@Lovenetc I asked about U of A because it sounds like you are in-state and live close enough to commute? My D is not going to her first choice school, nor her second choice school. Maybe not even her third choice. Finances are driving the decision.
@lovenetc : where are you with financial aid ? Have you registered for another test date ? Do you have a back up plan if you can’t go to asu Barrett this year - defer, take a gap year, go to another university ?
Hey guys! Hope all is well! So I finally heard about my Disbursement for my FAFSA. I did qualify just for the Direct Unsubstantiated Loan and the Direct Parent PLUS Loan, BUT, I did get a University grant, which is $307.00 for both the Fall and Spring semester, so I feel pretty good about that! 
Can you clarify? Are you saying you got $307 for each semester ($614/yr) grant and the Direct unsubsidized loan and the Parent plus loan? Can you afford school with this FA package?
Hello, yes for sure I accepted the $307.00 for both the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semester, so $614 for the year. I have not discussed the loan fully with my parents…the amount says $2,750.00, both semesters The max offer for the Direct Parent PLUS Loan is $11,314.00.
You need to discuss the loan with your parents asap and before you sign any other documents. If they can’t afford the loan you need a backup plan. Taking out a loan isn’t just saying “hell yeah, send me the dough”. You need a plan for paying it back, where the cash is going to come from, when the payments will start and which elements of your lifestyle you are prepared to give up in order to afford the monthly check (yes, every single month until the loan is paid off).
@blossom I am aware, thank you!
Are your parent able and willing to pay $1,000each month of your first year, 2,0000each month of tour second year, 3,000each month your third year, and 4,000each month your fourth year -that’s enormous, are they going to eat ramen noodles every day and have zero heat in winter … - and if at any point they don’t qualify, you have to drop out?
Parent plus loans are not financial aid. Right now, you are gapped by over $10,000 Per year !!
Have you registered to take the act and the sat again in case that leads asu to increasing your scholarship ?
Have you emailed Asu and Barrett to ask them whether you could defer admissions by a year so that you can work ?
She seems to be dead set on going to this school. I take it since her parents haven’t told her they can’t afford they are on board with it to. All I can say at this point is good luck. Keep us updated and let us know what happens come Fall 2016.
@sensation723 I am working as best as I can right now…I literally just found out several hours ago…can you please give me the time to discuss the payment plans with my parents?! I was really happy to have earned a grant, no matter how small, and I am discussing with my mom @MYOS1634 that parent plus loan is not recommended!!
Good luck getting costs all sorted out with your parents!
Yes I am going to post on here as soon as I have a plan finalized.
@MYOS1634 , you aren’t figuring the PLUS loan correctly. If the parents are borrowing about $10,000/yr, they aren’t paying $1000/mo the first year, then $2000/mo the next year. I they actually PAY $1000/mo, the whole first year would be paid off before the end of the first year, then they’d borrow another $10k and pay that back. However, they don’t have to pay anything until the student leaves school, then would owe $40k (plus interest) and probably have a 10 year term to repay. At that time, payments would be high, probably $800 per month.
I don’t think Plus loans are the way to go, but it is not as bleak as painted in post #167 with $4000/mo payments.
you’re right (parent PLUS loans are nightmarish and I know they accumulate, I just didn’t do things right, my brain must have been checked out, so thanks for the correction,and sorry Lovenetc.)
Your parents would have to pay back 50K +about 20K in interest, or 70K to pay back over 10 years. If the payback plan can be shortened to 5 years, it’d beabout 10K in interest, with about $1,100 each month. Will your parents be able to do that?
My larger point stands, it’s a huge amount of money to pay each month (and remember YOU will have 31K to pay back on top of that so you won’t be able to help them).
If your parents have savings or a college fund for you, they’re better off not using the Parent PLUS loans. Those are better than the cosigned loans, but they’re still a terrible burden. :s
Would you be able to go into a lucrative field (engineering, computer science, data science, finance)?
I would like to go into medicine @MYOS1634, either as an anesthesiologist, dentist, or a pediatrician. Hopefully those are lucrative lol.
As an undergrad, you can major in anything before you become a doctor. So, choose a lucrative major among those above (especially a quantitative one… if you can handle bioinformatics you’d be golden), so that you can work a while, make money, pay back your loans in 5 years instead of the standard 10, perhaps help your parents and lighten their burden, before you have to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars for med school.
What’s the highest level of math you’ve taken? What grade did you get?
Do you have bio, chem, and physics, and any science AP? (grade/score)?
How many years of a foreign language do you have? What other AP’s have you taken?
What interests you in medicine? If you can’t be a doctor, will you consider being a PA or a nurse?
If you care to donate your money I’ll take it! 
@Lovenetc, Thanks for letting us know. That’s way too much money to borrow, esp. since your parents are still repaying your mom’s college loans. I think it would be a good idea to take a gap year and work on your test scores or start at a community college. Are there any near you?
@Lovenetc You say that you’re interested in being an anesthesiologist, dentist, or pediatrician and hope that they are lucrative professions. Well, they can be AFTER the student loans are paid off. I looked up U of Arizona medical school tuition, and the estimate for all expenses (living included) is around $60,000 a year in-state. That’s for 4 years, and then there are several years of residency after med school for either anesthesia or peds during which you would make very little money, but the interest on loans would still accrue during that time. Dental school in Arizona looks like around $70,000 for TUITION ONLY, for 4 years. That’s for a private school, not sure if there are state options.
These are the reasons you DO NOT want debt in undergrad.
And if your parents are considering the Parent Plus loan, you and they should read the threads pertaining to them here on CC. Again, debt in undergrad when considering med/dental school is a bad idea.
@appalachymom is right! You will not be earning any real money if you are in those professions until your 30’s.
True story: friend of ours is a neonatologist (so he did extra training after his residency in pediatrics). He and his wife had $240K in med school debt. They had two young children, with one of them in kindergarten. He called his wife after doing a day in the follow-up clinic and said “go take the kids, buy them some new clothes ON THE CREDIT CARD…I’m tired of the kids in the free clinic dressing better than my own kids.”
I know it is so hard to give up the dream of “going off” to college but man if you want to go to med school you have to keep your eyes on the proverbial prize and have as little debt as you can. It will pay off when you are finally done and you can enjoy that income as it starts rolling in vs. paying over hundreds and thousands of debt.