What would you do in my situation (UNC or UVA)?

Paying for College
1

<p>I was accepted as a transfer student to UNC and UVA.</p>

<p>I want to go to UVA but I'm still waiting on the financial aid. I got my financial aid package from UNC and the entire cost of attendance is covered in grants and scholarships. I'm not sure that UVA will be as generous because they might factor in my non-custodial parent's income (father) who I have not lived with in over five years and give me a lesser package. </p>

<p>I would assume that my mother's low income would have a lot more weight because she's the parent I actually live with and my father already filled out the non-custodial form for UVA and put "0" for the "How much do you anticipate being able to contribute toward your child's education in 2011-2012?" question. </p>

<p>What should I do? Should I wait it out for another two weeks until I get my financial aid package from UVA? I just don't want to anger the people at UNC if the UVA financial aid package pleases me by telling them I won't attend in early June when they could have given that spot to someone else if I had told them sooner.
I'd be willing to attend UVA with loans over UNC with no loans as long as the loans don't exceed $5000 for this coming year.</p>

<p>(Btw, I already incurred $27,000+ loans from my first school)</p>

2

<p>“I already incurred $27,000+ loans from my first school.”</p>

<p>That means you have already taken out more than what would be allowed with the Stafford Loans, so you have already reached the limit of what you will be able to pay off easily. Accept UNC now. If the UVA package turns out to be affordable, accept it then, and inform UNC. Think of this as a wait-list situation.</p>

<p>What your dad thinks he can pay is meaningless. What UVA thinks he can pay based on the NCP financial forms is what matters.</p>

3

<p>*I would assume that my mother’s low income would have a lot more weight because she’s the parent I actually live with and my father already filled out the non-custodial form for UVA and put “0” for the “How much do you anticipate being able to contribute toward your child’s education in 2011-2012?” question.
*</p>

<p>Just to be clear, the question about the parent volunteering what they “anticipate” is merely a weather report of sorts. It isn’t as if the college thinks “Oh, poor guy, he doesn’t want to or can’t pay anything, so let’s expect 0 from that source.” In fact, a parent can put 0 there and FA comes back asks for thousand and thousands based on the college’s formulas NOT the parent’s wishes. I heard, though am not able to confirm, that some colleges use that question to sense if the parents are actually going to “play ball” when the FA package shows up. Meaning, if the college formulas show that the college would normally ask Family ABC to contribute let’s say 30K per year in cash but the parent answered that question with 0 or some very low number like 5K–the school knows this family is potentially unable or unwilling to have their kid go to the college. Whether or not that means it affects being offered admissions, I don’t know. </p>

<p>*What should I do? Should I wait it out for another two weeks until I get my financial aid package from UVA? I just don’t want to anger the people at UNC if the UVA financial aid package pleases me by telling them I won’t attend in early June when they could have given that spot to someone else if I had told them sooner.
*</p>

<p>By this point, it is NOT personal for the ppl in FA or the college admissions people. They know students have multiple offers and have to wait to see what the FA packages look like. You can even say YES to college #1 and when college #2 finally sends a FA that works better or you just wanna go to college #2, you can withdraw from #1 and put your deposit down for #2. No explanations required.</p>

<p>Colleges KNOW that they will lose some students in this shuffle process as well as summertime shuffle as kids change minds, get off waiting lists, or just decide not to go at all.</p>

<p>So wait. Place deposit on #1 if you need to hold the spot–otherwise just wait, compare the two offers, and then choose.</p>

4

<p>Actually happymomof1, I need to correct myself. I accepted about $7500 in loans from my first school and took out an additional $20k from a third party to attend the school. The interest on the $20k loan is at about $4200 right now and one of my loans from the school was unsubsidized, so in reality I actually owe about $35k right now.</p>

5

<p>annikasorrensen, I’m a bit concerned because I’m looking over his income tax return and his taxable income is $49k. I really want to go to UVA but I get the feeling they won’t be sympathetic about my situation. My father hasn’t contributed to my education since 8th grade and I rarely see the man.</p>

6

<p>* I accepted about $7500 in loans from my first school and took out an additional $20k from a third party to attend the school. The interest on the $20k loan is at about $4200 right now and one of my loans from the school was unsubsidized, so in reality I actually owe about $35k right now. *</p>

<p>Oh My!!! My the time you graduate, your debt will be about $45k!!</p>

<p>Anyway…it’s not likely that UVA is going to be affordable since they will consider your dad’s income.</p>

<p>BTW…is there a student loan in your UNC FA package? If not, you’re very lucky. I think UVA would likely put a $7500 loan for each year in your FA package…which would add another $15k in debt to an already tooooo high of debt.</p>

7

<p>Eh… It’s OK. $45k isn’t really a lot of money. Maybe I would still choose UVA if they give me $7500 like you predict.</p>

<p>And the UNC FA package has no loans. $38,500 in grants/scholarships.</p>

8

<p>Congrats on the grants/scholarship from UNC!</p>

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<p>Am I remembering correctly that you intend to go to law school?</p>

<p>Why do you think $45k isn’t a lot of money?<br>
Have you run the numbers? </p>

<p>How much will you need to pay towards loans each month?</p>

<p>How much do you think you will be earning in order to pay off the $45k from u/g and the loans for grad school?</p>

9

<p>$45K in loans at a rate of 6.8% is a payment of $517 a month, which is a substantial amount of money. It’s estimated that you need to make at least $62,000 a year to pay that off comfortable and $41K to struggle a bit with it. It’s too much to borrow in loans especially if you plan on law school, because law school is expensive and is paid for almost 100% with loans, usually.</p>

<p>Assuming that your average interest rate is closer to 9%, that monthly payment becomes $570. That’s a lot of money per month for a new college grad.</p>

<p>UNC is a great school. Unless I had some reason to believe that UVA was going to give me a lot of financial aid, I’d take the UNC package and never look back. This is especially true if you are an NC resident, because public universities are not known for giving a lot of financial aid to OOS students.</p>

10

<p>Well mtpaper, the way I see it is that if I can get into a T14 law school, it’s worth the risk because job prospects for a minority who does well at a T14 school are going to be excellent especially because I’m interested in corporate law.</p>

<p>But that’s assuming a lot. If I don’t get into a T14 law school, I’ll graduate with $45k in debt and will go right to work and pay it off in a couple of years. I’m not a big spender so I figure it won’t take too long. </p>

<p>So the extra loans from UVA wouldn’t bother me as long as they aren’t excessive. I’m just hoping I can get a no loan financial aid package like I did from UNC. And for some reason UNC didn’t accept some of my credits from my first school (microeconomics, macroeconomics, political philosophy) so if UVA accepts those it’ll make the choice easier. </p>

<p>Well thanks for all your help everyone. Guess I just have to wait and see what kind of aid I get from UVA and then make a wise decision.</p>

11

<p>You’re “assuming a lot” just to say you’ll be able to go “right to work and pay it off in a couple of years.”</p>

<p>To pay off $45,000 in loans in “a couple of years” (say, three), you’ll need to make payments of $1,385 per month.</p>

<p>Your debt load is already more than is recommended for an undergraduate student. If UVA gives you loans, take the very generous UNC offer and run with it!</p>

12

<p>I hate to sound ungrateful but I knew from the second I applied to UNC that if I got in, I would qualify for a loan-free financial aid package. The same would be true for UVa if my father’s information was not considered, but I don’t imagine that the loans will be terrible. I’m optimistic that it will still be an incredible financial aid package.</p>

<p>If they offer $5k/year in loans or less, I think I like UVa enough to matriculate.</p>

<p>And if I don’t go to graduate school and have to pay off those loans right away…
I’ll pay the monthly payments but I’ll be saving every penny possible on the side so that I’ll eventually have enough to pay off whatever’s left in one shot. I’ll just live with my mom for a year, use public transportation, and put everything I make to the loans and then I should be OK. The only way I could see it being a problem is if I didn’t get a good paying job and had to get my own place… then it would be hard to save enough to pay it all off in a year.</p>

<p>But this is two years down the line, so let’s just hope I get into a good law school so I have better life opportunities.</p>

13

<p>If you get into a good law school, you may have another $150,000 in loan debt hanging over your head.</p>

14

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<p>You really are assuming a lot considering that there are a lot of students attending T-14 schools who don’t have jobs (a lot of my D’s T-14 URM friends are not working corp law this summer). First you gotta throw up the numbers; LSAT and GPA as many minoritys are bringing better game to the table and the T-14 for URMs are bring both high GPAs and high LSAT scores. Then you gotta make sure that you finish at least in the top 3rd of the class where again, easier said than done when everything hinges on one test with a mandatory curve.</p>

<p>Going big law is easier said than done, so don’t go to law school with the hope that you are going into big law and bring in the bucks. What are you going to do about the almost 200k of law school debt that you are going to have on top of the undergrad debt. If law school is in your plan, you need to have the least amount of undergrad debt as possible.</p>

15

<p>$45K in loans at a rate of 6.8% is a payment of $517 a month,</p>

<p>And, it sounds like the $20k private loan he took out has a much higher interest rate…since it has already accumulated over $4k in interest.</p>

<p>*$45k isn’t really a lot of money. *</p>

<p>I can never understand how low income people can think like this. Why is it that students from low income families have these wild-haired idea that debt like this isn’t a big deal? </p>

<p>.</p>

16

<p>You may be compromised in going to law school if you have too much in loans to be able to borrow for it. Keep that in mind. Schools are getting alarmed about this when it gets to the prof level and medical/law students are being asked to show they are credit worthy. </p>

<p>I can tell you that I would jump at the UNC opportunity and be looking for some part time work to keep that high interest loan from spiraling even higher.</p>

17

<p>*I can tell you that I would jump at the UNC opportunity and be looking for some part time work to keep that high interest loan from spiraling even higher. *</p>

<p>Absolutely good advice.</p>

<p>It would be a BAD idea to take out an additional $15k in student loans (7500 year year) to go to UVA…UVA isn’t worth that extra debt over UNC. You already have toooo much debt.</p>

18

<p>From Zoosermom on May 9 2011, to another poster:</p>

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<p>@DreamingBig: Let’s say, as you wrote in #12, that you do not go to grad school; you’re living with your mom for a year, using public transportation, and putting everything you make to the loans.</p>

<p>$45k / 12 months = $3750 per month, or $937.50 per week…</p>

<p>What does your yearly salary need to be for that year, to pay off $45k in a year?</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids - my theory as to why kids can’t grasp the reality of debt, regardless of their economic background, is because families don’t discuss big-ticket money items with kids. We complain to them about nickel-and-dime stuff, but we don’t get into the big picture with them. 517/month doesn’t sound like a lot, as an isolated figure. “I’ll be earning $/year - 517/month is not much!” It only becomes unrealistic when we factor in potential income and realistic expenses, also broken down on a monthly basis. And add in a projected figure of how much Getting Started In Real Life costs (ie, work clothes, security deposits etc)… and then marriage, vacations, a house, kids… still straddled with debt. And project out the number of years, and find a way that is meaningful for the kid to grasp that burden…</p>

<p>The other piece that I think is missing, is that we’re parents, advising kids. Some graduates come back and post, but mostly these threads are parents advising kids. We need to find a better way to have young adults who have gone thru the process, and who are struggling with debt, connect directly with the dreamers - so that they transition from “it will be different for me, I’ll succeed because of xyz” to “oh, that person did what I’m doing, and they are just like me and they have no life because of the debt”</p>

<p>I’ve been thinking that we need a website with more interactive calculators. Surely the FA calculators are helpful, but they are only a piece of the puzzle. We need a site that spells income/expenses out down to a monthly basis, showing projected start-up costs… pulling in average starting salaries, and cost of living by geography… and show that the expenses will increase with marriage and kids. Does anyone have skills to work on this with me?</p>

<p>I have an unemployed dreamer nephew, 28, who needs to earn $60k a year (gross) to breakeven; he has no u/g debt, but his unemployed dreamer wife does. Sure, I worry about them, but their situation ‘brought reality to home’ to my dreamer daughter.</p>

19

<p>My $20k loan has a 7.5% interest rate, so if I go to law school, by the time I graduate, I’d owe $29k on the entire loan w/ interest included.
Then I also owe the $5k loan and the $2.5k loan from my first school. I forget which one of those is subsidized. (hopefully the $5k one)</p>

<p>So if I don’t take out anymore loans, by 2016, I’ll still owe less than $40k in loans + law school loans, and if I don’t go to law school, I’m sure I’d pay off those undergrad loans between 2013-2016. (But with my money saving skills I bet I could do it in a year and a half :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>That’s really not too bad. Let’s just hope that UVa gives me a loan free package.</p>

<p>I clearly made a mistake going to my first school, but it could be a lot worse.</p>

20

<p>How will you owe less than $40k in loans + law school loans? How are you paying for law school?</p>

<p>What does your yearly salary need to be from 2013-2016, to pay off $40k in that time?</p>

<p>What does your yearly salary need to be to pay off $40k in a year and a half with your money-saving skills?</p>

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<p>I’d love to see you make lemonade out of this lemon and turn things around to guide other kids. I give you pats for trying to build a good life for yourself.</p>