<p>My parents have set financial limits on my college education, which is entirely understandable since we have three kids in the family. However, they refuse to involve me in the process. They’ve said repeatedly that if they feel like filling out the FAFSA, I won’t be allowed to see it, and they never told me that I have a trust fund from my grandparents which was made when I was born. I’m not asking for my dad to give me a detailed analysis of his income and assets, but I feel I need to know where I stand because the schools I’m looking at are mostly on the expensive side and they say it’s too much. How am I supposed to set limits with no knowledge of how much financial aid I can qualify for, etc.? My dad has also said he will not sign any loans. I’m afraid we won’t qualify for aid and then I will have no way of paying besides working and doing loans myself and possibly not making enough. Any advice would be great. I’m a junior, but I’m starting to get worried.</p>
<p>Since your a Junior, I would keep convincing them to show you their financial situation. If necessary, I suggest you sit down with your guidance counselor and your parents and discuss the whole matter. My parents decided not to sign any loans too, but I still got a considerable amount of aid from Penn. So, I don’t think the loan issue will drop aid considerably.</p>
<p>Actually, the important discussion you need to have is just how much your family is willing to contribute to your college education. Your parents may not be willing to share their financial information with you. The reality is that the FAFSA is “supposed” to be completed by the student. I suspect that is nearly impossible in most cases as the parents at least need to contribute the information necessary. Once you know how much your family will contribute to your college education, it will be easier for you…and them to have a discussion about colleges that would be good choices for your applications.</p>
<p>My dad has set a limit of 30k a year. I’m happy because this is definitely generous, but with the likelihood that my family won’t qualify for aid, loans are out of the picture, and an after-school job may not be enough, what should I do to make up the difference? Amherst is my top choice right now, which is definitely an expensive school, and one where transportation costs would be high as well. I’m already looking at scholarships and everything I can think of to earn more money.</p>
<p>30K per year is VERY generous. If Amherst is your top choice, you should be working and saving NOW to try to save the difference in the cost of attendance and that 30K (I think you’re looking at about 12K per year right now). Some of that you could earn at a jobs. You should apply for any and all outside scholarships (local ones usually are your best bet). You could apply to be a resident assistant (after your freshman year). I don’t know Amherst’s payment for that, but usually the RAs get free room at least, and sometimes room and board. And if you have the “stuff” to get accepted to Amherst, there are TONS of colleges out there where you would be in good standing to get really good merit aid which is NOT need based. And in some cases that would be the difference between the cost and what your parents are contributing. Also, some of these schools are less expensive…Amherst is one of the most expensive colleges in the country. I’m not saying you shouldn’t follow your dream…but try to be realistic also.</p>
<p>Jackson, please expand your college search. There are many excellent colleges where you can get merit awards that will be more than sufficient to bring the full costs of attendance to under $30K – but colleges like Amherst do not offer merit aid. Your $30K allowance is also more than adequate to pay for out-of-state tuition at most public universities. </p>
<p>Amherst is a great college. If you do your research you will find that there are dozens of excellent colleges that can also offer you a similar experience, but which will be far more affordable.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips. I’m also considering a couple UC’s and less expensive options in Washington and Oregon. Does anyone know if Vassar offers merit aid? One more thing - can you move to a state and establish residency to get the lower tuition rates at public schools, or are there rules against that?</p>
<p>Usually you have to live in the state at least a year before attending the college, or your parents have to live there already, in order to get in-state rates.</p>
<p>Vassar says they only give need based aid.</p>
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<p>Short answer…no. If this were easy to do, many students would do so. States have specific guidelines regarding this and the rules make it VERY hard to establish residency just for the purpose of getting in state college tuition.</p>
<p>You dont need to know amy more than that your Dad will pay the 30K. The fafsa is pretty unrealistic about EFC so even if your dad shares everything with you and you find out that the EFC is 50K, that does not mean that that is what your family could actually pay. It is very hard/impossible for any teen to really understand the family finances since they have not the experience of running their own household. If you were to look at all the details you might think you were rich, when the reality is that the family is just scraping by. You parents may be trying to protect you from this misconception.</p>
<p>I can pretty much say that we’re well-off. We own a small house in an expensive area, go on skiing and Hawaii vacations every year, and my parents are planning to build some 50k utility building in the backyard. I don’t know what the EFC will be, but I know I need to contribute as much as possible which is why I’m getting a job and applying for scholarships right now.</p>
<p>Jackson,</p>
<p>You should also take a look at schools like SMU and University of Miami. I know my son was accepted to both. He was offered scholarships at SMU worth roughly 16K a year and at Miami worth 23K a year. Both were merit scholships. This brought the cost down to 23K at SMU and 17K at miami, including room and board. If you are in the top 10% of your class, above a 1350 on your SAT’s, have decent EC’s, you would be in the running for similar figures. i would also assume that there are a great many other schools that would end up very similarly. Don’t seel yourself short, or focus on just the Ivy’s, there are a lot of great schools where you will get a great education and college experience. Expand your search. If your parents can afford 30K a year, than you should be golden for degree with little or no debt.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely looking for schools where I can try for merit aid. Currently, my scores aren’t spectacular by any means (1990 - retaking after studying), but I have good grades and extracurriculars. I’m hoping with a score boost, I’ll be a stronger candidate for scholarships. I’m really interested in schools in the Boston/NY areas; I visit family out there and love the area. I’ve visited some schools like BC, Amherst, Dartmouth (for kicks), Tufts, and Brandeis. Anyone have any suggestions, or think any of these are good choices money-wise?</p>