YOU can only borrow about $5000 per year. Your parents will have to cosign any loans above that… x 4 kids… that would add up to enormous loans they would have to assume responsibility for (in case you/your siblings can’t pay.)
you as a student CANT take out more than approx 5000/ year. CANT!
The ONLY way to get more loans is for your parents to sign for the loans, which means they will be on the hook for them, even if you dont graduate or even die.
The BEST course of action is for you and your siblings to CAST A WIDE NET for merit scholarships, and that means applying to colleges far down the list from “elite” or Ivy" colleges. I’d recommend that you ALL retake the ACT to see if you can get the scores up as far as possible.
Start your search here;
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
and here
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
There are LOTS of Universities that will PAY you and/ or your bros to go to college.
U of Alabama offers FULL TUITION scholarships to OOS students with ACT’s of 30 and above and full tuition and room and board for ACT scores of 34+
But you will need to apply by DEC 1.
Oh don’t worry, we are all applying to OSU (we’ll get in). And we all have have some guaranteed scholarship money there.
But, it’s just that we just want to see if going to the “elite” colleges is even feasible.
you need to run the NPC’s at each “elite” college with 4 going to equally expensive colleges at the same time.
You “might” be able to land Merit scholarships at U of Chicago, now that they no longer use the Profile FA application[ as I understand it] unlike the other top colleges, which use the profile and take a harder look at your parents assets.
One cant get a better education or go to a more prestigious U than the U of Chicago, imho. .
Okay thanks @menloparkmom
Pick a couple and apply and see. At some of the more generous schools, with FOUR students in college at the same time…you could garner significant enough need based aid to make it work…even with $200,000 a year in income.
I went to college in southeastern Ohio…and I’m trying to figure out where you could live where the cost of living is HIGH. I can’t come up with one town where that would be the case.
What “elite” college accepts a 28 ACT at this income level?
Y’all should try to raise your ACT scores a little bit. 34+ is ideal for an “elite” college.
^OP says that kid is trying to raise it. AFrican American Quads is an interesting hook at any income level…
If you REALLY want to save $ for your parents you can look at full tuition alternatives here:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Okay thanks. Definitely working on those scores. My bro is definitely not just gonna stick with a sub-par score. He’s gotta raise it to at least 30+ (it’s required by our parents). We have already taken the ACT twice, so we are gonna give the SAT a try, because I know our scores are kinda bad at the moment.
If you’re interested in HBCUs, Howard offers great merit aid.
I’m looking into Howard for sure. The reason I want Gtown is b/c of the study abroad and internship opportunities. (I going to SFS if I get in). Btw, I think I have a shot at Gtowm, average ACT is a 31. I’m taking the SAT anyways, the higher the score the better.
Howard scholarships are different for this coming year. See https://www2.howard.edu/admission/tuition (scroll down).
Find out from your parents how much they will contribute per year (each * 4 = total). Compare that amount to the net prices on the various schools of interest (as a student, you can borrow $5,500 from federal direct loans, and perhaps earn a few thousand dollars per year in part time and summer work earnings).
If the net prices are unrealistic, then you need to build merit-seeking application lists. You may in any case need an automatic full tuition or full ride school as a safety if your parents’ contribution will be small.
With 33+ACT, top <5% class rank and high GPA, you should be able to get full tuition at several schools.
Temple gave full tuition for ACT 32 and 3.8 GPA last year
U Alabama gives full tuition for 32 ACT and 3.5 GPA I believe
University of Pittsburgh might be a possibility for full tuition (or more, especially figuring in diversity).
From what I hear Ohio state is not as generous to instate students as OOS, but you might qualify for Morrill or another high merit scholarship. I would definitely apply early, Nov 1 is deadline for merit.
If you got full tuition then you could each take the $5500 student loan, and maybe parents could cover the remaining $10k for room/board/travel. You could work in summers for book/spending money.
That is what I plan on. I’m also applying to things such as the Ron Brown scholarship and the Cameron Impact Scholarship, among others. Also applying to several government agency scholarships/internships.
are you or your siblings planning on applying to other colleges besides just top 20 or OSU?
You may be in for some big disappointments money wise as many of those highly selective scholarships are harder to win than getting into Harvard.
be sure to add some automatic full tuition Us’ to all of your lists, especially after you all retake the ACT/ or SAT.
I definitely will. My safety schools are: OSU, University of Cincinnati, Miami University, and Xavier.