So I sit here at a crossroad. On one hand, I can go to the college I would like (given that I get in), and come out paying around 60,000 a year and after intrest has been accounted for, have around 280,000 total in debt. Based on our families income, we dont make enough to get a whole lot in financial aid. So my question: is there any way that I havent thought of to pay of loans or to like lessen the cost? My other plan is to go to community college and do the whole 2 years and transfer however, I would rather not go this route if I dont have to. I see all these people going to college and figure at least one has to be in the same position as me and dealt wit the problem another way.
Not all schools cost $60k per year. The choice isn’t Harvard or CC, there are a lot of schools, at all price points, between H and CC.
There are also lots of ways to pay for school while you are in school. Grants, scholarships, work/work study, co-ops, military benefits, state scholarships, instate tuition rates.
If your family makes too much for FA but not enough to pay for college, you shouldn’t be (and probably can’t) borrowing $300k for college.
There is nothing wrong with going to Community College. The class size is much smaller and more intimate so you can get one on one help easier and you don’t become a faceless student. Also your advisor will be able to play a bigger role because they have less kids overall to deal with. There are so many advantages to community college. It is so much better than packed lecture halls for those basic requirements.
I graduated from an Ivy League university and did all the basics at the local Community College, I even did summer classes full-time. I saved $20,000+, it was so worth it.
What year in high school are you? What is your GPA or what do your grades look like? Are you taking rigorous classes? If you are doing really well in high school, you may be a candidate for a merit scholarship. Depending on the scholarship, you will get a large tuition discount, a full tuition scholarship, or a full-ride.
Also, what is the maximum that your parents are willing to pay each year? That will be a starting point for finding affordable options. You will be able to borrow $5500 your freshman year, $6500 sophomore, and $7500 for your junior and senior years. If you work and save over the summer and add that amount to your loan then you have your contribution. If you work part-time while you are in school you may have even more to contribute.
So, yes there are students who go to college full time and do not go into 280,000 of debt. You probably need to work with your parents so that you can work on a good college list for you together.
There is nothing wrong with community college. That being said, we found very good 4 year universities that were a LOT less than $60,000 per year without any need based aid at all.
@NorthernMom61 listed the amounts that you can get of federal loans adding up to (if I did this right) $27k over four years. I would try to avoid debt if you can, and try very hard to limit the debt to $27k over four years if you have to take on some debt. There are a very large number of choices for colleges and universities.
I don’t think that any university is worth $280,000 in debt unless you are getting an MD degree from a very good medical school.
Having one dream school is usually a bad idea. There are a lot of schools that are going to be good alternatives.
How about finding a job and working part time? That’s how I’ve survived for years… I found my job at http://www.jobapplicationonline.co.uk/ and I’m satisfied with that. Do I get tired? I do for I have to manage my time for both my work and studies. However, it pays off as my parents are more free now that I contribute to the debt. Hope it helps…
In your other thread you said you’re a junior with a 3.6 GPA and 1150 PSAT. Did you get your SAT scores yet? It sounds like you’re in CA. Is your family low income? If so, you may be eligible for a Pell Grant of up to ~$6k/year. I don’t know if CA offers state aid.
You can’t borrow $60k/year. If you file the FAFSA every year you can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan. Most students commute to a local 4-year school or start at a cc and transfer. The students who attend residential college either have parents who can pay or they piece together funding from a combination of merit aid, need based aid, summer work earnings, and parent contributions. Most kids don’t attend residential college.
That’s 10 times the federal student loan limit of $27k. You would never be able to get the private loans to pay for that school anyway. Even if you did, the debt would bankrupt you before your career ever got off the ground. Even if you somehow managed to get a salary to make your payments, you’d be so poor, you’re better off going to community college to be an electrician. Unless your degree says M.D. next to it, it’s not worth it. You need to find a more affordable option.
If your family doesn’t have a lot of money to spend, community college for 2 years is a great option. This will save you a lot of debt. After that, you can transfer to an affordable in-state school. The only thing stopping you is your pride 
Your adult self and future spouse will thank you later.
So…why instate public universities in CA are you looking at that cost $60,000 a year for instate residents? There are NONE that fit that description…well unless you choose to live in a $3000 a month apartment all by yourself someplace.
You have a lot of Cal States to look at…and I would urge you to do so. Look for ABET accredited engineering programs in state. Is there a four year you can commute to? You’ve also mentioned the CC and then transfer option. That works for a lot of students as well.
You were taking the SAT in November. What was that score?
@thumper1 @coolguy40 @austinmshauri @NorthernMom61 I got 1370 on the SAT and am going to retake for a 1430+. My gpa is around a 3.7 unweighted which isn’t the best. Currently a junior and also going to take more AP classes next year. The college I really wanted to go to and should have mentioned that in the original posting. I guess I have to broaden my options if I want to actually go to a college instead of CC first. My families income is above 200k a year so there isn’t a whole lot to take from and we usually use majority after rent, bills, etc so I don’t want to spend their extra 2 thousand a month on college loans. My parents are also adamant that I live in my house so I have UC Berk, SJSU, and SCU near me and I feel SCU is the one I like most. As far as jobs go, is it really hard to find one being in the Bay Area and an EE major? I’m really worried that by not going to a good college I’m going to have trouble getting a job.
If you are a CA resident…go to a CA public and save yourself a LOT of money. For electrical engineering…look for a school with ABET accreditation. I’m sure some of those UCs or Cal States have it.
I’m a huge SCU fan…one of my kids is an alum. But really…you don’t have to attend a $70,000 a year college to get a degree in electrical engineering. You don’t.
Are you saying your parents are requiring you to commute from home?
With $200,000 in income…you are not going to get need based aid at the CA publics…or at SCU. Right now, you need to bump up your SAT quite a bit to get significant merit aid at SCU.
How much will your parents pay per year for you to attend college?
You can take the ~$5500/year federal.student loan and can probably earn ~$3k if you work summers. Can your parents pay anything? If not, look for merit for your stats. If your parents can’t pay, you need to cast a wide net. Do not let them cosign $300k of loans with the expectation that you’ll be the one paying it back. If they refuse to let you go far, I’d attend cc and transfer rather than taking on a ruinous amount of debt.
@austinmshauri thanks for your advice! I think I’m going to do CC I just needed to be absolutely sure it was my only option because I feel I need to prove to myself I can do better. 
@Normie, There’s nothing wrong with attending a cc. Many of us have. Can your parents pay anything without borrowing?
I think they can spare around 1000 monthly to pay for college and we have around 20k saved up when I start college so CC would be fine without borrowing. @austinmshauri
The $12k/year your parents can pay + $5k from your college fund + the $5500/year federal student loan + ~$3k summer work earnings = $25k/year. Have you looked for colleges whose total costs are $25k or less?
Well like I said my parents want me to go close so I have like 5 colleges to choose from, 1 which is out of my academic standards and the others are community colleges or state.
@Normie As far as jobs go, is it really hard to find one being in the Bay Area and an EE major? I’m really worried that by not going to a good college I’m going to have trouble getting a job.
That’s a good question. The bay area is where Silicone Valley is, so it wouldn’t be too terribly difficult, I would assume. Also, there’s a lot of overlap in EE and CS. If you take a couple of courses in one mainstream programming language, i.e. Java, C#, SQL, etc, and gain some proficiency, it will enhance your employability into information technology as well as EE. A lot of EE and CS graduates end up getting jobs in IT and spend their entire careers never doing a math problem. As you know already, rent is very cost prohibitive in northern California, so financially, you want to put your best foot forward and go for as little debt as humanly possible. This will allow you to put all your focus on your career. Also, there are cheaper cities nearby that have a lot of great entry level tech jobs like SLC, Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas.