<p>So I applied ED to my dream school. Its small and private, the sticker price is 23,000 a year for everything (tution, room/board, food. I haven’t gotten my aid letter yet but the estimated cost a year would be around 12,000 without merit aid. My parents said I will need about 24,000 in loans to cover all four years and unless I get picked for the full ride scholarship. Would 24,000 in debt be worth it for a dream school? I’m already accepted to a safety school were it would only be 6,000 so I won’t be left with no where to go.</p>
<p>You would be able to cover that loan debt by taking only the stafford loans. Is it also possible for you to earn some money during summers and breaks to offset some of the cost?</p>
<p>If you apply ED don’t you have to go no matter what?</p>
<p>I don’t think $24,000 in loans is outrageous - that’s within the Stafford limits. If the extra $18,000 in debt over 4 years to go to your dream school is worth it to you, I don’t think it would be a bad decision. I don’t think student loans are bad in and of themselves - I wouldn’t have been able to go to school without them - you just have to keep the amount reasonable and really consider whether the debt or additional debt of a “dream school” is worth it.</p>
<p>@icollins26: An inadequate FA package is always an “out” for ED. The downside to applying ED when you need financial aid is that you have to make a decision to accept or decline without having the chance to see if other schools would provide a better FA package.</p>
<p>Its small and private, the sticker price is 23,000 a year for everything (tution, room/board, food</p>
<p>Are you sure about that price? For a private? That sounds like the “per semester” price. Which school is this?</p>
<p>Ok…the school is Flagler and it looks like you’re a full Pell student.</p>
<p>Can you clarify…</p>
<p>From FAFSA you’ll get $5550 from Pell and $5500 in Stafford Direct loans.</p>
<p>Are you saying that you’ll have to borrow an ADDITIONAL $6k per year? </p>
<p>If you’re getting about $11k in federal aid, how are you covering the other $13k? Are your parents saying that you have to borrow ANOTHER $6k per year and they’ll pay $7k per year?</p>
<p>How much are your parents paying?</p>
<p>As for your safety…are you saying that you’d commute to that school?</p>
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<p>Where are you getting the estimated cost per year? Have they already applied Stafford loans to get you down to 12K per year? If so, you probably can’t afford this school as you would need to take 5.5K+ in loans (most likely) each year to get down to the 12K cost, and then take another 6K in loans toward that 12K (assuming your parents are paying the rest). That’s probably too much to take in loans, and you won’t be able to get anyone to loan you the “second” 6K unless you have a credit-worthy co-signer.</p>
<p>My parents will be moving to a much smaller house after graduate high school and they have enough to cover one semester. I plan to work summers and during school and only live on campus freshman year. I got my information from last years tax information and flagler net price calculater( I don’t know how accurate this is). My safety school has me at 6,000 after all my financial aid, thats if I live there which is pretty good.</p>
<p>You need to find out if your financial estimate from Flagler already includes student loans to get your down to 12K per year. If so I don’t think you can afford it. If it is just grant aid that is getting you down to 12K then you should be in good shape.</p>