<p>How important should the cost of tuition/expenses and financial aid offers be when deciding on the college you want to attend? Is it better in the future to have attended the higher rated dream school or the most cost effective option? Any thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>No standard answer. Bottom line, you have to be able to pay for the college you are attending. This is a decision your family needs to make. </p>
<p>And honestly, it depends on the schools also. Some students think their less expensive option isn’t a great school, when in reality it is great!</p>
<p>^ Absolutely spot on. If your family can afford the more expensive school and it’s a good fit then the higher cost may be justified. If they can’t without hardship then IMO it’s not worth it, period.</p>
<p>Unless youre rich, always.
Ask your Mom n Pops.</p>
<p>If your family has the money all set to go and can pay any of those choices, no problem, then you are good to go, and the cost would not matter. I’m sure the Trump kids did not have to take cost of the schools into consideration at all. Privilege of the rich. And I define “rich” in this case as having the costs covered without having to do anything. Yes, for some, cost is irrelevant. You pick the school you want and it’s paid for Anything you want.</p>
<p>But for most of us, it doesn’t work that way. We can’t afford to buy a Mercedes and drive it off the cliff every year for 4 years and say, “:oh well”. Its something you have to discuss with your parents as to how much they can pay towards your college costs. Can they come up with $60K+ a year that a number of the private schools cost these days? Also get some numbers in terms of income and assets and ask them to run those figures through the NPC for colleges you might be considering and through FAFSA estimators to see what the school and the government are going to expect your family to pay. You are not going to get financial aid if those calculators are showing that your family makes enough or has enough to pay for college. Pick a school like Colgate with no merit, full need met to see what it expects in payment and what aid it will offer. </p>
<p>YOU can’t borrow more than $5500/6500/7500/7500 over the 4 years without involving your parents. That is what you can borrow in DIrect Loans. If your family is truly low income and your FAFSA EFC is zero, you can get about $5600 in PELL grants each year, with the number decreasing with higher EFCs until it hits some $5K mark or so when you are no longer eligible. That is ALL you are guaranted. The rest is up to the individual schools. For most kids looking at going away to school, the FAFSA EFC is the minimum your family has to pay before getting federal aid even in subsidized loans and workstudy. You are highly likely to be expected to pay more. </p>