-Nevermind… commented before I saw the rest of the thread.
PLEASE HELP! I received no financial aid from my top choice (Northeastern University), What do I do?
It’s pretty simple. Just scratch them off the list and move on. There’s nothing that they offer you can’t get an affordable university.
I think you should do 2 years at a community college and then transfer to a 4 year university. NYS community colleges have articulation agreements set up with many, many schools.
You said your sister is graduating from Bing, and that your parents co-signed her loans (?). She is going to owe approximately $100,000.
Does your sister have a job lined up?
Here’s another option. Take a gap year. Next year is going to be a mess with the virus. It will be partially or fully online. So use the opportunity to take a gap year and reapply to a whole new set a schools where you can get substantial merit money or substantial need-based aid. It will take A LOT of research. It appears that in creating your list you did not prioritize affordability. You should ONLY apply to schools where you’d be an excellent candidate for merit or need-based aid.
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And because your parents own a business…please do not view the net price calculators as an accurate estimate of your net costs.
As a NY resident, is your family income such that you qualify for any of the NY based grant funding…TAP, Excelsior, or STEM scholarship? If so, your tuition at Bing would be covered.
Yes. With a 34 ACT you would be eligible for substantial merit at a lot of colleges. Look outside your geographic area. Try the midwest and south. For financial aid, ONLY apply to schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need. I would suggest you ask some of these colleges for a pre-read of your financial situation. Also, ONLY apply to colleges that either a) do not count home equity, or b) limit the amount of home equity they count. You have to ASK each college. As I said, it takes A LOT of research. You are a prime example of someone who needs to treat affordability as the limiting factor for your list.
@twogirls my sister is taking a gap year after college and pursing an internship at a dental office and then will be applying to dental school.
@thumper1 I was looking at the STEM Scholarship but it states that you must stay in NY and proceed a job in the STEM field for 5 years, if you fail to do this you must pay everything back. That seems like a huge commitment to me.
Much less of a commitment than $120k in debt. You are seriously underestimating how that will affect your life.
@brantly ok, I will have to talk to my parents about that then. The deadline to submit that is August 1st so I have time.
that is an option I am willing to explore if the first semester of college gets put online. We will probably find out about that soon.
^^^^Do realize that if you do that, you have to be committed to prioritizing affordability over prestige.
Think of it this way…if you pursue a STEM degree, with tuition paid…then you get a job in NY state someplace. It doesn’t have to be where you currently live. Get those five years of experience…and you will be in a good place to apply to other jobs.
And your debt will be quite reduced.
Someone has Bing as an affordable option and is tying themselves into knots to go to Northeastern?
I can only speak for corporate America. Go to Bing. Excellent reputation (not always among HS students in NY State, but they don’t make hiring decisions), rigorous academics IF you choose to go that route, abundant research and internship opportunities. No, it’s not Boston. But go to Bing and move to Boston when you graduate where you won’t need loans to live and eat.
@brantly @thumper1 @twogirls so I just called the financial services. they told me they calculated my EFC to be $50,000, while all my other schools calculated it to be around $20,000 (FAFSA EFC is $18,000). is there anything I can do about this? why would they calculate my EFC to be so much higher?
It seems pretty straightforward to me. GWU thinks you can afford $30K/year. Northeastern thinks you can afford $50K/year.
Some colleges take home equity into account, some don’t, and some limit the amount of equity they will consider. From a limited amount of time Googling and looking at their NPCs, it appears that GWU does not consider home equity, while Northeastern considers the whole amount.
For colleges that do take home equity into consideration, it’s my understanding that it’s common to expect about 5% of that to be added to the amount they expect your family to pay. Your family has $400,000 of home equity. $400,000 x 5% = $20,000, which is the approximate difference between what the two schools expect you to pay.
Home equity
Family business value
Family business deductions added back in as income (even though they are allowed for IRS tax purposes)
I’ve asked several times…what is your parent GROSS income…before all the deductions. What is it?
What can you do? Go to a less costly school. You have an affordable option being Binghamton. Take it and strive for excellence.
Every school calculates FA differently. It’s time to move on and choose one of your affordable options.
I just want to jump in and say I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. It’s hard to navigate this financial aid process with help, and doing it on your own without your parents help at 17- 18 years old is even more challenging. And you are learning the hard truth that it just doesn’t always make sense or seem “fair”. Many people go into it thinking it’s all based on income and don’t realize how much assets can impact what schools offer and that schools vary wildly in what they offer.
I completely understand your attitude about Bing. I know a lot of kids who felt the same way about our state flagship. It’s a great school, but they just didn’t want to go where “everyone” went, especially since they felt they worked a lot harder in high school than many of their classmates who were also admitted there. BUT, many did end up choosing to go there, usually due to finances. And you know what? They all love it. A lot of us parents here know that you’ll probably love it when you get there and get involved, it’s just hard for you to see it now.
Good luck to you!
That’s a good deal you have on the table from GWU. Just sayin