I just got accepted into my dream university and I originally though I would go there no matter what if I got accepted. But now that i see the other schools that accepted me have scholarships waiting, I am not sure how much debt I should take on for my degree.
My parents will pay for books,transportation and work study(or any part time job) will cover personal expenses, so tuition, room, and board are my main expenses. My brother is willing to co-sign any loans or anything if I need them. But I don’t know if I’m speaking irrationally when I say I will take on any debt my dream school offers. So how do I know where to draw the line when I see my reward? How much is too much debt? I want to know now because I don’t want to get my hopes up on a school that I probably can’t afford (considering I will be paying back all of the loans I take out)
BG : I want to be a Mechanical Engineer, I’m graduating in 3.5 to 4 years (I want space for a fall / spring co op), My parents won’t support me taking loans…ask if you need more information to further assess my situation.
These awards are per year
Prarieview A&M - So far $2,000. and waiting for a guaranteed $9,200.
Texas Tech - Guaranteed but waiting - $4,000
Liberty University - $10,000
Still waiting for UTD, UoH, and A&M and admission to Trinity Uni and Uo Miami (but their NPCs estimate a lot of grants). TAMU can’t give me an Idea of how much I’d receive (except for a work study estimate)
Well my brother did it for my other siblings … and without parents I don’t have much of a choice besides the normal Stanford loans (which I don’t think will be enough). And I mainly need to afford freshman year stuff (like mandatory living on campus and meal plans) , because most engineers at A&M recieve scholarships after freshman year by maintaining a good GPA. My goal initially was to work hard for a good enough GPA for scholarships and if I failed, I could transfer to UTD or UoH and complete my degree in the same time frame.
I’m curious how big debt has to be for it to be “killing” me. Because I understand that 2k debt for a high school teacher won’t kill the teacher, but 200k may. And I have no idea what a reasonable amount is because my parents don’t discuss the subject. How do I know where to draw the line?
How many siblings and how much debt did your brother already co-sign for? Are those siblings all out of college? How much of his own student loan debt does your brother have? Are you both certain he will qualify to co-sign more loans for your 4 years? What is your GPA/ACT/SAT and PSAT? Are any of your school’s close enough to commute from home? What is your FAFSA EFC?
So the net prices per year for a Texas resident would be:
$12,551 Prairie View A&M (assuming $2,000 + $9,200 = $11,200 scholarships)
$21,776 Texas Tech (assuming $4,000 scholarship)
$21,980 Liberty (assuming cheapest dorm and meal plan and $10,000 scholarship) (note: no ME major)
$27,272 Texas A&M (assuming no scholarships or financial aid)
How much will your parents contribute? If their willingness to pay for books and transportation means $2,000 to $3,000, then that brings Prairie View A&M barely within reach, if you take a $5,500 federal direct loan (no cosigner needed) and then work part time and during summers to earn around $4,000 to $5,000.
@madison85
He’s paid off most of the debts he’s taken (he has like 1-2 k left).
He signed for about 4k per year for 2 years for 3 siblings.
Those 3 are still in college and will remain there till I graduate (with med school and PhD programs)
My brother has no student loan debt. IDK how to be certain but guarantee enough for the first year. (After that I can transfer if its too much) ** BUT WHAT IS TOO MUCH!!?? **
3.6 GPA, 30 ACT 1289 SAT
I suppose UTD is in a commutable distance, but other schools aren’t my concern at the moment. (Since every other school on my list is going to give me some type of scholarship in addition of FA) Right now I am concerned about if its possible for me to realistically attend Texas A&M .
@mommdc
Nooooooo its a lot higher. I filed the fafsa and my EFC is 5350 (so… liteally 50 above the min requirement for texas state grants) So (as far as I can tell) I’m only eligible for university grants.
My parents will pay for a tangible object (say a required text book if i show a syllabus or a plane ticket. Something they can order) but they aren’t giving me an actual limit on how much they will spend. they just won’t pay a university bill.
{{SOMETHING I FORGOT TO MENTION}} since my EFC is 5350 and the COA is 27000 I will get some kind of aid. I need to know thou how much is affordable and how much debt will be too much for an MEEN major.
{{SOMETHING else I FORGOT TO MENTION}} also no school has given me a financial aid award yet. Those awards were just automatic merit.
University grants are good though–you don’t have to pay them back. Let’s hope you get them in addition to your scholarships!!
IMO $35K is the maximum somewhat reasonable debt to graduate with. It’s like the price of a nice Honda Accord, which you won’t buy until you are about age 30 because you are paying off your debt. You can buy a Honda in 4 or 5 years worth of payments and be done with it. The key is to pay it off ASAP–as a priority, no matter what.
40K for some reason makes me nervous. It’s quite a burden. Those with 80K+ etc., unless they are an MD or something, well, I don’t see those ever being paid off. The people I know who undertook 80K of debt still owe 80K of debt even 10 years later.
@lessonwitch2, to figure out how much is too much, I would do a spreadsheet and include all of the expenses you think you’ll have when you graduate. It’s hard to say how much is too much without knowing if you’ll be living with your parents or getting an apartment, how much renting an apartment costs in your area, etc.
Also, I would talk to other kids who have graduated with a ME degree in your area. Ask how much they make.
Not sure how Liberty can be a safety if (a) it is probably too expensive, and (b) it does not have your major (as an ABET-accredited degree). Also, if you are not a conservative Southern Baptist, it may not be an optimal social environment.
From what you have written, you need to find a net price after scholarships and financial aid grants of around $12,500 or less, based on assumed parental willingness to pay around $2,000 for books and travel, $5,500 federal direct loan, and $5,000 in work earnings. But lower is better.
@redpoodles Thank you. I didn’t think about loans in relation to future percbess like a car. I guess 35k is a pretty good barrier. So about 8.75 k per year?
@mommdc@Madison85 should I really apply for another school? With liberty, prarieview, and UoH as safteys already? Becuase I’ve used up all of my waivers so I’m not too keen on paying for another application. I’m also not so much concerned about finding a full ride. Because I’m sure PVAMU and Liberty will turn into full rides on their own.(BTW Pvamu is my fully accredited safety and possible transference ticket to A&M so its my preferred safety)
@WalknOnEggShells I’m glad you brought that up. After a little research it would cost 12k for tuition (for engineering), 3.8 k for apartment housing and 2460 for the smallest meal plan. So after the first year, it would cost about $18500 for me to attend (not including books and transportation, which will be waived) So I only need 18.5k to attend TAMU.
@ucbalumnus well with housing, meals, books, transportation, and 10k (without including financial aid) it may be pretty affordable. And going thought the application, I knew that was my only “guaranteed” full ride. because if they meet half of my need I can make it work since I’m not actually paying half the bill. liberty and UTD are the only schools on my list with that privilege. .
So I guess I’m aiming for 18.5k for the years after freshman year (freshman year itself will cost about $20.5k)
If you can’t seem to get specific information from each school’s NPC, how do you know that any of the schools you applied to are financial safeties for all 4 years? Also note that as your siblings finish undergrad, your FAFSA EFC increases.
PVAMU guarantees me enough merit aid for tuition all 4 years and Liberty guarantees me housing and food for all 4 years. so I planned on those two being my main safety. with UoH being a safety in an academic sense.
wait… undergrad? So they won’t go on my fafsa while they are in graduate school and medical school? Becuase I plan on graduating the spring of 2021, so I should graduate by the time they are all still in college…
You may want to investigate whether Liberty biology courses will include enough evolutionary biology to prepare you for any such questions on the MCAT.
@ucbalumnus I’m sorry if I was vague, but I’m not attending medical school, but my sister is and I understand Liberty isn’t the best school for an engineer but most safeys aren’t, right?