<p>I got accepted to UCR, yay me!, but since I'm an out-of-state resident tuition is ridiculous. I got $5,300 from FAFSA and $15,000 from the school. I am eligible for $2,000 in work study so in total what I have is $22300 out of an estimate of $48,000. I am also eligible for 3 loans, one loan is a sub. stafford loan of $3,200, another is an unsub. stafford loan of $2,000 and the last is an unsub. loan that my mom can take out for me which is $23,000.
I don't mind taking out the sub. loan since the gov. pays the interest, but are the other two loans worth it?
Should I make an appeal? I'm not getting any scholarship money from Florida, where I live, based foundations because I am going out of state. I really want to go to UCR.</p>
<p>If you got $5300 of grant aid from the FAFSA, that means your family income is fairly low. That being the case, I don’t see how you can think for minute that your mother should take out $23000 in loans (and that’s just for one year!)</p>
<p>It is TOTALLY not worth it.</p>
<p>Appealing will do little to no good (more likely no good). The state is hurting for money and already does not guarantee to meet need for IS students. OOS students are low priority. A friend of mine was in a similar position to yours. Had grants and loans that fully covered IS COA, but a private loan would be required for the OOS tuition. He wisely chose to stay in his own state where he is attending nearly debt free.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that, as 'rentof2 pointed out, you are very low income based on the amount of grant aid you’re receiving from the government (I’m guessing that’s Pell you named, yes?). With such a low income, your mom may not qualify for those loans each year. You are not able to take them out yourself without a co-signer.</p>
<p>There is a student at UCSC who is from Florida as well. UCSC is completely unaffordable to her family to the point that they skip rent payments just to pay her tuition. Do you want to risk putting your family into such a situation as well?</p>
<p>None of the UCs (nor any other college in the world) is worth the amount of debt you are talking about for an undergrad degree. It is not a financially sound option for you.</p>
<p>Perhaps look into UCR for graduate school?</p>
<p>UCR is soooooooooooo not worth it.</p>
<p>Are you seeriously considering having your mom borrow almost $100k for you to go to UCR??? Please tell me that isn’t so. </p>
<p>If you got 5300, that suggests that iis a Pell grant which means you’re low income. How could you possibly expect your mom to borrow even 1/4 of that???</p>
<p>Do you understand how such debt would absolutely ruin your mom?</p>
<p>I’m not getting any scholarship money from Florida, </p>
<p>What FL schools are you accepted to? You will get Bright Futures, Pell, loans, and work-study. That should cover your school costs.</p>
<p>*Alright so my intended major is Asian Studies, I plan on studying Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese with possibly a dual major/minor in International Business.
The problem is that my family members are concerned that I will not be able to find work.
*</p>
<p>And, you want to study abroad.</p>
<p>What is supposed to fund all of your wants?</p>
<p>Given your mother’s financial situation, do you really think she should be taking out $23K in loans for this year alone? Think about that. I doubt she pays that much in a year’s rent or in her choice of car. You want her on the line for $100K over the next 4 years for you to go to this college. You’ll wreck any vestige of her being able to get on her feet. </p>
<p>Did you get anything from Bright Futures? Even if you did not, the Florida state colleges have reasonable tuition and are plentiful. It’s likely you can commute locally and have enough money left to fund a trip abroad, especially if you find a part time job. You are an adult or rapidly approaching that time. Leave your mom out of this. She has a tough enough time meeting her needs.</p>
<p>Given your mother’s financial situation, do you really think she should be taking out $23K in loans for this year alone? Think about that. I doubt she pays that much in a year’s rent or in her choice of car. You want her on the line for $100K over the next 4 years for you to go to this college.</p>
<p>Excellent points. I doubt this mom has even an extra $200 at the end of each month, much less the $1000 per month that she’d need to make such payments. </p>
<p>This student should qualify for BF since he got into a UC and got merit. However, I think he meant that he can’t use it for a UC school, which is correct.</p>
<p>Hopefully this student applied to some Florida schools (and can still attend). </p>
<p>Frankly, I find it odd that he thinks UCR would be worth this much money. Riverside is a rather undesirable city. The school is getting better, but it’s just an average state school…not worth large debt at all.</p>
<p>I’m also shocked that a low income kid would even think of burdening his mom with such debt. We aren’t low income, but if my kid expected me to take on 100k debt (especially for an average school), I would wonder what I had done wrong to raise a kid who would even think such a thing. I would also wonder if he had learned how to do simple math.</p>
<p>This is something that really bothers me, momof2collegekids. It’s one thing about a kid who is willing to take on all of these loans for himself. That’s clueless youth there. But for some of these kids, and most are not kids anymore, they must see the financial stress and trouble their parents are already in. In fact, they recount them in their posts, and then want the same parents to co sign or take out loans that make even middle income families in good financial stead blanch. Where the heck do they think their parents are going to find the money to repay those loans? I see a disregard for their parents’ health here.</p>
<p>@pearlsilver - congrats on your acceptance to a school that you are excited about. Put the acceptance letter in your scrapbook, grieve a bit, and find an option that you and your mom can afford.</p>
<p>And, when you graduate and start work, set up a savings account to pay for your children’s college education.</p>