<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 $23,000.
I don't mind taking out the sub. loan since the gov. pays the interest, but are the other two loans worth it?
Should I make an appeal? I'm not getting any scholarship money from Florida, where I live, based foundations because I am going out of state. I really want to go to UCR.</p>
<p>Pearlsilver, I as well am an OOS student. I went through what you are going through at the moment. The university gives you an estimate of the costs to attend but if you are frugal, then you can spend a few thousand dollars less than the estimated cost. Aside from cutting your personal expenses there is no way you can reduce your cost of attendance. </p>
<p>The unsubsidized Stafford loan is a good option after you have exhausted your subsidized options because it is fairly regulated and the interest rate is reasonable. Whether or not you want to apply for the Parent PLUS loan depends on you and your family. I, personally did not want to put stress on my family and chose to take out a private loan instead. The Parent PLUS loan will have more repayment options and lower interest rates than a private loan though.</p>
<p>And lastly, an appeal is usually considered if there has been a significant change in your family’s financial situation. You have to realize universities have limited funds and cannot satisfy all the requests they receive from applicants, especially when public universities (such as the UCs) are facing budget cuts. If there is not a severely negative change in your family’s financial situation you will probably not get any extra aid. It does not hurt to try, but do not get your hopes up.</p>
<p>I hate to say this ,but is their a way for you to go to community college in your home state, then transfer out to California . I respect that you want to go to UCR , but keep in mind your talking about 25 thousand a YEAR in loans for 4 years . Thats 100,000$, most of which is unsubsidized .
$1,150.92 is your monthly payment , even if somehow the entire amount was subsidized .
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loan Payment Calculator - Finaid)
Thats a painful reality check . It will make way more sense for you to go to community college in your home state, then transfer out to California( this is very very tricky though, since its a different state and community colleges are mostly for instate transfers ) . </p>
<p>Good luck though</p>
<p>i agree with thisislife. i wouldn’t take that route.</p>
<p>The problem with going to CC instate is that there is no guarantee that he will have another chance at getting acceptance because there are only so many spots that the UCs make available to OOS students and most of them are filled by OOS freshmen students and international students, only a handful of OOS CC students actually get accepted (I know a few individuals who attempted to transfer from an OSS CC to the UCs with a GPA of 3.0-3.5 and they were all rejected). Also, OSS CC transfer students are placed at a higher standard than instate students. Furthermore, if you transfer from an OSS CC you must confirm that your courses can be transfered over to the institution. </p>
<p>For the most part I agree with the above posters, financially you will take a big hit, but in the end it is your decision of whether or not to take that financial blow. Also, please note that thisislife is overstating the accumulated principal should you elect to take out loans all four years. Assuming you are frugal, and do not get any other scholarships for all four years your unsubsidized principal will be about 80k-85k (do not get me wrong, it is still quite a hefty sum of debt). </p>
<p>If you elect to take out the loans, you must consider how and whether or not you will be able to pay off your debt. Will you get a job in Florida and move back in with your parents to pay back the loans? Will you overload on coursework so you can graduate in 3 years and incur less debt? Will you work over the summer to pay back part of the loans?</p>
<p>“thisislife is overstating the accumulated principal should you elect to take out loans all four years. Assuming you are frugal, and do not get any other scholarships for all four years your unsubsidized principal will be about 80k-85k (do not get me wrong, it is still quite a hefty sum of debt).”</p>
<p>Hmm, I was rushing when I did my math , but keep in mind my repayment calculation was assuming that somehow you’d get the government rate of 6.8% for all 4 years for the entire amount, but you may have to use private lenders which may have a higher rate . </p>
<p>Anyway, lets assume you are frugal and spend 5 thousand less per year( this is very very hard to do, in my personal experience education cost are a bit MORE then what schools estimate ), and end up with a 80,000 principle . Your monthly loan repayment is 900$ a month . </p>
<p>What I would suggest to do is go to a community college in your home state , save money , and then apply to transfer to UCR . Florida has some great state universities and if UCR doesn’t let you transfer in, you can transfer to a school in your state . This way your total debt after college will be around 40,000-50,000( less if you go in state ) . </p>
<p>The key thing is you have no idea what type of job you’ll get after graduation . At my last job I meet a few guys with M.A.'s working for 10$ an hour. Lets be more optimistic then that and say you make around 35k a year . So if you go directly to UCR you’ll be paying around 11k( this assumes 80,000 total debt and a repayment of 900$ a month) a year back for your loan payments. With that money you could be buying a house during the same time, or saving it . Imagine how much money 11k a year for 10 years would be. It’s ether 110,000k saved( minus maybe 20,000 for a smaller loan assuming you went to an instate school) or 110,000k spent paying back loans . </p>
<p>Ultimately its up to you, but I would take a very hard look at what makes sense economically .</p>
<p>thisislife, what I stated was merely the principal, it does not include the interest rate. It is hard to calculate the interest for him because it can vary depending on how much he borrows, and whether or not if he takes out private loans. However, if you include interest it will be about 2k-5k more per year as the amount of loans rack up. </p>
<p>Reducing expenses is not very hard to do thisislife, but it does depend on the person. I, personally, was able to cut personal expenses by about 5k per year. If you are thinking that my college life must have been not too exciting (in terms of partying, traveling, and such) then you are correct. At least I was able to focus on my studies and cut down the amount of debt I incurred during my undergraduate years. </p>
<p>If you really want to get your degree from the UC system, another viable option is to move to California and attend a CC in California, then transfer once you have completed the IGETC. </p>
<p>We are not justified in determining how long it will take him to repay his loans and the amount he will pay back since the total is contingent on t and I(r). He may land an entry job with a salary of 40k per year in Florida after he graduates and be able to pay back 25k a year and his parents or relatives may loan (interest free) him some money to repay the debt. Also, the total amount of payment you are stating is only in nominal terms, in real terms it is less than that. Using figures from USNWS, his total nominal expenditure would be about 50-60k less if he were to attend University of Florida. </p>
<p>Ultimately, only he, himself, truly understands his situation and desires, thus we cannot decide for him. Our discussion has veered off course from his original questions. He wanted to inquire about whether or not to take out government unsubsidized loans, and whether or not to make an appeal to financial aid.</p>
<p>Going to a California community college could be another option . It would only cost a little less then 9,000 a year for out of state tuition . Plus its very easy to transfer from a California community college to a UC . ( Some schools like UCLA and Berkley are very competitive, but for the others ,a 3.0 and IGETC should be enough( some schools will have a TAG guarantee ). </p>
<p>But allow me to give some insight on this . Even though I’m a resident at my community college, and therefore pay next to nothing for tuition I still barely made it on financial aid . Keep in mind California’s in a budget crisis right now . Classes are hard to come by at the community college level, but if UCR’s your dream then go for it .</p>
<p>The only thing I’m trying to say is you have to be very careful about debt .</p>