I come from an extremely low-income family and am thinking of majoring in engineering (perhaps petroleum). Normally, I would look only at colleges that meet 100% need without loans, but I’m reconsidering that given the large starting salaries of engineers (which would hopefully allow me to pay back loans in 1-2 years). The colleges in question are Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Tulsa, and Penn State. Our annual income is around $6,000 and we have $10,000 in savings. I am not in-state anywhere, but am a US citizen. How much do you think I would have to pay for these schools and, more importantly, how much debt do you think I would be forced to take on over four years?
My stats are as follows if they influence your responses:
1390 SAT (I plan on taking it again and improving)
3.987 unweighted GPA
8 APs by end of Senior year.
All A’s except for one A-.
I hope you will use Questbridge . They help low income, top notch students get into great colleges at no cost.
https://www.questbridge.org/
https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/national-college-match/who-should-apply
The following links should give you the answers:
Texas A&M, Texas Tech: http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/apps/CollegeMoney/
Tulsa: https://utulsa.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx
Penn State: https://cce.ais.psu.edu/legacy-college-cost-web/netPricePageOne.xhtml
Note that out-of-state publics usually have no or poor financial aid for out-of-state students. Penn State has a reputation for poor financial aid even for in-state students, so presumably even worse for out-of-state students.
Note that you cannot borrow more than $5,500 the first year. It is unlikely that, with very low income, your parents will qualify to cosign additional student loans or take parent loans, which would not be a good idea anyway.
Petroleum engineering job and career prospects fluctuate with oil prices.
@menloparkmom
I actually did apply to Questbridge. I am waiting for the decisions that come out later this month.
@ucbalumnus
Good to know. Thank you for the advice.
You should not finance any degree primarily with loans.
Your parents will not have the credit rating necessary to cosign a private loan. The federal parent loan, PLUS, would bury them in debt.
The only loan you can get by yourself without a cosigner is the 5500 freshman student loan.
Can you take a gap year while your family establishes state residency for in-state tuition somewhere?
@AroundHere
Not possible, unfortunately. My family is not American, so I will be on my own in the US.
Based on these replies, should I just forget about these schools and go back to my old tactic of only considering 100% need meet without loans colleges? Those are actually affordable, though obviously more competitive.
What colleges besides some Ivies meet full need and have engineering?
@Slavic2000 You should try Berea. What country are you from? Only one person per country is accepted. Apply early. I think admissions open July 1st. You will likely need to not major in engineering but make due with CS because some of these meet need schools won’t have engineering.
@gearmom
Vanderbilt, Northwestern, MIT, to name a few. If engineering doesn’t work out, I am more than content to go into physics, which is offered at many meet full need liberal arts colleges.
@gearmom
I am indeed planning to apply to Berea. I am a US citizen (also have Moldovan citizenship, but that is irrelevant).
Do not go for petroleum engineering. It’s too specialized. Maybe chemical engineering.
But go where you can afford to go and is ABET accredited.
It’s unlikely you would be able to afford those schools based on your parent’s income. You would be far better off with 100% need met from these scholarships.
@mommdc
Is specialization necessarily bad?
@coolguy40
Alright, I’ll stick to the more affordable options. I think I’ll keep these just in case I’m not accepted anywhere else.
@Slavic2000 If you are a US citizen, you should qualify for the full Pell grant, no?
Yes, if you can’t find a job after getting the degree.
If specialized in a field with weak job prospects (as petroleum engineering can have when oil prices are low), that can make it hard to get and keep a job.
@ucbalumnus
Fair enough.
There goes that avenue.
While those meet full needs schools would financially fit your situation…you need to know…they are competitive for admissions.
Your SAT and GPA are fine…but they are just like a LOT of others who apply to these generous schools that meet full need for all . I would hate for you to apply to colleges with 10% admit rates thinking you were a slam dunk for their admissions…and therefore their generous need based aid.
@thumper1
I am well aware of their selectivity. I don’t have much of a choice. Yes, it is a possibility that I will be rejected across the board. Nothing I can do about that but hope it’ll work out.
I should hopefully get a leg up in my chances due to my minority status (Hispanic).