Well, this makes it look like your father apparently did overpromise and is now partially backing out (mistake on his part to overpromise in the first place)… but be thankful that he is still willing to contribute more than enough to pay for a fine school like University of Iowa or Iowa State University. Why do you think attending such a school will be limiting?
You should have been out here last year with the total amount of money you can spend and your stats to get a list f schools to apply to that would likely be affordable with that $100K plus federal loans and working summers/part time. You are too late to come and complain now. Your dad IS paying for college, and you are darned lucky he is doing so. Sounds like he is willing to part with over 10% of his net worth for your education. You are pretty myopic. It sounds like your choices are:
- Go to Iowa and do well, leave the state when you are done.
- Take a gap year and apply to a list of schools that are more affordable next year (although you haven’t told us your list or your stats, it sounds like you think none will fall in your affordability range)
- Go to community college for two years, then transfer to a more expensive OOS college after that. (although you would want to clarify with your dad that you still get the full amount to cover those two years).
When were you informed about your parents’ budget for school?
Did u run the NPC on the websites of all of these “15 great colleges” BEFORE you applied?
Do any of these “15 great colleges” offer generous merit money? And do u have competitive stats (well in the schools’ top quartile) for merit money at any of them?
What is your intended major? For most majors it doesn’t matter which school you graduate from. For engineering, in particular, flagship State U is the most practical way to go
P.S. in your defense, 750k net worth isn’t really exceptional. A lot of people have that much equity in their primary residence alone.
I think that this student is under the WRONG impression that he can just borrow his way to the school that he wants. WRONG.
I highly doubt that his dad will cosign those loans. This student seems unaware that he can’t borrow more than $5500 for his freshman year.
What are your stats?
Are you a NMSF/NMF?
If you wanted to go OOS, and you had a strict budget, why didn’t you apply to any OOS schools where merit plus dad’s money would cover the costs?
A few questions for @adamfromiowa - what are your basic stats (GPA, test scores, extracurriculars)? Where did you apply? Do any of these places offer merit scholarships, or only need based?
At this point, what’s done is done; it’s too late to recommend financially viable OOS alternatives for this admission cycle. See what happens when the offers come in. Maybe some of them will be more affordable than you think, maybe not. Without knowing where you applied, any place with a less than 10% acceptance rate is a reach for every applicants. It’s quite possible that you might not even get into some or all of these great schools.
What will be your total costs at Iowa with the presidential scholarship?
It’s hard to give advice about what to do when there is so little information to go on. For example, if your choices are extremely reachy, taking a gap year and reapplying might not make a difference. Also if you want a certain kind of college experience, two years in CC followed by two years at a “great” school might not be what you are after.
FWIW, I went to my state U instead of my dream LAC because of money and then got into “great” grad schools. State U turned out great and my regrets were short-lived.
Adam, any asset management firm which would allow a minor with a 3K net worth to trade options in a brokerage account is treading a very fine line legally. Do your parents know about your hobby? If you’d like to know the fastest way to take your current 8K portfolio and drive it into the ground- well, keep trading options. These are financial instruments designed for very large portfolios (hedge funds, corporations, endowments) who need to balance the risks in their holdings- not for a kid trying to make a buck from his Christmas money.
But again- wait for your acceptances to come in. There’s no point getting upset about choices you can’t afford if you don’t even get accepted, right? As a trader surely you understand the value of timing.
How much financial aid do you think these low income kids get?
In our state a student with 0 EFC can hope for about $10,000 a year between Pell and state grant. That’s it. Since our instate schools cost $20-30 k with room and board, most kids commute to a Penn State branch or go to a PASHEE school and work and take out loans as well.
If they have great stats they might get to go away to a school that gives them full tuition.
You have $25 k a year from your dad. And can take out about $5k in loans, and work summers. So about a $33k budget.
So see if any of your schools come in at that price, if not go to your state school and graduate without debt between the scholarship and your dad’s money.
Be grateful! Your parents could be offering you zero.
What is your parents’ annual income?
If Dad will give you $100/750, that is great considering it includes his business, which he cannot sell right now, and that you have a sibling to educate as well. Remember, your parents need to plan for a retirement as well.
I think we need to be gentle here folks. He is asking, not taking offense, and learning. Can I pose your own question back to you? If your Dad and you are in a joint venture, he puts in $100k, and you don’t want to take big loans to put skin in the game? I don’t blame you, I’m just saying, you looking at $63k in loans with a starting salary unknown is terrifying, right? An adult, looking down the barrel of another tuition and impending retirement would find parting with $100k as terrifying. And parting with $250k for the “great private schools” as probably suicidal unless he feels he could pay it all out of his yearly income.
I know you feel you were “promised”, but now it’s time to grow up. When he promised that, the “all in” figure for 4 years at a great private was probably significantly less than it is now. No one expects the huge reality check when they see how much it has increased since they last checked!
On Iowa: a personal anecdote. I have a colleague who went to Iowa. Then law school in Iowa. She moved to Chicago, then the NY market. Now she works for a hedge fund. Going to Iowa is not a “life sentence”. You can leave for semesters abroad, internships, and when getting your first real job.
Please stop messing with options. When you win, you win big. But as you know, when you lose, it is a bloodbath. You sound like you want to be able to beat a fund manager…so go to Iowa, or another affordable option and learn the right way on how. Accept that you don’t know as much as you think about $, or the value of money. To even have $100k in cash is amazing. Most ppl don’t have anything close, and those that do have it in their retirement accounts. Essentially, bc the amount is not deductible, your dad needs to make probably $40k or more just to give you $25.
Stay within your budget and make your education work for you. It’s not a golden ticket to go to Harvard. Plenty of their grads flop in the real world. It’s up to YOU to succeed. Your work is just beginning. It doesn’t end with a prestigious acceptance.
You know all this. But mull it over and I think you may see it all a bit more realistically. Good luck!
Having grown up in one of the area’s farming communities (in the days long before the internet), I have a hard time believing that where you live is so out of touch with the rest of the world. Let’s face it, farming and the business of food is international. But I do understand that looking at faraway private colleges makes you an outlier. Have you ever asked, though, WHY people in Iowa don’t look much farther than the state schools? It’s not like people don’t leave the state. The declining population tells you they do. The stay for their educations because the state schools are very good and reasonably priced.
Your father has agreed to pay for four years in state. With billable costs around 20K, the amount of money he’s offering will pay ALL your costs. You could use your own money for summer international travel, expenses while you took a really nice unpaid internship, or just save it! Be grateful. Most of us can’t offer our kids that much. Mine had to follow the money. Most students do.
If the fin aid packages come in and, thanks to merit, you have some others under that 25k number, well then you have some choices. If not, your future will not be adversely affected by 4 years at your in-state flagship–one of which, by the way, hosts a medical school, a law school, an internationally recognized writing program, big-time college sports, and one of the best hospitals in the nation. And the other flagship? Great engineering program and all the ag stuff, including veterinary school.
The problem isnt Dad, its the kid
I just wanted to let you know that you and your Dad’s position are almost exactly the same as mine and my Ds. So you are not alone and I know she has similar feelings as yourself. There is a lot of pressure to go to the very best university that you can get into without taking cost into consideration. It seems like everybody is getting this great FA that is allowing them many more opportunities. At the end, costs does matter and the majority of kids are at the local state schools and do great.
From the parents side, they want to do the best for you but they have to take care of their own future unless you want them to be living with you after they retire. They are offering you a way to get a good free education which is a lot more than a lot of kids get. Be thankful for what they can offer. I suggest reading some threads here from kids who are desperate to go any school but have no resources. It really does put things in perspective.
I cut and pasted this from your chances thread because I was curious and I’m drinking my morning coffee.
ACT - 31
ACT Superscore - 32
Unweighted GPA - 4.00/4.00
Weighted GPA - None (My school does not have weighted GPA.)
Class Rank - 1/60 (Shared with two other students)
AP Classes - AP Micro (5)
Honors Classes - None (My school does not have honors)
Other
Ethnicity - White
State - Iowa
Financial Aid - Yes
Brown (9%)
Claremont Mckenna (10%)
Elon (54%)
Emory (27%)
Oxford College of Emory University (38%)
Pitzer (13%)
Pomona (12%)
Rice (15%)
Southern Methodist University (52%)
Tulane (27%)
UNC Chapel Hill (20% Out-of-State)
Vanderbilt (13%)
WashU (16%)
Whitman (53%)
Of these, I think Elon, SMU, and Whitman are your safeties and you are likely to get in. Don’t know if SMU offers merit aid, but Whitman and Elon do. If you qualify for some financial aid in addition to merit-based aid, they “might” be possibilities. Whitman is in a good sized town in a rural area, might not be all that different from where you live now. Don’t know enough about SMU to say if there’s value added over your state flagship. But frankly, I think you’re likely to have better academic and professional resources at Iowa than either Whitman or Elon.
I think you have a reasonable shot at Emory (I believe there’s some merit aid there) and Tulane (ditto). UNC-CH is tough for OOS for both admission and aid.
Brown, Pomona, CMC, Pitzer, Rice, Vandy, and Wash U are reaches for almost everybody. I believe that Rice has some merit awards and Wash U has only a very small number of highly competitive full ride scholarships (did you apply to them?). Wash U is not the best for financial aid. Vandy is similar to Wash U on the merit front.
Before I post my stats, I want to address a lot of criticism. I have this entire threat posted so I can learn more. As you can all tell, I am very misinformed. That’s why this thread was created. My counselor has no idea about this stuff, so I’m left to find it out on my own. My main misunderstanding was that I could take out a huge loan over the 5,500 to 7,500 limit. Some of you guys are harsh, but that’s okay, because I’m getting where I need to be. As far as these stats, I’m just copy and pasting from my chance me post.
ACT - 31
ACT Superscore - 32
Unweighted GPA - 4.00/4.00
Weighted GPA - None (My school does not have weighted GPA.)
Class Rank - 1/60 (Shared with two other students)
AP Classes - AP Micro (5)
Honors Classes - None (My school does not have honors)
Other
Ethnicity - White
State - Iowa
Financial Aid - Yes
My school is very small, and it is extremely rare for a student to attend out-of-state competitive colleges. There are not a wide selection of classes, and there are not many AP courses available.
Recommendations - The teachers definitely know me well and said very good things about me.
Main Essay - I think it is very strong, but of course I have a huge bias. The essay is about my journey through the stock market and how losing nearly all of my profits changed my personal values.
Major: Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, or Finance
Senior course load - American History, American Government, Calculus, Chemistry, Accounting I, Accounting II, Genre Literature, P.E., First Tech Challenge, Personal Learning, Finance/Investment II
Extracurriculars -
----I created a makerspace which is a room filled with student resources like 3D Printers, drones, Oculus Rift, and many other things. 11, 12
----I founded a makerclub which is a group of students that supports the makerspace by fundraising and generating ideas for new items in the makerspace. 11, 12
----Cross Country - Varsity runner, 4-year letterman recipient, All-Conference Runner, State Cross Country runner. 9,10,11,12
----I started a drone pilot tutoring program in which I teach others how to fly drones. 11, 12
----Fall Play and Spring Musical - lead roles in fall play and small roles in spring musical. 10, 11, 12
----Speech and Drama - Group improvisation and spontaneous speaking (advanced to state in every competition) 10, 11, 12
----100 hours of miscellaneous community service. 10, 11, 12
----Cameraman - I started a free service that live-streams varsity home basketball games via gotomeeting.com to viewers who cannot attend the games. 11, 12
----Detasseler - 3 year during the summer - from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day of the week, I walked through a cornfield and removed tassels from corn. It is one of the most labor-intensive jobs. 9,10,11
----Cofounder of a business that involved mining Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. 10, 11
----Percussion, Piano, and Guitar - I emphasized how I stopped participating during my junior year to allow more time for leadership activities. 9, 10
On to my schools…
Brown (9%) 61,022
Claremont Mckenna (10%) 57,160
Elon (54%) 39,470 If I am in top 15%, I will receive a presidential scholarship of 6,000 per year.
Emory (27%) 63,058
Oxford College of Emory University (38%) Unknown
Pitzer (13%) Unknown
Pomona (12%) 53,698
Rice (15%) 47,210
Southern Methodist University (52%) 65,148
Tulane (27%) 40,280
UNC Chapel Hill (20% Out-of-State) 50,360
Vanderbilt (13%) 51,233
WashU (16%) 47,201
Whitman (53%) 52,848
Iowa Around 12,500 after scholarship.
@dfbdfb @twoinanddone @ucbalumnus Why is my dream school better than U of Iowa? At the above schools, I will be surrounded by people that are very smart. At the other schools, from what I know, there are a lot of intellectual conversations and interesting viewpoints. I want to have those conversations and have people with high-reaching goals all around me. Of course, Iowa will have that, too. BUT it is not nearly as prevalent as the other schools. Next, Iowa’s campus is really spread out and I do not like that. It’s a pain. Next, it gets pretty damn cold in Iowa. This is the 3rd day that my school has been cancelled. Apart from Brown, the other schools have warmer climates. This is just part of being happy, I am much happier when it is warmed out since I love to be outside. It’s just my personal preference. I also believe that I will receive a better education at the other schools. Hell, Iowa has been ranked in the princeton review I think for schools where students don’t study.
@GMTplus7 Yes, I ran the net price calculator before I applied. It is hard to get a good estimate of what I will be paying because of merit scholarships. SMU, for example, is at 65k. I’ll be in the top part of their applicant pool, though, so I may get some good merit scholarships. It’s very hard to tell. Also, my intended major is business admin, entrepreneurship, or finance. I’d be fine with an econ major as well.
@blossom People often get confused and doubtful when I tell them that I have traded options. Before I was 18, I traded options through my dad’s account. Of course he knew that I was trading options. He saw my returns and gave me money to build up for him.
To everyone who has talked to me about the stock market, you have no idea about my approach to the markets. It’s unconventional, and it works. Of course I knew that I could lose almost everything. From the situation I saw, it was worth taking the risk. The primary stock I owned was very healthy, and had superb growth. The only way it could go down was if some knew bad info was revealed, if they had a bad quarterly report (which they always beat expectations), and if external factors like China, Greece, and interest rates negatively affected the stock. If I were to explain all about my process, I would want to talk face to face or over the phone because it would take way too long to type out.
@thumper1 My parents’ income is about 170,000 before taxes. This number will soon go up since my dad’s insurance business partner (my fraternal grandfather) is retiring. My mom does not work although her listed income is like 50,000 out of the 170,000 because she has has her insurance license and helps sell health insurance every now and then.
I’ll continue answering questions, but I want to get this posted first.
Not sure an essay about stock market trading is going to get you a “we want this kid on campus!” reaction at some of the schools in your list. But what is done is done. Looks like Elon could be within reach. Maybe Tulane isn’t too far off.
If you want to know more about possible merit aid, Google “Common Data Set” for each college. There is a section on non-need based aid. You can see the number of students who get it – figure out what % of the student body that is. Say 10%. Are your stats in that top percentage of the class (test scores in particular)? Would the average amount given be enough to help you attend? It is a rough way to look at it, but at least it is some info. Also carefully review the college website scholarship page and look at accepted student threads from last year for stats and merit awards. Your geographic location could give you a small bump, too.
I assume you have filled out FAFSA and taken any steps required by the colleges for merit scholarships – at a minimum you will need to do FAFSA if you want federal loans.
I just wanted to let you know SMU does offer good merit and to many kids. That could be a possibility.
According to this http://honors.uiowa.edu/presidential-scholarship , the Presidential Scholarship is *up to *$18,500/year for in-state students. What determines what it is worth? The website lists $18,658 for tuition, room & board, so that would be nearly no-cost for you. If you took advantage of this wonderful opportunity, would the $100,000 your dad has promised you be available for grad school (or anything else)?
OP- you will not be the first person to have an absolutely “can’t lose”, proprietary trading strategy which wipes you out, and you will not be the last. Go read about John Meriwether and Long Term Capital Management if you really want to develop some smarts about the capital markets. Nice to see that a bunch of PhD’s and two Nobel Prize winners can get shafted just like you can.
I know one of the principals at this firm and I can honestly tell you that he was absolutely the smartest guy that anyone had ever met- teachers, administrators, even the professors who were teaching him college level math when he was in middle school. We’re talking 800 math SAT’s at the age of 10 smart. And not arrogant or evil. And not dishonest.
But sure, you and your dad are going to make a fortune trading options. Come back in a year and let us know how that’s working out for you.
@CTTC Sorry for the confusion, I received the Old Gold scholarship. It has the same requirements as the Presidential scholarship, and my counselor and I have used the terms interchangeably. The difference is that I did not apply early enough to receive 18,500 per year. Big mistake. I would have had to write some sort of essay as well and then be accepted, but I really screwed up there. If I waited a year and applied again, I could probably get the full 18,500 scholarship. That’s something I need to ask my Iowa admissions counselor. If so, I think it would be a good idea to take advantage of the gap year, do some cheap traveling, apply next year, and receive the extra 10,000 per year. Regardless, I would pay $0 from my pocket, but I would be able to save my parents $40,000.