Hey everyone ! I am the youngest of 3 in my family. Both my sisters are in college currently but my parents are having issues paying it My dad also encouraged my sisters to stop going to college or just transfer to a cheaper college. If this is his attitude towards my sisters going to college; I can only imagine his attitude towards me going to the college I want will not be pretty. The college I want to go to is 20,000 a year which isn’t much and I will also receive scholarships too. My family is currently financially strained though.
My question is, should I attend a community college for a year or two and then transfer? Or should I go to the college I want to anyway and somehow find a way to pay for it myself ? My dad will most likely NOT help me pay for it in any way if I do go to the college of my choice. I’m really worried and stressed please help!
What year are you now? Your parent’s financial situation might improve…
How much in scholarships do you think you might get, and what kind of scholarships are they? Would they be good for all 4 years (usually they are if they are from the college), or just one year (often the case with outside scholarships).
Is that $20,000/year including room & board? Or could you live at home and attend?
You can borrow a limited amount on your own. Current amounts you can borrow are $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore year, and $7,500 each year for junior & senior year. Any more would need to be cosigned by an adult, and it sounds like your parents might not qualify anyway even if it was a good idea (which it probably isn’t).
You can also work in the summer and during the school year, and maybe over winter break. You could probably earn $4,000-$5,000/year if you hustle at that.
Each college has a net price calculator, you should also run that with help from your parents to see what kind of financial aid you might get, if any.
You could consider looking at and applying to a few options: this school you like, someplace that is a 4 year school you could commute to from home if there is one, or community college and transferring for the last 2 years to a four year school.