Still confused about home equity for primary residence - FAFSA and CSS/Profile

Paying for College
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<p>Thanks for stalking me and all, CC does make it easy :)</p>

<p>I’ll address your last point first. I work on a campus which is 50% commuter, give or take. UMBC is listed as two-thirds commuters, one-third on campus. </p>

<p>When I go on campus on the weekend, a Saturday or Sunday, where I work, there are people walking around. Stores and restaurants on campus are open. People are milling around. Students are visible. Not as many as on a weekday, but more than a few.</p>

<p>When we spent several hours at UMBC (and how DARE you accuse me of doing anything before noon LOL!), we stopped at various locations and tried to do things like go to the student center, check out the gym and athletic facilities, see if anything else was open. We saw a few people who were visiting the campus as well, including one family who could not find where to meet the admissions people with her son.</p>

<p>It was totally unlike the other campuses we have visited. And he is not looking there any more. I’m sorry if you are a UMBC grad or something, but from attending, visiting, and teaching at various colleges, UMBC stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of absolutely NO ONE on campus on a weekend. And that is a safety issue as well. </p>

<p>As for your other points:
This thread already is far from what my point was, a few people think they are trying to help me by grilling me for more financial info than I want to share. Be rest assured that I’ll be able to send all my children to college, if they want to go. Anyone who can do basic math and read this thread can see what I used to pay (as recently as a year ago, as you note) and what I now pay. Do the math, and you’ll confirm that I won’t go broke if I pay for my son’s education, and my other children’s education from my HELOC.</p>

<p>But that doesn’t mean I want to pay more for a similar experience for my son. Like @cptofthehouse said, we would like to hit the sweet spot. And most of this thread was useful in that regard.</p>

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<p>Rhandco, many families have a sliding scale of what they are willing to pay for what schools. Kid gets into Harvard, even if the cost is more than family had intended to pay, they come up with it somehow. Kid gets into a well regarded local public school, mmmm, maybe. Maybe not if there is a not quite so well regarded local public school that has a nice merit award in the picture. Just talking to a kid who was saying, that if he gets into NYU he’d have to commute and work part time. If he gets into Fordham, he has a shot at a merit award and he might get to live on campus Otherwise it’s a SUNY for him, unless a better offer comes around. </p>

<p>UMBC is a good solid school. That it has a lot of commuters and is somewhat of a suitcase school is something to consider. My one son went to an OOS university that really isn’t that way in nature, but he found it a bit rough in that so many kids there seemed to know each other, and he hardly knew a handful of people. Being shy in nature and having been in a school system where he knew so many kids from elementary one, this was difficult for him socially, and he says he doesn’t think he’d have made the same choice knowing this. He visited schools where former high school classmates were going, and a number of those schools have a number of kids with few degrees of separation from him, even if he didn’t know them directly. So even though his school has an active social vibe, lots of things happening, he does have difficulty getting involved with them and has to make an effort to meet people and get to know them. </p>

<p>We have friends whose daughter went to UMBC, by the way, and loved every bit of her experience there. Her good friend went to Drexel, hated it enough that she transferred to a similar program at UMBC and also liked it. I have no info about the school directly but I’ve noticed it does have some excellent rated programs. It’s not a a “rah rah” school like UMD-CP, but some kids are not the type who want the “rah rah”. I don’t know what how any given student would like it when not from MD or not have any other connection to it. My friends are not Marylanders and their D and her friend were fine, but that’s anecdotal.</p>

<p>You should just give it a go for those schools where the chances look good for fin aid for you, if applicable and if there are merit awards in the amounts that can make it affordable for you. THose schools are the lottery tickets as your kids would have to get accepted AND get enough money to make it possible THen look at schools for them where the odds are better. Selectivity not as high, and more possible that merit money would come their way. Make sure bases are covered by haveing a couple of schools sure to accept and be affordable, and those may be local public schools THen you see what pans out in the end. </p>

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<p>According to Collegeboard:</p>

<p>A medium-sized, 4-year, public university. This coed college is located in a large city in a suburban setting and is primarily a residential campus. It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.</p>

<p>71% of frosh live on campus. I suspect that this school operates like many large residential publics. Large residential publics usually don’t have enough housing for all four years. It isn’t practical since that would require too many dorms AND so many WANT to move off-campus after frosh year to get away from the typical “dorm rules” and the hassle of moving in/moving out every fall and summer. So, many will move to apts that are within a very short distance to the school. </p>

<p>If you saw tons and tons of parked cars, then those were students’ cars. Likely a lot were freshmen-owned cars. Do you think they left their cars at school and walked home? </p>

<p>Anyway…if you are certain that if you go this HELOC route that your other children’s college educations will get covered, and any long-term needs that your special-needs child will require are covered, and that you will not be forced to delay your own retirements, then oh well.</p>

<p>Can you at least tell us why all this borrowing is necessary? Can you tell us why he can’t go to schools where he would get lots of aid? What is his career goal? What is his major? What are his stats? </p>