<p>I’ve just been told that when my sister attended UF (she flunked out after freshmen year because of pure F’s, don’t know why, she’s smart) my parents [aid the 25-30k COA in cash, which consisted of their entire savings at that time to avoid her taking loans.</p>
<p>Is it just me, or was that a ridiculously dumb decision? Especially now since it’s gone to waste. (With all due respect to my parents)</p>
<p>Of course in retrospect, whenever money that goes to waste (especially in the thousands) is a dumb decision, but at least its a lesson learned? With a hefty price of course.</p>
<p>Did she do this for two semesters? If so, she should have been pulled out after she bombed the first semester. It sounds like she went there and just partied.</p>
<p>^
Two semesters. First semester I believe she had 1 C, and all rest were F’s. Next semester was all F’s.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that paying for it was any dumber than taking out loans that would have to be repaid.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I failed to say that they didn’t even file for financial aid or bother with FAFSA or similar forms. At that time our income was much lower since only my dad was working.</p>
<p>It was a dumb decision for sure, but now, that is not relevant. To echo junshik’s post, what is relevant is that some lessons were learned from the experience. If your parents didn’t file for financial aid or do the FAFSA then, make sure that they do it for you.</p>
<p>I doubt she would have gotten any FA anyway. Schools like UF don’t give their aid to OOS students. Unless your dad makes a low income, she probably wouldn’t have qualified for Pell anyway. </p>
<p>After only getting one C and the rest F’s, she should have been made to come home after the first semester.</p>
<p>Are you saying it was a dumb decision to pay in cash, or a dumb decision to pay for a kid who failed? Paying for college outright (cash) rather than taking out loans to pay for your sister’s education isn’t such a bad decision. If they could swing it, they probably saved 6-8%, because they didn’t have to pay the interest. Not so bad at all, especially if they weren’t getting >6-8% on their investments.</p>
<p>However, what is “kinda dumb” is that your sister flunked out. It is also “kinda dumb” to not file a FAFSA.</p>
<p>It was dumb not to pull her out after the first semester. It was dumb paying OOS rates for Florida. It was dumb not making her take out a Stafford loan (at least) because the parents were using all of their savings (what were they going to do for future years after their savings had been depleted)?</p>
<p>Kalookaloo,</p>
<p>You’ve got to carefully choose schools that will be affordable to you either by scholarship or financial aid ( I know that you have a FA issue since your parents’ assets are likely too high for you to qualify and yet they can’t pay their EFC). So, you NEED to carefully apply to schools that will give you big merit for your stats.</p>
<p>Hindsight is 20/20. My son was dicey throughout college and his senior year performance in high school certainly was nothing to feel confident about college. But we did put up the money, and yes, we could have lost it. But he managed to pull it together and get his degree in 4 years despite some rough times, and I am ever so glad that is done. I glad we took the chance. But it was a gamble. He could have done exactly what your sister did. He even lost his scholarship after his first years because of his grades, and did flunk some courses here and there, do to negligence and laziness. It’s the risk all of us take with you kids.</p>
<p>I guess I’m saying the whole situation is just dumb. </p>
<p>mom2collegekids: My list has changed since the last time you saw it. I got rid of the majority of OOS publics, besides Pitt and another. I realize the selectivity I must use for my list because of my circumstances.</p>
<p>We actually moved to FL because my dad hates snow, and he justified t by wanting to stay close to my sister. We all (except him) hated it so we moved back. Planning ahead isn’t my family’s strong aspect, so I hope to make up for it in my situation.</p>
<p>And she is home now. Attending our nearest CC, about to go to our nearest CUNY, then shes going to grad school (paid for NYC Board of Education because demand is high for what she’s majoring in). Hopefully goes as planned.</p>
<p>My list has changed since the last time you saw it. I got rid of the majority of OOS publics, besides Pitt and another. I realize the selectivity I must use for my list because of my circumstances.</p>
<p>What are your stats and what is your current list? Did you retake the SAT. Will you take the ACT?</p>
<p>Stats: (That will be the case by the time of admissions)
-NY Resident
-African American
-Ranked 31/342 in a competitive Long Island public school
-Intended Major: Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering
-92UW 94-95W GPA (Though my transcript only shows weighted. Don’t know why…)
-1330/1950 SAT (Bringing this up for sure in October. Shooting for 1450/2100+)
-Year of Chess Club
-Year of Ping Pong Club
-2 years of Mathletes (Top scorer in every competition for my grade, despite the top students of my grade being apart of the group as well. Not sure if I can/should tell colleges about this. Don’t want to sound arrogant.)
-3 Years of Environmental Club
-Math Honor Society
-National Honor Society
( Science and Language Honor Society don’t have initiations until December, so I won’t have that on my transcript. =/ )
-All Honors Classes, and 8 AP classes. (AP Calc BC Senior year)
-Varsity Volleyball (Senior year, had babysitting duties until now, so couldn’t join a sport. Hopefully I make the cut.)
-30ish Community Service Hours
-Made District Band which raised money for Senior scholarships (Had to audition)
-National Achievement Commended Status (Haven’t heard from them since…)
*Hopefully get a leadership position in a club senior year. It’s basically a popularity thing, so I have yet to figure this one out.</p>
<p>College List:
Reach:
Cornell
Columbia
Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>Match:
Case Western Reserve University (Merit)
University Of Connecticut (I’m stubborn about this. Just to see what happens))
University of Pittsburgh (Merit)
SUNY Buffalo (In-State)
SUNY Stony Brook (In-State)
Ohio State (Several people have said merit friendly, but I’m skeptical, going to research)
Syracuse University (Chance at very good merit. Not sure about degree of generosity)</p>
<p>Safety:
Queens College (Local Safety)</p>
<p>And no I’m not taking the ACT. I can’t get my Dad to understand why I want to take it, so I’ll just work twice as hard on my SAT score.</p>
<p>Tell your dad that some kids do remarkably better on the ACT since the math isn’t “tricky” like it is on the SAT. </p>
<p>Tell him that the $50 (or so) cost is a good risk of a small amount of money since it could result in thousands of merit aid.</p>
<p>You could also pay for it yourself from earnings from a summer job. You could make a deal with your dad that if you score better on the ACT, then he’ll reimburse you. :)</p>
<p>Since money is an issue for you (parents can’t pay EFC), then you need more financial safeties or financial matches unless you would LOVE to attend Queens College and it’s easily affordable. </p>
<p>I’m concerned about schools like Cornell, Columbia, and CMU because a NY student (also AA) with higher stats and Val still had “too high” expected family contributions from Columbia and MIT with a family with a very modest income. </p>
<p>How affordable are your match schools?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sounds good to me. I’m already planning on getting a summer job, I just don’t count on the reimbursement. My dad owes me thousands of dollars already that he’s borrowed from me…a phone bill here, eating out with the family there, you name it. All the birthday money I’ve ever had was probably 95% spent by someone else…I’ll rant later. >.></p>
<p>Would it be odd that I’d be taking ACT September, 2nd SAT October, and SAT II’s in November? Seems kind f bunched together, but I guess I don;t have a choice now that it is crunch time.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was planning on adding Suny Binghamton and City College (in-state and local cheap safety respectively) only if I saw the need. Bing’s engineering and City College’s location deter me from adding them onto my list as of now.</p>
<p>I honestly do not think (if for some reason they actually admit me) I would afford my reaches as they are. It just seemed like an inappropriate list to be full of matches and not have any reaches.</p>
<p>My matches have been grouped accordingly:</p>
<p>Already Affordable = My In-state schools and locals are going to financially reasonable as is. (Stony Brook, Buffalo, Queens College, Binghamton)</p>
<p>With Merit Affordable (Merit friendly schools/ Personal good chance at merit) - Good chance at merit, and if I get it, I should do well financially. (Pitt, Case Western, Syracuse)</p>
<p>Eh…?! Schools - I think the group name speaks for itself. (Ohio + UConn)</p>
<p>I’m not sure how familiar you are with the Northeastern schools, but would replacing UConn with Rutgers change anything? (Merit wise, their tuition prices have a 4k difference with Rutgers being the lower option) I want to apply to at least 1 big public near me just to see how it plays out even if the odds are against me.</p>
<p>Would it be odd that I’d be taking ACT September, 2nd SAT October, and SAT II’s in November? Seems kind f bunched together, but I guess I don;t have a choice now that it is crunch time.</p>
<p>No, not odd at all. Kids do this all the time fall of senior year.</p>
<p>It just seemed like an inappropriate list to be full of matches and not have any reaches.</p>
<p>Not really. I know many kids who never applied to any reaches because they knew that they weren’t affordable. Applying to reach schools often takes a lot of time - essays/supplementals/etc, so if a student knows they’re impossible, spend your time elsewhere. However, you could apply to one that you think is a “might” if your time would be better spent elsewhere. </p>
<p>I don’t see any schools where you would receive assured merit. You should apply to at least 2 schools that will give you assured merit. Did you apply to ANY schools that will give you assured merit? If not, why not?</p>
<p>*I’m not sure how familiar you are with the Northeastern schools, but would replacing UConn with Rutgers change anything? *</p>
<p>Since both are OOS publics that I don’t think give assured merit for your stats, I don’t think either is a good idea. </p>
<p>I don’t even think UPitt is a great idea since you’re from a state next door. Pitt probably already gets plenty of NY students. Case and Syracuse are probably good choices.</p>
<p>If you are interested in engineering, why isn’t City College on you list? If you are serious about engineering they have a great program which is becoming more competitive year over year. (if you can jump on the train to columbia, you can ride the 3 extra stops to 137)</p>
<p>I don’t know how you feel about HBCU’s but your current stats would make you eligible for free tuition, room and fees at Howard</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman[/url]”>http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman</a></p>
<p>Many companies looking to do diversity recruiting go straight to Howard, Morehouse, FAMU, NC A & T.</p>
<p>have you considered Tulane, University of Rochester,</p>
<p>Maybe Marist could be on your list</p>
<p>[NSF</a> Grant: Marist College](<a href=“http://www.marist.edu/admission/nsfgrant/]NSF”>http://www.marist.edu/admission/nsfgrant/)</p>
<p>Tulane is a bad recommendation since they have neither EE nor Computer Science. Also probably too pricey for this OP, even if he got good aid, which he won’t with his current stats. He would get some, but not a ton. Now if he hits his target stats, he might get the $25,000 a year, but that still leaves almost $30,000. I am guessing that might be a stretch for him.</p>