<p>Looking at it, I'm about 60,000 shy of being able to pay for Caltech, even with working jobs every summer. This is using every source of money I have.
I'd like to major in Astronomy, or Physics most likely. Caltech is my dream school.</p>
<p>I live in GA, so I get Hope to go to Georgia Tech. That'll only cost me 28,000. I have this in savings with my parents. That would leave me with another 65k for starting my life after school, grad school, etc. Option one leaves me with nada. </p>
<p>I do not qualify for financial aide by the calculators. Neither my brother nor my sister nearly qualified, and we haven't changed financially.</p>
<p>I think that with enough hard work, I can be accepted to Caltech, but I do not even hope for Axline, or Lingle. Upperclassman scholarships I don't think I could get either.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Is it worth it to go to Caltech? Why? Are there third party scholarships to consider (other than PSAT, already figured in)?</p>
<p>Have you thought about loans? The stafford loan gives a little aid each year, and you could get a private loan (at a higher interest rate) to cover ther remaining. However, realize that in Astronomy or Physics, you'll most likely want to do grad school afterwards, increasing your debt. Large loans are really most viable for engineering majors who will be able to get jobs after undergrad and immediately start paying those loans off.</p>
<p>Also, if you get into Caltech, you can ask the financial aid department to reconsider your financial aid reward based on extra factors not represented in your official tax returns or some other such forms. This will often result in you getting more financial aid than you would originally.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, physics/astro won't increase your debt because you'll have to pay for grad school (most grad students in these fields are fully funded), but just because of interest rates. More on the actual question a little later.</p>
<p>"This is using every source of money I have."</p>
<p>Except for, apparently, your parents. Since it sounds like they do have the means to pay (and if they really don't, Caltech is generous enough with financial aid that it won't matter), have you considered borrowing the money from them and then paying them back, if they don't want to foot the bill?</p>
<p>My parents really do'nt have the money for it. But what you said about grad school not being another expense is very good news!</p>
<p>I have thought about loans, and that was the question. Is it worth the debt? I ran the numbers a while ago, and it could take 8-12 years to pay off once I start making payments, depending off course on income, interest, etc. So that's getting ahead of myself, saying how long, but it would be quite a while.</p>
<p>As far as possibly getting more need based aid than none (EFC was ~60k and a load of lies) if accepted, do you know any cases where that happened to someone with similar situation to me? I'm the third child in college, and the youngest of the three. The eldest already graduated UGA and is applying to grad schools for next year (currently he's working and self supporting).</p>
<p>If your parents really don't have the money for it, then you will be fine with Caltech financial aid. It's more generous than pretty much any other school out there.</p>
<p>Yes and no, Joe. My parents don't have the money for it, but they could have the money for it. Thus, I get no financial aid. Basically, if my parents spent less on cars / insurance / houses (we just bought a new house two years ago and my parents buy new cars about every two years as well) and they depleted their retirement savings (my parents' retirement savings are not in retirement accounts--they are mostly in stock, so they do count for financial aid purposes) they could afford to contribute enough to pay for Caltech.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for me, my parents like their standard of living, so they contribute to my education less than a fourth of my EFC.</p>
<p>"My parents don't have the money for it, but they could have the money for it."</p>
<p>Exactly--which is why I suggested perhaps borrowing from his parents, if they really don't want to part with their money.</p>
<p>"my parents' retirement savings are not in retirement accounts--they are mostly in stock, so they do count for financial aid purposes"</p>
<p>You can hold stock in retirement accounts, though; in fact that's generally the best way to do it because there are tax advantages. I don't expect you to outline your financial situation here on the internet, but it's certainly interesting. Did you try to explain the situation to the financial aid office? If they really don't have retirement accounts for some reason I'm sure Caltech would re-adjust their calculation to "shelter" more of the general savings.</p>
<p>Just one more reason to open up a Roth IRA today, kids...</p>
<p>Joe, I feel like you're dismissing a very real issue. Just because his parents have certain assests does not mean they have the ready cash to loan him. While I agree that Caltech is excellent when it comes to financial aid, I would bet they wouldn't be willing to adjust a package because his family is accustomed to a higher standard of living, nor should they.</p>
<p>"I would bet they wouldn't be willing to adjust a package because his family is accustomed to a higher standard of living, nor should they."</p>
<p>Of course they shouldn't. But they should be able to adjust a package if assets that would normally have been in retirement accounts (and therefore not counted) for some reason aren't. Not millions of dollars, obviously, but I wouldn't doubt they'd "shelter" some reasonable amount if there really wasn't any 401k, IRA, etc.</p>
<p>Lizzard, still in the lab, but about to leave. I'll get your IM in a few.</p>
<p>We're probably just quibbling over details. I was making the assumption that it would be rare to find a person with enough assets to make them ineligible for financial aid, with all (or even most) of it tied up in retirement plans. More likely, the money is split between retirement plans, home equity, stocks, etc. and taking the retirement monies out of the picture would make little difference.</p>
<p>So basically y'all are saying that Caltech will find the money for me. Let's say they don't and my only option is loans not from my parents. Thoughts?</p>
<p>"I was making the assumption that it would be rare to find a person with enough assets to make them ineligible for financial aid, with all (or even most) of it tied up in retirement plans."</p>
<p>The way I understand the process, this essentially can't happen, since the EFC doesn't take into account money in retirement plans. So anything in a retirement plan won't make you ineligible.</p>
<p>Lizzardfire is in the opposite situation. He was saying that since his parents DON'T have anything in retirement plans, all their assets (including funds that they've mentally designated as retirement money, but isn't actually in a plan) ARE assessed from a financial aid standpoint.</p>
<p>DMRenrel: if your parents can actually afford but just don't want to pay, Caltech probably won't give you need-based money. But the only way to find out is to apply, get in, and get a financial aid offer.</p>
<p>Personally if my parents hadn't been willing to contribute any money to my education, I would've gone to UMich (which I'm in-state for) instead of Caltech.</p>
<p>The best studies (Google Dale and Krueger) suggest that if you get into a top-notch school but choose to go to a lower ranked one, your lifetime earnings will be affected negligibly, if at all. So if all you care about is money, then going to Caltech funded purely by loans may be a bad bet.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the other nonmonetary benefits (a shot at top professorships, top jobs at big firms) are significant, but less tangible. At that point, it inches closer to being a matter of taste. How much is a top notch education worth to you? How much do you care about the interactions and experiences you can get at Caltech but not elsewhere?</p>
<p>Yeah, I should say that in 20/20 hindsight, going to Michigan would've been in my opinion very much the wrong choice for me to make in the hypothetical I pose above. But it's the one I would've made, nonetheless.</p>