I’m worried because all the schools that I have been accepted into have ridiculously expensive tuition (oos or private for all schools).
My mom is a stay at home mom, dad makes roughly 110,000 a year, but owns 4 million dollars worth of assists. I don’t believe I’m going to get any aid from fafsa (estimate came out and basically gave me nothing but 14k in loans). I live in a family of 6 where 2 of my sisters are in elementary school and another sister is a sophomore at an expensive private highschool (15k a year).
I’ve decided to enroll in the university of Michigan and my total cost has summed up to be 57k a year. Should I transfer out sophomore year?? My parents are fully supportive of me and my decision are willing to pay the cost to send me to college, but I hate to see them take on that burden. No matter how much someone makes, 57k a year is definitely not easy to handle. It also puts a lot of pressure on me because if I don’t succeed in college I’m afraid that I would have “failed” my parents and their efforts to support me. Any help is my appreciated.
You said you got your financial aid package and got offered nothing but loans, therefore that is the only “aid” you are being offered which is not surprising if your parents have four milliion dollars worth of assets. You will not get any other financial aid. Your choice is to let your parents pay and do your best to not “fail.” Or take a gap year and reapply to cheaper options.
This is a discussion you need to have with your parents. It’s to your credit you’ve thought of the high cost to your family. Do you have any merit aid options? If you got into UMich OOS then your stats must be good.
Have a conversation with the family. “Assets” is a very umbrella term. Do they have brokerage accounts with $4,000,000 in stock? A home in an expensive neighborhood? A business that shares assets?
If they have that much in stock they may be perfectly comfortable selling a bit over time to pay for your education (or just using interest or dividends). There are worse things to spend money on than education, especially if it’s not a hardship. It’s what colleges would expect them to do. If the assets are equity in real estate, it depends if it’s in just one thing or multiple, but colleges will expect them to borrow against equity or sell a vacation home. If the assets are part of a business, it’s more complicated.
I’d ask one more thing – why do you think you might not succeed at UMich? Does college success mean something specific to you? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and have come to the conclusion that caring and effort are most of the battle. In other words, just the fact that you’re a bit worried makes you much less likely to fail, provided you put in the work.
Wouldn’t it be better to “transfer into UMich” than to transfer out? I mean can you attend a local school you could commute to or a CC and then transfer to U Mich and save money the first two years? Your degree would still be from U Mich.
You need to talk to your parents and ask what their plan is for your and your siblings’ college expenses.
Will they contribute, how much? Do they have money saved?
Also if you have good test scores and GPA you might get merit aid somewhere making it affordable.
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roughly 110,000 a year, but owns 4 million dollars worth of [assets]. I don’t believe I’m going to get any aid from fafsa (estimate came out and basically ga
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You’re not going to qualify for any aid. Transferring won’t likely be cheaper unless you commute from home. it would be too late to get merit as a transfer.
Your parents know what they can afford, so believe them. $4M in assets is huge
ACT: 32, superscore 34. Math 36 English 33 Science 33 Reading 32 Writing 11
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GPA unweighted 3.74 (may change? took ap physics b as a freshman and got a b+ first semester; school put in two b pluses due to it being a double period class/and also strange scale, A- is considered a 3.7, A a 3.8 and A+ a 4.0)
Essays: strong
Recs: most likely very good
Subject tests: math II 800
Can pay full tuition cost if that helps at all.
Senior classes:
Dance 1 (mandatory gym credit)
AP US gov/pol
AP English (both lit and lang)
AP calculus BC
AP Physics C
Doctrine and theology(1 semeseter) (mandatory christian course at a christian school)
Leadership (1 semeseter) (mandatory christian course at a christian school)
Intro to media arts (not enough space for band this year)
Spanish II (couldnt take any spanish freshman and sophmore year due to double period AP physics and AP chem)
Ethnicity: Korean american, fluent in both english and korean
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Did you apply to any schools that gave you merit?
Where else were you accepted? Where else would be cheaper?
Transferring is not likely a good idea because you’ll be full pay no matter where you transfer.
If you want to reduce the amount that your parents pay, then go to a school as a FRESHMAN that gives you merit.
You’ll be full pay no matter where you go, unless you take a gapyear to apply to universities that will give you merit aid.
Are your parents ok with the cost of UMich?
Considering their assets it’s likely they can afford it - broach the topic, and if they say they can, thank them for their gift and attend the college you like best.
If the thought of attending UMich puts too much pressure on you, choose another college your parents can afford.
No matter what kind of assets that $4M is in, you will not get need based aid anywhere other than loans. Unless that asset cannot be sold or cash out, it would not be too much a burden for your family as the total cost would be less than a quarter million which is far less than 10% of the asset value. It is up to you if you want to save your parent’s money. You should be happy to have the financial freedom to choose whichever school you have been admitted to attend.
What are the assets? Did you actually apply for financial aid?
There are assets that are illiquid that may not count n the same way. In the Princeton review book about paying for college, they give examples of different assets and not all count the same. Home equity is usually capped at 2.4 x income, depending on the school. Business assets are treated differently than personal assets. Assets in a Partnership are not necessarily equal to their book value if they cannot be sold or mortgaged. This is a complicated area and someone doing these asset valuations should consult an expert if possible.
Also, 4 million in assets, how much income does that produce? At 5% it should produce at least 200k per year, not 110k. So OP may not know his family’s real financial picture.
Finally UM gives almost no one OOS great FA, whether merit or need based. I will not be letting my next kid apply there for that reason. K2 can get decent FA at a meets full needs school and K2s grades are not high enough for the limited merit at UMichigan. However, if you get no aid it is cheaper than a comparable private.
It honestly sounds like your parents are ok with you attending.
With strong stats like yours, did u not apply to any in-state publics as a financial safety?
Transfer out to what??? Why even enroll in a school you are uncomfortable with affording, knowing you will transfer out? FA and merit money opportunities are much worse for transfer students. The best deals are for new freshman.
Your best options:
bite the bullet and do UMich for 4 years
UMich now then transfer to a cheaper school (but to what???)
gap year and reapply, with focus on schools that give merit money.
My S had stats not all that dissimilar to yours. We focused on merit schools (did not apply for FA), and his awards ranged from full-ride to the equivalent of in-state public. Therefore, the same outcome is realistically achievable for you.
If you are genuinely concerned about the cost of UMich, then don’t paint yourself into a corner where you attend UMich for a year, then have even WORSE options as a transfer student.
Spoken by a HS student who will not be writing the big checks for college.
I have no opinion on Michigan. I only have an opinion on people deliberately putting themselves in a bad financial position. The OP has already stated that going to this school will likely necessitate transferring out soph year. As a transfer applicant, the merit & FA opportunities will be severely reduced.
OP should step back and look at the end goal: GRADUATING. Not just the short term goal of being enrolled in the next 4 months.