<p>i’m applying to some schools that dont give merit money, and two that do</p>
<p>i’d figured that with the financial aid stats these schools give, i’d hopefully be ok</p>
<p>however, my dad did a EFC calculator and said that we wouldnt get any aid</p>
<p>he also said that my cap for spending is about 30k/year</p>
<p>should i pretty much give up hope of the top schools, then?</p>
<p>Well, if he means he is willing to spend 30,000 a year, it looks like you may be in pretty good shape for a lot of top colleges. After all, you could work summers and make $3000 or so. You could work part-time during the year. After the first year, you might be able to get an RA position, which might cover room and board. You could apply for lots of outside scholarships. And you could take out some loans. So it depends upon what you are willing to put into it.</p>
<p>30,000 isn’t bad at all. Worst possible scenario, you can take out the difference in loans and then pay it back at low interest rate after graduation…</p>
<p>Your Dad is offering to give you 30K per year for College.</p>
<p>You’re not screwed, you’re fortunate. Lots of kids would love to be in your position.</p>
<p>well, take 15K/year loan ($45K-$30K) - ur agrregates loan total will be 40K. That aint so bad</p>
<p>Bangoo, You may need a little work on your math skills. 15X4=60, not 40. :)</p>
<p>However, if gattican is willing to work summers and p-t during the year, or maybe be an RA, it could be significantly reduced.</p>
<p>“he also said that my cap for spending is about 30k/year”</p>
<p>You are really lucky. If you take out $5,000 a year in loans (about what most college students take out), that would give you $35,000 a year for college. Some highly respected colleges like Grinnell cost about that much. There also are some top state schools that are in the top 25 colleges that cost that much or less for out of state students.</p>
<p>Since you know what your financial limitations are, you’d be foolish to apply to colleges that you can’t afford such as Ivies, none of which give merit aid and all of which cost more than $35,000 a year. However, there are plenty of excellent colleges that you could afford – if you can get in. Just do the research.</p>
<p>"Since you know what your financial limitations are, you’d be foolish to apply to colleges that you can’t afford such as Ivies, none of which give merit aid and all of which cost more than $35,000 a year. "</p>
<p>I dont know about that.</p>
<p>It would be foolish for him(or her) to pass up the ivy education because of additional 40K loan.</p>
<p>I believe the nrt value of ivy education is more than that.</p>
<p>Gattica, I strongly advise you to go ahead and appy to top colleges of your dream (including ivies). In the long run 40K loan is nothing.</p>
<p>Goodluck</p>
<p>BG</p>
<p>"It would be foolish for him(or her) to pass up the ivy education because of additional 40K loan.</p>
<p>I believe the nrt value of ivy education is more than that."</p>
<p>I am Harvard educated and disagree. While I love my alma mater, I think it would be a mistake for someone to take on a crippling amount of debt to go to Harvard as an undegraduate.</p>
<p>Having so much undergraduate debt would restrict the person’s graduate and career options. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other universities where a stellar student like the OP (who lacks financial need so would not get need-based aid) could get an excellent education and also could leave college without a large amout of debt that would restrict their options.</p>
<p>With all due respect, I beg to differ.</p>
<p>If he’s taking out 45K/yr loan for 4 years (45 X 4= 180K), I agree with u and I would stop him from applying to ivies.
However, for his situation, his (her) dad will pay 30K and he only needs to borrow 40K more!</p>
<p>So it’s in his best interest to apply to top ivies.</p>
<p>Gattica - Remember you can make money later in your life but u cannot go to ivies when u get old. Live a full life</p>
<p>Someone here said, “…in the long run that 40K loan is nothing”.</p>
<p>In reality, that 40K in debt may be something. </p>
<p>As we have undergone relatively good economic times for an extended period, many people have assumed a cavalier attitude toward carrying a large amount of debt. In strong economic times, a certain amount of debt may not be too much of a burden.</p>
<p>Today, it seems many families think nothing of creatively financing their homes, so they may end up doing little more than making rent payments on their zero-down/interest only mortgages acquired near the top of the housing boom. The average American family is carrying, according to some reports, as much as 10K in credit card debt. Throw in a couple cars loans and paying off your student loan of 40K and you may be left with a lot less wiggle room than you think. Especially if we have an economic downturn anytime before you get the 40K paid off. This is particularly true if the job you are hoping to get after graduation might be subject to outsourcing or offshoring. (In the original career I chose for myself, there are fewer jobs avaiable today than there were 30 years ago when I was making that career choice.)</p>
<p>Let me share a personal story. I have always been a very entreprenuerial person. The economic downturn of 1990-91 left me bankrupt and with a 35K second mortgage on my mothers house that I had taken to try to save my struggling business. I was carrying too much debt personally and on the business and a little economic downturn is all it took for my family to have big economic problems. It took 7 years of montly payments the equivalent of making two car payments to dig out from under that debt. During that 7 year period, my entrepreneurial drive was quelled by the debt.
I worked a regular job and found myself somewhat unhappy. Upon finally paying off the debt, I started doing the things that entrepreneurial people do again. Of course, none of this may apply to you. However, having a large amount of debt in uncertain economic times does apply to everyone. And none of us has a crystal ball to know what the economy will be like 5-10 years from now as today’s college appicants are faced with the prospects of beginning their working lives, buying homes, taking out car loans and trying to pay off student loans they’ve acquired. In a perfect world, 40K may not be a bad amount to carry. Just be sure the world is perfect before you sign on the bottom line. I have learned over the years, for me it makes sense to not carry too much debt, just in case we are living in an imperfect world. </p>
<p>Best wishes to all.</p>
<p>Regardless,</p>
<p>Gattica- You are not screwed but fortunate.
Be grateful that ur dad will pay 30K/yr for your college education and congratulations on your stats stellar. </p>
<p>Just remember that there are millions of students who would take that 40K loan (could be far less amount depending on ur willingness to taking on pt term jobs or RCA )in a heartbeat for the ivy education experience. </p>
<p>Ivy education is far much more than that money: its priceless</p>
<p>Goodluck</p>
<p>BG</p>
<p>By the way, I didnt mention in my post above that if when I graduated high school, if I had a chance to go to an Ivy and it would cost me the equivalent of a 40K loan, I probably would have done it and taken my chances. :)</p>
<p>Some things in life are worth the risk.</p>
<p>Your parents paying 30k/yr is a great start. Deciding whether or not to go to a $40-45k/yr school is a tough … and depends if you think the more expensive school is that much a better option and what sacrifices you are willing to make for that better option. $40k or so in loans is a little on the high side to me but manageable … but you certainly don’t need that much in loans. </p>
<p>Work during the summer (maybe a few extra hours at a second job), work about 10 hours a week during school, and work during the winter break (and don’t pay to have a car or insurance) and you can make a huge dent in that $10k/yr of loans. And some jobs can pay A LOT, for example, working 3rd shift at UPS over the winter break pays some serious bucks … and totally screws up your social life with your high school friends. Money also can be found at school … a couple people have mentioned being a RA in a dorm which saves your housing expense. In addition, being proactive can often lead to opportunities … my first days of b-school I went to 6-7 sponsoring companies looking for summer jobs (not through the placement office but hunting down their rep on campus) and a bunch of professors in my future concentration looking for research assistantships … this work on my part led to 3-4 great summer job offers and 5 semesters of research asssitantships which paid over 1/2 of my b-school expense. I was far from the best student at my b-school (these firms and professors I chased down had rejected me for the a tuition free program) … but I was focused and proactive (and in serious need of money). Personally, I’m a big fan of top tier schools … not because of the prestige … but because of the incredible clasmates and opportunities … and would (and did) make scrifices to get an opportunity to attend great schools.</p>
<p>Try applying to schools like Rice where tuition and fees are substantially below peer schools, and merit aid is available.</p>
<p>Rice is awesome, relatively cheap.</p>
<p>Wait and see. You may get the merit aid. Your Dad may change his mind. Some schools are more or less generous than the formula. I.e., DON’T LIMIT YOUR OPTIONS BASED ON A SUPPOSITION. I ended up in Vietnam that way.</p>
<p>beprepn</p>