Will your parents only pay for housing at any school, or will they pay the equivalent of the costs of Rice’s housing? If they’ll contribute a set amount, maybe you could transfer to a less expensive school.
It’s too bad they didn’t give you and your siblings $20k/year for 4 years instead of $40k for 2. You’d have to attend less expensive schools, but you’d be more likely to graduate and probably carry less debt. Perhaps they’d consider that for the younger children.
OP, base on your initial post, it appears this was not the financial arrangement from the outset.
How is co-signing for close to $92K ($45,638 x 2) worth of private loans a way “To get my skin in the game”? If you fail to complete your ME degree, those loans will fallback on your parents. Your ME courses will get progressively harder your Junior/Senior year. OP, are you on-track to finish your degree in 4-years?
IMHO, you really should consider what @Sybylla said … Transfer to a commutable affordable in state school and pay your way through. Live at home.
Strange logic by your parents eapecially attending Rice. Hard to get aid there unless its need based or you are truly mind blowing exceptional.
95K is just too much for a UG in Mech eng. not worth it at all. I would transfer out.
Expensive ug’s are rarely worth their cost.
Are you fully on track with your classes or have you repeated any? Have you actually been confirmed to be mech eng? Have you spoken with your academic adviser? Do they have an opinion about continuing with a 2.5?
That really stinks that your parents did this. Sounds like they wanted you into a prestigious school but then literally pull the rug out from under you.
You are a rising junior. I would do a co-op for a whole semester and use that time to transfer. It may be a bit tough but you should be able to find at least one school in your home state that would allow you to transfer at this point.
Get your skin in the game by beating them at their own game.
If that is the case, then the OP’s younger siblings should take that as a message that they should not trust parental promises to pay and therefore choose full ride merit scholarship schools if they have the academic credentials for such scholarships.
The same applies if the parents told the OP beforehand that they would pay the first two years’ tuition only. The last two years tend to be more difficult to fund, since the option of low cost community college is not available (like it would be if the parents were willing to pay the last two years, but not the first two years).
If the OP’s parents are pulling the funding due to GPA, then the younger siblings need to consider whether the parental standards are reasonable (noting that merit scholarships also have GPA thresholds to renew).
How is this any different than the full-tuition merit-based scholarships offered at many private/public universities, where the scholarship winners are required to maintain a 3.0 - 3.5 GPA? A large number of students lose those scholarship (had the rug pull from under them) each year when they fail to meet the GPA requirement.
My son had 4 full-tuition scholarships coming out of high school {3 instate public ($6,500 Tuition) and 1 private ($47K tuition)}. He elect to matriculate at the higher ranked private university. He developed serious seizure disorder during his freshman year, which required hospitalization on three occasions. His GPA fell below 3.0, the threshold for keep his scholarship. Luckily for him, the school allowed him to keep the scholarship for all 4-years, otherwise he would have had to transfer to one of his instate public U (covered entirely by Florida Prepaid Plan). He graduated from this private university with zero debt!
Those requirements are communicated in advance.
OK, I don’t agree with the parental philosophy on how they got skin in the game. There are others ways to do it. Our D has a figure that she must earn every year and it was set before she accepted her offer of admission.
That said, this doesn’t sound like parent’s changing their mind. This sounds like a student who either didn’t believe the parent’s when they set the guidelines or at the least, didn’t pay attention when the parent’s enforced this on an older sibling. If an older sibling has graduated and is paying back loans, then that sibling was in the third year of college when the OP graduated HS or earlier.
My parent’s are in full support of me in school. They are not disappointed in my GPA. They see how hard I work at a university that is known for it’s academic rigor and maintaining a C-B average IMO should not be the end of the world. They have full confidence I will be able to find a job and pay off my loans. It is not a message telling me that I did not work hard enough and thus do not deserve their help.
I went to school with the full intention of paying for 2 years of schooling. However, as a high schooler I did not understand the true burden that amount of money would be for a new graduate. I saw my sister’s ability to pay off her loans and maintain a nice lifestyle and decided it was something I could do as well.
I am not looking for anyone’s opinion on how I am doing in school. Please, go to a top 10 university and try and receive a rigorous degree, then get back to me with your opinions on the GPA I receive. I appreciate your research on another feed.
Unfortunately, this thread has turned into a judgement of me and my parents. Not a place to help me. I see this was a mistake posting here.
My parents are paying for “half” of whatever school we decided to go to. I made a decision to go to a prestigious university because on average the meche graduate makes around 70k right out of school and most have jobs. This was not the same for all universitys. While I maybe did not make the smart decision I made a decision and the past is the past. I am looking to move forward.
This is very silly to say without knowing the backgrounds of anyone you’re talking to.
^ that is the attitude you need to suceed. Kudos.
EDIT: @bodangles posted at the same time. The attitude I’m giving kudos to is “the past is the past. I’m going to push on.”
In moving forward, we are suggesting you do not borrow $80k in loans. You haven’t done it yet and you can still make a decision where you won’t be drowning in debt. I don’t know how much your sister took in loans to become a nurse, but maybe it was only $10k or $20k. That’s a whole lot different than $80k. Yes, your salary might be $70k, but as a single taxpayer without big deductions, you’re likely to pay $15k of that in federal taxes, plus another 10% in FICA and medicare, you might want some insurance and to save some in your 401k. You are likely to bring home about 1/2 of your gross salary. Now you need somewhere to live, something to drive, something to eat. Those ‘somethings’ are going to have to be the economy versions if you are repaying schools loans at $1000/month.
Consider the co-op route. I don’t think you’ll be making more with a Rice degree than with a Flagship U degree, or even a small school degree in mech engineering. You may have more employers interviewing at Rice but maybe not. My daughter is at a much lower ranked school, and NASA and Northrup and Marten Marietta are there at job fairs, with internships, with co-ops. If money were no issue, I’d say stay at Rice, but money IS an issue for you. To make Rice work, I really think you need to do a co-op semester, save at least half the tuition and then borrow half. When you need more money, do it again. So what if it takes you an extra year, you’ll have borrow half of what you are planning on.
If all you really wanted was a list of private student loan companies, just google them.
It is also silly to assume that I have a 2.5 gpa for a lack of dedication and hard work.
Some people find them in circumstances which make maintaining a good gpa is difficult. For example, a circumstance may arise such as a parent suddenly being diagnosed with a disease leaving them hospitalized multiple periods of times while the student is left thousands of miles away without the ability to even be there.
It is also a reasonable assumption that the majority of people on here do not fall in that category just like the majority of people in the world do not.
Back to your loans.
See where your sister got her loans. That would be a good start. Go with your parents to their bank or credit union, and see what sorts of loans they might offer.
I’m sure you will find the loans you need with your parents as qualified cosigners.
I would suggest that they get life insurance for you for the full value of the loans you take out.
I am not passing judgement here…but you say you didn’t understand the implication of getting these loans when you were in HS. I would like to say,…I also don’t think NOW that you fully understand the implication of paying back these loans. You will have about $1000 a month in loan payments for 10 years in repayment. That is a large amount of money to be paying monthly. Can it be done…sure. But it’s a lot of money. And as you mentioned…sometimes other things get in the way…what happens if you can’t work, and your parents can’t either?
It seems like you have already considered these possibilities. So…head over to the bank or credit union with your parents this week…and get the college loan application process started.
You may have to piece it together:
Best choice would be co-ops each year. Savings would go toward tuition - you can probably get $6,000 like that if you live with roommates or at home during Co op. The rest of the time, you’ll need to work (8-10 hours a week Max so that your grades don’t suffer.) Plus full time over the summer - do you have a job right now? Can you increase your hours? Working full time+ could net you 4,000 over the summer.
Second choice is if parents can go the HELOC route with your signing a contract to pay them back. Perhaps 10k?
Did you take all your federal loans? For loans, those should be your first choice. You’d automatically get $7.5k. (I assume you didn’t take and bank your freshman and sophomore year federal loans - if you did, good thinking, that’s 12k right there with income-based reimbursement.)
That leaves you with 15k in private loans. Still tough. Your parents will need to take life insurance on you (even more so if you borrow 20k+). Talk with your sister: how much did she borrow?
See if you can get a fixed rate loan from a bank that has had your parents ’ business for a long time. Start there, take notes. Then move to the credit union. I’d avoid Wells Fargo. Sallie Mae has been accused? Convicted? Of mercenary practices so be careful.
Remember that the bank representative talking to you is not interested in offering you the best deal for you but the most lucrative deal for the bank. They’re paid on how much they 'sell’you.
Shop around for the cheapest fixed interest rates.
I have 2 kids who are engineers. One went to the equivalent of Rice and the other to a directional tech university.
Both kids found that most employers indicated that a 3.0 GPA was needed for internships/co-op’s. It becomes very hard to get an interview with a less than stellar GPA. I suggest that you look into that when making decisions about continuing your education at Rice. Also the high paying internships go to those with the higher GPA’s.
If you can, there are year long co-op’s, you might want to look into that.
I know you are upset that you are not finding the support and information that you expected here.
The kid who makes more money is not the one who paid the most for their education. As I say often, it’s about what you do with the opportunity. Whether it’s at an expensive u or not.
The co-op engineering programs we know about (DH is an engineer, did co-op, and hires co-op students), very often includes summers. In other words…this student could very well be able to work one of the co-op jobs during the summer term.
I agree, this student would benefit from asking Rice about this option. It would not only give some cash tomreduce loan debt, but also would put valuable work experience in his or her resume.
And would there be an university close to home which would cost less, would accept you, and let you finish your degree? Then you wouldn’t be so far from your family.