Whateverhappens

Okay, so I'm going to Ohio State in the fall, and the estimated cost is about $41K. I was wondering how accurate these estimates usually are, as in are they usually too high or low. All my scholarships, grants, and loans get me to about $40K. Is there usually a lot of variability in expenses such as books, non meal plan food, etc? Thanks for any info.

scmom12

A lot of times the COA is figured on most expensive dorm and meal plan and then there is usually some estimate for maybe travel, personal expenses...so there is some play. Look up your specific dorm and meal plan and see what you get.

atomom

According to the OSU website, the cost of books and personal expenses IS factored into COA and financial aid awards.
The cost of tuition fees, room, board, and books comes to about 38K for an out-of-state student. Then, they've factored in about 3K in personal expenses (this could be phone, travel, extra food, laundry, toiletries, entertainment, etc.) for a total of about 41K

This is all on a chart on the OSU website entitled "Financial Aid Award Guide 2012-2013."

If you live frugally, you should have no problem on 40K. Plane tickets will probably be your biggest expense!

mom2collegekids

non meal plan food


This is a gray area. There's no way a school is going to include in its COA the cost of off-campus meals that are excessive. Perhaps the cost of pizza out with friends on a Friday night is somehow figured in, but if a student spends Friday night thru Sunday night eating at the various town's restaurants, those costs have not been figured in.


OSU estimates "Personal Expenses" to be $2452. That may sound like a lot, but it's about $60 a week. And, that's not just for off-campus eating....that's for day to day expenses, sodas from the vending machine, Starbucks coffee, clothing, shoes, movies, entertainment, dates, etc, and everything else a college student spends money on.