In my LOCI, would it be safe to say that I would 100% commit if admitted? I would be telling the truth under the condition that I am receiving some financial aid. Or, should I rephrase it by saying that I would 100% commit if admitted given the financial aid works out for my family?
I hope to get this LOCI out as soon as possible because it may show my immediate dedication and I want to reaffirm that they are my first choice.
Since that no longer matters for FAFSA, as others have said that well could not matter to the college you or your sib will attend. It might, but it well might not. So please run numbers with your parents and make a careful choice. Good luck.
Maybe best to simply say in a LOCI that it is your first choice, and donāt bring up cost.
I know this is a slightly bad thing to say butā¦Iāve checked with them multiple times (including today) to ensure that the financials will work out for all 4 years at Barnard so that I can confirm in my LOCI that they are my top choice and so that itās worth it to go through the effort of submitting another LOR in hopes to get off the WL and they always reassure me that the financials will all work out, but Iām anxious that they may not have it all as planned out as they think they do.
Iāve already said this but just to reiterateāmy parents are very new to the traditional college applications and we have no college counselor or college financial advisor besides my grandfather who attended Dartmouth way back then. I want to trust them but I am afraid they are missing some critical financial aspects and I donāt want to fall into a mess where I may have to end up transferring in 2 years to a more affordable college.
Again, they are continuing to reassure me that the financials will work out and that the hard part will just be getting accepted as a general statement, but Iām just very anxious that that isnāt necessarily true and I donāt know what to do.
Theyāve run the net price calculator and they have been conversing frequently with my grandfather about this so I do want to trust them but idk, I still have some reservations.
If your parents truly will pay the full COA, thatās on them. If they require you to take out the maximum student loans you are allowed (sounds like they will be unsubsidized, so interest will run) are you prepared to do that?
From what theyāve been telling me, our net price will be X per year. They are offering to pay 1/3 of that and my extended family are paying for another 1/3 of that leaving me with 1/3 which needs to be taken out as a loan. Iām planning on going into astrophysics or political science & economics so Iām hoping I could pay those loans off successfully, but if Iām not able to quickly enough then they will help me out with those, too.
Who will be cosigning your share of that loan.
Parents would
You will not qualify for more than a total of $31k in federal loans across up to 5 years.
I would probably need to take about 9k per year soā¦maybe that wouldnāt work out thenā¦ugh.
BTW thank you guys for your patience, Iām trying to understand more about the financials as we go so that I can provide more educated questions and insight to my parents.
Those are quite different majors! And youāre not going to come out of undergraduate with a degree in astrophysics, or jump into a high pay position
The federally funded Direct Loan available to you each year is as follows:
Freshman $5500
Sophomore $6500
Junior $7500
Senior $7500 for a total of $27,000 over four years.
Anything above that amount will either need to be cosigned or taken out by your family.
I knowā¦I have two very specific and very different interests. Donāt know for sure which one Iām going to pursue yet, but currently leaning toward physics.
I will likely be having it cosigned if not just directly taken out by my family. When I say that I will expected to pay back those loans, I mean that I will owe that to my family once I am done with schooling (or able to pay parts as we go).
Maybe this will all work out for you.
In the meantime, do you have other affordable acceptancesā¦just in case this waitlist doesnāt work out?
https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized#how-much
Hereās what you ap a take in unsub. Loans (there is a cap/maximum if you stay a 5th year, which is what my number reflected - typo was above). Thumper1ās numbers accurately reflect the 4 year limit. do you really want to do that?
yes. I have multiple in-state acceptances. The reason why I am holding onto this waitlist so tightly is because I am in contact with the rowing coaches at Columbia and I have fallen in love with the sport, culture, and school of Barnard itself. My current acceptances do not have very competitive rowing programs and it would be very difficult going from my current full commitment to the sport at the HS level (we practice very similarly to D1 teams and perform pretty well nationally lol) to an underfunded program with mostly novices. I am not trying to be rude toward those programs by any means, itās just that I really want to continue with a high-performing team and Columbia fits my wishes at every level.
Were you in the recruiting pipeline before your waitlist decision.
somewhat. I did not get full support thru admissions but I have been in contact with the coaches for ~1 year. I was planning on applying ED but wasnāt sure with financials and I wanted to weigh as many options as possible. but I would be able to join team if admitted
I donāt knowā¦Iām going to try to talk with my parents again tonight and really make sure they know what theyāre agreeing with. This whole thing is really making me anxious and I really wish I had some more support for them and myself to make sure weāre doing this all right.