My DS is still reeling with shock and joy of having been admitted to Princeton SCEA BSE. I have some questions about the money side, and I apologize in advance if they are easily known and I don’t know them:
People talk about how no one has to have loans at Princeton, but suppose our EFC is high enough that a small loan would be helpful. I've also heard of a mysterious $5500 loan kids can get - what is this? Is it like I had in college where you don't have to pay the interest until you graduate?
Given that DS's work contribution is $X. If he earns more than $X in a summer, will they reduce our need-based aid? Will they likely increase his work contribution for subsequent years (in any case because of being older and ideally getting better jobs, or in any case, if he does make more)?
DS heard on a tour about the jobs available as on-campus tutors in BSE. Has anyone done this or does anyone know about the pay, or work, or schedules, or anything at all?
DS has enough AP credits that he could consider applying for Advanced Standing. Any thoughts on this from a social, financial, academic, or other perspective? Would it exclude getting an additional Certificate in Classics?
When I went to college, I went to MIT. I went to grad school, but I had plenty of friends who got a job right out of the bachelor's degree and actually supported families (not Rockefeller, but often a SAH spouse, private camp/school, living in moderately pricey areas, buying a home, etc.). Is it fair to assume that a Princeton BSE would allow similar employability? What, if any, would the differences be? (E.g. would DS have to live in the NY metropolitan area for example?) Was this an artifact of my graduation in the early 1990s and the dot-com economy at the time?
In case anyone is wondering, DS does have another offer so far, of generous merit aid at a public university he really likes as well (Pitt), but I suspect that he might prefer to attend Princeton if that were feasible. He also has some schools with results coming later, both public rolling and some RD privates. But we’re looking at the birds-in-hand to get some sense to begin.
As I recall, they don't care how much he makes during the summer or during the school year. They'll just set an aid amount and, after that, don't monitor how the family contribution is paid. The only potential downside of him over-earning comes if he saves a lot of his earnings; they'll expect him to contribute a portion of his savings every year.
Can't help you here.
DS was in the same position and declined the opportunity. In our opinion, Princeton is too good an experience to cut short.
Of course it depends on the individual but, from what I've seen, Princeton grads are presented with wonderful job opportunities, at salaries sufficient to raise a family on one income. Generally speaking, the higher paying jobs tend to be in cities where the cost of living is high.
The loan info link was very helpful! I like those variable rates, but am keeping one ear to the Fed, right? It’s good that there are no fees, you can make various changes, prepay, etc.
Thank you for all the info and if you think of more, please share it too!
In general I always tend to go with fixed rates, but those variable rates are unbeatable. I was tempted to go with the fixed rate and I’m very glad I didn’t.
If your son earns more than the required summer amounts that should just be a bonus for you all.
There is lots of employment on campus for the students, but some jobs require more effort and connections to obtain than other options. Our son applied before he got to campus for a few library options but never heard anything back. We later learnt that with library jobs you have to be a bit persistent and turn up in person and persuade someone to give you a chance. However it was very easy for him to get work in his own residential college dining hall. It was just a matter of turning up to the meeting during the orientation week and saying how many shifts he wanted. He chose to do just one shift (dinner one week night) which gives him about $36 per week which is ample for his regular needs. He said that some other students are doing more shifts. The work in the dining halls is not particularly onerous or unpleasant. They aren’t actually allowed to get that close to the food preparation. I think our son is mostly keeping things stocked and moving stuff around.
My impression is that it is best to stick with the year group rather than try to graduate early. The social and interactive aspect and the bonds they form seem so important and surely being out of kilter with your class would make that harder. It seems to me that life at Princeton is only half academics and half all the other wonderful stuff that is going on (clubs, hackathons, leadership opportunities, internships). Also your son can do study abroad for at least a semester - and that shouldn’t cost any more than the ordinary Princeton costs. If he has lots of AP credit that will make him very flexible about where he goes - as he won’t be so worried about completing required departmentals while he is abroad.
We were a bit anxious about the finances a year ago when we got the news he had been accepted. One year on we are very glad he is having this amazing experience and opportunity and we are not sorry he turned down other very attractive scholarships.
D has graduated but received aid and one semester took out a Stafford loan so graduated with maybe $3 - $5 K in debt (I don’t remember, but it was a small amount and we were able to pay it off shortly after she graduated). While on campus she worked at Tiger Call, phoning parents and alums and asking for contributions to annual fund. I think the pay is decent and the hours flexible. She had enough AP credits for one semester but didn’t want to short change her education. She did spend a semester abroad, and when the award letter for that came I actually went into the financial aid office as I was sure there was a mistake - she was awarded more than she was asking for in her budget. It was not a mistake and she ended up having to pay income taxes on the excess (not significant, but a funny situation we could not have anticipated). She had a full tuition offer from a respectable liberal arts college, and the cost would have been much lower for us, but no regrets at all. If we were full pay I might feel differently, and we did sacrifice, for sure, for her to attend (as we did for her older brother when he attended his first choice and turned down a significant merit award).
As far as earning power, graduates choose such different kinds of jobs (working in a nonprofit or investment banking) that I think it means more to say that most people with a Princeton education, who have sought out on-campus, summer, travel, extra curricular opportunities will be in a position to support themselves. The place has resources and a very loyal involved group of alums.
I don't think anyone answered about the not-at-all-mysterious Federal student loan, available to students filing FAFSA. The princeton loan may be better but the federal loan is in the student name. If you get a subsidized loan you don't pay the interest during school but unsub does have interest accruing. I'm a bit tired but I don't think you get subsidized unless you have unmet need, but certainly you can take loans to pay your EFC--that isn't what is met by a no loan program.
BSE don't necessarily need grad school as your friends saw. You can decide later after working, sometimes it pays off but not always necessary and some might want an mba vs a MS. Why would he have to work in NY? I don't get that. They hire engineers in CA, Washington, Texas etc and pay well. My Princeton BSE relative, graduated in early 2000's maybe up to 2005 Worked for global semiconductor company hq in TX but he worked in Chicago, Mass, TX, got a UChicago MBA paid by the company now works for another co in Boston. Was/is on a fast track career. I saw for my daughter later that she didn't need to go to grad school and is likely behind for having done so. It may be fine in the long run or pay off in the long run and she wanted to continue research anyway so had to explore it, but it was not necessary (Brown CS, then big state U grad) to get same salary level as the experience gets you there for most jobs. Sure she can do more perhaps or has more cred for just certain types of jobs in the field.
Congratulations on the offer of admission! Princeton is a great place.
A friend of my son's graduated last year after 3 years - it sounds like she had a similar background to your son's. Her family pursued this option to save a year of tuition since they were expecting very little financial aid and the cost savings were significant. She was able to be academically successful and now has a great job after graduating a year early.
I did talk to her about her experience and while her three years were great, she has shared that she feels disconnected from her graduating class. Most of the friends she made in her freshman year are graduating a year later. This turned out to be much more significant for her than she anticipated. However the decision to apply for advanced standing made Princeton a realistic option for her and her family, especially given that she turned down several offers of full scholarships at other schools.
You and your son will need to evaluate how potentially important the social aspect may be for him to graduate with his freshman class. I agree that cutting the experience to 3 years means losing a year of the great Princeton experience but if it is the only way it works for your family it may be an option worth considering.
Unfortunately I cannot comment on the certificate option.
I am not aware of anything like that but I am sure they would be willing to put you in touch with any students who might be willing to discuss their experience! I would contact the Dean’s office of whatever concentration your son indicated on his app. This doesn’t mean you are tied in any way to that concentration - it’s just a starting point for some discussion.
Even at Princeton there are very few students who choose to use the option to use advanced standing. Our experience is that they will certainly work hard to answer your questions. Don’t hesitate to reach out…in two weeks when the offices are open again
The student summer earnings contribution does go automatically from $1600 up to $2600 for years 2-4. If he has work study it increases from $2900 to $3380/$3435/$3475.
Tutoring is generally done 7:30-10:30 Sun-Wed and 1:30-4:30 Sun, and students work the 3 hour shift. The pay is around $15.
I asked my son about this yesterday and he said he’s very glad he declined the Advanced Standing option for the social reasons Cantiger mentioned, and also because it would have prevented him from taking as many of the graduate level physics classes he was able to take.
I don’t know how much that would be a factor for a BSE student, but I expect it would be similar.
@planner03 - thank you! Can you tell me, what does it mean if he has work study as opposed to a ‘regular’ summer job? And do you mean $15 for the shift, or per hour?
@sherpa - thank you! I assume it’s true that a person wouldn’t choose to leave Princeton a year before they have to! But if the choice is between three years at Princeton, or four years at a different college, I think the choice is less clear. And I’m not 100% sure that’s even the choice for us, as our financials shifted (my other thread re sibling costs) and so I have to contact P and see what the real deal will be.
One thing is obvious - people connected to P are so incredibly helpful, on these Boards and elsewhere! Thank you.
Does anyone know if the financial assistance grant listed in our early acceptance packets will be reduced if we get scholarships? Will they count it toward the family contribution or just lower the amount of grant offered?
Yes, it is $15/hr. The work study expectation amounts that I listed are for families that have a FA package, and it is an expectation that the student earn $$ during the school year on top of scholarships/parent contribution/student summer contribution to meet the full COA. There are some jobs on campus that are for work study students only, but they are the minority.
@Jasonmath Outside scholarships will never lower your parent contribution. They will first eliminate/replace your student summer contribution and workstudy awards, so up to 4.5k can be used there. If you have more than that you can use the funds for a computer purchase up to 3k. Beyond that they will reduce your Princeton grants. So in a nutshell over 7.5k is a wash.
It’s good that there are no fees, you can make various changes, prepay, etc.