<p>Is your use in income a one time thing ? Are you saying that your family will not have this income stream or the substantial amount of $$ that you got from this financial windfall ( enough to raise your EFC $30k?</p>
<p>Do you think they r spending all of the money this year? (Keep in mind even if they buy a house the equity in the house will be considered an asset to be used to pay for school). </p>
<p>Do u the ink that you would benefit from sitting out and deferring a year?</p>
<p>I haven’t taken out any loans yet, because I have a full-ride at my local U which I commute to (commuting is not a big deal for me, I actually like my experience so far).
My family’s income is not stable, and I asked my parents, but they can’t predict their income for next year accurately enough to determine what aid I’d get. Also, if I sit out a year, I would lose my current scholarship at my local college, so that’s not really an option.
In all likelihood, my parents wouldn’t take out the difference (or even half) in loans because their financial situation is so precarious. The thought of working my way through college on work-study and still leaving with a ton of debt is a depressing one. I can also see a disaster scenario as a transfer doesn’t always finish on time (as alluded by someone above). Assuming everything stays the same (which is a semi-reasonable assumption because my cost next year can be higher or lower depending on my family’s income) I will leave with 35-40k in debt. This 35-40k in debt is after I will have used up all my college savings, actual parental contribution of 10k, work-study etc…Even the 10k contribution would be stressing for them at this time. Such a tough bind to be in
I understand that grad-school is more important, but in order to get into most top MBAs, you need work-experience, ideally from a good job. In order to get that first good job, it seems like I need a good school. On the other hand, my current college is literally free, but much, much less prestigious.
I really appreciate the help by all of you so far!</p>
<p>On the other hand, staying is a risk too.
Why is one better than the other?
If I go to Cornell, I may never know if I could have gotten the same job w/o taking out debt…</p>
<p>Ok…I’ll bite. An unusual amount of income that generates a $30,000 family contribution would likely be in the $100,000 range…if it is income only. If this income is also sitting in a regular savings account that your parents have, it is also considered an asset. </p>
<p>If your parents have this windfall in 2012, is it possible for them to use $30,000 or so (likely a little less as your billable costs to Cornell would be less than $60k) for this school year? </p>
<p>If the one time windfall is guaranteed NOT to happen again in 2013, then your family contribution would likely decrease for the following school year. I can’t promise this…but it is worth inquiring about with the Cornell financial aid office.</p>
<p>I don’t know what to tell you on this. There is that issue that you may not finish in two more years at Cornell. You are a transfer, and a lot of kids need to take a course or two over summers to finish up on time, but transfers have less flex in outside credits. Also, the grading scale and curve at Cornell is not an easy one. A lot of kids find themselve having an adjustment period and many don’t do well and flunk out altogether. You, again as a transfer are not going to have the leeway that a freshman would have with a not so great adjustment first year. Your gpa from COrnell would be averaged over two years, and it’s not going to be that easy to get great grades. Those who get those top jobs that you are angling for are the top of the top or have connections. </p>
<p>Getting into a good MBA program does not need the best job as the stepping stones or a prestigious college. It absolutley requires good grades and that all imporant GMAT score. Spending money to prep for that exam and keeping your grades way up there, which looks like you have under control at your school are the two main things for entry into such programs. Not all MBA programs even have previous work as an issue at all. I know Chicago does not, for example. </p>
<p>I can understand about your parents. I know a number of families who have small business arrangements where something counted as an asset is really not ever convertible into money. It’s a tough go when that happens because the schools that use PROFLE usually won’t budge on that. </p>
<p>With no outstanding loans whatsoever, you might taking out about $30K for the next two years and working, for the rest is one solution. But doubtful you can get $15K in loans without parental signature. $7500 is your limit. If your parents qualify for PLUS, they will get the loan–if turned down, you could get another $5K, but if their bills are pretty much paid, they will be approved. You could make a private agreement with them to pay them off. But, yes, it’s a lot of money to owe, and it’s not easy when you first get out fo college to find a good paying job. Finance is not one of the more sure fire fields fo employment and high pay. It’s not engineering, computer science, accounting, nursing where the money is likely to be on the table. Just getting the degree from Cornell isn’t going to do it in that field. You need to be a top dog, and that’s not so easy at that school.</p>
<p>A few years ago, I helped a friend hire a partner for a new sustainable venture fund in CA. We received over 125 resumes; Harvard, Wharton MBA’s, etc. all on the tread mill attempting to be the perfect student and potential employee. It was all about how the resume ‘looked.’ They did all the ‘right’ things. I yawned and passed over those rather quickly, sorry to say. What got me excited were those students and employees who had clearly found what they were passionate about, could think outside the box AND think for themselves. Created their own way. I say make the very first responsible decision any finance person should - save your money, do well where you are at, look for some interesting internship and/or work situations, then go for the MBA when the right situation school/money wise presents itself.</p>
