<p>Aig…do,they still have this expensive cars they bought? I know they are a couple of years old now, but they certainly sounded like a luxury on your previous thread. Maybe they could sell them.</p>
<p>All that aside…you have figured out yourself a way to complete college and also have so e help with grad school.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure I understand the complete point of this thread. Any student can try to graduate in three years…which will save money. Just like any student can choose a less costly college…to save money.</p>
<p>Oh wow…I remember that thread. I wanted to knock those parents upside the head back then; now I think their disabilities are more than physical.</p>
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<p>My parents haven’t saved any money for our college expenses–their parents completely paid for their school from undergraduate to doctorate. As a result, my parents just kind of assume that someone else ought to be taking care of our expenses… like the university itself, or the tooth fairy.</p>
<p>Frankly, my brother and I feel that we’ve been financially under-supported our whole lives. We both need some assistance from our parents to cover basic living expenses (travel to and from school, basic living supplies, etc.) as well as a little more from our parents to cover direct charges from the university. We think it’s unfair for us to have to take significant amounts of loans to cover our Expected Family Contribution that my parents can easily cover. I worked and saved in high school and now in college, but it just doesn’t make a dent in these expenses.</p>
<p>My parents respond by saying how much they’d like to help us, but that they just have so many health expenses and don’t what what the future holds. Yet, they just went out and spent >$60,000 on two new cars, when my mother can’t even drive. And they eat effectively all of their meals out at fancy restaurants. This makes my brother and I very angry because they don’t want to spend nearly any money to help us through school.
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<p>They do. But I’m not expecting them to sell them. I’m satisfied with graduating early this fall. They’re going to pay for me to live in the area around my school for the next year, they’ll pay some for grad school, and I’ve accepted two part-time jobs for the fall.</p>
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<p>I guess maybe I’m trying to reach an audience that doesn’t exist. I come from a rural background; people don’t expect to have to pay for school. Not a lot of kids go to college and most of those who do go to the community college, which is free after the pell grant. And when someone makes it out to a top school, none of us our thinking how things might change if financial circumstances vary. </p>
<p>I guess everyone’s circumstances are different. I have a friend in college who’s parents make >300k a year. They claim they don’t have enough money to pay for college, but it’s her job to go to a top school and they cosign the loans (they’re immigrants from an Asian country where college is very cheap). As a result, she chose this private school over UT-Austin and has taken the whole cost of attendance in loans.</p>
<p>Also, I’m glad I made this thread. I went back through the FASFA for the last two years and asked my dad why some of the non-asset numbers changed so much. Apparently, he made a number of errors; once we fixed them, the EFC went down by about 20k. Enough so, I’m not expecting any more aid than the scholarship of 50% of tuition that’s not need-based so I don’t think they’ll be much change.</p>
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<p>I don’t remember whether I ultimately outed them or not, but the basis of their disability is not physical, but they don’t qualify to be declared incompetent.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like the OP has been very practical and mature in outlook. Two years ago the OP was feeling frustrated and angry at the parents’ selfishness and mismanagement of money; now the OP has let go of the anger and took steps proactively to anticipate and prepare for the potential problems looming ahead.</p>
<p>OP is right and it is the parents money. OP did not get to choose the parents - so no point in blaming or castigating the OP for sharing an experience. </p>
<p>I do think that the specific fact set is unique – but the larger issue is not. I think this is an issue that may be fairly common with divorced parents, when the noncustodial parent is not contributing-- I know that it was always stressful for me to worry about what would happen to my daughter’s award if my ex’s income shot up one year. There was on year that my ex delayed getting his paperwork done – so the college was refusing to write an award - so it wasn’t even that he had money, it was just that he couldn’t get his act together to fill out financial forms. I was freaking out…</p>
<p>My daughter had a friend who lost a parent during junior year. That student didn’t have a big inheritance coming in - but it would have been a huge hardship to pay for senior year. Fortunately, like OP, the friend had enough AP credits to graduate after 3 years. </p>
<p>I don’t think that it’s realistic for every student to make those sort of plans, but I certainly do admire people like the OP who are proactive with a “Plan B” if things don’t work. </p>
<p>I hope your friend can do this. The reality is that these loans are either in her parents’ names, or they cosigned for them with her. If something happens with the cosigned loans, her parents are going to have to repay. The Plus loans are in the parent name…so they are the parent loans.</p>
<p>I hope it works out. That is a LOT of loan debt.</p>
<p>Her parents cosigned. I encouraged her to transfer to UT-Austin (great school, far cheaper), but she has the Asian “must go to elite school” mentality. Unfortunately, she’s also majoring in political science.</p>
<p>What kind of cultural insanity is this? She is forced to take out loans for a prestigious college so that her parents can brag? Tell me, isn’t this the same culture that expects kids to take care of aging parents? If they can’t afford her college with a $300,000+ income, have they done any financial planning for their old age? Surely they aren’t going to expect their d to take care of all of that, too? </p>
<p>^ wrt to Asian friend: it’s likely she WILL default (that’s an insane amount of debt and she won’t be able to repay it) so the parents will be stuck repaying the loans.</p>
<p>OP: I must congratulate you on your level-headedness. The advice you gave, especially taking the opportunity of taking summer classes while on FA if you suspect you may not get as much aid the following year, in order to graduate early, is an excellent one.</p>
<p>I was a little surprised at my financial aid award. I was asked to pay just over $9,000 to attend full-time for my last semester (though I’m living off campus, so I still have to pay rent and such). That means I can attend full-time and finish the second major in sociology (instead of the sociology minor).</p>
<p>NFN, but if your parents have current medical expenses, plus ongoing and possibly unexpected very high medical expenses, could the financial aid office take that into consideration?</p>
<p>IMHO, if you are old enough, declare yourself independent (if you don’t live at home, if your finances are separate, and if you have no access to the inheritance). </p>
<p>I think the OP has a very good head on his shoulders and I appreciate his taking the time to share his story. Having a Plan B is a smart idea. Layoffs, illness, or an unexpected death can wreak havoc on a student’s plans. I hope his brother’s situation worked out equally as well.</p>