wow, I agree with everyone else. The return in your investment in UPenn will be worth it! Your parents have the money but are unwilling to support your eduction. That is unfortunate.
@redpoodles Ditto
You can make a lot of money and not have 62,000 x4 = 248,000 lying around.
One and a half years saved is 93,000 which is quite alot!
The OP does not want to have to take out the equivalent of a mortgage for his education ($155,000)…he cannot take loans out with out his parents co-signing…i would not co-sign either.
It would have been best to have the cost discussion before you applied. Are there not any other choices?
I am a parent and if my kid said "I want you to play $248.000 for my education or I could go somewhere for free, I would not want to put my retirement at risk for that…or mortgage my house…
Figure out the differences in starting salaries between the two…I don’t think the amount is different enough to pay for the loan.
Also if the school is ABET accredited then you will be fine.
Since you received a presidential scholarship, they really want you. You will be a star and be able to work with professors and do research.
OP, run the net price calculator for Penn. Is there any chance you could get aid? Your parents did do a good job saving for you. But it’s worth applying because you never know.
TU is not in a “bad neighborhood” by any reasonable definition. (I’m local, so am familiar; OP is local-ish and can draw his own conclusions, but south of 244 is not the same neighborhood as north of 244.)
OP, if you plan to live in Oklahoma after graduation, you’ll do fine coming out of TU.
You can’t afford Penn, so your other option is probably a gap year followed by applying to schools you can afford.
It is worth noting that this is a field that is going to be very lucrative in terms of employment in coming years…
People who say mortgage your home to go to Penn can’t be taken seriously. It’s really easy to spend other people’s money. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it.
I say go to UTulsa. It’s not in a bad neighborhood, unless you’ve lived a very sheltered life. When we toured there with ds1, we were impressed from top to bottom. I would have been perfectly happy to send ds there, but he got some better offers. Would you do TURC? If you save your parents that $100K, would they be willing to give it back to you? That would go a long way toward a home purchase, new car, etc.
Have you seen this story? Cyber stuff is big there:
https://engineering.utulsa.edu/news/cyber-defense-team-wins/
^^^ No one says mortgage the home. We are just asking if the parental income is high enough that they could afford to pay more than they are saying they will pay.
I specifically said “difficult neighborhood.” And it is. High poverty, project housing, and the elementary school is in the “highest need” category. The elementary school sends canned soup home with many kids on Friday so they will have enough to eat over the weekend. I know this because my sister does this.
I was just trying to think of things that might get the parents to open their minds a little. They don’t want their child to go far away to school. It sounds like they could afford it pretty easily, but don’t want to. Good luck OP.
You should get your FA information in as soon as possible. Did you run the NPC? If is not too late to get the information in to Penn. If your family’s income is too high then Tulsa is a good alternative.
One poster said, “If you need to mortage your home to go to UPenn do so.”
I also get the sense that maybe the parents just don’t want OP to go far from home and that’s why they are balking at the more-expensive school. Then again, maybe the parents have financial difficulties OP knows nothing about. We can’t know, but there’s no us pining over something that isn’t going to happen. The reality is that OP can feel good about a full-ride at a school that is strong in his/her area of interest. It’s a nice-sized school with lots going for it.
OP, how do the conversations with your parents go?
Youdon’tsay, I missed that. But true, true. I’m hoping they actually can afford it and the sticker shock wears off for them. OP, it’s true you should feel very good about your full ride. You should also definitely apply for aid at Penn and see what happens. Run the calculator. Give them a call. They give aid to people making more than you’d think. Your parents obviously care very much about your education or they wouldn’t have saved so much for it. If they are not financially secure and wouldn’t be able to retire I’d understand their reticence. We really don’t have enough details.
OP, I suggest also posting this question in the Engineering Majors forum:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/
OP, you cannot take out more than the federal loans, $5500 for freshman year, in your name. Your parents would have to cosign loans or get parent loans in their name(and be on the hook to pay them back if you are not able to yourself) and it does not seem as though they are willing to do this to finance attending UPenn. Congrats on your acceptance to UPenn, but it looks to be not affordable for you.
Many, many students are in the same boat, with parents who are unable or unwilling to pay for expensive schools, my own included. I have 3 kids who have all landed in wonderful, affordable schools with great programs, but none are at their 1st choice schools, due to high COA. They are all doing well and very happy.
Even if the parents can afford it they are well within their right to set up a budget and ask OP to stick to it. There are lots of options between a full ride and full pay at an Ivy.
And again the whole University of Tusla is in a bad neighborhood may not work with the parents. West Philly is far from DisneyLand. Some might say way worse than Tusla.
It is unfortunate that your parents are either unwilling or unable (or both) to pay for Penn, despite high enough income not to qualify for need based aid. However, given that reality, I just don’t see how on earth Penn could be affordable. I don’t care how much you make upon graduation, that level of debt is not viable (and your parents would have to co-sign for it, and I’m not imagining they would be willing either). You have a great offer from U Tulsa, and if I were you I would take it. Also, I have to agree with the “difficult neighborhood” argument being a moot point in this particular comparison. As @sensation723 notes, West Philly is also a “difficult neighborhood.” (I lived there for six years in grad school, and I don’t think it has improved all that much in the interim).
Why are these the only 2 options?
There appears to be only 1 option - go to Tulsa and excel. You cannot afford Penn and your parents cannot or will not pay for Penn. BTW folks, it is more than possible to have a high income and not be able to afford $65K per year for school. And the neighborhood around Penn is fine, not that this is relevant.
I can understand your disappointment. Clearly you are bright and hardworking. Fortunately, that hard work has provided you with an affordable college option.
“Part of it is I didn’t apply for financial aid and my parents are refusing to fund an Ivy League education.”
OK, so hold on. I think you should contact Penn and see if you can still apply for aid. Will your parents cooperate with that?
Why did you not apply for aid??
You can STILL apply for financial aid. First, run the NPC. If the sole issue is that you didn’t apply for FA, you could well be eligible - and obviously your parents don’t want to cover costs that would have been taken care of if you’d done your due diligence.
Once you know how much you’re eligible for, talk to your parents: would they be willing to pay for the costs Penn says is their responsibility?
(You’d have to work, part time now and during the school year, and full time over the summer + take the federal loans).
Complete the documents NOW and email the counselor who signed your admission letter to say there was a mix up so you didn’t apply for aid but should have…
Uh, maybe, but Penn is in West Philadelphia. The area around it isn’t known for it’s excellent schools and wealthy residents.
I suppose that scrambling and trying to apply for aid now to see whether things might change before May 1 is worth a shot, but the OP has a full scholarship to a good university. While it’d be preferable to go to Penn if it were affordable, there’s nothing wrong with the choice of Tulsa.