Before I should email the school and tell them to extend my first semester tuition due date, I would like to find out if it’s even possible for me to make this happen at all.
So I got roughly $5200 in grants and $9500 in loans thanks to financial aid. So that leaves my overall freshman tuition around $11,600. Well my whole fall semester payment is due on 8/5 if I don’t sign up for the payment plan (which starts on 8/15 at around $2,000 a month. Which would be impossible for me).
Should I bother even applying to the plus loan knowing my parents have bad credit? And even if I got accepted, would it be worth it after I graduate? Each year would equal to $21,000 a year in loans unless I transfer next year to a cheaper school, which won’t be much cheaper considering I haven’t found many other schools in my state that have a much lower tuition and room & board. The cheapest option would be community college, but that won’t work for me considering it’s more than 40 minutes away and due to extreme anxiety and lack of money, I don’t have a car or even my license. It’s highly doubtful I’ll find someone to drive me there and back there daily.
I know common sense says would say “hey, obviously you should wait a year or two.” But another issue is (other than the fact I painfully want to go, and have already put in to leave my job, and have already bought my dorm stuff, and have been talking to my roomate, etc) I won’t have a place to live after the person who I’ve been living with me moves (which is most likely soon) because I can’t go back to living with my parents to due their home being a toxic household, none of my friends want to/are able to house me until I can afford to go, and I honestly can’t afford to rent an apartment (and also I don’t have a car so it would be more difficult to get another job). So at least being at college will give me a place to live for a year.
I haven’t been this stressed and unsure about something in my life. My mom is hardly helping me with this decision and I don’t have much other guidance. So my question here is, what is the best choice to make? And if anyone has any advice, even just the tiniest bit, I would be so appreciative!
I think the only choice you have if you want to go to college is the payment plan. It is much more easy to come up with 2000 in 30 days than 6000 in just 5 days.
While this may not be the best solution because racking up a lot of debt is ill advised, if your parents are denied a parent plus loan, you as a student can borrow more (up to $9500). But you are up against a clock , so yes, apply for the payment plan if you intend to enroll.
How is it that you are awarded $9,500 in loans? Usually the Direct (Stafford Loan) is 5,500 for dependents and 9,500 for independent students or for dependent student when the parent is turned down for the plus loan. Did you get a Perkins Loan also? I can’t tell how much more you need. You say tuition is 11,000 but you need more than just tuition. Then you say your borrowings would be 21k per year. That is too much and if your parents have bad credit I can’t see how this would get approved. Please do not listen to the very bad advice just to start going on 2k without a means to pay further.
Can you please cut and paste the costs and awards from your letter so we can see and help?
Ah- if the student already has the max $9500 in federal loans (assuming parents were denied the plus and hence the loan bump) then that well is already dry.
The family cannot afford this school. Doing a payment plan would be WORSE in this case because at some point the bill would not be paid, and then the student would be stuck.
the student’s path is to too much debt anyway.
The student will have to do a gap year and find an affordable school.
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But another issue is (other than the fact I painfully want to go, and have already put in to leave my job, and have already bought my dorm stuff, and have been talking to my roomate, etc) I won't have a place to live after the person who I've been living with me moves (which is most likely soon) because I can't go back to living with my parents to due their home being a toxic household, none of my friends want to/are able to house me until I can afford to go, and I honestly can't afford to rent an apartment (and also I don't have a car so it would be more difficult to get another job). So at least being at college will give me a place to live for a year.
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Going this route just so you have a place to live is silly. You won’t have a place to live when you can’t make the payments.
Going forward just because you bought dorm stuff (return what you can), and have talked to your roomie are also bad reasons. Dorm stuff that you can’t return can be used another year.
You can contact your job and find out if you can still work. Hopefully, they haven’t hired anyone.
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due to extreme anxiety and lack of money,
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Well, not only do you not have the money for those $2000 a month payments, the pressure would drive up your anxiety even more.
I suspect that you want to just go forward and move into the dorm because that somehow soothes your anxiety for this minute. But, that relief will be extremely short-lived.
I’m wondering why you even CHOSE this school knowing that you would be short so much money? Your family is toxic, so obviously they weren’t going to be supportive.
To other rising high school seniors reading this thread: If you don’t have all the financial ducks in a row at the time you’re picking a college next April, don’t commit to a school.
Just commenting on payment plans… look carefully at the requirements. Ours (which a lot of colleges use) says you must sign-up by August 1st however, the plan STARTS June 1st. So if you wait until August 1st to sign up, you actually owe for June, July AND August… three months worth of payments. The positive is that you finish paying for the year March 1st.
I can’t say what the circumstance is at your school and it doesn’t sound like it’s really an option for you anyway but make sure to read the fine print if it comes into consideration again.
Hugs to you @cjo115 If i had $6000, I’d send it to you. I’ve often thought that if I win the lottery, I"m going to establish a College Confidential college fund where I help kids with their financial roadblocks.
In any case, this is a lot for an 18-year-old to handle…even one who sounds as accomplished as you do. I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with all of this.
This school costs ~$27k/year and all you got is ~$5k/year in grants? If that’s the case, it’s really unaffordable for you.
The first thing you need to do is to figure out a job and a place to live. I’d immediately contact your boss and ask to stay. How are you getting to work now? When you don’t have transportation, you either need to live near public transportation or within walking distance of your job.
Who are you living with now and how soon are they moving? If you’re sharing an apartment, can you find a roommate to share with you after the other person moves? If not, look for an apartment to share (or a room) within walking distance of your job and/or look for a job within walking distance of wherever you can afford to live.
Once you have that settled, apply to schools that will be more affordable. If you post your SAT/ACT and GPA, the parents here can make suggestions. But if you enroll in an unaffordable school, you’ll lose access to freshmen grants.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I can certainly understand your enthusiasm in wanting to start the first phase of the rest of your life. Like @SouthernHope, I wish I had enough money to assist deserving students who have fallen onto hard times through no fault of their own. Hugs to you. Do check into a payment plan. Best of luck.
How is she going to come up with $2,000 a month on her own? If you stop paying the school won’t let you sign up for any more classes and hold your transcript until you pay what you owe.
It would be worse to start and then drop out and owe money without a degree. Get your living situation worked out and look at other options.
I don’t know if this makes any difference or not, but I am NOT a recently graduated high school student. I took a couple of years off before applying to schools, so I’m not totally a young naive teenager haha (only a little). I mean when it comes to paying off loans, I have a taste of what it’ll be like. I already pay $250 for rent to the lady I live with, and also pay off credit card bills monthly (sometimes if I am able to I will pay off $100 to each card), and oftentimes buy my own food without any problems (as in I can still go out to eat with friends and buy clothes or makeup, and starbucks everyday while still have a little bit of money before payday comes around). So I am 100% used to paying things off monthly without struggling. That’s why I thought taking out loans wouldn’t be too much of an issue, because by the time I have to pay them off I’ll know how to handle it and it wouldn’t come to a shock. I’m making 800-1000 a month now, so I figure when I graduate I’ll make even more so even though I’ll be paying more monthly, I’ll also be getting a bigger income. Even with that said I’m still probably way over my head here, so tell me if I am haha.
@mom2collegekids, to answer your questions about why I chose such an expensive university, I did plenty of research and it appears to be that there are schools that are cheaper, yes, but only by $4,000 at the most and none of them offer my major. So I figured, it would be more helpful to go to the slightly more expensive school with my major than go to a school that’s a bit cheaper and doesn’t offer it.
You’re giving up your job, so that monthly income is soon to be gone. You have no means to pay the $6k for this semester and the $6k for next semester.
Most payment plans start earlier than the full tuition is due. As of tomorrow we will have paid 20% of his tuition, and there is more time for students not on the payment plan, but when it is due it is 50% (one semester).
In general, schools where a student is getting substantial financial aid will give time to receive that aid, but the rest is usually due “on time”.
What you “need” is a friend or relative to give you the money, and then you “need” to get a job or another way of making the money back to pay them back.
And “at least I’ll have a place to live”? Have you looked into off-campus housing, really really cheap like a studio or a bedroom in someone’s house? If you are planning to pay full college on-campus room and board, that is one place you could save money.
