<p>Regarding a comment above about having saved money for years if the family income is $200K+, unfortunately, and my big beef with the EFC, is that it DOES NOT take into account how long the family has been making that. I recently finished grad school and for the past two years we are making very good income. I am not at all arguing that we can’t afford to pay a good chunk of our child’s private school tuition, however, the EFC does not (nor does the school) take income account that we haven’t been at that income very long. It is, in fact, assumed we can pay it from current income, regardless of lack of savings.</p>
<p>I do agree with the above statement. My current income of 65K was 40K in 2000. Nobody cares about that either. It would be nice if you could send that paper that the Social Security sends you each year showing your income since the day you started working.</p>
<p>Why do you say BC isn’t worth $30,000 more per year than Rutgers?</p>
<p>L’ll Wayne wrote:</p>
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<p>It’s pretty hard sitting on the other side of the table. Making money, for the vast majority of people, is very, very hard. When other provide everything for you, it is sometimes hard to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes to generate the income. And high income jobs can be tenuous in a downturn.</p>
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<p>Perhaps he can’t. Your parents have done a pretty good job so far, right?
Can you give them the benefit of the doubt here?</p>
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<p>I don’t know what state you’re in but taxes can take out a good chunk of
your income. Do you have a mortgage on your house? Car loans? As a
prospective finance major, it might be useful drawing up an income statement and balance sheet for your household. Or taking a look at your family’s monthly budget.</p>
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<p>Life is tough. And you hear about how tough it is in this thread.</p>
<p>Perhaps you’ve heard about town-gown issues. These are usually conflicts between the people that live in a college-town and students. Resentment can build up between the local populace and the students due to student behavior but it can be exacerbated by wealth differences between the students and the residents. Yes, it can be jealousy, but it’s there nonetheless.</p>
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<p>What is wrong with that? Let’s say that it takes $80K in salary to put $50K in his bank account to pay for your tuition. You’re asking for 40% of your household’s income. Is this reasonable to the rest of your family?</p>
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<p>Your household is in the top 1% of income earners so it looks like your parents are sharper than 99% of the rest of the parents out there in that category. Presumably he’s done a good job raising you and he may know more about you, economic prospects and the family finances than you do.</p>
<p>If he doesn’t think that $50K x 4 for a finance degree is worth it, perhaps he has objective justification for that view.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, computer science degrees were hot. And then there was the tech bubble bust. So kids stopped going into CS programs. And then there was outsourcing so kids stayed away from CS and engineering programs. Besides the fact that they’re tough programs. And accounting was hot because of the market compliance requirements from the market bubble. So lots of kids have been piling into business schools for six years. And guess what? There’s a shortage of computer science grads now.</p>
<p>The subprime mess has probably reduced the demand for certain business major graduates. Perhaps your dad is thinking about that. </p>
<p>In general, there’s noone else more concerned for your success (besides yourself) than your parents. I talk to parents on the other side of the table
where their kids want a much more expensive education than their parents
want to pay for. And believe me, they can complain about their kids as strongly as kids complain about their parents.</p>
<p>That said, BC is a wonderful place. They spent a ton of money in the 80s and 90s rebuilding and I think the place looks beautiful. Most of the kids attending probably come from well-to-do backgrounds given the economics of the place. The school has vibrant alumni relations. And they’re going to be embarking on a new building program with eye-popping figures. All of those nice buildings, the great landscaping, the services, etc. cost money. Even though those niceties don’t necessarily contribute directly to learning.</p>
<p>I sometimes suggest this to parents in this situation: offer your son or daughter a fixed amount for college. If they come in under the amount, you give them the remainder in cash when they graduate. Anything over the amount and they are responsible for it. It’s kind of like Medical Savings Accounts - you pay more attention to costs if you’re actually paying for them.</p>
<p>My suggestion is a heart-to-heart talk with your dad.</p>
<p>30k per year is 120k over four years. To amortize 120k over 10 years at 6% interest would be 1330 per month after taxes (figure 1650 per month before taxes.</p>
<p>Do you really think that BC will yield you a job that pays $20,000 per year more than Rutgers?</p>
<p>BCEagle, do you have any info regarding CSOM? Like, do you know people who graduated from CSOM? How are their job placements and salaries? Or do you know people currently at CSOM? How do they feel about the program?</p>
<p>Or anything else you might know about CSOM, please tell me</p>
<h2>Do you really think that BC will yield you a job that pays $20,000 per year more than Rutgers?</h2>
<p>Well in terms of starting salary, probably not</p>
<p>But in terms of future salary and job placement later on, I think it will</p>
<p>Where is your data to support that conclusion? According to the latest figures from Business Week, the average starting salary (also a proxy for future opportunities from Rutgers Business School is $52,500, while the average from BC is 51,000.</p>
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<p>I was a commuter so I didn’t make the relationships that those on campus made. I went to BU afterwards for an MSCS and have been working as an engineer for quite some time.</p>
<p>If you want to talk to an SOM grad, I’d suggest asking the admissions department to see if they can put you in touch with an alum in your area that you could talk to.</p>
<h2>Where is your data to support that conclusion? According to the latest figures from Business Week, the average starting salary (also a proxy for future opportunities from Rutgers Business School is $52,500, while the average from BC is 51,000.</h2>
<p>The starting salary from anywhere is basically the same or close</p>
<p>It’s basically in the same 50k-60k range for top schools</p>
<p>Plus not everyone responds to that survey</p>
<p>But BC should help me advance later on, no?</p>
<p>Again, where is the data?</p>
<p>The data shows starting salary</p>
<p>But starting salary is not very indicative of salary in the future</p>
<p>What’s the point of attending a better college then?</p>
<p>You tell me</p>
<p>BC has a great alumni network and I recall offers of service from their career center many years ago. They have a well done website where alums can post their work information. Other alums can then search for contacts by geography, industry, and other criteria.</p>
<p>BC provides a fair number of tools and resources but BC doesn’t help you advance after your first job. You have to plan your career and network to find opportunities. The resources are available to alumni via a web site and the career center.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could talk to your dad about career planning, networking, etc. as he may have some good guidance in these areas. I’ve spent hundreds of hours talking to my son about careers, college, how colleges work in terms of money, grad school, professors, administrative staff, etc. over the years.</p>
<p>I spoke to a gal today that graduated from USC some years back in a professional degree. With 130k in loans. She really buckled down so she could pay off the loans, it came to $1800 a month for 7 years. And her husband had school loans too. Luckily she has a good job. But think about it: 1800 a month for 7 years! Sounds a little crazy to me. No a lot crazy.</p>
<p>“What’s the point of attending a better college then?” LWF, you raised a very good question. I bet if you start a new thread with that question and it will attract a very heated debate.</p>
<p>First of all, how do you define “better”? Is a higher ranking school automatically "better " than a lower ranking one? What about the honor college within that lower ranked school?<br>
At then end of the day, I think that not everything could be measured by $$. Since each has their own value, you will get a wide range of answers.</p>
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BCEagle makes a good point. Maybe your dad came by this income level later in life and by hard work and cautious decisions. The fact that they are building a house when you are in high school tells me that they probably couldn’t afford to do it earlier when they really needed it. Believe me when I say that people who came from nothing are very protective of what they finally get. </p>
<p>The other point made by some posters was that your dad may not see $50K annual tuition as a shrewd business move, especially when there is no clear payoff. I can certainly see this as a possibility.</p>
<p>Anyway Lil<em>Wayne</em>Fan, try to move beyond this and do your best with options that your family can afford. If you can attend a school with an excellent premed reputation, go there, excell, and move on. :)</p>
<p>What is the income / asset cut-off where there is no realistic chance of getting any financial aid ?</p>
<p>"I was so very terrified when i applied to Creighton U in Omaha. I was sure i wouldn’t get it, nothing about my schooling is above average. I got a bad ACT and my GPA is terribly low. However i got it. I have an awesome admissions counselor though. She got them to accept me. And further more since i have a low-income single family home, and can’t work full time and go to college she had then revise, and re-revise my financial aide. I went from getting 14,000 a year up to 36,000 a year. It costs 40,000 a year to go there. </p>
<p>I suggest talking to your admissions rep about getting a revised financial aide package."</p>
<p>AJH2008:You mean the Counsellor in Creighton U? Do Admission office even get involved in the Financial Aid process, I didn’t think so?</p>
<p>I don’t know where it is but I did an FAFSA last year and our EFC was $80K. I make way less than Lil<em>Wayne</em>Fan’s household. I didn’t bother filling out an FAFSA this year but we’ll fill out the forms for scholarships from an invitation from the department.</p>
<p>One point that my dad brought up is that employers usually look at the last school you attended. If you only got a bachelor’s, then your undergraduate school matters, but if you got a master’s or Ph.D., then it is the second or third school that matter. Where you get your highest degree is the most important school. So, if you are looking at an education beyond undergraduate, save the money and look higher for graduate school.</p>