OP it sounds as if you are finding some options that are a bit more financially feasible and are approaching this with a great open mind, kudos to you for that and for being willing to look for the best options.
I want to just say that you parents, like many, may not have had a good feel for what college costs were at all and may well have thought that 20k would go farther than it will. They may well have assumed that it would cover maybe half of the amount needed…versus 1/4 (assuming an EFC of 20 and finding schools where that was your net price). Many many people are shocked at the cost of college and find out too late. Many also put themselves through school and assume that kids can still do that today and it just isn’t possible for most, at least not on a traditional 4 year path without having full ride stats and being lucky enough to be offered a full ride somewhere.
Many of us find ourselves in situations like your parents. In our case it’s a combination of things, 4 kids to put through college, divorces, layoffs and choosing not to cut back on retirement savings or luxuries like music lessons or family trips. I don’t fault your parents for not having saved enough, it happens. We saved, but we didn’t save the million dollars that our EFC would indicate we should have saved for 4 kids when you add up what our EFC looks like for years kids overlapped, and the years they do not. We cannot afford our EFC either. I also, quite frankly, do not regret the choices we made. However we did our homework early, and came up with a plan that worked for us. We have only considered schools for all the kids that came in at or under our (2 kids in school at once) EFC. And we figured out a way to meet our EFC if needed. It does mean that when offers come in that aren’t where we need them to be, the schools get cut. And that can be hard and painful, even if it was a known possibility that the offer might not work. It is why the first rule of CC really is to find a financial safety that you would be happy to attend. Sadly GC’s do NOT focus on this at all. In some ways, for privacy reasons, they really can’t. They can provide the tools, tell students and parents to fill out fafsa but they are simply not equipped to educate people on what that EFC number really means. The rare one, does, but generally we just see a list of “resources” provided and the burden falls to the student and parent to do their homework and the information really is out there for all schools, to have a decent idea of where you might stand.
What is unfortunate is to just realize it now and still not having frank financial conversations with you about what they can actually contribute that you can count on. It is your FAFSA, not theirs, you have every right to look at the entire thing, not just a glimpse. They aren’t fun conversations to have with your child that’s for sure but you can’t plan without that information and I am sorry they aren’t sharing more. I do understand different kids having different college needs and that sometimes, that does mean different finances for each. We certainly look at all of that for each of our kids and it’s been a bit different for each. For my current senior if he wants something beyond his financial safety he will have to work summers and at school (ideally not first semester but we will see) and will have to take out loans up to the federal max allowed. But that will be his choice and he is not looking at grad school. His older brother had to work for spending money and books, but no loans and he lived at home for the last year. His sister, no work and no loans but she is looking at grad school and quite frankly had the stats that earned us giving a bit more (requiring less lol) as a reward. For this one, he will do better at a certain type of school but he has to want it badly enough to have skin in the game at a bit of a deeper level than the other 2 (it’s also a different funding source so he does have less to work with than the older 2) and we will see how it really plays out. If he goes that route and does well, and we can help pay off those loans for him, we will but a little bit of undergrad debt can be manageable in my opinion.
Essentially you have 7 potential funding sources.
- Whatever your parents will contribute in cash, annually. Sounds like it is maybe $7500
- Your college savings $5000 annually.
- Your earnings. I've only seen one person mention this but there is no reason you cannot get a job and save/contribute towards your own education, beginning now. You should be able to save about $3000 over the summer if employed full time and about $2500 during the school year if you work 8-12 hours per week. Depending on where you go, you may be offered work study as part of your "aid" package. Take it. It will be better for your future years EFC than an outside job.
- Loans you take. Clearly this is not desireable if you are pre-med.
- Merit aid offered if any
- Grants offered if any (need based aid, unlikely at publics that offer you merit)
- Loans your parents take
As I see it, right now your budget is $18,000 (college fund, parents cash contribution and your work earnings) excluding any loans. Which is awfully close to your EFC. There are definitely schools, with your stats, that could come down to that level and you’ve been given a lot of suggestions on how to do it. You are lucky to have solid stats, it really gives you so many more options. The reality is finding a school at 18K is hard. Frankly finding ones in the low 20’s is hard. Very hard. Not impossible but hard. If your parents were will willing to split the difference with you in loans, you could theoretically make UMASS work (3500 in loans each) but given the pre-med it would not be the best option and that would be assuming your parents were willing. Personally, at their income level I think it is a realistic request but that is just my opinion.
You will want to factor in travel costs for most of these schools, it will vary by location quite a bit and can negate some of the savings of better offers. Also account for cost increases over time, something that may look doable at a stretch for year one may really be out of reach by year 4.
Also, if you have AP and DE credits, make sure to factor that in as it will reduce your overall cost in some cases.
