Can your parents afford Iowa State? Without the fafsa, you cannot get any student loans or federal parent loans.
It sounds like YOU want to go to Iowa State. I’m impressed you reached out to the school about your medical condition. And it sounds like from a previous post that there are some workable transportation options. Posting in a student group asking about transportation might be useful too.
Did your parents go to college? I am wondering if they just don’t understand the process and UIC is their choice because it’s what they are familiar with because of your brother. Or, they just don’t feel they need to hold your hand through the process. My D had a friend in a similar situation and it was a little strange. It was like her parents had an agenda they weren’t being upfront about. But even if your parents did go to school, the way they are handling things is similar to how most parents did back when us parents went to college. I applied to several schools, that I researched and applied to on my own. I visited one with a friend, partially because it was a good excuse to miss school for a day. My parents only real involvement was financial and honestly they weren’t all that upfront about that either. It was like pulling teeth to get info from them. I filled out the FAFSA and we didn’t get any aid though we didn’t have a lot of money. In retrospect, I am sure I filled it out all wrong and incompletely. We just didn’t understand the process.
I think at this point you need to have a heart to heart with your parents (both of them) and see if Iowa State is truly an option. Are your parents being unhelpful because they won’t fess up that they won’t support you going there and don’t want to just come out and say it? Or are they just not engaged in the college process? I would try to LISTEN to their side of the situation and ask them to listen to yours. Show you’ve done your research regarding their concerns AND encourage them to run the NPC.
It’s not that hard to do and it’s not a commitment or anything - you are not submitting any type of application - its just a calculator. And if you fill it out correctly, it’s pretty accurate. I would be a shame to lose out on aid that you might be eligible for.
The whole cornovirus situation is a real concern for a lot of parents this year. I can understand parents wanting their kids close to home. My D is a freshman 1000 miles away from home. Had she been a senior last year she probably would not have chosen her school as we were already concerned about the distance. However, we now know the various transportation options and have seen how to school has handled this crisis and are comfortable with our choice. In MY opinion, 5 hours is doable. IF there was some sort of emergency, your parents could get to you fairly quickly. But, I do appreciate your parent’s concerns so I wouldn’t minimize them.
Good luck to you!
promom4, yes, my parents can afford Iowa State, at least they say so. I also received a nice amount through merit scholarships and so when we looked at the net price, altogether it should cost about $30,000.
30,000 per year or total for the 4 years?
Yes, my parents can afford Iowa State, at least they say. I received a nice merit scholarship and after looking at the estimated total cost, it should cost a total of about $30,000 a year.
Email Disability services and see if students with Crohn’s can have access to their own bathroom (such as shared between two rooms).
PrdMomto1, Both of my parents went to college, but fairly close to home- two hours or less. Plus like you were saying, I think part of it is familiarity. Also, my other brother went to Concordia University Chicago, so he was also close to home, and the exception would be my sister who went to Illinois State.
My parents are older-both of them are 60. I think part of it is they are trying to give me advice from when they applied to college, which is nice, but not the most up-to-date advice. And it frustrates me every time my mom complains about how things change since my older siblings applied to college. I try telling her that yeah things change, but you need to learn about how things are now rather back then.
Now that I start thinking about it, my older siblings were very quiet about their college process. I think they didn’t need as much guidance as I do and maybe my parents don’t realize that I need more guidance than what they are providing for me.
Are you sure about $30,000? It looks like their tuition & room & board is only $35,000 for OOS.
https://www.financialaid.iastate.edu/cost/cost-of-attendance/undergraduate-students/
My college kid has colitis but is not medicated for it. He also has a kidney problem. I am in the healthcare field and I did have similar concerns to your mom.
The great thing about healthcare in the US is that there are doctors and providers everywhere. 
I helped my son set up an appointment with an internist very shortly after he started at his college 3.5 hours away. I made sure they were linked to the same electronic health record that his doctors have here at home. He went to the appt himself but I have faith that the providers there can follow through and that my son now has a contact person for his health in his college town.
I say go to Iowa State. Ask your mom to help you find GI docs in that area and sit with her and set up an appointment. Advocate for your own health and when you call tell them you will be a student at ISU and that you are currently getting your infusions every 7-8 weeks and how to help set this up. You are not the first college student with a chronic health problem. You can do this successfully! Show your mom that you are being mature and want to start to be able to manage your own healthcare as well but also as its a hard time for moms to let go, allow her a bit of help in the beginning process.
This is not your parents decision, its yours. It sounds like your heart is set on Iowa State which is a solid choice. Now just work out a few of the little details. Congrats!
When calculating tuition, keep in mind that ISU increases tuition for engineering majors as you get farther up. It’s $1000/year more Sophomore year and 3K/year more for Junior and Senior year. This was actually the financial straw that broke our back.
Look guys, tuition is not what’s going to come down to my final decision on a school.
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Out of the six schools that I ended up applying to they all would of costed at least $30,000 per year or more. In fact, Iowa State is probably the second cheapest option. It will cost me the same amount if I were to attend UIC. I have tried to get my parents to file the FAFSA but they will not do anything. They are stuck in their ways and will not seek out any financial help. They say they can pay for it, but all they do is complain about paying for expensive things. This is why I am fed up with my parents.
2plustrio, thank you for your insight! Definitely think it is a good idea to tell my mom that going to Iowa State, I will be able to learn how to responsibly take care and manage my medical condition on my own, which of course I’ll have to do at some point.
Sorry if the links don’t work, I’m having trouble with trying post it. One of them is a sheet mailed out by the university that is an estimated cost which comes out to be $31,844.
@awoenker20
Mary Greeley Medical Center is just over a mile away from campus. If you go to their webpage you can find a doctor in that area based on specialty. You could even find one in insurance network which would be best. You would be about 35 minutes from Des Moines which has a medical school and likely even more options for GI doctors.
8 hrs via Greyhound for about $50 isnt the greatest option but its there. Likely would be about $100-150 round trip from Chicago to DesMoines then a uber to ISU. Its not like you are going to a different country, this is all doable.
2plustrio, I totally agree, this is all totally doable and I definitely would be willing to do all of this to make it work, it just comes down to how much my parents also are willing to cooperate with all this.
Heh, 60 years old is not old!! I am 59… Lol…
Do you have a relative to help you at all with the process. Like why your parents won’t fill out Fafsa? They could be throwing away money or maybe there are things they don’t want to share with you?
Did you qualify for or maximize the regents awards that they offer? 4 years of language is worth extra money.
My dad’s cousin and their kids all went to Iowa State. I’ve seen them and talked to them a few times within the last year and they were really excited to hear that I was considering Iowa State. They said they would be willing to help me out with questions and stuff but my dad or my mom has reached out to them. So maybe that’s something I should do myself.
I’m not sure what the regents awards are. I received the Quest scholarship plus a $1000 scholarship to help cover for books and supplies.
https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/scholarships/freshman.php?state_id=IL-Illinois
4 years of language worth the extra money? You mean a scholarship for taking a language all four years of high school? If that’s the case, I will have taken 4 years of Spanish.
Well, I keep running into more issues. My guidance counselor sent me an email about making a decision and I feel like even he is pressuring me into hurrying up and making a decision. I thought I would have more time due to this pandemic and stuff, but my counselor says he needs to know where to send my final transcripts. I thought I could use this as an excuse to talk to my parents to go ahead and finally make a decision. I mentioned this last night and again my parents shrugged this off. I then told them that we have been delaying this too much and that we need to get serious and make a decision. No comment from them.
I’ve already told them before that my decision is Iowa State but when I told them that, my parents hesitated.
Keep communicating with your parents. You have until each school’s deadline (May 1? June 1) to put down your deposit…your GC should not be pressuring you to decide.
Your final transcript isn’t even final yet…your GC will send it sometime after the semester is finished and teachers turn in the grades. For some schools that doesn’t happen until July, and colleges know that.
Universities have said transcripts can be sent till July 1 and some would even accept them later.
Is your deposit deadline May 1 or June 1? (Check)
On any case, you don’t have to decide now.
Are your parents ok with Iowa State then (they shrugged)? Could you tell them your GC wants a decision so you’ve decided to deposit at Iowa State (to see what they say)?
Iowa State is not making people commit by any date this year. The director of admissions sent out a very nice letter saying they would accept and refund admission deposits right up until the first day of Fall term. They’re keeping scholarships offers open until then as well.
Here is her letter: