Under 18, need loans! Help me, parents!

Parents Forum
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<p>(I posted this on the FA board but was told to try this forum instead. Thank you Northstarmom for your help. It's too late for me to go anywhere else as I've already told my school and everyone that knows me where I'm going to school. Wise or unwise, I cannot and will not change my plans. My parents want to help and are willing to take out loans, but only those that don't need to be paid back until after graduation, at which point I would pay for them.)</p>

<p>Also, my financial aid is fixed. I've received 31,000 in scholarships per year that are renewable so long as I maintain a 2.0 GPA, which I'm not worried about.</p>

<p>Anyway, for other people, here is my question:</p>

<p>I'm 17 and will be attending NYU in the fall. I need about 13,000 in loans for the first year. Are there any loans I can get as a 17 year old (I know it's probably no). Also, are there any loans my parents can take out/co-sign for that don't need to be paid until after graduation?</p>

<p>I am the first kid to go to college, so both my parents and myself are lost.</p>

<p>What lenders are best? I've been looking at Goal Financial, Chase, and Citibank.. Any comments on those lenders?</p>

<p>I hate being young for my class!</p>

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<p>Does Wisconsin have an Educational Financing Authority or some other such state agency? Check their website for parental loans that can be deferred until graduation. (I know Massachusetts has such loans.)</p>

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<p>You say you have $31,000 in scholarships and you will be responsible for paying back your loans. Are your parents not contributing anything?</p>

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<p>My dad recently lost his job and we only made about 22k last year, so there's little to no extra money for college. It's all on me, but I will make it work somehow. They're helping as much as they can with expenses like plane tickets, supplies, maybe laptop expenses, but I can't really count on them for tuition/room and board.</p>

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<p>Will your parents even qualify for that much in loans with their current income? I would think it would be hard. It is hard to change your mind about something this big when you've told everyone, yet people here want to help. That is just crazy debt for someone with a family that can't help.</p>

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<p>FYI: I have known many people who changed the college that they were going to after they had told everyone about it. This included a student who said that she was going to Emory, and the local newspaper wrote about it, and afterward, she decided for financial reasons to go to her state flagship (which is lower ranked than Emory), where she has done very well, including getting to spend a year studying in Australia. </p>

<p>I know someone else who had told everyone he'd be going to Dartmouth, but who changed his mind and thenbfor financial reasons went to state flagship. Probably no one even remembers his original plans. </p>

<p>I also know someone who did tell everyone he was going to NYU, which gave him merit aid. He, too, ended up at our state flagship because of financial reasons.</p>

<p>Most people do not care that much about where you go to school. They are far more concerned about their own lives. If you change your mind, it won't matter to them. They are concerned about their own lives and the lives of their kids.</p>

<p>You need to make the decision that is in your best financial and academic interests. I can not think of any such reason that would put NYU ahead of alternatives that could provide you with a good education at less cost and strain on your family.</p>

<p>Six months after you graduate, most people from your high school will barelly remember you or where you went to college. Sixteen years after your high school graduation -- if you decide to take on huge debt for NYU -- you will still be paying back loans that will be putting a major crimp on your options.</p>

<p>While the $31,000 a year in fixed scholarships is wonderful, that still leaves you with a large gap that probably will become increasing large as NYU's costs rise, something that occurs each year with colleges.</p>

<p>Clearly, you have an excellent academic background in order to get such a good deal from NYU. If you take a gap year, you could apply to more schools in a way that allows you to get a good education at less financial strain. This could include applying to other good private schools that have even better financial and merit aid than NYU has for students like you.</p>

<p>Since your dad recently lost his job and only made $22K last year, it's hard for me to imagine that your family can afford in any way to help with laptop, plane ticket, etc. It sounds like your parents love you a great deal and would like very much to help you go to your dream school, but given your family's dire financial straits, I can't imagine that they will be able to help you in the way that they would like to. Even if they somehow scrape up that money, it would seem to be such a sacrifice to them that it would be putting their own finances in even greater peril than already exists.</p>

<p>NYU is a very good school, but in terms of job opportunities after graduation, U Wisconsin and other public schools in your state probably would offer you better options because of their extensive alum network where you're likely to live. If you think you might live in NYC after graduation, be aware that the housing costs are extremely high and it might be very difficult for you to survive on what you'd like make right out of school.</p>

<p>Also, from what I've seen in my own state, graduates of the state flagship and other highly regarded in-state publics here are more likely to get good summer jobs and jobs after graduation in this state than are graduates of far away places like NYU. That's because NYU's alum network in my state is very small. The public university's alum network is very big, and employers like hiring students who went to their alma mater.</p>

<p>I have a friend who is sacrificing to send her D to NYU, where the D is finishing her freshman year. The D has not been able to get a summer job in our area, yet students from local public universities have been able to get jobs. Why? The alum network.</p>

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<p>what about federal loans? your package should have included stafford and perkins?</p>

<p>anything else you could get will come with a really high interest rate though, and I highly doubt can be deferred</p>

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<p>What about work study...its can be rough for a freshman, but you never know</p>

<p>And don't let pride or ego or what people might think be the reason you don't switch schools, believe me, where you go is not a big issue at all for anybody but you and your family</p>

<p>If this is what you want, then it sounds like you need to work, when do you turn 18?</p>

<p>I think northstarmom's post is spot on....</p>

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<p>Did you contact the FA office at NYU? If your FA was based on your father having a job, and he lost it, then those could be circumstances to change your award. Time to get on the phone.</p>

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<p>Listen to Northstarmom.</p>

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<p>Agree with Northstarmom. I think you need to look deep inside yourself and find out why you feel you must be in New York and why NYU. We are all very sorry that you have this dream and it might need to be revamped, but even if you can figure out how to cobble $13,000 together each year, which may not be a fixed cost either depending on how your financial package is structured, the debt load will be huge after college with no guarantee of what your monthly income might be. You must be an excellent student to even receive what you received from NYU and I would certainly go back to the NYU financial offices and lay it all out for them to see if they can help you find a way. Are you well known in your community, have you tapped all the potential scholarship resources available? Have you talked to your guidance office about your situation and asked for their help? Are there NYU alum in your town? How much money can you earn this summer - one job or two jobs - so what will the actual gap be? Is your drive to go to NYU so consuming you would consider working your tail off to close the gap. On a more serious note, I think you very quickly need to have a very realistic plan B which hopefully you've been advised all along given your particular personal financial situation.</p>

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<p>Thank you guys so much for your help.</p>

<p>I turn 18 in October and am working over the summer, probably saving about 3-4k (ideally). Also, I won't hear about local scholarships (could be up to 4k, I have a good chance) until June 5th, so things might not be as bad. Also, I do have work-study in there and plan on getting a decent amount (maybe 1-2k) in graduation gifts from wealthier family members and friends of the family.</p>

<p>I'll definitely look into calling the FA office. In fact, I'll try that right now. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.</p>

<p>Any additional help is appreciated!</p>

<p>PS: I do have a plan B.. I can always enroll at UW-Sheboygan and transfer to Madison after two years. I didn't get into UW-Madison, surprisingly, as I applied somewhat late (December).</p>

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<p>I'm guessing that you are right that Madison rejected you due to your relatively late app. It gave my older S, who had a lower gpa than yours, very nice merit aid. He had gotten his app in in Nov., and also had applied for merit aid.</p>

<p>If you have to go to plan B, I would think that taking a gap year and then reapplying to Madison would be better than going to Sheboygan. Madison is well known throughout the country, and is top tier.
I imagine that you'd have decent chances of entering Madison with good financial aid -- if you apply early and do good jobs with your merit scholarship applications.</p>

<p>You also could do something like Americorps during your gap year, which would allow you to earn some money, strengthen your skills (organizational, leadership), amass lots of volunteer hours, too, which also would boost your chances of getting excellent merit and financial aid and admissions from competitive colleges.</p>

<p>There are many colleges that have excellent merit aid for low income students with strong community service backgrounds. This includes colleges that are in the Bonner Scholars program. Google to find info.</p>