So all the decisions have come out, and my options have come down to University of Washington Seattle, University of Rochester, and University of California Berkeley.
Unsurprisingly, Berkeley awarded me with no financial aid. Only a $4k work study plan and $59k loan to pay for the rest, since I am out of state after all.
UW awarded me the Purple and Gold scholarship of $4.5k per year and $13k loan, out of a total $51.5k cost of attendance, leaving a $34 price tag (Out of state as well).
Rochester awarded me the International Baccalaureate scholarship for $12k per year and need based grant of $12.1k, a $4k work study, and $3.5k loan, which leaves a $31,600 price tag.
In terms of academics, Berkeley is obviously first by a long shot, followed by UofRoc and then UW.
In terms of which school I think I’d like to attend, it’s Berkeley by a long shot, followed by UW, then Rochester.
I have a twin sister going to college at the same time, with the same options as me, except she got waitlisted at Berkeley, which she will probably accept a spot on. My parents can probably only pay for a year of college for both of us upfront, the rest will have to be loans.
And I plan on going to grad school!
If anyone could give me any advice or insight on what I should do considering my options, that would be greatly appreciated…
I think paying upwards of $240K each for both you and your sister is a really bad idea. Did you apply to any in-state options?
You are both non-residents and California cannot financially fund you. You cannot take out those kinds of loans on your own. Those are parent loans. The problem is that your parents may not qualify for those kinds of loans with two kids going OOS to colleges.
You can’t borrow that much. You can borrow $5500 freshman year, and slightly more each year after. Even if your parents cosign for loans, it would be tough to qualify and ill advised to borrow so much. Honestly – I think a gap year and reapplying to affordable schools (like your own in-state publics) is your best option.
We did not apply to any in state colleges because we do not want to stay here for college…the University of Hawaii is not great, and a gap year isn’t really an option either
You need to understand that undergraduates are severely limited in the dollar amount of loans they can take out on their own ($5,500 to $7,500 a year in federal loans, e.g.). You can only go to places you can afford. My daughter got into Cornell, but she couldn’t go there because of lack of aid, and her father not wanting to spend $60,000 a year on a university when she got scholarships for nearly a free ride elsewhere. You, your sister and your parents need to discuss together what is affordable and realistic. Are these really all your options, or are there some that cost less? One of my daughter’s friends had to drop out of college after only one semester, because of costs. She and her parents didn’t think the financial side through very well, obviously, and it led to starting a university and then having to leave. You don’t want that to happen to you. I hope you have some more affordable options, or that your parents have more resources than they let on.
Then, why didn’t you apply to private OOS colleges that do fund OOS students?
You applied to OOS public state universities that don’t have money nor fund non-residents (UCB/UW). You received federal funds but you aren’t eligible to receive California state funds, which is where the majority of the in-state funding comes from.
@“aunt bea” I know my options are pretty limited…I will talk with my parents about it more and my college counselor too, and update here in case anyone else is in the same situation.
You say that taking a gap year isn’t an option, but it may be your only option. You have 3 schools you cannot afford to attend. You need to have another plan.
You could try to apply to some of the WUE exchange schools (although some have limited acceptances under that program so you might have to wait until next year to get the good tuition rates). You can look at the list of schools that comes out in May that still have spaces. Or you could just start researching schools that are still taking applications. What are you studying? Do you want to go to the same school as your twin? How about Utah or NM or some of the other WUE schools?
To anyone looking at the previous thread mentioned in #8: that thread is six years old. The grants given to the OP in that thread are no longer available for OOS students.
You can’t leave Hawaii to go to college if you can’t pay the bill. And… you can’t. It doesn’t do any good to go for one year. You will just have to come home at the end of the year. Agree that the WUE suggestion is a good one.
My parents can probably only pay for a year of college for both of us upfront, the rest will have to be loans.
<<<
[/QUOTE]
THIS is the problem! Your parents think that you and twin can borrow for the last 3 years of college. They probably don’t realize that THEY would have to cosign all those loans. And that may mean that they might let you go that first year, and THEN when they find out about the need to cosign, say that you both must come home because they can’t/won’t cosign.
I would think it’s safe to say that 99% of parents will not cosign $300k+ of loans for their kids.
You have high stats, but probably applied to the wrong schools. Gap year seems like the best option. OOS cost for any UC is hardly justifiable, especially if family needs to borrow money.
So, how much do your parents have total for your college? 30k saved up for all 4 years?
YOU cannot borrow for three years of college. Your parents would have to, and they wouldn’t be eligible to borrow the cost of three years for each of you two.
URochester is the most affordable, relatively speaking. BTW it’s just as good as Berkeley. But do your parents have 31k for you per year, plus what it’s take to pay for your sibling wherever s/he goes?
If they don’t, here are your choices
take a gap year, apply to a list of affordable schools based on the NPC
wait for the list of colleges that miscalculated yield published around May 5th.
^^^ MYOS’s last bullet-point - there will be privates that still accept applications - and likely still giving money. End result may not be a net price below 20k/yr but you can at least look.
also, going to school in HI needs to still be on the table in the event you just can’t afford anywhere else. Take all this advice and don’t go into massive debt (for you and your twin AND your parents)
I don’t think of will be able to go into massive debt. No bank will loan full costs, for two children at once, for three years. If OP and his/her twin use up their parents’college money over just one year, they will have to go home with out a degree.
What do you and your twin want to study? Find a way to make your in state work for UG. You can go elsewhere for graduate school. Your stats possibly could have provided you with better financial options had you been more selective (applying to more affordable schools where merit would have been bigger and brought your out of pocket lower). A gap year could make it possible for you to go elsewhere a year later and also have you save up $$, but you cannot take any college classes to be a new incoming freshman eligible for a new student award.
If your parents are only paying for one year, I would go to community college near home on student loans for a couple years, then spend the parent tuition money on upper level classes rather than on intro and general education classes.