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[quote=Anonymous] OP...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get in the drivers seat on this. I know you want your kid to be happy, but you will ultimately be the one responsible for keeping up the payments.

I am a parent of a college freshman and our situation is similar to yours I think. We went thru the whole college road trip thing last fall, visited several schools that were chosen by both myself, my child and the school counselor. We live in DC and are offered extra financial aid based on dc residency provided the kid goes to any public/state school. I explained to my kid all during the process that a public college would be the best choice for us given our circumstances. We got acceptance letters from 2 private and 2 public schools. Well, my kid decided that the ritzy, expensive private college was the best choice. And even though I knew I should have put my foot down and insisted on the public option, I agreed to allow her to accept the offer at one of the privates. The tuition cost is 24k a semester. Our EFC was $4000, which left a 20K gap, but the school offered no need based aid--only merit based aid and my kid didn't have a  top-notch gpa (3.0 and no AP classes) so we got very little money from them (as a matter of fact, the few pennies they gave I actually had to beg (and I really mean beg) them for). In addition to the federal aid, she also had to take out 2 loans and we had to get on a payment plan and we still owe money for the fall semester. As it stands, she cannot register for next semester until we pay off the fall balance and even if we can pay it off...were a faced with having to go thru the same financial nightmare for the spring semester.

All of this could have been avoided if I would have been firm and not let a 17 yr old have so much say so in the matter. Now she is faced with the possibility of having to sit out a semester due to finances and possibly transferring to a different school for next year and maybe even losing some of the credits she earned in the fall.

I feel awful that her college journey has been disrupted this way and if I had to do it all over again I would have her to go to a school we could comfortably afford. It may not have had all the bells and whistles, but at least she would have been able to stay with no disruption to her studies and no financial worries. Had she refused and insisted on going to the expensive private college, I should have told her to figure out a way to pay for it herself.

Your kid is lucky to have opportunity to go to college at all and to have willing parents to help pay...being choicy is not an option. Please realize that you will be putting out way more than your EFC...college necessities, books, transportation to/from school during breaks, spending money..etc. Start off with a college that you can afford to stay with for the entire four years. There will be so many costs involved so please don't get overburdened with just the basic tuition,room, board expenses...you will regret it. Good luck![/quote]

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