<p>I was accepted to TCU back in December and it is my first choice college. I submitted my FAFSA and did not get any grants, financial aid or anything except for loans. My parents really don't want me to take out loans but I told them I am willing to just so I can go there. I think I might not be thinking about what it will be like to pay that back though since I've never really had an issue with money before. My dad said they can pay $15,000 a year and I applied for many scholarships and all the ones I have heard back from have all not awarded me anything. It's very frustrating to me that I cannot find any way to help pay. I am willing to get a job in college but I was not eligible for work study and I could just get a regular job and save money to pay my loans back I guess, I really just don't know what to do! I have a safety school but it's already April and I need to make a decision. Can anyone give me some advice?</p>
<p>That is a tough one. Probably depends upon your major. If it is one TCU is well known for and can lead to good post-grad opportunities – Business, sciences (pre med…but that’s a whole other set of loans), it may pay for itself post graduation through a good job. TCU is expensive and you will find that the costs of tuition and living are just a piece of the full cost because kids are always eating out, joining a Greek organization or clubs and all that adds up. You CAN skip all those and it may impact your college experience. Can your parents give you the loans instead? Maybe no interest? Maybe you sit down with them and do a contract with certain agreements that you can begin paying back once you get a job. I hate when people say this…but…“you’ll end up where you should” but don’t force it. Coming out of under grad with $100,000 is no joke. How about two years of cc and transfer to TCU or you may change your mind with a couple of years college perspective?? Good luck!!</p>
<p>TCU is a good school but no school is worth a student saddling themselves with crushing debt. The COA for TCU for this year (and COA tends to rise each year) is nearly 51k. If your parents are only paying 15k, that leaves 36k. That’s 144k+ over 4 years, plus interest. You won’t actually be able to borrow that much (for good reason). Your parents would have to take out the loan. I know someone who got good FA from TCU so I was surprised by your post . Did you qualify for a lot of FA, but only got loans? Or, did you not qualify for much aid in the first place? It wouldn’t hurt to call the FA office and see if you can negotiate better aid. What are your other school options? Are you a TX resident?</p>
<p>@Overtheedge I didn’t qualify for much aid in the first place, I know it’s bad taste to say how much you make but my mom and dad combined make about 250k a year…so I’m not sure but I think they could pay the full tuition if they wanted to. The school I will probably go to if I can’t talk my parents in to paying for TCU is University of Oklahoma which I like too but would still rather go to TCU. And no I’m from Oklahoma.</p>
<p>TCU is a great school–I graduated from there–but I do not believe you need to go into that kind of debt to go to school there. My daughter applied there last year and was admitted but with no scholarships or financial aid so there was no way we were going to let her do that. She ended up going to a small liberal arts school that gave her $25,000 a year and she will graduate without debt because we are paying the rest. She also could have gone to our state flagship school with almost full tuition paid. You would be paying that debt back for quite a long time and I don’t think it would be a wise thing to do.</p>
<p>Our daughter has decided not to attend because she did not receive any scholarship to TCU. She received many great scholarships to other universities and has chosen one of them so she can graduate debt free. That should be considered when making a decision.</p>
<p>Your parents make a lot of money but we don’t know their particular financial responsibilities. It’s so important for parents and students to really frankly talk about all the parameters of attending the schools on their list- without any merit/aid. You were never going to qualify for need based on that income and merit is very hard to come by. Also $15,000 is almost a drop in the bucket in private pay tuition colleges. You could take a gap year if you are truly unhappy attending the school on the table and remake your list with affordable options next year.</p>