Realities of College Application - Financial Aid, Debt, and Real Talk
Getting through the college application process in 2024 is a bit like setting sail into the unknown. Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of financial aid, handling debt, and why being prepared is key. From shaking up what middle-class means to mapping out your game plan, we're delving into the ins and outs of the college journey.
Middle-Class Realities: If your household earns $300k+ (and you don’t live in CA or NY), you're not middle class. You can’t rely on need-based financial aid.
However, if you make under 300K, you WILL get some aid—which many folks don’t realize!
Use the FAFSA aid predictor to get a sense of how much you will get: https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/
Use the school’s Net Price Calculator to get a sense of how much you will get from a specific school: Google school name + “net price calculator”
Because all of these are estimates, nothing is for sure. Use all of these as estimates and whatever the convergence implies - that’s probably what you can count on
Financial Aid Sweet Spot: For households earning under $100k, many colleges can cover most or all of tuition if you apply strategically. You just need to know which schools to apply to! Don’t be stingy: apply to as many as you can!
Debt Threshold: If it means over $60k in loans, and the student hasn’t declared a major directly connected with STEM, consider alternatives like community college or a different (i.e. more affordable!) school.
30K is the generally accepted amount for first-gen students who need to take out loans. If you’re not first-gen, up to 60K is a more realistic number.
Retirement vs. College: Parents shouldn't co-sign more than 20K in loans if they’re behind on retirement savings. It’s not possible to secure loans for retirement!
Post-Grad Prospects: While we don’t want students to have any debt once they graduate from college, if you find yourself needing to take out any loans, they should not total more than $60K. Doing this will give you fewer options once you graduate, and you’ll be much more likely to have to hustle for high-paying jobs like management consulting or engineering.
Again: 30K is the generally accepted amount for first-gen students who need to take out loans. If you’re not first-gen, up to 60K is a more realistic number.
Financial Reality Check: Parents should never encourage students to apply to colleges that don't meet 100% of financial need if they’re not going to be able to help fund it when the time comes.
It’s not a good use of anyone’s time or emotional reserves to just apply and assume/hope for scholarships! Nobody wants to sit down with their child and explain that they cannot afford to send them to their dream school, especially if they went through the whole application process and got accepted. “I’m sure you’ll get in.” and “You can do anything you want!” just aren’t practical today. Be focused, be realistic!
Preparation Matters: First-gen students need more exposure and preparation for the challenges of serious college coursework. It'll save you from those GPA headaches that might make you switch majors down the road.
This parent said, “My son had an enriching high school experience and excellent teachers who instructed him in a wide variety of challenging lab-science courses, and he still struggled with Organic Chemistry at the college level.”
Consider doing a summer program that focuses on the discipline you’re most interested in. Want to be a doctor or a vet? Take an Organic Chemistry summer class. Although it might not be as rigorous as a college-level class, it will give you perspective and, most importantly, experience! You learn the language and terminology involved in the coursework, learn your way around the lab, and make connections that could have a lasting impact on your future. This can apply to multiple majors and disciplines - you just have to do your research and commit to the work now to make the work later feel less impossible!
Screening for Support: More students (especially girls!) who are “easily distracted” or “daydreamers” need to be seriously screened for spectrum disorders, ADHD, and other mental health problems. Although parents don’t want their children labeled or stigmatized, colleges are required to provide appropriate accommodations for these students, driving up their success rates big time! It’s unfortunate to see students who excelled in high school unable to make it through college because the supports that once helped them were not set in place in a new environment.
One student said “...as an ambitious first-gen figuring it out without any idea of what it would be like, I went into debt in college, distracted (ADHD), overwhelmed (straight A’s in high school), and unprepared. The expense and experience of college felt like a hazy, unimaginable, and expensive dream that I needed to apply to “get into” … and then would need to figure out how to “get out of” the debt I would graduate with.”
If you suffer from mental health challenges that are not well-managed, you might want to consider staying home and attending community college or even taking a gap year to get your mental health under control. Today, more than ever before, students are dropping out of school because of mental health problems. If you can’t consistently get to class, do your homework, and make healthy choices overall, you might not be ready to go to college yet - and that’s okay! You can take the time to address it and then have a successful college experience!
If you need support or accommodations at college:
The STUDENT will have to do all of that themselves.
We have called in the past to try to set up support for students who have IEPs and 504 plans and were told that the student needs to advocate for themselves and they won’t accept outreach from a parent or college access support person.
Ask for what you need. You will get it if you’re specific and firm. Walk in with a list and make sure you know how each bullet point will be met.
Need help? We can walk you through the crazy college application process! Get started with a 30-min consultation today!
