARENTS will have to be the ones to take out the loans aor co sign for them which really is just tying both of you by the ankles to the terms of the loan as they will go on both credit histories and you both will be responsible for such borrowed amounts until paid or both of you are dead, many times.</p>
<p>Fill out some NPRs for some schools you have in mind and see what they expect your family to pay. For those schools that guarantee to meet full need, the costs will be pretty close unless your family owns a business or you have some other swing factor in your finances.</p>
<p>Most schools will include FULL student loans to put towards need. If you ALSO need to borrow your EFC, then you’ll be borrowing $80k+ for four years. That is way too much.</p>
<p>Also…do your parents understand that they would have to qualify and co-sign for those loans EACH year?</p>
<p>Apply to a few schools that your parents like, but also apply to some schools that will give you large merit for your stats.</p>
<p>Is there a college on your list that you can visit with your parents? If so, include a visit with the financial aid office. Maybe hearing it from a college will help your parents understand how financial aid works. Maybe print out NPC for the school and ask them to explain to “you” exactly what it means in terms of how figures are determined.</p>
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<p>It is relevant because if you have high stats (which seem like you do), you can apply to colleges that are generous with merit aid for students with your stat. Check out the links ucbalumnus posted.</p>
<p>Apply to some of the colleges that your parents want you to and see what financial aid package they will give you.</p>
<p>Apply to some colleges that will likely give you good merit aid. Discuss with your parents that you want to make sure there will be more different choices.</p>
<p>Then next March you can discuss with your parents based on real acceptances and merit/financial aid packages. As many posters pointed out, you can not get much loan on your own.</p>
<p>@girlincross:</p>
<p>Like you, my parents are not assisting me in paying for my college education. So, we have to find other ways to affordably attend college. What your parents say about “your degree will pay itself” is partially true. However, they are grossly over-exaggerating. $80K+ in loans is not a good idea by any means. Tackling that kind of debt when you will need to finance a car, pay rent and utilities, etc. is a huge undertaking.</p>
<p>Also, like other commentors said, there is a limit to how much Federal Direct Loans a student can take out each year. If you need additional loans, then you have to apply for a private loan and have a cosigner. It seems that if that situation were to arise, your parents would not be willing to cosign.</p>
<p>When I was a sophomore, I wanted to attend Columbia University (the ivy league). That year, however, I abandoned that idea. Not only was it way too expensive, but all of my AP credits wouldn’t transfer over (haha).</p>
<p>Your parents may want you to attend a big-name university, but those big names come with big price tags. It is your education and your money, so they do not have a right dictating what universities you should attend. They can tell you where they would like for you to attend, but that is essentially all.</p>
<p>Let’s assume you attend a school where the COA of $15K. Since your EFC is (presumably) $15K, the school is not allowed to give you any need-based aid because your “financial need” is $0 ($15K COA - $15K EFC = $0) However, if you earn merit scholarships, that will help you pay for some things. The remainder that you are short is up to you to come up with. You will only qualify for unsubsidized loans due to your high EFC. And if you are not approved for an amount big enough to cover your expenses, you will have to find a way to acquire private loans or find a part-time job to cover the difference.</p>
<p>I strongly urge you to consider where you apply. It is fine to apply to top-notch universities, but also apply to public state universities that are still respectable. See how much money you are offered in financial aid from both sides. I was going to attend another public state university, but I would have ended up with $50K+ in loans because they do not offer financial aid due to their fame. I did not want to be that much in debt. You do not want that, either.</p>
<p>Also, what do you want to major in?</p>
<p>Tryandsucceed, my major is probably going to be in the humanities, probably related to politics. I am leaning into either econ or poli sci. Another problem is the dim job prospect and low salaries for humanities majors. But my dad did make a good point by saying that Prestigous University X will be able to offer more internships and job opportunities for me than State Flagship Y, which is located in rural Ohio.</p>
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<p>Actually, parents have veto power (by refusing to contribute money or financial aid form information) unless you come up with a full ride merit scholarship.</p>
<p>This does not mean that it is a good idea for the student to go to a high debt school even if the parents are trying to veto all other choices.</p>
<p>^ ucbalumnus, totally agree with the first portion. I am currently looking for a job, but if I don’t have one by October, it is very likely that my dad will pay for my app fees, which does give him veto power</p>
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Uh, the state flagship in OH is in Columbus. That is the city in OH which has totally turned around after the economy tanked and has added jobs over pretank numbers. Columbus is also the 15th largest city in the country.</p>
<p>@girlincross:</p>
<p>Ohio State University in Columbus is ranked #56 nationally. That is very, very respectable. You should definitely consider going there; you would be surprised how much public state universities have to offer. When I was a senior, I discovered that myself for the leading public university in my state (which is ranked #54).</p>
<p>If you really insist on attending a private university, why don’t you attend a community college or state university like U of Ohio in Columbus for your first two years? These years are mostly the time to get BS general education FKL requirements done. The real substance of your major begins in junior year. You could transfer to a private university after two years, so you would not be forsaking the “better internship opportunities” like your dad mentioned.</p>
<p>Do you want to attend graduate school? I imagine you would being that your potential majors do not offer many job prospects with just a bachelor’s degree. If that is the case, remember that when a person attends grad school, where they get their grad degree matters. Where they got their undergrad degree, however, does not matter. So, in that case, I would recommend staying in a public university for undergrad to save money for the double+ costs of grad school.</p>
<p>The reason I decided against attending the leading public uni in my state ranked #54 is because they do not offer good financial aid by any means. They rely on their fame to hook students in. And it works. Some of my fellow senior classmates are still going to that uni even though they will be taking out tens of thousands in loans. I think they will regret their decisions in the future.</p>
<p>With a major like yours that had dim job prospects, do you really want to have to worry about the tens of thousands of dollars you accumulated in debt? You will have to begin paying rent, utilities, finance a car, among other things. Handling all of that while paying off a massive loan debt is a big undertaking. And, it is risky for people with your major because if you cannot secure a job and make payments on the loan, your credit goes down the toilet.</p>
<p>I understand the position you are in, so I want you to understand where I’m coming from. Sometimes, reality flares its ugly head in the midst of what we originally wanted to do. Since your parents have already told you that they will not be helping you pay for your college education, you need to assess what you can afford. Your high EFC will hurt you a lot. But, coping with that hurt at a public uni is much more doable than at a private, overpriced uni.</p>
<p>Ohio State University @ Columbus:
<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/ohio-state-university-columbus-6883”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/ohio-state-university-columbus-6883</a></p>
<p>Your dad is smoking something if he thinks an elite school is going to net you a better paying job than a flagship U. That is certainly NOT true…especially when attending an elite school would mean racking up large debt. </p>
<p>You need a good strategy…go ahead and apply to a few of the schools that your parents want you to go to.</p>
<p>ALSO, apply to a few schools that will give you HUGE merit for your stats.</p>
<p>Are your parents aware that they would have to qualify and COSIGN all those large loans each year???</p>
<p>Parents are no doubt correct in asking their children to pay off their loans. As the parents have spent so much on the education and nourishment of their children , its our responsibility to take away their pains by helping them in every aspect and help uss in building of a proper image and further help the parents in their various activities.</p>
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<p>Very good point. Their unwillingness to help you finance your educations points toward them not being willing to cosign large private loans for you every year.</p>
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<p>Another good point. Like I said in my previous comment, you would be surprised at how much a public state uni has to offer. Especially a public state uni ranked #56 in the nation.</p>
<p>and now a word from the OP’s parents:</p>
<p>*Parents are no doubt correct in asking their children to pay off their loans. As the parents have spent so much on the education and nourishment of their children , its our responsibility to take away their pains by helping them in every aspect and help uss in building of a proper image and further help the parents in their various activities.
*</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>I’m not even sure what the author of the quoted text was trying to say. Terrible grammar.</p>
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<p>Columbus, OH is not “rural Ohio.”</p>
<p>Is that really referring to Ohio State University? Oh my…it is a wonderful research university. And agreed, Columbus is NOT rural.</p>