I was planning to work for a year between college and med school, potentially at home so that I can save on costs, with all of those earnings going toward college. I am not a MN resident. I have repeatedly asked them if we can afford college, and they always say, “Yes, you choose where the best fit for you is, and we’ll make it work,” but I don’t know if I believe them. I talked to them last night about it, and told them of my fear about crippling them financially, and all they could say was that they would make it work by extending their other loans. I would love to attend Grinnell or Hamilton, but I don’t even know if GA is affordable. I think they’re in denial about how bad things really are; they would give everything for my brother and I to be happy and have everything that we want but I don’t want to make them do that. I couldn’t live with myself if going to Grinnell or Hamilton made their lives miserable. They will not be honest about our financial situation - I only learned about all of this when I was applying for financial aid - and I don’t know if that’s because they don’t want me to know or because they don’t know themselves. If I have to go to GA to stop my parents from financially crippling themselves, that is what I will do. But if they really would be okay, like they keep saying they would be, of course I would prefer Grinnell or Hamilton.
One thing that will help with income is the completion of my mom’s graduate degree; she will be making about $30-40k more per year than she does right now but that income change won’t be on any of the tax returns that will be used for my financial aid.
I got a financial aid offer at New College of Florida that was REALLY good - I would only be paying $5500/year - but my parents refuse to let me attend. They said that they don’t want me in that environment and that it’s “not a good enough school for me,” and I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to them to change their mind. I didn’t love New College, but there would be no issue paying for it.
Your parents are in denial. If your mom makes 30k more, she might have 20k left after taxes, and they owe more than that on the credit card. Things will ease up a bit when your mom gets a better salary after finishing her degree, but given the debt burden your parents have, it is going to be several years before your mom’s improved salary really makes a difference for the overall family finances.
You need a place that is cheaper than GA. Truly. Take the gap year now, not later, if you need to do so to find an affordable college or university. Find a place that you can attend without any help from your parents except the bus fare home at vacation time, and bed and board if you live at home while working during summer breaks.
Oh my goodness – you got a great deal from New College of Florida! I don’t know anything about the school, but are you open to considering it?
Also – just want to say, I think it is very mature of you to not take your parents literally when they say “go where you want.” They want the best for you…but as you are already cognizant, putting yourself and them into massive debt is NOT what is best for you.
One final note. It is considerate of you to be thinking about your brother. Perhaps by then your family’s financial situation will have significantly changed. But put that aside for now as you make your own decision. Ylou can share info with him later and help him figure out the best strategy when the time comes. Unfortunately it sounds like no one ever sat down with you to do that…but I laud you for not blaming this on someone else, and for being mature enough to face the reality beinhg laid out by experienced posters.
Err, NCF is considered an Ivy pipeline (in that the students who survive the very very rigorous academic program there have superb results when applying to IvY league universities for grad school or even as transfers. )
It’s true the environment is not for every one (lots of weed).
I agree your parents are in denial. So, make the calculations yourself. Is GA affordable?
Have you already asked for professional judgement on your situation from both ga and Grinnell?
UMN-Morris doesn’t have OOS tuition so it may be worth sending a quick application indeed. It may be more acceptable to your parents than NCF.
And in a week there’s the Nacac list.
tbh, I would pick NCF > GA eveb if the cost was the same- but for that price difference, I wouldn’t even slow down on my way to ‘yes’!
(plus, Emma Gonzalez will your classmate :-))
One other significant thing is that my dad’s pharmacy school loans will be paid off by the time they start paying my loans. Those take up a large fraction of his income, so it will also help. I think they have the mindset that things will be really crappy now, but in 10 years, their kids will be educated at the best schools possible for them and it’ll all be worth it, etc. If things were rough for a few years, but got better, I would be okay with it. The thing that I’m not okay with is putting them in a hole that they will never be able to get out of.
I am open to NCF, I know that it is a solid school and that I can do well for myself with a foundation from there but my parents refuse to see that and will not let me go there (I am not yet 18, so I can’t make this decision without the approval of my parents).
Yes!! I saw that. NCF is a very solid school and for the price it can’t be beat in my opinion but like I said it’s just not an option with my parents.
A miraculous development:
My (very loaded) grandparents have offered to contribute $100,000 to my college education, and my other grandma has offered $10,000. I’m shocked, but incredibly happy. At this point, is it safe to say that I can afford to attend the college of my choosing? The most expensive would leave my parents and I with $60k of debt combined.
Wow!
Is there any college you can attend without your parents taking on debt for you?
If not then Grinnell would be your best choice I think since you’d get all the intellectual camaraderie you may want and it’s still alleviate your parents’debt.
What is your home state?
This is challenging without support from your parents. But the reality is that if they don’t take care of themselves financially, you and your brother could end up having to support them when they are older. Plus, there is little guarantee that your mom will get a much better job with her grad degree, whatever it is.
And yes, it would be MN Morris (not Morehead) that would be an LAC if you had reciprocity (I’d assume you also are not in Wisconsin).
Postscript - Okay, I just checked your past posts, you appear to be from Iowa. What about ISU? Also, people were asking you to check costs and what your family could afford back in August when you were looking for chances. That would have been a MUCH better time for this conversation than two days before the decision deadline.
Bottom line - how much will your parents need to borrow beyond your federal loan limit ($27K total) for you to attend GA? And working for a year as a new college grad will barely put a dent in med school costs (and won’t be enough time to pay off your federal undergrad loans, let alone any debt your parents take on).
Bryn Mawr would be an option. I recently visited and liked it a lot more than I thought it would. I think I’d be happier there than I would at Grinnell, and it’s about $32k/year, so there would be $18k left over for me which is definitely doable. I did not think this was going to happen, wow
@intparent I’m not blaming this on my parents, because I should’ve checked it for myself, but they told me over and over again that I could afford to attend the schools I was looking at and I believed them. Now, I’m close to the decision deadline, and I have no idea what my parents can and can’t afford because I don’t even think they know. It doesn’t matter, anyway, because I was just handed a miracle. I looked at ISU and UIowa, and they were both incredibly large and not much less cost-wise than GA.
Why don’t you tell us all your accepted schools. You keep trotting them out one by one. It would be more helpful to know the full slate of schools and the costs that are option for you.
Bryn Mawr - 32k, Macalester - 35k, Hamilton - 42k, Grinnell - 35k, Iowa - 18k, Iowa State - 18k, NCF - 5500, GA - 23k, Augustana in SD - 25k.
All of these are per year, not including federal loans or work study.
You have quite a few good options.
U of I is a bargain at $18k, as is NCF at $5500.
Gustavus is a very good school.
BMC is awesome too, and you’d be able to take some classes at Haverford, UPenn and Swat – a bit pricy though.
I would have 18k in debt total at BMC, all for me, so it’s doable. I think that may be where I end up.
I ran out of time – just want to post this list in ascending order for ease of reference:
Per-year cost:
New College - $5500
U of Iowa - $18000
Iowa St. - $18000
Gustavus - $23000
Augie SD - $25000
Bryn Mawr - $32000
Grinnell - $35000
Mac - $35000
Hamilton - $42000
Simply figure out how much you can pay and find the best fit among the schools st or under that amount. Those are all solid schools.
Based on your miraculous windfall, your budget is likely 35-37k (27,500 from grandparents + 5,500 from federal loans + 2,000 from work earnings + possibly 2,000 from parents).
It means BMC, Macalester, Grinnell and GA are all in play. Do you have a favorite?