mom2collegekids

^^^

Are you instate for Kansas?

Do the scholarships cover all of tuition?

cptofthehouse

Astrojake, the way it works is that colleges look at the prior year's income and count it very heavily in determining financial aid. You can explain the situation to each financial aid director, and they can make their own professional judgement on the issue. and there is absolutely no telling how that will go. There is the category of a displaced worker, that puts such an employee's income level to what it would have been had current pay been what the prior year's pay was, but that is a federal designation, and in your case would at best have very little impact in terms of more financial aid. You still would not be PELL eligible, in other words.

You, as a freshman, can only take out $5500 on your own through Stafford/Direct loans, unless your parent gets turned down for PLUS, in which case you can borrow an additional $4K. THat can cover some local options and some schools like Kansas if scholarships are thrown in the mix and you and your family can come up with the rest. FOr schools that are running around $60K a year, the amount YOU alone can borrow is just a drop in the bucket. I don't know about RIce and NW specifically, but a lot of schools will throw in your Staffords as part of your aid package to meet the need as they define it , so often you don't even have that fallback to meet what is defined as your family cost. They may also have work study for you which could infringe on your working part time to meet some costs.

However, all of this is speculation. Go on a head and apply to some of these schools. RUn the calculators using both best case and worst case scenarios and see what they come up with in terms of what you can expect. But the most important thing for you to do, is to pick some school where you know you can get accepted, and that you can afford. Then you have someplace you are sure to be able to go if the money or acceptances do not pan out as hoped.

AstrosJake

I'd like to clear some things up.

When I talk about me taking loans out, I'm talking about my family. We're going to have to take out all loans for the first two years, not through me, but through my family. So I can take out more.

I've been talking with my parents. My dad is nearly 100% certain that in a couple of years he will be back to making over $200,000/year. That is what he used to make, that's what he's heading towards. College for me just came at a really bad time when our family's income completely tanked because of job switches. In a couple years, my dad WILL be able to contribute towards my education. And after I graduate, they will be helping me pay it off since they cannot pay for it right now. If I end up with $80k-$90k in loans (which is unlikely because my dad will be able to help in 2 years anyways), I'll get help paying it off. And no, my family will not be backed up because by that time, the only thing we'll have to pay off is the house. I won't get into details, but it's not like we're going to get backed up where when my dad makes $200,000 but he's putting most of it towards the previous years' expenses.

I'm not going to settle for a mediocre engineering school just because my family is in trouble right now. It will all play itself out, $$ in the end won't be as much of a problem as I believe you guys think it is. Of course, I won't be taking out $30-40k a year and leave school $120k+ in debt. I will probably end up with over $60k. But as I said, I will be receiving help paying it off.

Anyways, I've come to notice a reoccurring theme of negativity with a few of the users on this website. If I come up with a possibility of something I can do, I don't want to get immediately shut down blatantly. If it doesn't seem realistic, try to help make it realistic. It seems like some people don't realize that at this point in my life, this is the most important and monumentous decision I've had to make thusfar. Because of finances, this process has induced on me the most stress I've ever encountered by far. And I've experienced a ton of personal stress, so I know what stress is. But this takes it to a new level. It's not because I am absolutely clueless, it's because I just care that much. So, I don't want to be apprehensive of posting ideas or questions on here. I want help with what I'm doing. I don't want to be told that what I want is not possible. Telling me that an idea that I come up with is completely unrealistic is not helping, it just induces more stress. If there's something that I come up with that you really don't think is possible, tell me something I can do to help me step towards that goal. It really seems like most of the responses I get on here are blatantly honest. Honestly is a good thing (of course I don't want to be lied to), but I would like to be shown a little more compassion for the amount of stress I have been under throughout this entire thing. The college process is stressful for any student. But a student that has to make a decision based on finances brings it to a completely new level.

Don't take this as me not being appreciative of everyone's help. I appreciate all the help and feedback that people have given to me on here. I just don't want coming on here to add stress.

cptofthehouse

Depending on your paren'ts' credit, loans may not be available. You can borrow up to the Stafford maximums on your own each year. You parents' have the PLUS program, and they can apply for those loans, but if they have outstanding debts, they will be turned down. Private lenders also look at credit histories and their terms for the loans depend on your parent's since you are too young to have much of one.

So, as I said earlier, go on ahead and apply to where ever you choose and explain your situation to the fin aid folks at each school and see what they decide. But at the end of the road, you should also have some safety options just in case things do not work out. In the last 5-10 years things have not worked out well financially for a lot of families and many kids have made college decision different from what they would have made had things been flush with their families. There is no guarantee that things are going to get better for any of us, and it might be the gracious thing for you to do, not to have this additonal loan repayment burden on your dad's back.

The negativity is because too many kids and paernts we have seen have taken the same route you are, and are in deeper trouble than ever. Had they not taken large school loans, they would have a lot less pressure on them. SChool loans cannot be discharged even for bankruptcy and can impede a person's ability to get a job, loan, business opportunity, A lot of the private loans are not even discharged upon death as they are cosigned and both parties remain on the hook. A very close friend of mine has been so cornered due to the loans she signed with her daughter that neither of them can repay. She can't refinance her mortgage with past due payments on the loan, can't get money for her business and her Daughter can't get a place to live that requires a creidti report and the same for a job.

These are real consequences to real people.

noname87

Have you considered a gap year? That way, the college will only see the lower salary. It also means less loans and less interest. Might not be your ideal answer but you did ask for options.

Erin's Dad

Feel entitled much? Have you heard of ABET accreditation for engineering programs? Accredited Program Search All the programs listed meet the same criteria for teaching engineering, and graduates from all those institutions make about the same within similar fields.

mom2collegekids

Erin's dad is right.

I live near a univ that isn't ranked that highly at all. However, it is known for having a strong College of Eng', even if its CoE ranking isn't that high (Academic strength can be about 40% of ranking...other factors influence ranking).

All of their eng'g disciplines are ABET accredited.

ABET:

Accreditation is an assurance that the professionals*who serve us have a solid educational foundation and are capable of leading the way in innovation, emerging technologies, and in anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public.

Anyway...the eng'g students there get a good eng'g education, they have close access to co-ops (because the school is located in the second largest research park in the nation), and the graduates go right into well-paying jobs.

At this school, if you have strong stats, you get a generous merit scholarship.

The kids at this school are not settling for a mediocre experience...at all.

dodgersmom

(1) As noted above, there is no such thing as a "mediocre engineering school." Any school that's ABET-accredited is going to be fine.

(2) The suggestion above to take a gap year is a pretty good idea. The timing on your dad's $100k salary sucks, because that's what colleges will see when they consider your eligibility for aid. Take a year off, and the salary they'll see is the $55k/year.

Your other option is to look at schools that offer automatic/guaranteed scholarships based on your GPA and SAT/ACT score. Your family income won't be considered at all.