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<p>From the same place the money for everything else comes from. Your parents or you or scholarships (if you are eligible) or need based aid (if you are eligible and if the school meets full need - many do not).</p>
<p>Yes you can use loans/scholarships/grants to pay for it - but you have to get the loans/scholarships/grants first.</p>
<p>Actually, you have to get ACCEPTED at the schools FIRST. THEN you hear about financial aid. If your list of schools is not a realistic one from an admissions standpoint, it doesn’t matter what their financial aid policies are…or how much your family will or won’t contribute.</p>
<p>SO…first…pick some schools (at least some…you certainly can still apply to some schools that are reaches…but NOT your whole list) where you have a really good chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>hon…relax…my parents aren’t giving me a dime either
just apply for as many scholarships as possible and look into loans</p>
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<p>Those are not the SUNY’s I think of for business - you should look at Albany and Univ. at Buffalo. Both are within your reach, UB is a D1 school and gives merit and athletic scholarships (don’t know about Albany), and both have strong business programs. UB is a well known and respected research university w/a med school, architecture, and pharmacy school so should not be a “slouch” college in your parent’s eyes. I would consider one of them above Arizona. It would at least save you the travel expense!</p>
<p>Cortland is known for other things but is a much smaller school and pretty overcrowded these days.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, because trust me I probably owe a lot to everyone who’s been helping me, but I don’t need help getting into any schools.</p>
<p>Yes I know my SAT scores, class rank, and GPA aren’t great. However that’s not problem right now. </p>
<p>I’ll probably have people saying the same thing as Thumper1 said, I have to get IN the school before anything, but I can work that out later.</p>
<p>Right now I just have to get the financial side straight. Right now (many people will disagree and thats fine), I need to find a way to PAY for college, not get INTO it.</p>
<p>I appreciated all help, and like I said I’m not being unappreciative, but I need help paying for it, not getting into it.</p>
<p>I agree that you’ll get in-- but the reason we’re all pressing you about your school choices is because how you pay depends on the school. Let me back-track (and, hopefully, I won’t be telling you stuff you already know).</p>
<p>Each school out there decides on what information they need to determine your aid. Just about all schools will want a FAFSA-- a federal form that looks at your parents and your income, money in the bank, stocks, real estate other than your house. Some schools also want the PROFILE or they have their own form that includes info on your parents house. If your parents have a lot of equity in that house (if they put a lot down or it’s gone up in price in the past couple of years), you want a school that doesn’t count the house because they might decide that your parents could afford another $10K or more by taking out a loan against the house-- and that would be another $10K that you would have to figure out how to get. In general, state schools only want FAFSA-- but you need to look at each school. </p>
<p>Ok, so let’s say you apply to a FAFSA only school and they decide that, based on your parents income/ family size and savings, they can afford $12K a year. Let’s say the school costs $20K including room and board. (That’s for your instate.) The school will then say YOU have a contribution-- summer employment and work or loans during the year. Every school says a different amount but it will easily be $4k. You’re up to $16K they expect you to pay. Now, the ONLY thing that the school might give you for need-based is about $4K-- and that’s if it meets your full need, which most schools don’t. Some schools don’t come close to meeting your need; they basically say you’re in, we know you can’t pay for it but you figure it out. You need to include schools that will be cheap just as back-up. </p>
<p>Some options:
1- Getting a job right now and saving everything you can. You have a year to save some $.
2- Look into the military.
3- Look into a work college.
4- Consider living at home and attending a local college or find someone you can live with cheaply or for free. (Do you have any relatives that might let you live in their house?)<br>
5- If some of those state schools accept CLEP tests, look to see if you can take some and get credit for some courses.
6- And consider the ACTs. Your grades are higher than those scores and some colleges give $ for good scores. </p>
<p>You may just need to alternate periods of work and school. A LOT of people do that at the state colleges. If you will need to do this, look carefully at the town/ city where the college is. You need a place with reasonable housing (you cannot live on campus while you are on an ‘off’ semester) and with plenty of jobs for which you qualify. </p>
<p>If you don’t have any specific job skills, you might consider getting them or working at a restaurant where you can make tips. You really want to maximize your income.</p>
<p>By the way, you asked how many students have jobs in college. The colleges assume that students who receive financial aid will: 1- work ft in the summer and 2- work pt during the school year or get loans. How many actually work during the school year depends on the school.</p>
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<p>You can use any of the above. Federal grants are based on need, so alot are given to low-income students and there is a “hard” cutoff for Federal grants. That means if your EFC tops 4617, no federal grants will be forthcoming as you won’t qualify. State grants generally only apply if you attend college in your home state - check with your dept of higher ed. Institutional grants are often need based as well, but each school has it’s own policies and income cutoffs. With an income of $60K, you will likely qualify at some schools.</p>
<p>Scholarships are what everyone has been trying to help you target. Merit scholarships are a huge help but, as swimcatsmom said, you have to get them first. You can apply for other outside scholarships too but it’s always competitive and you may have a better chance locally. These tend to be one-time payments, but are helpful to cover the transitional costs. Don’t believe the “millions in unclaimed scholarship” hype - these scholarships may be so incredibly restrictive (left handed student named Gomer from Alaska) that almost no one would qualify. There are books and websites that specialize in legit scholarship info.</p>
<p>Loans are common but students who rely too heavily on them often regret it. You will be eligible to borrow $5500 freshman year as a Stafford loan. You may also be offered a Perkins loan, which is also federal. Perkins loans are very limited in availability and amounts, so don’t count on it until you see your FA award letter. If your parents apply for and are refused a parent Plus loan, you will be allowed to borrow an additional $4K in Stafford loans. Beyond that, there are private education loans. These come from banks, credit unions, etc. They typically require a credit history/income, so you’d likely need a cosigner. If you miss a payment they will call the cosigner who will have to pay. It will affect both of your credit ratings. It’s unlikely that anyone other than a close family member would/should agree to cosign. Since student loan debt never goes away, and is rarely discharged even in bankruptcy, it’s very important not to get deeply in debt before you even start your career! Many people do, and suffer the consequences for decades later. Not smart.</p>
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<p>What thumper and so many others are trying to help you to understand is your college list does determine the financial side! Unless you have a very low EFC, there are no guarantees what aid you’ll receive and FA offers will vary widely from school to school. If you start with schools that you are likely to get into, that are a reasonable cost and/or you are likely to get some aid from, then you are so much farther ahead than applying to a school like Northeastern that is expensive to begin with and not likely to offer you alot of merit aid. In other words, most of the kids who are successful in paying for college without alot of debt start with a very well researched college list that includes financial safeties. A financial safety is a school that you can afford and/or you know they will offer you enough aid to attend, has good academics in your interest area, that you would like, and that you are likely to be accepted at.</p>
<p>At this point, all you can do about FA is run your estimated EFC, save money, and talk with your parents. Focus on your college list and take note of the “good value” schools people are giving you - high price often does NOT mean high quality when it comes to colleges. In your case, high quality at a reasonable price is needed!</p>
<p>I’ll add three more things.</p>
<ol>
<li>Pick a school you are VERY VERY likely to be accepted to. That would be a school where your stats are way above the 75%ile for accepted students. At such a school, you “MIGHT” be eligible for school offered merit aid.</li>
</ol>
<p>Your current list has you in the LOWER 25%ile for accepted students in most cases. Those are NOT schools where merit money will come your way. In fact, you might not even be accepted. What good does having the financing figured out do…if you do NOT have a college to attend?</p>
<p>Again…read that thread from Momfromtexas whose first child had stats similar to yours…and got near or almost full ride merit aid.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Reread this WHOLE thread. There are six pages of information. You keep saying “I don’t understand”…well…read again and TRY to understand what folks are telling you.</p></li>
<li><p>The of state public universities on your list are unlikely to award you enough financial aid to attend.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Alright, thanks a lot everybody.</p>
<p>I’ll do the EFC thing this weekend, and see what happens.</p>
<p>While you’re talking to your folks about the EFC, it would be an excellent opportunity to attempt to “reinvent” the relationship you’re having with them. Maybe if you said right up front that you’re very scared and overwhelmed about your future and attaining the goal of a “good” education so that you can live a happy and productive life and make them proud…Maybe if you said something like: “I’d like to have a closer relationship with you without conflict and I need to hear what that will take…and I feel like I am working without a net…” etc. (and I mean, get very sincere about it, really try to get to the bottom. Let me be clear – I am not suggesting you do this to get money for school. I am suggesting you do this to have a better life and enjoy the support and sense of security of having someone have your back. That just happens to “look like” support for school in this case.</p>
<p>The things people say when they’re scared or mad at teenagers aren’t meant to make a life. When a parent says “You’re not getting any money for school” they’re actually afraid that you are making mistakes and they’re worried for your future and mad that you won’t listen to them and scared that they can’t “control” you. Sometimes it’s hard for a parent who has “closed off” to you because of past issues to admit that deep down they want to be confident in you and help you. Make it easy for them to do so, avoid the “make wrong,” or blame game and just try to get present to where they’re at and why. And whatever you do, stay calm while you’re talking about the big stuff!</p>
<p>Maybe they’re also afraid that they just don’t have the money and don’t want to admit that either. In that case, you should know that Parent Plus loans are available to meet the Cost of Attendance at an interest rate of 7.9% over 10 years…so $5k for example would cost about $60/month for 10 yrs…to qualify, they just need not to have a BAD credit rating from missed mortgage payments, etc. You still want to choose economical-priced colleges, but that is one way they could help you without having money in the bank.</p>
<p>So, if you took $5500 in student loans (which you will be allowed), and they took $5500 in Parent Plus loans – right there, you’d have tuition for a local college if you live at home and have a university in your town. If you went to an IN-STATE school and lived in the dorm (or a school that reciprocates tuition with your state), in addition you’d need to get grants, work study, and scholarships to meet your living/books/meal expense. So don’t give up. Like I said earlier, convince them that you’re a “worthy investment.”</p>
<p>But realize also that the difference between a private school tuition and public school tuition can range anywhere from $20,000 - $30,000 A YEAR. Going to school OUT OF STATE is also almost as expensive. Really truly investigate your IN STATE options.
For undergraduate degrees – depending on the course of study – the benefit/advantage of a private or tier one out of state school is JUST NOT THAT BIG considering the price differential, and statistically really does not make a giant difference in your future earning power.</p>
<p>kmccrindle, you made some very good points, thank you.</p>
<p>I definitely need to have a real adult to adult talk with them.</p>
<p>thanks everybody.</p>
<p>OP, what happened?</p>
<p>^ditto that</p>
<p>Wow, I’m sorry I left you guys hanging.</p>
<p>My estimated EFC is 6008…what does that even mean?</p>
<p>The details say that I’m eligable for the Stafford loan…yeah I guess.</p>
<p>And for an instate 4 year public school I’m looking at about 8k a year.</p>
<p>And for private I’m looking at 22k a year.</p>
<p>I used the “national averages” for the cost of attendance, not the specific school. The national average for the public school was about 17k and for the private it was 31k, which compared to the schools I want to go is about 6k less, does that mean I’m looking to pay 28k instead of 22k?</p>
<p>Also, does this mean that the 8k and the 22/28k is suppose to come out of my own pocket? If I get scholarships and stuff, that decreases the 8k and the 22/28k right?</p>
<p>Mr. California - I sort of agree that you should consider either a state school or a private LAC where you will have some of the highest stats. This is where you will get the largest merit scholarships. Unless you are going to one of the top Ivies or apply for a job in the North East then chances are that your future employer will have no clue about the school you selected…but graduating with honors can make any resume look awesome. </p>
<p>I may be wrong, but it kind of seems like you feel it is your “right” to have you tuition fully paid by others. You should look at this as a gift, not a right.</p>
<p>Well, at first I never really thought about it but I realized that going to college isn’t a right, it’s an investment for your future.</p>
<p>But I guess I’m sorry if it looks like that I feel it’s my “right” to have my tuition fully paid by others, but maybe because I’ve heard the words “You’re not getting any money for college” so many times in my life, along with seeing some of my older friends get financial help for school that I feel there’s nothing I can do.</p>
<p>Edit: I put three state schools in my list that aren’t that bad. Actually all of them did very well in the recent rankings.</p>
<p>mr cali, I wasn’t trying to be hard on you and I am sorry if I came off that way. I am sure it is very frustrating for you to try and understand all the financial stuff without your parents help. Is there another adult or a parent of a friend that could help you?</p>
<p>Remember that if you are thinking about taking out a big loan you probably need your parents co sign the loan. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up if there is a huge chance that they will not guarantee your loan with the bank. </p>
<p>Paying back loans is not a fun way to spend your first 10 years out of college.</p>
<p>Somehow it will all work out. Did you look into the new honors programs that a lot of the state colleges are now offering?</p>
<p>EFC is Expected Family Contribution. It is how much you and your family are expected to contribute to your education.</p>
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Kinda sorta but often not really. As is often pointed out on CC the EFC is often the minimum you will probably have to contribute. Often you will pay more, depending on the school’s aid policies - do they meet full need, do they gap (unmet need), do they meet full need with or without loans. </p>
<p>In reality it is just a number used to determine eligibility for certain federal aid and for institutional aid, if there is any, at FAFSA only schools. Not all schools promise to meet full need so the EFC may not be all your family has to contribute to your education. Schools that offer only federal aid often do not meet full need as all the federal aid added together will not meet the full cost of even most 4 year public schools. If my daughter did not have a good merit scholarships then after the the max in federal grants/loans she would have a gap in her aid. </p>
<p>If you look at stats for schools you will often see a % of need met figure. If it is below 100% (which most are) this means they do not promise to meet full need so you and your family will contribute more than the EFC. Plus loans, while they are a part of financial aid, are really being contributed by you and your family in the long run.</p>
<p>Wait so they expect me to pay $6008?</p>
<p>Is there anyway to find out if I meet the requirement for aid…is it on the college website or something?</p>
<p>And also to Kajon, there’s not way I would be able to get into the honors program for the state schools I’m looking at. </p>
<p>The thing is though, I probably could go to a low tier 3 state school, get a lot of merit aid and graduate, but I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like I would get a lot out of it, as I have big hopes and dreams I want to accomplish.</p>