Questions about paying for college

Paying for College
1

<p>I am interested in Johns Hopkins, MIT, Yale, Harvard, Duke, Vanderbilt, UChicago, and Ohio St. As you all know, all of these schools (minus OSU) cost about $50,000-57,000 per year. So i just have some questions regarding how and if i should pay for these schools.</p>

<p>Is it worth accumulating a load of debt (around 100k, just a rough estimate based on friends at MIT) during my undergrad but going to one of these top tier schools which will allow for top tier grad schools (medicine) hopefully? Or would it be more beneficial to go to Ohio st. which has a great medical program but i would accumulate almost no debt.</p>

<p>I dont really want to go to OSU or any school in my state for that matter but I am at a crossroads for what I should do.</p>

<p>I have no idea how much FA i would receive or if i would get any grants/scholarships. My parents are divorced. I think its joint custody but not sure. I have 2 siblings in college and 1 in grad school. My mom earns roughly 90k but has debt from the house she bought when she moved out. My dad on the other hand earns roughly 140k but he also owns and rents a medium sized mobile home lot. My mom said that it probably doesnt add too much to his income because of wright offs. On the fafsa would i put in financial income for both parents or since theyre divorced could i choose which income statement to use for fafsa and css?</p>

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<p>People can and do get into good med schools from lesser ranked colleges. If you are already 100K in debt from your undergrad degree, how will you pay for med school? It could be very difficult to find a lender willing to take that kind of risk, and since you’d need a cosigner for the undergrad loans it puts a parent at great risk as well.</p>

<p>I’d go for the least expensive undergrad that you can find. Would you qualify for hefty merit aid at lesser ranked private colleges? Some are very generous.</p>

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<p>Yes id qualify for alot of aid id think at most other schools. I have a 34 on my act and am valedictorian of my class so id assume that at schools like OSU I would be virtually debt free. I did do a fafsa calculator for Johns Hopkins using my mom as my custodial parent and I would only need to take out 10100/yr based on their calculator. I know it may not be the actual amount but if it is 40-50k for undergrad is that an acceptable amount of debt for an undergrad?</p>

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<p>As you may know…MIT, Yale, Harvard do NOT give any merit aid awards…only need based aid.</p>

<p>Duke, Vandy and UCHi do give LIMITED merit awards…they are highly competitive.</p>

<p>ALL of the above schools require the CSS Profile…so your non-custodial parent info might be required if the school requires the non-custodial parent form…you need to check that at EACH of these schools.</p>

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<p>Will the two siblings be in undergrad school WHILE you are? That will make a difference in your FAFSA EFC.</p>

<p>Re: your mom’s debt from your primary residence…that isn’t going to be taken into account on the FAFSA at ALL. For the Profile, it would just mean that your home equity would be less. </p>

<p>If the schools are FAFSA only, your non-custodial parent (presumably your dad…do you live with your mom 51% of the time?) won’t be listed at all.</p>

<p>For the Profile schools that require the Non-Custodial parent profile form, your dad’s income and assets will need to be listed. With regard to the mobile home park…the value of the property will be listed as an asset. The rents will be listed as income. The write offs…might or might not be allowed by the colleges. Some schools will add back in some of the expenses that folks deduct with regards to these types of businesses.</p>

<p>Regarding your debt…especially if you are planning to go to medical school…you want to keep your undergrad debt to an absolute MINIMUM as you will likely have significant debt from medical school regardless of where you go.</p>

<p>If you are instate for Ohio State, and you are happy with that choice…then apply there AND to the other schools. See how the finances work out. OSU is an excellent safety school and you are fortunate to have that option…I will say…PAY ATTENTION TO THE DEADLINES for the scholarships at OSU…I believe you have to apply by a certain date…check to see what supplemental things are required for their scholarship awards.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much! Thats what i was figuring with my mom and dad and which one i could list as my custodial or not. I split my time pretty evenly between living with my mom and dad so would it benefit me to select one as my custodial and the other as not. I guess what im saying is which one should i put on the fafsa and which for the css. I believe my dad writes me off as a tax deduction on his income form so im most likely in his custody. I fully realize the need to keep my debt to a minimum and OSU being a great school. I was planning on applying there as a safety.</p>

<p>Overall I just want a school that will give me a good education, get me into the best possible med school i can, and also (i know undergrad schools dont do this directly) get me a good paying job when i first start working. My ego and drive is pushing for Johns Hopkins but my sensibility and want of a lack of debt is saying OSU.</p>

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<p>For FAFSA it does NOT matter which parent claims you as a tax deduction. List the parent you live with most. If it is 50/50, then pick your mother, since her income is lower and it is to your advantage.</p>

<p>I am not certain you understood what a PROFILE school is and how the FAFSA and the CSS works.</p>

<p>For a NON-PROFILE school (OSU is likely such), you only must file a FAFSA report. Pick your mother.</p>

<p>For a PROFILE school (most privates), you must file BOTH a FAFSA and CSS file. Use your mother for BOTH the FAFSA and the CSS as your custodial parent. The issue with the CSS is that it also requires a Non-Custodial form… that is the form your father would fill out. </p>

<p>In other words, CSS forms will dig into both the mother’s and father’s income. So list mother as custodial and have her fill out the main forms. Within the CSS forms online are instructions how to send the Non-Custodial CSS forms to your father. Note that all his information stays private and is not shared with his ex-wife (your mother).</p>

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<p>In the unlikely event that you spent exactly half of the nights with each parent (which would have required switching beds in the middle of the night since there are an odd number of days in the year), your custodial parent for FAFSA would be the parent who has provided more financial support in the past year. It does not matter who claims you on tax forms as separated/divorced parents are allowed to negotiate that…you’ll find that IRS rules differ from FAFSA rules in many areas.</p>

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<p>* My mom earns roughly 90k but has debt from the house she bought when she moved out. My dad on the other hand earns roughly 140k but he also owns and rents a medium sized mobile home lot. My mom said that it probably doesnt add too much to his income because of wright offs. On the fafsa would i put in financial income for both parents or since theyre divorced could i choose which income statement to use for fafsa and css?*</p>

<p>MIT and others like it are CSS Profile schools and they will consider both parents’ incomes and assets.</p>

<p>BTW… it’s “write offs”…not wright offs. :)</p>

<p>How much will your parents contribute each year for your college costs? Do you know how much they contribute for your siblings?</p>

<p>*Yes id qualify for alot of aid id think at most other schools. I have a 34 on my act and am valedictorian of my class so id assume that at schools like OSU I would be virtually debt free. *</p>

<p>You would qualify for a lot of merit scholarships at some schools. It’s confusing to say that you’d qualify for a lot of aid, since “aid” tends to connote need-based aid. </p>

<p>What exactly would OSU give you (for sure)???</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>I did do a fafsa calculator for Johns Hopkins using my mom as my custodial parent and I would only need to take out 10100/yr based on their calculator. I know it may not be the actual amount but if it is 40-50k for undergrad is that an acceptable amount of debt for an undergrad? *</p>

<p>Doesn’t JHU use CSS Profile? If so, then it doesn’t matter what FAFSA says. And, I don’t know if JHU meets need…I know a lot of people complain about its aid.</p>

<p><a href=“around%20100k,%20just%20a%20rough%20estimate%20based%20on%20friends%20at%20MIT”>I</a>*</p>

<p>No school is worth anywhere near that much debt. Anyone considering that much debt is very likely going to regret it in a few years. </p>

<p>Newsflash…MIT grads and other elite grads do not typically get paid amounts to justify such debt. </p>

<p>*will allow for top tier grad schools (medicine) hopefully? Or would it be more beneficial to go to Ohio st. which has a great medical program but i would accumulate almost no debt.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Oh my…you’re considering med school??? If so, you need to have MINIMAL debt for undergrad or no debt. </p>

<p>Do you realize that private med schools can have COAs of $70k+ per year? That would be nearly $300k debt for 4 years of med school.</p>

<p>If you can go to a flagship like OSU or some other school with no debt, do that. </p>

<p>Are you a NMSF?</p>

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<p>No to the NMSF :frowning: and thank you for correcting my poor english up there with write off. I was in tizzy worrying about my future loads of debt. I am not sure exactly how many merit scholarships I would get from OSU; I was just going to apply and hope for the best.</p>

<p>I havent asked them how much exactly they would contribute to my college education but my parents cant afford anywhere near the amount that would keep me debt free. My brother goes to Univ of Dayton and I know that my Dad paid 28k for his first year but i highly highly doubt that he had the money for that so i think he had to take a loan for that. My sister goes and runs for OSU so he pays for 6k total each year because of running scholarships i think not positive though. And no clue if my eldest brother receives any money from my parents (he’s in grad school). I dont want to put that burden on my parents by having them pay for most of or even some of my college education so id rather pay for it myself. </p>

<p>This is quite a predicament i want to go to those elite schools but they cost so much dang money! How does anybody on those campuses pay for that!</p>

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<p>you have great stats. Much better than my D. Have you thought about Denison in Ohio. They offered her pretty good money and I would guess you would get even more.</p>

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<p>Well, to borrow more than the low Stafford amounts would require co-signers…and that’s not good, either.</p>

<p>Again, if you’re pre-med, then you want the BEST grades and the LEAST debt. </p>

<p>FYI…you may not get the BEST grades at an elite-like school where there are many high-stats pre-meds all trying to get the limited number of A’s in the weeder classes.</p>

<p>OSU is not a safety unless you know for sure that you have all costs covered without a bunch of loans. </p>

<p>I suggest that you ALSO apply to a few schools where your stats would get you huge merit.</p>

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<p>What schools would you recommend I apply to? I dont need to withdraw loans for OSU because even if I dont get a full ride or full tuition which are limited there, I do summer research internships that would ultimately cover anything that isnt covered by merit scholarships…i think. But I would like to avoid going to OSU or schools similar to it just because i think i might be miserable there. Not a lot of focus generally on academics even if it is a good med program, i dont like the whole city campus, and the over all feel of the campus just kind of gets me down.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure what you mean by saying premed at osu won’t be academic. </p>

<p>What do u dislike specifically about it. Is it the campus. Is it unattractive. </p>

<p>What is your major.</p>

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<p>Try Wright State.</p>

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<p>Does Wright State carry with it a good weight to get me into a good med school? I know it does have a good BME program but im skeptical about it being able to get me into a good medical school.</p>

<p>@Mom2collegekids: Thats not what i mean. Its kind of hard to explain but it just seems like the school is biased towards the athletics program dont get me wrong i love sports and will run most likely for whatever school i go to but i like a schools main focus to be academics. I dont know what I was trying to say with that one. I dont like the city feel of the campus and i dont know if its the kind of place that I would like to spend 4 years of my life at. But I will take a visit there with one of the coaches to give it a fair fightin chance against my opinions. My major would be Biomed Engineering i think</p>

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<p>Do not confuse Div 1 football Saturdays with how a school is Mon thru Fri…especially in the challenging majors where your classmates will also have strong stats. </p>

<p>Your stats are similar to my younger son and he’s ChemE and premed at Alabama ands works his hiney off for his A’s. </p>

<p>Don’t confuse rah rah spirit on weekends with easy STEM classes. That will not be the case.</p>