One is paying with loans and the other is paying with scholarships from football and academics and possibly loans if he doesn’t get a full ride to another university for football. He got a full ride with football to our local CC
@txstella the OP’s mom also works.
It doesn’t matter to FAFSA if your brothers have scholarships or not, they are in college therefore your parents get a lower EFC. However Texas has lousy FA, the state pretty much only gives loans.
If your father won’t pay, you can accept your offer to UT and defer, working for a year. Are there jobs where you live?
Some points for your father:
There’s no comparison between the quality of classes (and peer environment) at UT vs. a TX community college. Does your father understand that? And if he says that UT-> CC is “going backwards”, it means he does understand that the CC is “'backwards” compared to UT, ie., not as advanced. What’s the problem with paying for a quality education at a world-famous university since there’s a definite difference? And if you spend a year at UT and don’t perform, then you’ll be “back” to a less difficult school, but at least you’ll have shown what you’re able to do; if you can perform at the top-level school, that’s where you should be.
Your parents have two kids in college right now. You would be the third. It is entirely possible that your parents haven’t been completely clear with you about how your sibling’s educations are being paid for. A good place to start, would be if you would ask your mom and dad about the overall money situation. Tell them that you are willing to wait a year to go to college if that can make a difference . They may be completely tapped out right now.
I had to tell my kid that the only way it would work for us was if she attended the community college for two years before transferring to a state U. She got lucky (like you) and won a full-tuition scholarship to her CC which meant that what we would have spent at the CC could be saved for the state U. Your parents might be looking at your CC scholarship as something that will help them afford your last two years.
Since you have good grades, but not so good test scores (and just how awful were those test scores anyway?) do you think you could do some test prep and get your test scores up into merit-scholarship range for the places listed here? http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ If so, that could be a goal to work toward during a gap year.
the kid FILED FAFSA…obviously his EFC was not low enough for aid. So, either the parents income (mom and dad’s) or they have too much in assets.
Even with 3 in college, his EFC is too high.
He needs to sit both parents down and have a calm talk. the son could borrow the max fed loans, and borrow the rest from parents for the first two years.
He has been a top student, his parents should TRUST him to do well at UT.
Can mom work more hours or is she already working full time?
Get some clarification on how much is being paid for each older child’s college?
If necessary, see if you can DEFER UT for a year, work a lot this next year to help pay for it.
They offer a loan where they pay for their on tuition basically I was wondering if anyone has done it and how it’s working out for them so far and whatever information you can tell me
your info about the loan is unclear…clarify and provide link
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He has been a top student, his parents should TRUST him to do well at UT.<<<<
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Has he? Where did you get that from? He is autoadmit, from texas, right?
If you are right, that is a family dynamic that unfortunately is very hard to give meaningful advice about. But the fact that you said “I believe” tells me you haven’t really asked him directly and he hasn’t really told you. I think you need to gather up all your courage and ask him point blank what the real reason is he is not wanting you to go to UT right now. If he says it is because he doesn’t think you are ready to handle the work there, then you can offer what I said above. But trying to solve a problem where you are guessing at motivations is very hard.
He said he has a 3.74 GPA. I guess one could quibble about the definition of “top student” and what that means to you versus someone else, but it quite likely means he isn’t a slacker by any means either, but at least a very capable student who has a good chance of success at a school such as UT Austin.
He is #15 out of a class of 500. that is top 3%.
His GPA doesn’t matter…it’s his rank that indicates that he was one his school’s best students. His school may have grade deflation.
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he oldest out of the two has taken out loans to pay for his education so my father isn't helping him pay anything. My next oldest brother plays football so he's been getting scholarships and now he's going to Baylor, but not on a football scholarship. And I think he's worried that he'll have to pay for both of us but I believe my brother is on a partial academic scholarship with Baylor. He might also get football offers from other schools therefore his school might be paid for. My mother wants me to go off but she doesn't make the majority of the money.
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I think the father is overwhelmed by having 3 in college at one time.
It’s really unclear how the others’ schooling is being paid for. cosigned loans? what?
I think that the student needs to sit down with BOTH parents to get a feel for what’s really going on.
See, I would consider a 3.74 a fantastic GPA but in this community it would provoke panicky posts and predictions that his admission would be rescinded. I am not a member of his family so I don’t understand what Dad’s reason for thinking that a CC is necessary though.
A 3.74 when one is in the top 3% at his school is VERY GOOD. Anyone in the top 5% is a top performer.
In another thread, you mention you want to study biochemistry.
Share the information on this website with your parents.
https://exploredata.utsystem.edu/seekUT/
Go in under biological science…click on UT Austin. Click on biochemistry.
Here are the earnings:
Median 1st Year Earning
$36,563
Median 5th Year Earning
$49,995
Median 10th Year Earning
$81,076
Average Student Debt
$21,971
You can show your parents the average earnings for other UT campuses. Typically, UT Austin grads have higher earnings. Your parents might be really strapped for cash right now, but they might be able to take out some loans that you can help pay back.
A lot of Texas state schools cost $25,000 for tuition and room/board. You will get the best bang for your buck at UT…this is essentially your argument.
Consider living in a coop like the Taos Coop. The double room plus 17 meals is just over $5000.
http://collegehouses.org/about/rates/
This way you can going your total costs down quite a bit. I believe the oncampus housing rate is close to double that much.
You don’t need a car so that saves money compared to a CC.
Good luck! Graduating 16/600 students proves you are capable and a hard worker.
Thank you everyone lol and I’m a she not a “he”. My father has said that I need to go to CC so that I’m able to save money and so are they. They don’t pay my brother’s tuitions whatsoever, but they have helped the oldest of the two with rent which was about $1000 a month for nearly a year which is why I know for sure that he is able to afford my college the money doesn’t even include miscellaneous items. To me it seems as if it comes down to my father not wanting his youngest and only girl to leave because he has expressed that I will always be his “baby girl” no matter how old I am. He believes that I want to go to UT just because of my friend although he was the one that raised the whole family on being a longhorn as long as I can remember. No matter how good of a school it is he wants me to go to CC first to “ease into college”
You’re a top performer at a school with grade deflation. CC will not ‘ease you into college’ - you’re ready for college now. Because in TX so many students who want to attend a 4-year college do CAP, rather than CC-> flagship like in other states, you’re unlikely to be academically challenged at a CC. Check if the CC near you even has 10 classes you can take that would count for your major or for UT’s gen eds (depending on how advanced you are, they may not have more than a handful of classes that you can take/can transfer, because a lot of classes have to be remedial and career-oriented, not transfer-to-flagship oriented.)
Sometimes, the cheapest option is not the best option; the best option is the one that meets your needs while being the cheapest. CC is the cheapest but doesn’t meet your needs.
Would your father be amenable to UT if you changed majors (not sure it’s possible at UT, though)? What if you went for bioinformatics or biostatistics? What about CleanTech (as I mentioned before, UT is THE university for this field, and internships/jobs are plentiful.)
Is your father worried of parties and such if you dorm? Can you call UT and see if they have single-sex residences, or if you could secure a room in a substance-free/“healthy living” dorm or living-learning community?
“They don’t pay my brother’s tuitions whatsoever, but they have helped the oldest of the two with rent which was about $1000 a month for nearly a year which is why I know for sure that he is able to afford my college the money doesn’t even include miscellaneous items.”
You do not know for sure that your parents can help you at all. That $1000 each month adds up pretty quickly. With all of their other expenses, there might not be much left over at all.
You need to speak with both of your parents about the money situation. Is the cold hard truth that they won’t have anything to spare for you until they no longer have to help your brother? Your dad might think that telling you he wants you to have a bit more time to grow up before you leave home is kinder than telling you that the money simply doesn’t exist.
And yes, many families with income levels like the ones you describe your parents having don’t have enough left over at the end of each month to pay toward educating even one child. That is why you find so many threads here on the subjects of merit-based aid and student loans.
He no longer pays for his rent. My brother ended up moving back home and now has a job here and has his own apartment. He’s taking classes online from UNT but he’s transferring to a college in town. Not CC but a real university and he’s going to be paying his own tuition. He pays his own bills, his apartment, everything but his phone bill. I don’t think my father has a problem with my major. He just wants me to do something in the medical field. A nurse I believe.
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They don't pay my brother's tuitions whatsoever, but they have helped the oldest of the two with rent which was about $1000 a month for nearly a year which is why I know for sure that he is able to afford my college the money doesn't even include miscellaneous items.
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That may not be “paying tuition” but that is paying for the “room” part of room and board.
As for the “baby girl” part…your dad needs to get a grip. that’s a red herring.
you don’t need to “ease into college” at a CC. You’re not tripping up at school now. Those who struggle with grades are the ones who need to “ease into college.”
Did you try presenting my idea? if parents will pay for junior and senior year, ($50k total), then can you split that into 4 years, and you borrow and work for the rest?
Sounds like there is much more at play here than money. The boys in the family got to go to college, but the “baby girl” needs to go to a CC to ease into college. It sounds like your dad is a bit old fashioned.