CheckersMidwest

Anyone else notice that the original poster hasn't been back ?! Probably ran screaming, especially since they are new.

OP: Check your message box for a note from me. I'll be kind.

By the way, when we were first looking at college info, I didn't know students could get loans at all on their own. Especially if according to that darn FAFSA, they are not on their own. The original question didn't say anything about private loans, it was assumed.

I laugh at all the talk about going to state college. Because if you can't afford Ivy, then you MUST be able to afford state. ?!?!

lerkin

I wish I had your sense of humor. I will not be able to afford IVY for my son, but I will have no problem affording state flagship especially if my son chooses to stay home instead of dorming.

I think I understand what you are getting at. Students coming from low income families are better of in IVies then in state schools. But IVies are lotteries, and most non-IV private schools do not meet need and are supper expensive.

CheckersMidwest

Closest state school is 90 miles away for us. Staying at home would be a great option for affordability otherwise.

I FEEL like we make decent money, but paying for $23,000 of school each year ourselves is not an option. It's loans, or nothing. Like a previous poster, We think it's better to GO to college and get an education for a better job and pay it back than not go to college and work where now? We all know a college education is essential. Some families have to take a different path to get there.

I was being sarcastic in my remark about MUST afford state colleges. I understood above posts to say that everyone could afford state colleges as an alternative to Ivy's.

Our state colleges offer very little to no financial aid unless you score above 30 on your ACT. period. Only 2 kids in my son's class did so. The rest are smart kids......and average. That makes just about everyone from his class private pay. Kids here don't go to Ivy's. Most of those kids did not get financial need based aid either. Paying for college around here is a big deal.

lerkin

Ok, I understand now where you are coming from. I agree it is hard in those areas, where there is no decent CC system and 4-year schools are too far away to commute.

annasdad

But there are many private schools where a kid with Ivy or near-Ivy stats will qualify for a huge merit award, making them more affordable than many state schools. Several of my D's classmates received full-ride or near-full-ride merit packages at schools ranked in the top 100 of LACs by USNWR (not that the ranking means anything but prestige, but prestige often correlates with sticker price).

lerkin

annasdad,

yes, you are right too. However, my question is: How far down the rank does the kid need to go to get that full ride merit aid?

annasdad

What difference does it make? Rankings are meaningless. And if a student fits a profile of the kind of kid a school is looking for, all bets are off anyway.

EDIT: But since you asked: one of her classmates got a full ride, less $3,000, to a school ranked in the bottom half of the top 10 national LACs. I do not know how much of the package was merit and how much was need.

lerkin

annasdad,

thanks for reply. I understand that rankings are more or less meaningless. I was just asking out of curiosity. My son just finished 9th grade and I more or less made up my mind that he is going to local flagship, because we will not qualify for any need-based aid. But sometimes I wonder if there are some good LACs (with good science curriculum) that will give him enough merit for him to attend it instead of flagship.

MomHappy

DO NOT co-sign for student loans, no matter what. I have heard many horror stories about co-signers. The vast majority of student loans can be sorted out without any co-signer. If they ask when applying for loans, simply say that is not possible.

Today with the economy in such poor shape, many college grads are working at Starbucks and Home Depot and can barely make ends meet. A graduate can extend their student loans for many years, if you co-sign you will not be provided this opportunity.

Here is some information worth reading:

Default Rates Rise for Federal Student Loans | U.S. Department of Education

mom2collegekids

"vast majority of student loans can be sorted out without any co-signer. If they ask when applying for loans, simply say that is not possible. "

I don't think it's possible anymore for kids to get student loans beyond federal ones without co-signers. Sallie Mae used to do it, but not anymore.

Yes, there are horror stories about co-signed student loans. In the last 2 days there's been a post from a student whose parents' credit is now in trouble because they co-signed for his older sister who has either been kidnapped/disappeared without any/many leads. Even life insurance wouldn't help in that case since she hasn't been ruled as deceased, and probably won't be until there's some evidence of that.

BobWallace

It all depends on stats. If you have stats good enough for "elite" schools, then you can get excellent merit aid somewhere.

My oldest just went through the college process this year, and the most "elite" school where she got in was Vanderbilt. She had multiple full ride scholarships available due to NMF, but ended up winning and accepting a competitive full ride from a small LAC she loves. So in our case, small LAC ended up cheaper than state flagship.

lerkin

^^^
Yes, I know about the stats. Unfortunately as I already mentioned in some other threads my son has ADHD, which he does not control with medication due to side effects. He also does not have accommodations at his school as he is open enrolled in one of the best public HS in our state - you cannot be open enrolled if you receive special education services. As a result, he will be lucky if he has 3.5 GPA when he graduates. It is a struggle for him to keep his grades above B. He does take the most challenging curriculum at his HS and also takes more than full load (through a special program he got admitted to), but I don't think it will matter for scholarships.

We don't know yet what his test scores are going to be. Right now his SAT scores range range from 560 (W) to 700 (M) - definitely not scholarship material. Hopefully he will improve.

I pretty much resigned to the thought that I will be paying full freight at our local flagship. With AP credits and math classes he is already taking there, he will have at least one year covered there by the time he graduates from HS. So, hopefully I will only be paying for just 3 years.

cptofthehouse

Lerkin, it can really depend on the schools that you research. I know some young men with your son's stats who got $30K awards or half or more tuition awards at private schools like Fairleigh Dickinson, Iona, Widener,etc. Now that still left more than $25K to pay out of pocket, which is close to what many state school if your kid goes away, will cost. However, those schools might be a better environment for your son. I have had two (one still there) at good state schools, and the bureacracy and the fact that there are simply so many kids there, make it so that the kids do have to be proactive about a lot of things that might be better covered at a smaller private. My son who did go to a small LAC had classes and get togethers at professors' homes, and if a kid did not show up to class for a couple of days, he is liable to get a knock on the door from someone at the school going above and beyond in terms of finding out what is happening. Everyone knows everyone else's business is what my state school son said upon visiting his brother, and he was just amazed at how insular and non private things were there. He was used to a school where you did not know the vast majority of the students, staff, etc.

My dear friend had 3 in college at the same time, and for her it came down to about a wash between going to state schools and paying full sticker or going to privates and getting some money, either through financial aid or scholarship, and that's what a lot of familiies find.

I can tell you that my one son had below average test scores and slightly above average grades, and did get some "discounts" from some smaller Catholic schools where "a good man is hard to find". He could have commuted tuition free at a local private option. The state school did not offer him a dime, and his brother who had nearly perfect SATs, was offere a mere $2500 in merit money from that same state U, so it wasn't as though the lack lustre test scores cost him a whole lot in that venue.

Look for schools that do have good support systems. By the way, Fairleigh Dickinson, I believe is such a school, as Indiana U of Pennsylvania, from what I have gotten from parents whose kids were in
the same sort of situation as yours. Honestly, I think you will have a wide range of options for about the same cost as your state school, and it will be a matter of what school will best fit your kid's social needs and still have the academic courses for his interest.

BobWallace

There are LACs where ~1300 SAT and 3.5 GPA merits a good scholarship that might bring cost in line with a state school at full price.

mom2collegekids

^^^

Right, but sometimes the problem is that people can't afford what their State U COA is.

I was talking to a student who had been offered enough merit to U San Diego to bring the cost down to a UC....about $30k per year. Fine...except the family couldn't afford a UC, either....and would have to co-sign most of the $30k per year. Getting cost down to a state univ only works well if that is your target budget.