Too many safeties?

mom2collegekids
Fri, 08 Jul 2016 21:16:49 +0000

<<<
D2 worries that her desire to go into a creative field means little future money to pay back big loans.

[QUOTE=""]

[/QUOTE]

No undergrad should have big loans. Creative majors probably should have no loans or very small ones because their salaries are often quite modest for quite awhile…maybe always.

How much can the parents pay each year?

What is your home state?

[QUOTE=""]

we make too much for FA, but due to some circumstances that I don't want to get into, we don't have the resources to just cut a check to the college of her choice. (But that's a whole different thread!)

[/QUOTE]

Not really a different thread. Very relevant to this one. We don’t want to waste your time on impossibly expensive schools. We don’t need to know why you can’t pay full-freight, we just need to know the amount that your family can contribute each year (**combo of parents funds, small student loan, student summer earnings).

I don’t know why you’re asking if she shouldn’t worry about merit money when it appears that merit money will be seriously needed. Or, maybe I misunderstood your post.

Sounds like she needs mostly financial safeties since reaches and matches won’t be affordable.

Here’s the deal

…If you can pay about $15-17k per year**, then your child needs a full tuition scholarship, so that your $17k can pay for room, board, books, fees, supplies, travel, etc.

…if you can pay $35k per year**, then your child probably needs a half-tuition merit scholarship.

…If the amount the family can contribute is either higher or lower than the above amounts, then the merit chase will change.