Help me evaluate my options for affording college?

Paying for College
1

Hello all,

I’m looking over my options for financing college, and as per usual it seems I’m realizing I can’t afford it too late in the game. I’m looking to attend UMass Amherst. It looks like it’s going to require me to take out a ~$20,000 private loan this year, and potentially less (not more) in future years. The rest is through some scholarships (I didn’t get many) and $5,500 Stafford. It looks like, if I get a job in school and pay off interest and (if possible) some of the principle, I’d be paying a total in the range of $35,000. Over 4 years this comes to 140,000. This goes past all warnings about not getting more in-debt than starting salary (with a computer engineering major I’d be looking at maybe a $60,000 starting salary?).

So, I’m trying to evaluate my options. I’m pretty certain that taking a year off is almost necessary at this point in time, to save up money, and reduce potential future costs. So first off, at this point in the game (I’ve accepted the deposit) is there any option with UMass to defer for a year? Given that I’m in the honors program, would I be able to defer and remain in that program?

If I took a year off, I could save up money, maybe get some gen-ed credits at my community college, and work on building up a positive credit score. This would reduce future money I’d have to borrow, potentially reduce interest rates on private loans, and I might be able to get more scholarships if I work on my qualifications and whatnot.

If I didn’t take a year off, I couldn’t save up money, but could put all money I earn towards the interest and principle each month, potentially lowering what I need to pay. I’m looking into the possibility to take some of my gen-eds at community college during this summer (not sure if it’s too late for that), if not I could potentially do that next summer. I could still build up a positive credit score, and get more scholarships for my sophomore year. I would likely be able to build much better qualifications for scholarships while in school.

Final option I’m considering is the military. I’ve looked around, and it seems like the National Guard has the greatest potential for financially assisting me while not requiring a huge amount of time invested. I’m awaiting a response from a recruiter to assess this option. Does anyone have any better routes through the military that could help me? I’d really rather avoid spending time out of college and with the military, but if it can’t be helped then there’s no choice.

What do you guys think of the options I’m considering? Are there any others that could benefit me more?

Another issue I have is my parents. They keep telling me not to worry about finances, and that my major will allow me to pay off the debt. They’re also vehemently against me taking a year off and/or joining the military. I believed them, but now that I’m going over terms for private loans and seeing what I’d be paying, I’m starting to doubt what they’ve said. If taking a year off and/or joining the military ends up being my best choice, how might I go about telling them? I’d hate to leave on bad terms.

That’s quite a lot of questions, so any input on any aspect of this wall of text will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

2

Your loan limit for freshman year is $5500. Will your oarents be willing to take out or cosign the additional loans?

Are they able,to pay my of the costs for you to attend college?

3

You don’t qualify for any of the UMass scholarships? It looks like you’re either full pay or OOS.

4

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19647710#Comment_19647710

Another option: look at this list for a school you can better afford?

That is so much debt for undergrad your parents would have to take on.

It is not usually a good idea to attend CC during your gap year bc then you would probably be a transfer student. Your acceptance odds, FA and scholarship prospects go down. But you could do a full 2 years at one to save on tuition and transfer then.

5

Public schools don’t usually allow you to defer. The policy should be on the website and if not you can ask admissions.

I’m sorry your parents are egging you on to take that insane level of debt. What do they make, how would they like to be making this loan payment because they will have to make these payments as you are unlikely to be able to for quite some time. No one will lend a kid money for college except your federal direct loan of 5,500. You can’t afford that school. Here are the numbers for $140,000

Monthly Loan Payment: $1,611.12
Number of Payments: 120

Cumulative Payments: $193,335.20
Total Interest Paid: $53,335.20
Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 119 payments of $1,611.12 plus a final payment of $1,611.92.

It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $193,334.40 to be able to afford to repay this loan. This estimate assumes that 10% of your gross monthly income will be devoted to repaying your student loans. This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 0.7. If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $128,889.60, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.1.

6

@thumper1 My parents have always planned to cosign on private loans for me to get through college. My mother says that she’s willing to pay the monthly interest on the loans.

@“Erin’s Dad” As an incoming freshman I’m getting $2,000 from UMass, which is apparently the highest scholarship for in-state students. I’ve also got the John Adams tuition scholarship, about $1,500.

@HRSMom Would attending a community college for two years be an option if I’m going for engineering? There’s only a few classes who’s credits I can transfer from my community college to UMass. How would that work?

Thanks for all the help thus far!

7

That is a problem with engineering I suppose. I may take more than the 4 years. I would only take transferrable credits, as you are doing it save $, not to bring up your grades/profile.

Any schools on the list look interesting? What is your state?

8

You need to consider other schools. You and your parents’ debt will be large if you take on this kind of loan.

Working as a CS won’t garner you the wages you think you’ll get. I’m speaking from my dd’s experience as a EECS major who has a job as a software engineer with an international company.

You have to build up to establish your work record to get raises or bonuses.

If you go to a community college now, you will be considered, at most of your future universities, as a transfer student. When you reapply, they’ll expect a certain level of coursework/units. You wont be eligible for many scholarships but, you will have saved on two years of undergrad costs.

9

It is hard, but you need to NOT let your parents talk you into this. It is a bad plan. You can check to see if you can defer. But you also have to ask if you can take community college classes and transfer them.

I think you should consider a gap year and reapply to more affordable options next year. What are your stats? Where else were you accepted this year? Do you have any more affordable options that you got into this year (you might be able to change your mind if you did)?

10

That is way WAY too much debt.

11

How about the other UMass locations - Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell? Any where you can live at home and commute? I definitely like your plan of taking a year off better then your mother’s of borrowing.

12

Did I miss your HS GPA and yoir SAT or Act scores? I’m wondering if there are schools out there where you could get more aid if you apply next year. It’s possible that you could get some merit aid someplace…but that would depend on your stats.

13

Don’t take CC classes during the gap year. It will ruin your merit scholarship chances.

14

most colleges I applied/planned on applying to during my gap year said I would be ineligible to apply as a freshman if I took college or community college courses. Tread carefully.

Why on earth does UMass max out merit at 2K? It’s never made sense to me.

15

Did you apply to Clark U? Did you get merit there?

16

You need to do the NPC for the other Massachusetts state schools and plan to transfer into UMAmherst after two years. In particular, look at MCLA in western mass and UMass Boston if you live close enough to commute. While the COA at UMA was around $20K for my D, she knows several students who are paying less than $10K at these two other state school locales. Actually, the one who is commuting to UMBoston got a full ride :slight_smile: