<p>@Hunt thank you! I’ll keep that in mind. </p>
<p>Good advice from posters. Do a couple NPC’s yourself. You may have a FAFSA EFC of 20,000, but the schools don’t have to follow that at all, most will “gap” you. eg. Top notch publics may give you $O. If you’re out of state, that could mean a cost of $45,000+. Privates may give you more, but still you could have a cost of $30-40,000.</p>
<p>It is really mature of you to ask your parents for a hard number for their contribution, so you can figure out where to apply. Again, try doing a few NPC’s and then show them the results. Ask them “is this number realistic, could you pay this much?” about each one. Maybe that’s a way to get them to come to some sort of $$ amount.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I don’t know your parents, so why they specifically will not get into a discussion about college costs and what they will pay can be for any number of reasons. I’ve met a lot of parents that just don’t want to get into this area simply because it is detestable to them, and they’d prefer to see the alternatives before having to face the financial music. Happens with all sorts of things. Some parents are hoping that a big fat aid package or scholarship lands and then the whole issue will go away. This unfortunately puts, you, the student in a bind, as you don’t know an essential piece of what is available to pay for your college.</p>
<p>For a lot of families, they want to pay as little as possible which can also become an issue We know a family who is well to do, but they wanted whatever was the least expensive route. That meant commuting unless the student could get a full ride, or pay for the whole shebang. But they didn’t want to get into the discussion until they had to do so, like a right before commitment day. </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse Like I said my parents are hard to read people. Years of lawyering I think ha. I had a little talk with my mamma and what it sounds like is that they’re fully aware of how expensive college but they hate the idea of loans. I just don’t want undergrad education to put them in the poorhouse when I have two other siblings to think about. I like your username btw, that’s what my dad calls himself. </p>
<p>If they refuse to use the NPCs, then you should assume the worst case that they cannot or will not contribute what the colleges expect them to contribute.</p>
<p>Add some of the large merit scholarship schools, including at least one automatic one, to your application list. Lists of these schools can be found in the sticky threads at the top of the financial aid and scholarships section.</p>
<p>@ucbalmunus I’ve just had a talk with my parents. We had a frank discussion, and they clarified a lot of things for me. We even did a NPC for our instate costs for UVA.They told me that when I finish up my college tours and finalize my list (which happens in the next week or so) they’ll sit down and go through some more NPCs for the schools that I like. I’m going to try not to assume the worst as you have suggest above, because as a self-diagnosed unnecessary worry-wart doing something like that would only do harm not good. Nevertheless, thank you for the advice. I’ll look at the schools you have mentioned. </p>
<p>Of course, your list won’t be finalized if the NPC runs remove too many of the colleges as unaffordable, or leave you with a top-heavy list when safeties become reaches because you need a big merit scholarship rather than admission, etc…</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Well, I know that I don’t need huge merit scholarships. I just need enough money to where my parents aren’t giving every last dollar they’ve ever made to my undergrad education. I also have two siblings to think about. Thankfully, Virginia has great state schools and my stats are 50th percentile range for UVA and the instate tuition is affordable. Their fin-aid for instate kids is pretty good and if I got accepted I’d be happy to end up there or William and Mary which is also affordable for me. </p>
<p>BTW can you name any large merit scholarship schools that in the Northeast or maybe the Pacific Northwest? It seemed like all the schools in the thread were either in the South or Midwest-the two places that I know I don’t want to be for college. One school was in Hawaii, but I don’t think the school’s culture would fit me well at all. </p>
<p><<<
BTW can you name any large merit scholarship schools that in the Northeast or maybe the Pacific Northwest? It seemed like all the schools in the thread were either in the South or Midwest-the two places that I know I don’t want to be for college. One school was in Hawaii, but I don’t think the school’s culture would fit me well at all.</p>
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<p>what are your stats?</p>
<p>schools in west that give merit for high stats are:
USC
USD
USF
LMU
SCU
St. Marys
Seattle U
UPortland
Azusa Pacific
URedlands
Whittier College</p>