I’m a freshman at Northeastern right now. By the end of spring semester, I’ll have 50 credits, and if I follow through with my tentative summer plans, I’ll have 66. A month and a half into college, I’m finding myself wanting to transfer.
I know this is such a common post for a freshman, but it’s not the usual reason. I absolutely love my school, and I’ve adjusted really well. I have friends, I’ve joined clubs, my classes are going well, etc. The reason I’m considering transferring is due to finances.
I’m paying my own way through college (it’s a long story) and I can spend about $30k per year max on everything, including travel. My parents cannot and will not help with expenses, so I have to manage everything really carefully. I managed to get a decent financial aid package that doesn’t require me to take loans. It leaves me with about $2k - $6k left over each year, depending on fees and taking into account rising costs plus a future Pell increase.
My issue is that I’m working toward becoming a teacher. I’m majoring in English, but NU doesn’t have an education major, instead it’s an extra year for a master’s program. If I plan it out really, really carefully and take summer classes, I can graduate with a bachelor’s in three years and one co-op. My fourth year would then be the masters in teaching. However, four years here would really add up, and I’m starting to think that I’d rather save the money and go to a cheaper school. And yes, I’m kicking myself right now for valuing a big city NE experience and “prestige” over the many full rides I could have gotten for NM.
The option I’m looking at right now would be the state school (a directional) closest to my house. It’s about half an hour away on a good traffic day, and I wouldn’t live at home, but instead get an apartment closer. Even with that cost added in, that school would be significantly cheaper than NU. It would end up being about $2k per year, plus housing and food costs. This would save me an enormous amount of money, meaning that I could save it for later to put toward a down payment or something down the line when I am a broke public school teacher.
It’s not that I don’t love my school, but I’m finding it really hard to justify paying this much. (And yes, I realize that I have a very generous finaid package, and many people would love to pay 1/3 of the full COA.) Especially when there’s a much cheaper option that actually offers a secondary education major with an English focus. It’s not a master’s, but I can always go back for that. There are some other considerations, too. I came to this school looking for a challenge, and so far I haven’t found it, even taking upperclass courses. I also kind of hate the dorm environment, and there’s not much else I can afford in Boston. I know there would be problems with resolving or losing transfer credit, but I’m willing to put in the extra time to get it in line.
Bottom line or TLDR: I’m thinking about transferring to a much cheaper (~16k/year) school due to the money I would save. I’m working toward a teaching degree, so I need an education program, and prestige is not a concern for me at all.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to ask questions if I’ve left out any gaps.