<p>My father is making about 120 000 a year and that means i am not getting any financial aid. And he refuses to pay more then 4000 a year for my college. This led me to believe that i can only go to SUNY/CUNY schools.</p>
<p>I am currently in Brooklyn College with 49 credits and i HATE it. Students are lazy, dumb and go straight home. Parties are high-schoolish and not fun at all. Plus i am rethinking my major and i want to do neural engineering which my college doesn’t have.</p>
<p>I have 3.6 gpa and i want to transfer to a better school with a good engineering program and good social atmosphere. The question is - am i bound to SUNY/CUNY? If not how can i afford/pay for colleges such as MIT/UCSD?</p>
<p>I hear people going to these expensive colleges all the time but how do they do it!? Do they take out a 200 000 undergraduate loan or something!? o_O; confused. </p>
<p>Despite the fact that you want to go to college in engineering, your question really is more of a financial aid issue, and the people who lurk in the financial aid section of the forum will be a lot more knowledgeable about how people afford the more expensive schools than the rest of us will likely be.</p>
<p>I’m going to graduate next fall (5 years, 1 quarter). I’m attending UCSD.</p>
<p>When I graduate, I will have ~80k in loans. My dad offered to pay but I had to meet some conditions (grades, major, etc.) so I decided just to get student loans.</p>
<p>Sometimes I regret taking out so much, sometimes I think it was a good thing. Because of that, I don’t spend a lot of money, and the money I earn from my internship I save to pay off the loan.</p>
<p>If you can afford to work and go to school full time, you might not have to get a ton of loans. I didn’t work so that meant borrowing more.</p>
<p>Outside of changing schools, you could try and find motivation outside of classes and coursework. Especially, if you’re not challenged enough at school. Do side projects… difficult ones. I know its not the same as going to a good school, but it might help.</p>
<p>What state are you in btw? Are there any good state schools around… those are probably your best bet. Take the 4k from your dad, make another 5k over the summer (that’s tough, but possible), and then work during the school year for another $3-5k… thats 12k+. Take loans for another $5k (or finagle some more out of your dad), and if you live at home that should cover mostly everything…</p>
<p>I went to Ivy League and after grants, I had to take a less than $8,000 per year in loans. When I transfered to a state school I didn’t get any grants and I had to pay out the full amount in loans because I didn’t want to work full-time to pay for the $9,000 yearly tuition. The key is to get financial aid that doesn’t have to be paid back. Loans will get you through school but you need to be careful. I have about $43,000 in loan debt that is taking a big chunk out of my monthly income. I couldn’t imagine taking out $80,000 in loans. You might get a good job but your financial reward will be sucked up by the loans. At what point does the loan amount stop paying off? Depends on what career path you choose I suppose and how quickly your income increases.</p>