Hello
I’ve decided to accept my dream school’s offer.
Though they gave me scholarship money as there is still a huge gap to cover.
My parents, merit aid, and I are covering $21k/$62k. I have yet to receive their financial aid package.
My parents can’t cover that much and I’m working several over the summer.
Any other ideas how I can raise money in order to go ahead with this plan?
I’d really appreciate any suggestions!
You are accepting an admissions offer without the aid package? That is risky business.
Do you have affordable admission options…because unless you get a huge package, and/or your parents are willing to sign for huge loans, this school is not going to be affordable.
Did you run the net price calculator on the college website?
This school does not guarantee to meet full need.
Haven’t officially accepted yet. I’m waiting for the aid package.
Did you run the Net Price Calculator? If not do that.
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$160k in Debt?
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oh my! Even half of that amount is too much.
What are your parents saying? Are they naive enough to cosign that much debt? (I hope not)
What is your career goal? How much do you think you’ll be earning upon graduation?
Too much debt for anything but a house or life saving surgery.
What’s plan B?
There is no magical fundraising tuition fairy.
The best way to cover the cost of college is to choose one that you and your family can afford.
The time to apply for outside scholarships was last fall. You are stuck with what they offer you. Small outside scholarships for one year only will not work out for a massive gap like that. If it isn’t close to what you can pay now plus your student loan you should be prepared to walk away. That amount of debt is ruinous. Your parents would have to make most of the payments because you won’t be able to right out of school. A lot of St. John’s student go on to grad school so you will need to save borrowing capacity for that.
Is this school $60,000 per year better than your next choice?
Buy the audio book of Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” and listen to it. It’s not that long. That will put into perspective what happens when people dig themselves a big money hole.
St. John’s does not have the resources to offer really strong financial aid packages – their expectation for what each family will pay at a minimum is something like $17K – most pay a LOT more than that.
There are other colleges that follow a Great Books program – perhaps you should look into them. Some may be on the NACAC space available list and might still have room and financial aid. Shimer (Chicago) seems to be on it: http://www.thegreatideas.org/schools.html
It might mean taking a gap year, but that amount of debt is not worth it at all. If the you from fifteen years in the future could send you a message, I’m pretty sure it would be, “Dude. No. Just don’t do it. Big mistake.”
Your total debt for 4 years should be roughly 30K. That’s what a college graduate can expect to be able to pay back. So, no, 160K is not possible (if you could even find banks that’d loan you that much).
What are your other choices? Any choice in the 20-30k price range (Ie., 21K + 5.5K federal loans)?
Unless you get a package that allows you to graduate with no more than, say, $40k, you will need to say ‘no’ to the Ferrari. There are many times in life - this may end up being just the first - when you may have to smile at the dream and keep walking. I personally suffer from occasional bouts of house envy - the ones perched on the cliffs that overlook the ocean get me every time. But so far, I have kept walking too…
Go to county college for 2 years and then transfer to this college. Your debt load is currently much to large.
^ You can’t transfer credits over to St. John’s. You have to start as a freshman.