<p>I'm going to make this as succinct as possible. I'm applying to</p>
<p>Washington University in St. Louis
University of Chicago
Duke University
Vanderbilt University
Tufts University
University of Southern California</p>
<p>Out of those schools, I might get into WUSTL, UoChicago, and USC. My EFC is 0. I am not competitive enough for merit aid at any of these schools. I am planning on majoring in philosophy and going to medical school, so where I go for my undergraduate does not matter if I perform well. </p>
<p>Do these schools consider Stafford and/or Perkins loans as part of your financial aid package? Will I be forced to take out loans and work study to pay to go to these schools?</p>
<p>I do not have a car. I was considering taking out Stafford/Perkins to pay for some of the necessities that I do not have right now. If these schools require Stafford/Perkins to pay for tuition, this is obviously not possible.</p>
<p>My backup school is a guarantee admission 15 minutes away. If I live on campus, I will receive enough grants and merit aid to pay fully for my education, probably without work study. If I got a part time job, I would actually be pocketing $4000-5000 every year ($7.50/hr 20 hrs a week for 9 months a year after taxes). </p>
<p>Basically, if these top tier colleges require me to pull loans and work study to even attend, then I'll be graduating with $20,000-$50,000 in debt. If I go to local public 15 minutes away I'll be graduating with no debt (depending on how much I spend on a new car) and possibly even money in my pocket. Even if I do decide to go into medicine (where I would actually be able to pay off thirty grand) it would be nice not to tack on another chunk to my already massive med school debt.</p>
<p>Is this reasoning sound? Should I just attend local university, which will surely get me to a strong medical school if I work hard enough?</p>
<p>Perkins is currently a need based loan. It can only be offered to you as part of a financial aid package to meet need. The Stafford loan can be need based (in which case up to $3500 of the $5500 freshman maximum may be subsidized) or not need based. I don’t think any of the schools you listed promise to meet full need without loans, so it is very likely the loans will be part of your financial aid package. A financial aid package is based your need as determined by the school’s COA less your EFC. The COA generally includes allowances for certain expenses that are not paid directly to the school, such as travel and personal expenses.</p>
<p>You can’t just “take out” Stafford or Perkins loans. They are offered to you through the school and must be certified by the school.</p>
<p>Most of those schools have CoA at around $50,000 when all is said and done. With an EFC of 0, loans will probably be a part of that package then? Is this likely to be only Stafford or also Perkins? My family is below the poverty level.</p>
<p>So if I meet the full cost of attendance of my local university without the loans, I will not be able to take out either Stafford or Perkins? If Stafford is not necessarily a need based loan, doesn’t that mean I can still take it out?</p>
<p>Crzy…these loan funds never come into your possession. They are payable to and applied directly to the university. If you paid all of your tuition up front, then the loaned funds were applied, you would get a refund of what you paid from your pocket. You would not be able to use Perkins/Stafford loans to buy a car. You have some great schools on your list. I am familiar with WashU and UChicago, and you would not need a car. However, like swimcatsmom said, your list doesn’t include what might be financial safeties for you - like your state school. You mentioned a back up school, so maybe this isn’t your whole list. Good luck with your applications.</p>
<p>That sounds like I could pull it out to do whatever I want if I can pay my tuition/room & board with grants and scholarships. </p>
<p>The local university probably isn’t a backup at this point. I’m also kind of asking for advice about this; if these other schools are going to make me take out loans just to pay tuition, I think I am better off going to local university and graduating debt free or with money in my pocket, or at least some assets to show for my debt. Does this make sense?</p>
<p>Vandy meets 100% of need without any loans. </p>
<p>If you have to take out any loans for undergrad, be aware that you might prevent yourself from affording medical school.</p>
<p>There is a max amount you can borrow for the combined undergrad and med school for Stafford (It’s around $224k). If you borrow more than just a little bit for undergrad, you won’t be able to borrow the $200k+ that you’ll need for med school.</p>
<p>LOL…and to think that some med students take out private loans, too, because they borrowed so much for undergrad that they had to resort to private loans. (which often require co-signers)</p>
<p>And, when you hear those people’s stories many years later, they are STILL paying off their loans into their 40s+</p>
<p>Getting out of undergrad with as little debt as possible is a very smart goal. </p>
<p>Each college will have its own policy about how they might apply the outside scholarships you hope to get. You will have to look at each one. If one school gives you grant aid for say, $10,000, and you get a local scholarship for $1,000, the school may reduce the grant aid to $9,000. Another school might apply that $1,000 to your work-study earnings, so you would get to work less. </p>
<p>You haven’t indicated what state you live in, but you may have options other than your local university. If you have good stats, it could be a great option. Or, maybe your local university is a big state school and living on campus would be a great experience. With the aid you would get there it would certainly take the stress out of worrying about loan burdens when you go to apply for med schools!</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom, we had a student in the masters of social work program this year who came in with her mom & they INSISTED on getting her budget increased so she could borrow $32,000 for the year. They had all kinds of supporting documentation to justify the increase (rent receipts, bills for full price books, etc). She used her full $20,500 in Staffords & then got a Grad PLUS loan for the rest. Both she & her mom saw no problems with borrowing this much … they raised a fuss in order to get the COA increase.</p>
<p>How much is she realistically going to earn with a social work degree? Enough to pay back the loans she is amassing? I tried to point out the effect of the interest alone … they didn’t care.</p>
<p>Some people really don’t have much of a clue when it comes to money and debt. Sad really. My daughter has around $8000 in loans (she is a junior) and she considers that “a buttload of debt”, so you can tell we as a family are not enthused with the idea of too much in loans…</p>
<p>
I am an incredible tightwad when it comes to books. We rarely buy books, even used, from the school book store. I just begrudge paying so much more when I know we can find them way cheaper online. We save $hundreds every semester (and we don’t go for the books that are in tatty condition). We would prefer to support the school bookstore, if they didn’t charge so much and buy them back for so little, only to resell them for big bucks again. My son once told his bookstore he would burn his book before he sold it to them for the price they were offering.</p>
<p>My son once told his bookstore he would burn his book before he sold it to them for the price they were offering.</p>
<p>LOL! Good for him!!! I would have liked to have seen the expression on their faces. </p>
<p>Some people really don’t have much of a clue when it comes to money and debt.</p>
<p>I think people get all caught up in the hoopla of name-brand schools, and “I’ll borrow whatever it takes to go there” mentality. Some parents are just as bad! Haven’t we heard some parents say, “I want my kid to be happy. I want them to pick where they go?”</p>
<p>But, I’ve also have noticed that for some people, after a year or two of borrowing so much money, the “light comes on” (or maybe the bank starts saying, “no”), and some of these people transfer to less expensive schools.</p>
<p>I remember a thread a few years ago, where some parent posters admitted that after writing the checks and borrowing the money for their child’s first year at a “brand name school,” the reality set in, and some were starting to question the wisdom of their decisions. They mentioned that after the “bragging status” wore off, they began to think differently.</p>
<p>Crazy, I believe what the other posters are trying to tell you is that schools can only award aid up to their cost of attendance, which includes both billable charges and other expenses like books and transportation. You can receive a refund of loan amount in excess of billable charges, but they won’t certify the loan if it would exceed their COA. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I would not plan on working 20 hours a week during the school year. First, most schools don’t award that level of work study funding. More importantly, it would be difficult to maintain a high gpa if you’re working that much while taking your pre-reqs. And don’t forget about the volunteer hours and EC’s you’ll want to be adding to your resume!</p>
(which often require co-signers)</p>