Price tag on Berkeley

LVKris
Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:23:07 +0000

It doesn’t look like you have any affordable schools on your list. With an income of $17,000 I am assuming that your EFC is 0 and your family cannot contribute any money towards your college costs.

In your situation (low income and high stats), you have several options:

1) Apply to the schools which meet full need. Unfortunately, these are the hardest to get admitted to, even when you have outstanding qualifications. These are reaches for everyone.

2) Apply to less selective private schools where your stats put you at the very top of the applicant pool. A combination of need and merit based awards at these schools can make them affordable.

3) Apply to your in state public schools. Many states offer quite good assistance to low income students, especially if your stats put you in the range for merit awards, too.

I know your Dad just wants the best for you, but huge debt is a bad idea. You by yourself are limited to borrowing $5500 for your freshman year. Your Dad would have to borrow the rest. Even if he could qualify, he is not in the position to repay the money.

You might want to consider a gap year to work and save some money. Reapply next year to some colleges which would offer you huge merit money for your stats. Don’t take any courses at any school to preserve your freshman status (the best merit money tends to go to entering freshmen). Go over to the financial aid forum here on College Confidential and look for the threads on guaranteed merit scholarships.