Next year I will be class of 2019 at UNC Chapel Hill. The website says the cost of attendance, including all tuition, fees, room and board, etc. is about $24,000 a year. With a few loans, my parents and I will be able to handle this for four years. However, I have this thing where I hate feeling like I owe people. My parents work hard and I don’t want them to sacrifice in any way that they don’t need to. I want to pay for school by myself - as much as possible at least. I plan on working and applying for lots of scholarships. Do any of you parents have any advice? What do you expect from your kids? Am I crazy to think I could do it alone? If I can’t pay for everything, of course my parents will help. They actually don’t even know I want to do this. I plan on surprising them with anything I can earn.
All I wanted from my son was that he put some effort into college. He did get some jobs during the year. The first summer, he did a research program, which paid for room and board, plus. Later, he got high paying summer internships. He didn’t ask me for any money, besides tuition and room and board.
I am happy to supplement his earnings. I want him to be self supporting, but not during his early twenties. That is unrealistic. The quality of the relationship is what is valued.
My pArents were pleased I didn’t need to lean on them in my adult years. In their waning years, I was happy to do for them, not financially, but arranging for care, buying them clothes, repairs for their condo, etc.
You are much too young to be worried about finances. Enjoy college, do your best, and call home often.
Well, usually the most money will come from the college in form of need or merit aid. And it is very late to apply for outside scholarships but do look for some, especially local ones. You can take your student direct loan which will be 5,500 freshman year.
Don’t work more than 15 hours a week in the school year so your grades don’t suffer. Work summers. Look for scholarships offered by your department mor the years following your freshman year. When you declare a major look for scholarships offered by professional organizations.
Congratulations! I second BrownParent’s post. You can try to get a job in the cafeteria or library or somewhere on campus that is not too demanding. Start to look for a summer job now. If you can contribute $5k or so each year it would be significant. You can try to google for some off the wall small scholarships.
There was an app featured last week on Shark Tank called “Scholly”, created by a Drexel student. I don’t know much about the app other than the sharks were all fighting over it and thought it was a great idea. It is designed to help you find scholarships in a easy organized way. The creator claims that there are millions of scholarships that go unclaimed every year because people don’t know about them.
You might want to look into that.
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Shark Tank Fight Over Scholly
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I agree with summer jobs etc. I paid for grad school and that may ban option you could do if you go.
Our kids both were able to contribute by saving during summers and/or paid internships, as well as by tutoring writing to their peers after freshman year. We expected them to earn spending money, which was doable without compromising academics. Consider your major and academic demands as you determine what is realistic. Your gratitude for their support will also be meaningful to your parents; honoring the opportunity counts.
Best with your college years!