I would again advise you to consider a gap year if UR is not feasible.
(Have they written back?)
A 34 is worth a lot of scholarship money that evaporates the minute you enroll in a college course (even a community college class taken after graduation.)
Oh I just realized, I skipped like a page of comments when checking the thread yesterday morning, so I’ll reply to them now
@HRSMom post#535
1). Balance is 63,000 for UCB 50,000 for UW and 70,000 for UR.
Sounds like UCB= only 4K aid (work study) = 59k COA…it’s out.
UW = 4.5k Scholarship = 45.5k COA (UW did not give me work study as part of the package, but on the FA website did suggest part time jobs at the school). I currently work around 16 hours per week, which is perfectly manageable, so I think I would be able to manage similar work schedule in college as well, and make 4k during the school year = 40.5k COA
UR= 12k scholarship, 12k grant, 4k work study = 42k COA
2). You can each take 27k in student loans over your 4 years. First year is 5500 each. So XXXX minus 5500 each. What is that?
UW=$35,000
UR= $36,500
- I’m subtracting 6k for each of us from mom’s fund. She says she will withdraw it and is making plans to do so
UW=$29,000
UR=$31,000
- divide that number by 12. That is the monthly payment to the school.
UW= 2,400/mo
UR= 2,580/mo
Not including travel fees, or my and my sister’s savings.
5). Now show dad. He’s returning on Friday. I spoke with him on the phone again and brought up FA again, says he will try his best to get me our net salary per month/per year by tomorrow but it might have to wait until he gets back. According to mom, we should be able to pay $3000 per month out of salary. That means he would still have to take out loans to pay for both my sister and I, but I think the amount is more manageable than the 300k amount that was being thrown around earlier.
@ everyone who suggested I take the AP calc/statistics exam…LOL…no way I’d pass. Furthest we went in math for calc was differential equations, and for stats was chi squared regression/2 sample T test. IB math dabbles in too many topics to have specialized in any.
I don’t understand why anyone was suggesting you take that exam anyway. It’s too late to help with admissions – and it is generally not a good idea to try to bypass a difficult college course after self-studying for an AP exam, particularly in STEM fields – you really need to have a strong foundation. This is particularly true with math.
I mean, if you just want to pick up more college credit in the hopes that you can graduate in a shorter time… self-study the easy stuff. My daughter literally spent 1 hour in prep for AP Language/Comp – and I think she scored a 5. All she did was review vocabulary. The way you write and express yourself I think you would find that just as easy, if you haven’t already taken that exam. That was an easy 3 semester units of credit for my DD.
AP Psych was another easy one – my DD had one semester of the 2-semester AP Psych course, but I bought her a review book and read it myself and it seemed very straightforward - so no problem acing that exam with minimal prep. But then again, having scored a 5 on the AP exam, she found herself in over her head when she convinced a prof to allow her to direct enroll in an advanced psych course her first semester at college – not because the material was too difficult, but because she had to learn the hard way that college expectations on a midterm are much higher than what is required to pass exams in high school.
^no 4, I don’t think that is the monthly payment to the school, because the initial cost numbers were based on full COA which includes billled costs and non billed costs.
Instead figure current tuition (sometimes engineering costs more and financial aid award might only include general tuition amount), fees, most likely room and meal plan choice (double room residence hall, 14 meals a week, etc) = billed costs
then subtract any scholarships (free money, what is GPA needed to keep?)
don’t subtract the work study/campus job earnings because you have to first find a job and earn the money as a paycheck during the semester.
then figure what the total billed costs minus scholarship is for each school.
then add up parent contribution, $26,000?
then figure student contribution, student loan and summer earnings $8,000?
Then figure $1,000 for books, $50 a week or so of spending money (campus job earnings can pay for that), and travel costs for each school ($600 RT Seattle, $1,000 RT Rochester).
$50 a week fpe spending money is WAY too much. In my opinion a student should be able to make do with $50-75 a month for personal expenses - their choice if t’s for beer, toothpaste, or pizza.
My sister and I were planning to get the cheapest meal plan anyway and cook together for meals- we are petite girls who really do not need an all-you-can-eat meal plan.
The total cost of attendance for each school included transportation, meal plans, room/board, tuition, and books, but I will redo calculations tomorrow I guess.
I’ll catch some sleep now, it’s past 2AM in Hawaii and I’ve been working on a film study for class.
@Calmom I’ll consider that, since I’m taking IB HL psych anyway, and English is one of my strongest subjects, thanks 
Also payment plans for a school might only have 9 or 10 payments and first payment might be due before first bill.
Some schools require a minimum meal plan if living in residence hall.
And you might not be able to cook.
Yes, schools provide estimates for travel, books, etc in their COA but that might not reflect your situation, and you don’t pay those expenses to the school.
Just tuition, fees, room, board
$50 a week $1500 a year spending money was just an estimate. It includes laundry money, shampoo etc, the occasional meal out, snacks.
The COA probably gave an even higher number than I did. Any leftover money can be saved. And it can be paid with the campus job earnings.
As an engineering major you might want to limit work to around 10 hrs a week.
On payment plans, my son’s school (big state U) the budget plan has 4 payments/semester. 1st is just before the beginning of semester, then a payment each of next 3 months. No 12 month plan available. YMMV of course. So if you started to accumulate $3k each month starting in May, you might be able to make it work starting with August payouts. You’d need to front load the saving
Yes, as @mommdc says, the COA includes all the cost. So don’t double count your expenses. Those extras they add in for COA can be 2-4K more than tuition room and board, and sometimes are inflated.
Don’t feel pressured to report back the amounts from dad here. If he sees the amounts and walks you through how he will pay, and you know in the end what you will be left with in loans and earnings requirements, that is enough. (I certainly don’t think we should push a grown man to prove his plans out on CC to strangers! 
I don’t think 50-75 a month is enough spending $. Some kids are extremely frugal and bring everything they will need to school. Others, esp those who live far away, must buy every Kleenex, water bottle, feminine product, hair/makeup etc item at school. So for budgeting, go to at least 30-40 a week. If you don’t need it, great. But don’t get caught short. And you can probably do 12-16 hours working per week. (Overnight caregiver is a good job that pays well and you can sleep and study 2 nights a week!)
Listen: good luck to you. If this is doable, your dad will know. It sounds like he has sent your step siblings through school, so as someone said, it’s not his first rodeo! And if he wants to work to 70 to send you twins, then it is probably out of love and pride. Your mom found a good man, right? Give him a hug when the talk is over!
For example UW’s OOS tuition and mandatory fees for 2016/17 was $34,791.
Your FA award letter might have the numbers for 2017/18.
They estimate books and supplies at $825 (might be enough if renting books is possible)
They estimate personal expenses at $2,265 (kind of high)
And local transportation $414 (you know your exp will be higher).
2017/18 proposed rates for housing/ meals range from $6000-$9000 per academic year for double room, and $3000-6000 per academic year for meals.
I am not trying to nit pick, but to show that you might want to focus on the billed expenses and then add what fits your situation for travel, books, etc to arrive at a number of total expected costs for each school so you can compare.
https://www.rochester.edu/adengineeringbursar/RCFees16-17.html
U Rochester’s 2016/17 undergraduate A&S and engineering tuition and fees, and $9000 room, $5800 meal plan adds up to $65,462 (I did not include $2460 health insurance).
2017/18 numbers will be higher of course.
Their payment plan has 4 pmts a semester ($25 per semester fee included above), Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov. And Dec, Jan, Feb, March.
So billed costs for UR for OP would be $65,462-$24,000 = $41,462
and for twin $65,462-$20,000 = $45,462
maybe UR will increase twin’s merit award since the girls had similar stats.
I agree with @hrsmom about limiting the financial details going forward. In my case it’s because I feel you shouldn’t share too much private info on the computer and I wouldn’t want my children giving out so much in the way of personal financial details - it isn’t so hard these days for someone to figure out someone else’s identity and don’t feel strangers need to have all the minutiae. You’ve received so much great information here from people and once your dad comes home I personally feel the rest of the decision making should be done privately. But of course do come back on and let us know what you decide!
Best of luck!
I agree with the others. Your budget should look something like this
DIRECT Costs
Tuition
Fees
Room
Board
NON Direct Costs
Books
Travel
Other
The direct is what you have to pay to the school, where scholarships, grants and loans are applied. Each school will have different payment plans but none will be 12 month options. As UW is quarterly, it may be on a quarterly payments system (it was when I went there and I know WWU is paid on quarters), research that. They may or may not offer monthly but if they do it will be on a 9 or 10 month schedule. For UR, if semester, it may have a monthly option, again, it may not. Often the monthly options come with a surcharge so build that in.
Non direct you will have more control over, direct is fixed. Research the room and meal plans, often freshman have a more limited selection and are “forced” into certain plans so make sure when you pick the cheapest option, it will actually be available to you.
4K, in my opinion is more than you can reasonably earn during the school year. You will have winter breaks and finals. I would plan on a more reasonable $2500 during the school year but perhaps have a goal of saving $3K over the summer by working full time. Bear in mind that that 3K may not be sustainable in later years if you are doing research or internships and that if the summer work is done not in Hawaii…you’ll have housing costs so it may be a net zero savings.
When I was in your shoes I worked 2 jobs in the summer, averaging 60-80 hours per week. While I don’t recommend it to anyone, it can be done if one wants something badly enough. It let me graduate from the UW with less debt than I’d have otherwise had.
I’d also confirm your mom’s 6K is not a one time thing, but an annual contribution, per twin.
I do think their books estimate is a bit low and would personally likely up it to $1000-$1200 for budgeting purposes. However, if you don’t uber, $414 on local transportation ($41 a month) is sufficient, we have a decent bus and train system and there is plenty that is walkable from campus.
Typically, on a “payment plan,” you divide what you owe the college by ten months. See what arrangements each college offers.
OP, try this, a different way to view:
Take UR tuition, room/bd, all mandatory fees-- I get 66246 (incl engineering fee, not inc health insur, assuming Tricare will pass, and fees that don’t apply. Used the basic RB the school shows. Does not include addl chem lab fees.) https://www.rochester.edu/adminfinance/bursar/RCFees16-17.html 2016-17
Minus 24.1k (grants) = 42,146 for you. 46,146 for sis. This is the minimum the school expects to receive from the family for both. The hard nut, the first unbendable dollar amount to consider.
42146 - 5500 student loan = 36746. For sis, who got 4k less in grants, 40,646. Total: $77,392.
Now, if Mom will kick in 12k of that, leaves $65,392 for two.
(Ime, if costs go up for 2017-18, the school will probably adjust the primary grant up a smidge- not always the full amount, but something.)
Sure, you can use current savings for the starter money- to get you there and back for the first big break, buy some clothes, first semester books, some fun with new friends, etc. I personally would allocate the 3k you have this way, to start, for these calculations.
You could offer your parents your summer earnings toward their “nut.” Even if that’s 3k each (maybe?,) that would mean, they need to come up with 59,492.
You have to start with the figures the school expects to receive. Later, you may find cheaper books, some cheaper flights, etc. Later, your work study checks start coming in, etc.
You may- or may not- get into a cheaper dorm with lower dining options.
I see now that this x-posts, but try it.
A college typically expects each semester payment in August/Sept and Dec/Jan. You can’t do back-end accounting (ie, by the end of the school year, you will have earned x in work study, to apply to bills.) You have to look at the front end. If you go on a payment plan, charges come due before you have earned all that work study.
I agree 4k in WS seems high. You also have to consider if the higher paying jobs on campus will be available to you or grabbed up by continuing students. It’s something no kid knows til they get there. Best usual case, WS covers personal and some misc, not core bills.
With a $20k parent contribution, it is rather unlikely that you can come up with the remaining $25k for your least expensive options, since federal direct loans are only $5.5k and your work earnings as a high school graduate are unlikely to be more than $3-5k. Meaning that the rest would have to be parent loans or parent cosigned loans, which are usually a bad idea when your parents do not really have the money.
When your father gets back, have a family talk about finances. Show the net prices of the schools and the realistic amounts you can contribute through federal direct loans and work earnings. The remainder would be what they need to come up with.
Basically, they need to clearly tell you what they can afford (instead of apparently giving bits and pieces that you are trying to piece together to guess what they can afford). Meanshile, you need to consider the very real possibility that they do not have an additional unknown-to-you stash of money that can cover your college costs without compromising their retirement. In this possibility, you need to look into lower cost options like UH or take a year off and work while applying to a merit-seeking list, and your parents need to realize that if their finances cannot send you to any of your three colleges, those are your options.
Note: agree with others that you need not share the details here. But you, your sister, and your parents all need to be on the same page with respect to both the college net prices and your parents’ ability to contribute, since it looks like that is not the case now.
I just wanted to jump in and say if you decide to take CC classes/calc over the summer PLEASE make sure you aren’t ruinning your FA. Will there be a problem when she starts at UW or whatever bc she wouldn’t be a new freshman?
You have to have the financial talk with you, twin, mom and dad. Talk FIRM numbers of 4 year annual contributions.
After that you can see whether there is a gap between the amounts UR and UW require and the FIRM scholarships and amounts your folks will contribute, as well as $5,500 in student loans per student for year 1.
If there is a gap between costs and available funding, as everyone has said repeatedly, you have to consider plan B–gap year while you work and reapply to schools known to award ENOUGH aid to students with your stats so you can afford with the funds your family firmly commits. Do NOT take any college or CC courses during that time or you will be a transfer and will not qualify for the generous aid packages if entering freshmen.
Another option for plan B is to apply and truly explore UH and see what WUE and National Student Exchange options fit your budgets, needs and desires.
A 3rd plan B option is to see if any OTHER Us will give you both sufficient merit at this late date, which will let you pursue your fields and be affordable.
UW isn’t offering any money, right? So that should be clear enough.