@thumper1 This came after post 40, as @austinmshauri mentioned
I just spoke with them over dinner.
Figured out that out of salary, my parents can pay $15,000 for each of us. So with the $39,000 cost for Rochester, it’s a $24,000 annual loan. My dad doesn’t want to use his retirement funds, so he says that he is going to second mortgage the house. With my $3,500 loan, it’s a $20,500 annual loan for the parents. Times two kids, times two kids, its 164k, not including inflation.
Post 85, the dinner chat:
“…$15,000 for each of us. So with the $39,000 cost for Rochester, it’s a $24,000 annual loan.”
Sounds like the 30 figure includes borrowing. And we now see the costs for UR are moving around. Work study could pay personal and books, maybe some travel.
Don’t forget, sis got a lower IB grant than OP.
Well then…if it’s $15,000 per kid…NONE of these acceptances is an affordable option for either of these kids.
Berkeley is the least affordable…and won’t be getting cheaper either. OP and family also need to consider rises in cost of attendance.
Sounds like the $30,000 per kid option already included loans for the parents.
This family has TWINS. It’s not like they need to crunch the numbers for ONE kid…they need to do so for two.
The acceptances these twins both have now…will entail very large loans. Only the family can determine if that is something they want to do…or will continue to qualify in a year or two after they have already loaned themselves big time.
@ClarinetDad16: “one could be a Graduate Assistant and receive a highly discounted or free Masters”.
One could, but those GA/TAships tend to be competitive and pretty hard to get for Masters students though many publics do have them because they need the TA’s.
Yup, run costs for each kid.
Some background talk. Of course, some families borrow against the home or take large-ish Parent Plus loans. But the wise stop to think of how they will pay those back, from what income or resources, over how long, the actual pain. It’s not free money. The wise know how it will affect weekly living, weekly choices, for a long time. They don’t just jump in, assuming all will be just fine.
Earlier, I quoted the $2400 monthly cost of paying back 200k. Where’s it going to come from? Dad can’t afford that today, how will he afford it in 4 years? Really.
And the wise look at the costs of those loans, how interest affects. So, for example, that 200k Parent Plus loan, as projected by the CollegeBoard folks, has an $80,000+ added cost in interest. (Someone would need to run it with the current interest rate.)
We get that many families believe in higher education for their kids. (Obviously, we’re all on CC.) But many believe that the more prestigious the school, the richer their kids will become. But parents have to be rational, including accounting for life changes and the twists. You don’t willingly dig yourself a 200 foot hole…and then jump into it, assuming you can get out. 200k: same.
I think the OP’s biggest problems right now is that her parents haven’t grasped the reality of the economics of this yet, and also don’t want to lose face by admitting that their kids were not well counseled on the list of schools they applied to. Cost is, unfortunately, the first factor to look at along with whether your major is offered when making a list. That isn’t what happened here, and now you have nothing but unaffordable options. 
You can still apply to other colleges that are more affordable for Fall of this year (e.g. Penn State takes apps until 1 May, although this may not be a good option financially)
Agreeing with @lookingforward in post #144.
What if the house doesn’t rise in value enough to take out the home equity loan? What if the parents get in over their heads in debt, for years on end, and then in hindsight, are upset at the students for “how it all turned out”?
What does taking on this kind of debt mean for the future? Weddings? Trips? Spoiling grandkids? Starting a business? Being able to handle the crap Life will eventually throw at you, like a monkey in the jungle!
It’s not too late to slow this train down. Kids with stats like @jql2017 & twin are so lucky! You can get your college degree for almost free!
Yes, there are still affordable options out there…but Penn State as an OOS student is not one of them.
If you like the University of Rochester, I join others in strongly advising you to attend. If you have to work your rear off each summer and do work-study during the year, so be it: it’s quite an excellent school and it looks like you can afford it.
Having to work hard during the summers and during the school year would be good for you, as you’ll have some skin in the game. For that, you’ll appreciate your opportunity all the more.
You’re lucky: you did not think through the costs, or whether your family could afford them, before you applied. You’re blessed that it looks like it worked out well anyway.
Let others reading this thread be reminded that they need to run the NPC – it isn’t perfect, but it often gives a decent estimate of cost – on each school, to make sure a school is affordable before applying.
If, for whatever reason, you decide against Rochester, I’d advise you to take a gap year and focus on schools that provide a lot of merit aid, where your stats would garner it. But since it looks like you can make Rochester work, if you like it, you should go – don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Others have stated this but let me try again.
The issue is that your parents will need to take out loans every year (unless they are try to take one loan at the start of freshman year for all 4 years for both of you). Every time they apply for a loan, the bank will do a complete evaluation of their credit worthiness and their ability to repay. Every year their ability to borrow will decrease due to the increase in debt from the previous Years. At some point, the bank will say no. If you reach this point, you and you sister not be able to continue and will have to transfer to whatever school you can afford out of pocket without any FA. If this happens after sophomore year, you will lose credits since most schools require two years in attendance to receive a degree. Maybe your parents have the resource to pull it off but maybe they don’t. This is what concerns the posters here. Debt with a degree is one thing. Debt without a degree is another.
So this is my idea. You and your parents are making a 200K+ (I am including interest) decision. I would suggest hiring a financial planning to review your finances and give you an independent review of your finances. Sometime, you can get so invested in a path that you don’t stop to reevaluate what you are doing. Now is the time to do it! If it doesn’t work, taking a gap year in NOT the kiss of death. It is a very minor bump in the road. No one will care or judge that you took the time off to regroup.
Well…I thought Rochester was affordable until I read the post that said that the parent contribution of $30,000 a year was being at least partially funded with loans…this in addition to the $35000 a year that the school didn’t cover.
And times two…because there are twins.
Not sure that Rochester is affordable either as it looks like $100,000 plus PER TWIN at least in loans to attend.
Like I said…there are more affordable options UNLESS this family really wants to take on the debt responsibility for these college costs…which is their decision.
Ugh – I thought the cost to attend was down to like $32k/yr at Rochester, and if the OP worked and maybe took out a small loan, they could make it work – given that the parents could afford $30k/year per kid (60k/yr total). I didn’t see the post about the $60k/yr including loans.
Prez, that should be.“it looks like you can make Rochester work, with the massive 200k in parent loans.”
Most here are talking mostly about the financial realities, not whether UR is great. Just saying.
Most kids work their freaking rears off just to make 4k over summer, before taxes. Many can’t find 40 hour summer work. Any 10k+ dream summer internship won’t come for some time, if ever.
Yes, Penn State would be more than U Rochester.
I think your parents are trying too hard to give you the prestigious schools that you want, and they’re going to bury themselves in debt in the process. I don’t see where ANY of the schools you and your sister have been accepted to are affordable. If you and your family have to borrow massive amounts, even if you can, that doesn’t meet my definition of affordable. And frankly, I would be very concerned about a student who had grown up in Hawaii going sight unseen to the University of Rochester. Rochester winters are brutal. Not everyone can handle them.
If it were me, I’d give serious thought to a gap year. Sure, you could apply to UAH for this year and get a fine education there, and I would throw an application in there now regardless, but you’d have many more options if you started over with a new list and targeted good schools that will give merit aid for your stats. I think you need to protect your parents from themselves - I can see them, with the best of intentions to try to give you and your sister what you want, digging themselves (and maybe you by extension) a hole they cannot get out of.
I just want to contribute the opinion that University of Rochester is a great school but just not worth that degree of debt.
Believe me, I wish I could say it absolutely is. It’s 20 minutes from my house. I’d love my kids to go there so I could see them more easily. I actually know one of the Optics professors. Unless we win the scholarship lottery, it’s not going to happen.
Other posters are right about the weather. Winter is rough at least from December-March. If we are lucky, November and April are nice. The wind storm and snow storm of this late winter/ early spring were hard even for people who have lived here all our lives. Keep in mind there is more to northeastern winter weather than postcard pretty, sparkling snow. Slush, bitter winds, icy roads, downed power lines, endless grey skies…
Can mom work?
Replying to as many as possible before work:
@Tanbiko not planning to travel home for spring break or thanksgiving. Probably will spend it with friends in the area. Nope, twin and I have never seen snow. Haven’t been anywhere besides Hawaii for winters.
@HRSMom I could ask mom to get a job, might be slightly difficult (not entirely fluent in English) but she’d be okay with it for four years. But how would that affect my need based aid should I attend Rochester? And also tax returns
@MYOS1634 I’m planning on getting MBA or masters in business (marketing probably). Would being competitive for good grad schools require research experience? I might put off grad school until after several years in the work field
@everyone else because too many people replied I’m running out of time
Um. I don’t know how home quite works. I don’t know what my parents mean by that. Would the current value of the house or their wage affect how bad of a decision this is. Home worth 750,000+ earnings about 190,000 (including current income and retirement fee from military duty)