<p>I recently got accepted into Northwestern, Duke, JHU, Rice, and Vandy.
Duke is giving me 24K a year, basically in financial aid grants.
Vandy is giving me full tuition, but no financial aid.
Rice is giving me 13K a year in financial aid grants.
Not expecting a lot from Northy or JHU.
Probably not even going to get accepted by Harvard, lol.</p>
<p>So now I got a big decision, Duke or Vandy?
Anyone else got the same or similar problem like me?</p>
<p>I was accepted to MIT with <em>some</em> aid,
my parents can’t/won’t pay anything for my college…</p>
<p>I feel you.</p>
<br>
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<p>Ahem…Vandy IS giving you financial aid in the form of a merit scholarship, is that correct? No tuition at Vandy is worth a LOT of money.</p>
<p>Your Duke award is $24K which is probably not equal to the full cost of tuition at Duke.</p>
<p>The decision is yours. Can your family and you pay the difference in costs at either school? If so…you have two schools that are both excellent…and either one would be a great choice.</p>
<p>yeah parents can pay it, but won’t. Dad’s a doctor, mom’s a head nurse. both wants me to make it by myself in life after high school…</p>
<p>the only school they would pay for is harvard. fat chance i’m gonna get in…so basically, if i go to vandy, i take around 80K in loans over 4 years. if i go to Duke, i take 120K in loans. both options weren’t what i hoped…</p>
<p>It costs $20K per year for room, board and books at Vandy???</p>
<p>And you have known that your parents expected you to “make it by myself” for just exactly how long, and yet neglected to find one single financial safety school for yourself?</p>
<p>Wake up.
Smell the coffee.
Find a school that you can pay for “by myself”.</p>
<p>If you could get into Duke and Vandy, there is a lower tier school out there that would give you a lot more merit aid, and your education would suddenly become a lot more affordable.</p>
<p>happymomof1 I’m sure that isn’t what he wants to hear.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah you worked hard for years to get into a good school, but because your parents won’t pay for it, take 25th best and go to State U.”</p>
<p>There are many very successful people who have gone to the “25th best” school. Most of the country’s Governors went to their state universities. Many CEOs, doctors, etc. went to non-elite school. Your life is what you make it. It is NOT determined by having gone to a particular college or university.</p>
<p>That said, I don’t understand this student’s parents. They’d only pay for Harvard? Sheesh.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah you worked hard for years to get into a good school, but because your parents won’t pay for it, take 25th best and go to State U.” </p>
<p>But, that is more or less the reality. If the OP needed substantial merit aid to attend, he aimed too high with this list of schools. </p>
<p>OB1…have you and your parents had a serious discussion with real numbers? Do they truly understand the loan burden you will have? Is their wiggle room or are they inflexible?</p>
<p>Yeah!! I just finished talking with them. THEY’LL LEND ME THE MONEY!!! I just have to pay them back after I graduate. I’m gonna put my car, laptop, my video game systems, all my games, etc on sell. It’s not much but its a start.
@ father05, yeah about 20K outside of tuition.</p>
<p>Congrats to you, obi1!!! </p>
<p>Be sure and come back and let us know which school you select from these excellent choices.</p>
<p>No, it does not cost 20k/year for r/b/b at Vandy. R&B is around $12k (less after freshman year, when you don’t have to take the huge meal plan). Books are whatever they are. D had 5 classes with LOTS of books this term - it cost less than $400 for a mix of used & new books. The confusion stems from Vandy’s COA - which includes a lot more room for miscellaneous, travel, books, etc than most schools.</p>
<p>Nice Obiwan!</p>
<p>And yes I realize he should have aimed lower…but it crushes peoples spirits to have that happen.</p>
<p>All over this country there are kids just like you whose guidance counselors have told them that their GPA, ECs, and ACT/SAT scores are the things to worry about when planning for college. The hard cold fact is that the single most important factor is the family EFC. If you don’t know that (and most parents don’t know it either until the last minute) you can’t get honest with your family about where the money is going to come from.</p>
<p>I can forgive the parents’ ignorance about the money issue, because back in their day college was much easier to pay for, and peer institutions would actually meet with each other and compare aid packages so that students received equivalent offers. I also know that it is extremely important that the guidance counselors tell all of you to work hard and aim high. What is missing from this, however, is the person who will remind you that in the end it is going to be all about the money. Since the guidance counselors hear all of the “I got into X but just found out I can’t pay for it” complaints from their students, it seems to me that they need to step up to the plate and get everyone else to pay attention to this issue sooner. I recognize that they have a lot of responsibilities and I hate to hang another one on them, but if not them, who? If not now, when?</p>
<p>happymom, you read my mind exactly! Every day my D comes home with stories of her lunchtime conversations with friends and a MAJORITY of them cannot afford ANY school they applied to! When asked, it turns out they did not apply to a single SUNY and they did not know enough to do research for financial matches. Sadly, my D has become their financial “guru” due to the research we did during her junior year. Her advice is go to CC for two years then transfer and apply now to the publics that are still accepting apps. </p>
<p>They had several senior meetings with guidance, group and individual, and were never told that they should apply to at least one public school instate as a financial safety. Overall, I’ve been pleased with the guidance offered at this school, and we even have a separate college & career center, but this is a glaring oversight, imo. I really feel bad for these kids now, most of them are in the top 10% and are very jealous of the 3 truly affordable choices she ended up with (out of 8 acceptances). I’m wondering if the school would be receptive to a parent volunteer mentoring program to get kids through the financial aspects of college decisions.</p>
<p>I’m on a SIMILAR SITUATION
But with a UC (UCI)</p>
<p>I got some money saved up, I’m working, I’m going to continue working part-time and privately as a Tutor.</p>
<p>My parents will help me out with “personal expenses,” a car, food, cell phone, and maybe a bit with room and board.</p>
<p>Let’s say they’ll give 4K</p>
<h1>which add that plus 3.5K I got in scholarships</h1>
<p>7.5K
<p>I still need like 12K
for one more year, NO FAFSA
hmmm, sO I’m thinking if I can make 1-2K a month working part time then I’m good
and if I win some of the 30 scholarships I applied for</p>
<p>then even better :)</p>