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<p>i just wish that colleges would factor in what my mom is willing to pay into their decision process >></p>
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<p>But they don't. Like I said...if that were the case just about every parent would say "I'm not going to pay". That is not factored into the financial aid equation...nor should it be. The equation figures out what you CAN pay...not what you WANT to pay.</p>
<p>The second home is viewed as a choice. If you fully own it, it can either be sold or a home equity loan could be taken out using it as collateral.</p>
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<p>i just wish that colleges would factor in what my mom is willing to pay into their decision process >></p>
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<p>not doable. You are LUCKY that your mother has the ability to pay. As a point of reference, your EFC is (much) higher than my Gross Income (I'm talking income before all taxes and deductions are taken out) and it's more than 6X what my EFC is. </p>
<p>To put it into perspective, your EFC is almost 150x what mine is. They can't take into account what people want to pay, because honestly no parent wants to pay for an education, but they should if they can.
You should really talk to your mother about this. I know that my mother would give anything to be able to actually pay for my college education, but we just can't. You're so fortunate, you have no idea.</p>
<p>In August 2007, I started a thread (which a lot of others contributed to) called Preparing for Financial Aid. It has a sticky at the top of this forum. Here is the NUMBER ONE item I put on that list. This thread highlights the importance of this item.</p>
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1. First, have a discussion with your parents re: college finances. It is important to know what your family will consider contributing towards your college expenses BEFORE you apply to colleges.
<p>not exactly true, I don't mind paying, I just wish I was paying less :-)
Seriously, 10 years ago I was making 40K, now closer to 70K. I had to live like a pauper to save enough for what I knew what my EFC would be.</p>
<p>And I had it all in CASH. no loans for me to pay my EFC. 2 years down, 2 more to go!</p>
<p>I have told my son that I am not paying for grad school (if that's on his radar screen) after putting out ~60K+ for undergrad</p>
<p>My focus after paying for his school is to pay extra mortgage payments on my house. And retirement money. I do not plan on working full time for the next 20 years (until I'm 67)</p>
<p>@ sueinphilly - Sorry, didn't mean to step on your toes. That's basically what I meant. If all colleges could be free, wouldn't you rather take that option? =P I do realize that I contradicted myself right then, though.. xD
My post wasn't directed towards you, it was to the OP. I actually really respect you. I know that some day waaay down the road, when my children are in college, I will do everything I can to be able to pay their full EFC, no loans. Hopefully the money that I hopefully will be able to pay will go to helping people like my current self whose EFC is a fraction of the cost of college.</p>