@texaspg, I have always told S that graduating $20-$30,000 in debt is not a big deal. I have had former students get jobs at a local grocery store and buy $30,000 cars while making minimum wage. I tell S I paid $30,000 for my car 10 years ago. So for a college degree from a top school it is a great investment.
The only reason I am trying to minimize his debt is because at one time I had $140,000 in student loan debt and don’t want him to end up like that. There are a few teachers at my S who are close to $100,000 in debt, that’s insane. I have also told him that whatever I spend on his college his sister gets that much more in our will.
Here’s the loan calculator we’ve been using: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml
My favorite feature is that, using two different methods, it calculates how much you would need to earn to comfortably make the monthly payments.
We have always told D exactly what we can afford each year for four years. D is currently (still three more decisions to go) deciding between two schools, a financial safety and a financial reach. Knowing the total cost of the loans with interest over 10 years can help her start to see if B is really worth that much more than A (answer: in terms of potential salary – NO), plus all the different things she could do every month for 10 years with the money she would be spending on loans. Still, no easy answers. I wish we could give her the world.
We hope to avoid loans. I know some of you are still anxious about acceptances and decisions, thankfully DD saved us from that angst but I’m biting my nails over scholarships now. The more outside scholarships she earns the less likely the possibility of loans. Most outside scholarships won’t be announce until mid April - end of May and one of the larger ones she’s applied for won’t be announced until the end of July. It’s seems that this whole college process is noting but a long wait! Wait for PSAT scores, Wait for NM cut offs, Wait for SAT/ACT scores, Wait for acceptances…
DD didn’t get the NM Scholarship which isn’t a big deal because OU would just reduce their National Merit scholarship by that amount anyway but I’m afraid it doesn’t bode well for her chances on other outside scholarships she’s applied for Even though she’s very qualified for many of the scholarships she’s doesn’t do a very good job of ‘selling herself’ It’s been a battle to get her to apply for scholarships because she thinks she won’t get them anyway. Well hello? If you don’t apply you have ZERO chance!!!
Even though NM at OU is very generous, it isn’t a full ride and we hoped that some of the outside scholarships will help fill the gap at least for the first year and that we won’t have to dip into the modest college savings until sophomore year. The longer we can put off touching the saving the less the likelihood of loans senior year.
She applied to about a dozen outside scholarships totaling over $25K if she can get even $5-6k we won’t have to touch the her college saving the first year. And she’s still waiting to hear back about her summer camp job. More waiting…UGH!
On a side note D did audition for the school of music at OU specifically for the smaller cash departmental scholarship. The director told her that she felt sure she could offer her $1k as they really need more of her instrument and she preformed really well. Even though I read the web page very closely and it states all students admitted into the to school of music that audition on specific dates will be considered for scholarships, it turns out that this does not include music minors, only music majors. Music minors must go through the same audition process but they aren’t eligible for departmental scholarships. DD was very up front that she planned to minor in music. The Prof actually wrote to d and apologized that she could not give her the departmental scholarship they had discussed and was searching for outside scholarships for her and hoped that this wouldn’t make her change her mind about joining her studio. The university’s only been offering music minors for a few years and D will be the first person to minor on her particular instrument so this is all new for the Prof.
Lots to catch up on over the weekend. S had a brutal week last week, with several rejections. Even if they were expected, it does sting He seems to have shrugged it off though. Had a good time over the weekend with some family friends and then meeting a couple of his old friends.
He does seem closer to a decision. The biggest issue is that he’s leaning towards a full-pay school while leaving several full-tuition offers on the table. A little torn - and I admit, we are also torn. We could afford the full-pay school (ouch, we’ve have to cut back elsewhere!) - but we are thinking of having him take on the stafford loans - just to have some skin in the game. He seems receptive so far - we didn’t do this for D, so I have to look into this some more.
@3scoutsmom We too are in the waiting game with outside scholarships to help daughter decide. One of her schools was not so generous but she feels it is a good school. She needs a few more to make it a real winner. We will not hear from some (like you) until April or even May after she has to make the decision. I am hoping one comes earlier and we can put this to rest and move on to the next waiting game for summer job/programs etc. It really is stressful.
That’s what I thought too. S has Regents to a school that isn’t that great for his major, but he loves the school. He got accepted to a school that his great for his major, (great reputation, internships, job opportunities etc.) but he isn’t crazy about attending there, and then if he gets accepted to an Ivy Thursday he will move far away which I don’t like. All these years of reading acceptances on CC made me think this would be the fun part.
@3scoutsmom - the waiting seems overwhelming at times for sure and I am a terrible “waiter”. I had D16 to most of her school EA and thankfully the BS/DPT programs she applied to had early app deadline dates and early decisions.
We are waiting on some scholarships which will determine if D will need loans. But we won’t need to get any parent loans. D only applied to schools with much lower “price tags” than some of the bigger name colleges out there, and she also got a generous scholarship to her final choice. The TEACH Grant may come into play, but her college doesn’t have a traditional elementary education major, so that will be tricky to set up.
@texaspg Teach For America is falling out of favor and is about to cut a huge number of staff members. Many teachers stay only a couple of years and move onto administrative positions, so some districts don’t like to hire them. Also, there’s a growing perception (not unfounded) that many TFA are kids from cushy colleges who want to go “save the poor minority kids” and that’s not a picture some districts want painted about their teachers. But it is, if you are chosen, an good way to reverse some debt.
What I thought about seeing mention of “GearUp” was City Year…that is like a specialized US-based Peace Corps where college grads are assigned to help in schools with reading programs, tutoring, etc. and where they get a stipend towards education, including paying down loans. City Year kids have been at several of my D’s schools and they are excellent support paraeducators. That’s something you could look into, @readingclaygirl . They operate all over the US.
@mysonsdad I totally understand. I really thought after we did all of the research the fun part would start. Boy, was I wrong. One school my daughter is interested in is 9 hrs from home - that will be tough. She is my only child.
@sseamom - the perception is not misplaced. We have many in our school district from ivy league. Not sure how much money they get or debt waiver amounts but it seems to be attractive.
@mysonsdad - I think Stafford limits are about 5000-6000 each year which is not a bad amount. The other choice is to give a parental loan (you know you can always forgive a debt!).
D16 is applying for scholarships still. So far I don’t think she has done many applications despite my consent nagging. She will only be able to get about $5000 total. If she gets more it will reduce the amount of grant money she has received. Still–if she can save that $5000 it will make a huge difference over time. I worry that her lackadaisical approach to scholarships will mean that she will not get many if any awards.
A few random comments on things that have been discussed.
My D"s close option is a 10 drive hour. Silly me, I was thinking this was close and was happy that if she chooses this one it is actually a reasonable drive away. The far school is 1500 miles from home.
My D had her senior pictures taken by a class mate who does photography on the side. I think I paid $30 for sitting and minor editing. Then I had pictures printed at mpix. I think that was about another $30. I don’t get why people spend so much money on this. We also didn’t get any announcements. We talked about it and decided there was no reason. We have a relatively small family and everyone knows what’s going on through facebook, so why do we need expensive printed announcements? We couldn’t see any reason to spend the money.
I feel like the scholarship applications are a waste of time for our situation, unless my son chooses UCLA or UCB, because all they will do is reduce the generous need based aid, and I have a strong suspicion that my son will be choosing one of the the smaller school with he need based aid. Does it make sense to spend the time on scholarship applications if the need based aid is already very good and it would just reduce something that is already there.
Maybe there is something I don’t know. Would they allow him to convert his own loans first, or would they just reduce our demonstrated need.
Just wanted to share this helpful and insightful thread for those of us struggling with a decision on attending a reach schoolhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1874558-do-people-at-reach-schools-struggle-academically.html#latest
@crowlady sending my very best wishes regarding your mom.
@Sophmore1 so sorry that the last decisions weren’t in your D’s favor.
Still waiting on GWU. No idea when it’s coming out. Historically, it would have been last Friday. We know D will be accepted, but we need to see the $. Aside from that, D has narrowed her list down to 4 schools (5 if we include her waitlist school). We’ve made travel plans to visit the 2 east coast colleges.
Local scholarships were a bonus and she applied to several, but many were need based as well, they asked for family income or EFC, not just stats. She did end up with around $2000 which helped.
I think they were announced in April and on award night at school in May so they did not factor into her school decision.
I would not set the expectations too high and usually they are one-time awards.
The aforementioned girl was able to get a lot of scholarships because the local organizations were offering many scholarships for education majors and she was one of the few who qualified to apply for them.
@texaspg Costs I posted are per year, yes. The “expensive” school she is getting a huge scholarship too, but it remains close to 100K over the middle option. The “cheap” option is just so cheap–she could pay for it totally on her own without any help from us (not that I would ask her to do that, but if we got hit by a meteor…) The other issue is that her most expensive school is probably most likely to continue to have 5% plus increases each year.
It is a strange system. The stated costs are so outrageous that I feel excited when the scholarship brings the cost down to the 30K range. Which is still actually really pricey of course–I am a sucker for a “deal” it seems. She has one school where even after scholarship, price is still in 40K range. That one we can rule out on cost. And still one Ivy she is waiting for, but not planning on attending even should she get in.
Excuse my ignorance , this is my first rodeo. For everyone applying for outside scholarships, I was under the impression that if they are awarded they have to be reported to the school and that affects their" need" and the school then adjusts what they give in terms of aid. Am I mistaken?
Even though she’s very qualified for many of the scholarships she’s doesn’t do a very good job of ‘selling herself’ It’s been a battle to get her to apply for scholarships because she thinks she won’t get them anyway. Well hello? If you don’t apply you have ZERO chance!!!