For undergraduate education, URochester would be at least as good as Berkeley or perhaps better because smaller classes/more support/great grad school prep (UR actually sends more students per Berkeley) and for the sciences it’s terrific.
The problem is that HELOC for 15k/year is risky. Your parents would be paying until they retire. However what it means is that they’d pay what they pay for college after the college years, probably for 20 years. So. For you, roughly, 25 years of paying. Can your parents handle that?
What worries me most is your sister.
Frankly for stats I’d attend UR at the undergraduate level and UW for grad.
(Note that academic graduate programs balk at admitting their own undergraduates because for better education and networking , ‘intellectual cross pollination’, being trained elsewhere for undergrad is essential. Therefore, she’d have better odds of getting into UW for graduate studies in stats from UR, than from uw.)
I think one strategy might be to contact UR financial aid and say that both of you are considering attending but costs are too high because ‘being twins, double the costs’, and your parents can’t afford it. Ask for professional judgement regarding affordability for both of you attending UR.
OP you need to look at this as a two phase solution. What you do Year one and then beyond has to be analyzed.
You misfired in your strategy of colleges you applied to. Cannot afford them.
WUE Schools like Western Washington could be your best bet a year down the road as your family could get an affordable off campus apartment to share between siblings and tuition under $10k each.
@MYOS1634 yes thank you I’ll pass along the info to my sister. She is still trying to find a way to make UW work but think she is going to realize financial reality soon.
And thank you I will definitely contact Rochester about increasing financial aid, I think there is a good chance they will reconsider if I explain the twin situation, high cost of living, and also my noncustodial parent out of contact/refusing to pay child support.
Oh but I just remembered another factor to take into consideration. My sister and I are both in the IB program, on track to meet the diploma, and taking three higher level classes (all the ones offered at my school)
UW offers 5 quarter credits for HL classes with scores of five or higher. I think I will definitely be able to make this in two of my HL classes, maybe all three if I study hard enough for biology. And if I earn the diploma like I am on track to, they award an additional 15 credits. That’s about 25 or 30 credits I can get at UW, so I would technically be entering as a sophomore.
Rochester however is less generous with IB credits and I would not be getting nearly as much credits (higher scores needed in exchange for general credits, none awarded for diploma)
The AP world history (score of 5) is worth elective credits at Rochester and general Ed credits st UW.
I can probably graduate in three years at UW instead of four. Would this affect which college is a better option?
Alright I’ll be back tomorrow to check for more info. It is late here in Hawaii and I have a ten hour shift tomorrow. Hopefully no one derails this post again while I’m gone for a few hours lol
Sounds like you’ve made progress with the discussions and although I see you mentioned Berkeley again because of your mom, hopefully she realizes that’s a “no way”. It’s already a stretch for the other two!!
What happens if sis decides that, with her stats major, she wants to teach hs math? That’s an unknown, but the income projection would be radically lower. Or you change majors?
And the sort of internship that would pay you well would depend on experience you won’t have for several years, would likely be summer only. Any work other than work study would not just take from academic time, but you’d need to get to it. WS is usually flexible about exam times, school vacations, etc.
Rochester may feed more kids to NYC, Boston, DC, but the point is that experience. Then you get a job in the west. Or you aim to find a summer job or internship in CA. The companies (and grad schools) in your field will know UR.
Also, before assuming about transfers, be sure fin aid is offered to those kids and at the level needed.
At this point, this is a numbers game. Whrn you look at bullets like graduating early, look at ‘worst case,’ too. Not just ideal. Life happens.
You have three great schools to pick from. Congratulations.
Now that you are accepted, the next step is to sit down with your family and come up with a plan to pay for it. The money will most likely pick where you go. It looks like Rochester is the cheapest option so that one might just be it. Plenty of students get accepted to schools that are just too expensive to attend. No shame saying you cannot afford it. You have to attend the school that you and your family can afford.
You can’t include WS money because you haven’t earned it yet.
Rochester COA = $68,500
Grants ($24k) + parent contribution from income ($15k) = $39k
Net cost = ~$29k x 2 kids = ~$60k/year
Student loans = ~$5500/year x 2 kids = ~$11k/year
Parent loans = ~$50k/year
Total loans over 4 years = ~$200k
I think borrowing against their home is a bad idea, especially when you and your sister have stats that will qualify you for decent merit at other schools. I’d keep looking for other options.
The problem that the OP is facing is that even the cheapest option (Rochester) is too expensive at around $47k (before loans and student work earnings) with parental contribution of $15k.
It is a family decision to take the debt, so I won’t comment on it other than to point out 1) my worry for you is that they may run out of borrowing capacity before you are done with your 4 years (and the house can’t be refi’d; and 2) if dad is the breadwinner and mom is a tigermom, can tiger mom get a job to pay for school now? is that feasible for her? I know it can be hard for non native Hawaii residents. But if she could make just $40k a year, after tax it would help tremendously, far more than you getting a paying internship during school. It sounds like she is ok with the debt piling up…but maybe doesn’t realize your family has untapped earning capacity?
So…what’s the matter with applying to UAH…NOW…where both you and your sister would get full tuition (I’m assuming her stats are at least as high as yours)?
Your $30,000 a year each budget would,easily cover what the full tuition scholarship covers at UAH…
I was just going to say that. It’s parents decision if they want to borrow against their house. Sure there are risks, but it sounds like they are aware of them.
Did anyone consider travel cost from HI to Rochester for 2 students multiple times a year and 4% per year price increases on $70K COA?
Did OP and her sister ever seen snow? Rochester has 7ft of snow average.
How “bad” is University of Hawaii and what are the exit opportunities for the top students graduating with high GPA in stats or engineering? How many credits do they give for IB program?
Our kid went to college 3000 miles from home. She came home for Christmas break…and the summer. That’s it. This student should not be expecting to fly home for ALL of the smaller breaks, or even spring break. Needs to make friends with kids more local.
And I still ask…what is the matter with an application to UAH…right now…where full tuition will be guaranteed?
Because graduate schools want to see as many advanced classes as possible + substantive research. Skipping some freshman seminars will allow the student to get to the advanced classes early, but she’ll be expected to use her 4th year to get more of those in order to be competitive for scholarships /fellowships at the graduate level. Then there’s the matter of developing a senior thesis, which is difficult before senior year, and to have articles / go to conferences, also difficult to do during sophomore and junior year if junior year is the final year of college. The process of preparing for graduate school. Admissions really takes 4 years, keeping in mind that parts of the process are done the year before graduation (IE., someone graduating after junior year would be completing parts of the application during sophomore year .)
All in all, graduating early puts one at a disadvantage if one wants to pursue graduate studies.