Trust me, i know alot about OT I did over three years of volunteer work at an Occupational Therapy facility working with autistic children. I really feel it’s my calling.
And honestly my parents are so shady about telling me how much money we have, but I feel like they know we won’t get any aid so maybe we have alot…? @blossom
Well…if your parents have a high income, they just might not qualify for any need based aid…and maybe they know that. If they competed a FAFSA for your sister, they would know.
Or…are they paying her full cost of attendance? That might be another indicator that they’re income is sufficient,y high that need based aid would not be forthcoming.
But really…what is doing with older sister? Did they do the FAFSA for her? Of so, they know their FAFSA EFC for this year anyway.
Your $30,000 budget is a good one. It just won’t pay the full price for you to attend at all of the colleges you applied to.
I do hope you included affordable options on your application list.
I only scanned the thread, but I don’t think it would kill you to attend your state flagship. If I recall correctly, UNH isn’t ranked as high as UMass anyway, and you’d probably still be able to go into occupational therapy without having explicitly majored in the discipline.
A 2180 SAT is great, but don’t delude yourself into thinking that it makes you a shoo-in for schools like Tufts and Yale because it doesn’t. You might stand out at your respective high school, but you’ll be competing against tens of thousands of other qualified applicants. In that same vein, some of those qualified students will end up at their state schools as well, so it won’t be like you’re the only person who opted to save money by staying in-state (if you’re planning on going to grad school, it’s a good idea to).
Here, I googled the requirements for a Masters in OT at a particular school for you: http://www.bu.edu/academics/sar/programs/occupational-therapy/ms/. I’m pretty sure you can take stuff like Statistics and Human Anatomy at virtually * any * institution. It’s not like medical schools will only accept applicants who have majored in pre-med, for example.
From what I’ve seen here, I think you’re squarely at the top of the bell curve. Good luck!
Trust me, i don’t think i’m a shoo-in at all. I’ve done my research and I know that a 2180 is still below average for ivy leagues and very average for tufts.@halcyon77
@Tkat97 – I think it betrays a poor attitude on your part to label your parents as “shady” – (Post #100) - it’s far more likely that they really don’t know what they can afford from year to year – you’ve already posted that both are self employed. (“dad is a self-employed software designer and my mom’s computer consultant”). It’s very possible that their income fluctuates substantially from year to year – which wreaks havoc on their ability to plan, and also makes it very difficult to predict the amount of need based aid they could qualify for. Maybe, for example, they made more money than usual in 2014 - but perhaps they used some of that money to pay off debts incurred in other years, and they have no guarantee of bringing in as much in 2015.
It also isn’t about how much money they “have” – self-employed people need to keep more on reserve for the future, because they don’t have a guaranteed paycheck coming in. They also don’t have employer-provided benefits – no employer contributions to a 401K, no employer-paid health insurance, etc. And it is difficult to predict how private colleges will treat their income - for example, your parents may be able to write off some of the costs of travel to their clients as business expenses on their tax return, but the colleges may add that back in when evaluating them for purposes of financial aid.
My guess is that your mom is feeling very conflicted about the whole thing – she would love to support your dreams but is probably also very worried about finances as well as cognizant of the fact that your education could potentially be taking a disproportionate share of family resources, as compared to your siblings.
I also think that you are probably provoking family tensions unnecessarily - based on your posts on chances threads I don’t think you are particularly likely to get admitted to Yale or Tufts. Your stats simply aren’t compelling enough, given the low admissions rates of those schools. Northeastern is a real possibility and I wish you luck there- a combination of merit money and possible income from co-ops might also make that school affordable for you.
If your parents are wiling to fill out the FAFSA & CSS Profile for you, the you should thank your lucky stars because there are plenty of students on this board who aren’t so lucky.
And then stop worrying about it. If you get admitted to Yale or Tufts, you can have the discussion with your parent about finances based on the information available at that time. By then they will probably also have completed their tax returns for 2014 and may have a much better idea of where they stand financially.
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with parents maintaining an equal budget for each kid, even if the kids are not all the same caliber of student. When you’re the parent, you love them all, and you want to give each of them an equal upbringing. You also want them to know that they were treated equally. The colleges don’t love them all the same, of course, so if one kid is truly a significantly better student, and wishes to upgrade his options, that kid needs significant merit aid. Loans in the student’s name, and earned income (earned by the student) are two other variables that are within the student’s control.
It can be a significant source of family discord if one kid claims to deserve more money. When parents of three can make it financially possible for all to attend the state flagship, they are doing more than most. There can be emotional subtexts to these discussions. Competition within a family, for resources and recognition, is not always driven by abject need. Nor is it always pursued in a spirit of fairness and respect for others’ needs and limitations.
FWIW, UMass Amherst has always seemed like a generally stronger school than UNH. OP, don’t get caught in the trap of assuming that out-of-state is always better than in-state. It may be for your particular program. I can’t speak to that. But many kids assume that further away is better, and that’s not inherently true.
I thought this student was instate for Rhode Island. The sister is attending UMass. This is the same sister who was told she could not attend BU or NEU due to the costs. It’s not like the family is playing favorites here. This older sister was a fine student and got herself two great acceptances that she was unable to accept due to cost. So she is at UMASS.
The family will have two students in college next year. As someone who has been in that position, it is costly…almost regardless of where two are going to college. Plus…they have a third child who is currently 14.
To the OP, you have an acceptance already to UNH…is that going to end up,being affordable? If your end goal is a MSOT, then you need to look at what you need to do to prepare yourself for those masters programs.
You could do the required prerequisite courses for an OT program at URI (instate) or UMASS (New England rate). These would be half or less than the costs to attend Tufts or BU or Yale.
Folks are weighing in on Tufts and Yale. I’ll weigh in on BU. If the Sargent School for OT takes Dorect admit undergrads, it will be a challenging admit. It is one of THE top OT schools in the country. If it’s not direct admit to tje MSOT program, there is no guarantee you will be accepted when the time comes.
Hopefully you have cast. Broad net which includes affordable options for your family. If so…you will be fine.
Just so you know
@calmom, my original posting for tufts has not been updated. My scores are 630 math, 760 reading, and 790 writing.
Aside from math, those are above average for tufts.
And my mother is not self employed, i said on the thread she’s a computer consultant at Amica.
I don’t believe Tufts uses the writing score for admission purposes. Your CR/math total is 1390/1600. That is what they will use.
It’s a great CR/Math score…but not a stand out for Tufts…or Yale.
Welp guess i’ll forfeit i’ll hope then. @thumper1
Ypu just apply and hope for the best. Many students apply to reach schools…you never know!
As long as you have an affordable school with an excellent chance of admission, you are fine. I’m unclear whether UNH is actually affordable. If it is, you are all set with a good safety school, in case the others don’t work out.
Test scores won’t get you in,Tkat97 – it’s the whole package. I was actually paying a lot more attention to your class rank – great for most schools but not impressive for the elites. Does your school have Naviance?
I don’t know enough about Tufts admissions to predict results, but I think it’s a reach for you, and Yale’s a real long shot.
Maybe you’ll get lucky and maybe you’ll get in, but it’s not worth arguing with your parents over at this point.
My kid went to an elite school. But she knew when she started that she wasn’t going to any out of state private school without generous financial aid, and so the discussion about which school didn’t take place until after all acceptances and all financial aid packages were in, sometime in mid-April.
@calmom and if you looked at my OP my class rank is actually 7/256. There was an issue that was resolved mid-september and everyones rank was recalculated. I know in another post I had listed it at as 18/256. I just feel like you’re trying to crush my dreams lol.
You need to be conscious of debt and just finances in general. You need to prioritize certain aspects of your future - to many, the “college experience” is important while others merely see college as a means to an end (with that end being XYZ career). There’s nothing wrong with wanting to attend a private, elite school. You have proven yourself to be a hardworking and bright student, so you have every right to want to live the next four years of your life in an environment where you are surrounded by other bright, hard working students.
However, smart kids are like weeds - they’ll grow wherever they’re planted*. You’ll do well wherever you go so long as you maintain the proper attitude. BU and Northeastern don’t have remarkably high yields; which means that students turn them down pretty frequently. I imagine that more kids turn down BU and NeU because of financial reasons rather than turning them down because a more elite school admitted them. UNH, UMass, URI, UConn, etc are full of kids who had to settle for affordability in lieu of prestige but are nevertheless bright just like you (if not brighter!)
Good luck.
*People don’t “plant” weeds but you get the point, lol.
Tkat97, dream all you want. You titled this thread, “Am I being a spoiled brat…?” Based on the attitude of entitlement manifested in your posts, you are doing a pretty good job of convincing me what the answer to that question is.
IF you get into Yale, you will have something to discuss with your parents.
IF you get into Tufts, you will have something to discuss with your parents.
Until then, if you expect them to sacrifice to fund an education for you then you might do better to show your parents more respect and appreciation.
It seems to me that your parents are being generous if they are willing to fund UNH, paying out-of-state tuition. If so, you already have your answer as to how much they are willing to pay. (You said that’s $30K)
I apologize. This is an extremely stressful process for me, plus I have schoolwork to get done for tomorrow that is also contributing to my frustration. But I shouldn’t be taking it out on the people on this thread.
I do not think I’m entitled to an elite college education, and I applied to RIC and URI as safety schools.
I also am humble about my achievements and I know that i’m nothing special compared to other kids applying to ivy leagues and mini ivies, trust me i’ve spent a considerable amount of time on college confidential.
My dad is a lot more willing to get the fasfa done than my mom who literally just screams at me and tells me to stop bothering her when I bring up college. I wish I was exaggerating.
I know that i’m most likely not getting into Tufts, which I’m in denial about, and denial makes people angry.
I applied to Yale when I got my latest SAT score just because I was so thrilled and wanted to apply to an Ivy league. It really didn’t make any sense, and I know it’s a huge reach.
I’m most likely going to UNH. I sat down with my dad and he said for my sister, they borrowed $20,000 and took out a $6,000 loan in her name. So that’s how we’re able to afford it.
I guess they’ll do the same for me.
Thanks for everyone’s help.
Wow. Lots of great advice here. Don’t want to beat a dead horse, but:
Navigating FA is complicated and a FAFSA should always be filled out.
NPCs are a good way to get a rough idea of the costs based on your family’s financial situation. Can’t understand why your mom is anti NPC. It should be done for all colleges being considered so the conversation about what schools are affordable can begin.
“Sticker price” is not always the price that you will pay. Colleges discount a lot. I know this is a generalization but that’s why the NPC is a decent estimator.
Curious: does your HS offer a Financial Aid Night? These are very helpful sessions. Our HS does this and it’s helpful.
Since it’s now early January, FAFSA should be a high priority. Most colleges want this by mid-Feb.
Btw, the New England regional discount depends on the intended major not being offered at the home state publics and the host college being willing to engage in the program, for that major. For RI residents, the only discounts for OT are offered at UNH (beginning senior year and grad school) and Worcester State (masters.) And it only saves about $2800 at UNH. In order to make it work for, say, Umass Amherst, it would again need to be based on a major not offered in the home state. There are also $ breaks when one lives within a radius of the target out of state/OOS school and it’s actually closer than a state school. But UMass-A is just outside that. UMass-Boston has, I believe, OT and is within the radius. BUT, URI is closer. (You’d need to plug in your actual home address.)
Is the 20k loan for Sis for one year only, so far, or a cumulative? If she is still in school, it means they may need to borrow for her subsequent years. Without finaid, now you’re talking about adding loans for you. That could add up to 40-50k for next fall?
There’s so much we don’t know about who did what or got what $ - but if the parents are doing loans, this is a real case where they should be looking at aid- proactively.
You don’t mention whether you will qualify for financial aid. Sometimes, with financial aid, private schools can be more affordable than public. Schools like Harvard and Yale give substantial aid to families who make as much as $150K (used to be $180K, so check what it is now), with charges at 10% of that income. So Yale might be cheaper. Also check out a school like Clark University, an excellent school that gives merit aid.
Hope you can wait and see what actual costs will be at every school you apply to. That said UMass’ Commonwealth College is a really excellent program.
Yale College has less than 500 students out of 5.3K with household income in the 150-200K range.
OP, go to your state flagship, take any major that will qualify you for OT graduate program, get top grades, get internships and recommendations needed to get accepted into top OT graduate program. Negotiate with your parents that the money saved on your UG will go towards your masters. Beg your parents to help you submit FAFSA so that you will have the ability to borrow federal loans if needed. Be reasonable - do not bankrupt your parents and yourself to attend some private or OOS university. In 10 years nobody will care, even if it was Yale.