I just want to make it clear that I’m not trying to discourage you from applying. You should apply to like 8-10 schools no matter what. I just want to make sure that you fully understand what it’s going to be like getting loans, especially private loans. If you have to take out even 50k in private loans each year to cover Expensive tuition+dorm - gov’t loans - grants, you could end up paying almost double your initial loans by the time you’ve finished with a 15 year loan. Sure you might be able to pay it off faster, but you have to think about if it’s worth the gamble. In addition, interest rates on loans tend to be higher if you don’t have a cosigner. If your parents aren’t helping pay, will they cosign?