<p>So I've been accepted to Tulane and I really want to go there, and they're also offering me the most financial aid out of my schools. The breakdown is as follows</p>
<p>Fed Direct Sub Stafford Loan - ~$752</p>
<p>Fed Direct Unsub Stafford Loan - ~$4700</p>
<p>Federal Work Study - ~$3000</p>
<p>Presidential scholarship award - $25,000</p>
<p>I'm absolutely clueless about this and the WORST part is that my parents are even more clueless and I feel like it's my responsibility to not screw them over financially since it's clear that they have no idea what's going on. </p>
<p>Should I accept all of these offers? Only some of them? </p>
<p>Also, I'm planning on doing the dual degree program and it's 3 years at tulane and 2 years at either vanderbilt/JHU. The bad part is that my presidential scholarship doesnt carry over into the 2 years at the partner school, and thats basically the backbone of my aid. My parents' income bracklet is like 120-140k but I'm not sure on the specifics. But I also have a younger brother who will be in college in two years, and he has plans to go to med school, not sure how realistic that is.</p>
<p>Can your family pay whatever isn’t included in this financial aid package? If so, then this aid package is fine. If your family cannot pay the balance of your bill…the aid package is not fine. You need to discuss this with your parents.</p>
<p>Do you have the COST OF ATTENDANCE for Tulane? That is absolutely critical in deciding how valuable this award package is to you. </p>
<p>You need to have information like the cost of attendance for Tulane (tuition, room and board, estimates for books, transportation, personal expenses, etc.) as well as the amount of money that your parents are willing to pay if there is a gap between the cost of attendance and the total of this aid.</p>
<p>The cost of attendance is around $54,000, give or take 500. I’m not sure how much my parents are willing to pay because they are so indirect. When I told them about my aid package they made a kind of unsatisfied face but they aren’t raising major complaints. I will have a talk with them asap </p>
<p>Also, unsubsidized stafford loans mean interest accumulates right? Is there some general limit on how much to accept in unsub loans?</p>
<p>You can accept as much as you need. You can take as much as you need up to the federal government’s limit, although of course you want to take as little as possible and if you can get the money up front in any non-illegal, non-loan way then you should consider that. </p>
<p>One thing that many students end up doing, if possible, is paying off the interest off the top of the loan each month. This effectively turns the loan into a self-subsidized Stafford loan, which means that once you graduate the loan won’t have exploded on you and it’ll be as easy to pay off as the Subsidized loan (not super easy, but not unbearable).</p>
<p>You need to know your parent’s information. You have approximately a $20k gap between the cost of attendance and your financial aid package, and you mentioned that the Presidential Scholarship might go away. You noticed that it was the backbone of your aid, and if it goes away then your parents will have to chip in a lot of money and you have to emphacize to them that you need to know how much they’ll be willing to pay per year to know if this aid package is acceptable. You don’t want to make a decision in May and then find out that your parents can’t chip in $80,000 over four years.</p>
<p>*The cost of attendance is around $54,000, give or take 500. I’m not sure how much my parents are willing to pay because they are so indirect. When I told them about my aid package they made a kind of unsatisfied face but they aren’t raising major complaints. I will have a talk with them asap *</p>
<p>Fed Direct Sub Stafford Loan - ~$752</p>
<p>Fed Direct Unsub Stafford Loan - ~$4700</p>
<p>Federal Work Study - ~$3000</p>
<p>Presidential scholarship award - $25,000</p>
<p>Yes, you need to ask your parents if they are willing to pay about $20k per year for 3 years and then maybe (a lot) more when you to Vandy or JHU for 2 years, while your younger brother is also going to school.</p>