<p>OK...I am a rising senior and I've narrowed down my college choices down to two. I will be receiving a "full scholarship" at either college. One is public; the other,private. The public university would offer the full COA (including personal expenses and books) and the private would pay tuition, room, and board. The private university is ranked higher and I loved the campus, but having EVERYTHING covered by the state school is very tempting...
What I'm wondering is, would it be wiser to go to my first choice college and have to take out some loans for books/fees, or would it be better to go to my second choice school and not have to worry about going into debt?</p>
<p>It sounds like you really love it, so you should try hard to make that happen. Can you get other financial aid, outside or local scholarships, or maybe a part time job? I’d hate to see books and fees stand in the way of your dream school!</p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC</p>
<p>Can you work during the summers and perhaps a few hours a week while in college? You can take a small stafford loan each year to cover your books/fees. How much are you talking about?</p>
<p>Also, free advice, don’t make up your mind NOW. A lot can change between now and next spring when you have to commit to a school. You probably want to visit both schools again if possible in the early spring of your senior year.</p>
<p>No more than $1000-2000, which I don’t suppose would be too bad. Is it ridiculous to choose one college over the other due to such an amount of money?</p>
<p>Yes, it is.</p>
<p>In my opinion even borrowing $2000 a year is quite reasonable. But really, you might be able to earn that amount working summers and during college.</p>
<p>If these two chioces are that assured, my suggestion is to verify which best suits your academic interests, offers support in getting internships, how strong their career placement dept is- and how they tackle the costs of study abroad (many will extend aid or part of it, reducing the cost to you.) Maybe you have done this, but it’s not mentioned. Sometimes, it’s not just about the private being ranked higher and loving the campus.</p>
<p>^^^
Now that you mention it, the private school only allows for half of given scholarships to be used for study abroad…while the state school allows for nearly all financial aid to be used for study abroad. Study abroad is very important to me…
Yes, and I guess ranking isn’t everything…</p>
<p>I would also look carefully at the requirements to keep the scholarship money. A lot of students lose merit scholarships because it is harder to keep a high gpa in college than high school.</p>
<p>See exactly what the policies and charges are for study abroad. For one of mine, a short program (run by the college) cost a few thousand and the school granted some extra aid to cover about half. Her full semester away was also a school program (their profs, their kids) and the tuition/RB covered all of it. But an approved outside program she considered would have cost about 16k plus travel, the college would not have extended aid for that and would have charged a place-holding fee while she was away. If you can id the program that might interest you, you can then have FA explain. Usually best to stick with what the school itself offers.</p>
<p>State: renewal requires 3.5 GPA to renew
Private: 3.25
Is a 3.5 hard to maintain in college?</p>
<p>A 3.5 can be a challenge. Does the school expect this average for the YEAR or will you lose your aid if you drop below a 3.5 in one term?</p>
<p>I would worry about this.</p>
<p>I was worried about that… a 3.5 may be too difficult</p>
<p>Are the scholarships automatically guaranteed; you apply by a certain date, your stats mean that are automatically admitted and get the $$, or do your stats simply qualify you and you must compete against the pool of applicants with similar stats?</p>
<p>They are guaranteed…my state offers a 10,000 dollar scholarship for all students who score a 32 on the ACT, should they go to school in-state. The private school makes up the difference between this scholarship and a full scholarship. The state school has a similar program</p>
<p>Are you prepared for your major or mostly starting fresh? Try to guage whether your peers at each would be sharp/competitive and the level of classes will be tough- or whether you can easily rise above most of them. And, how much you could pad with some easy classes (assuming they aren’t filled fast.) For now, forget study abroad- that can come later.</p>
<p>Both mins are high- Thumper’s right that you need to check if it’s by term or by year. There are always kids who can make Dean’s List- figure out if you are one of those, at each school.</p>
<p>^^^ how does one figure out these things?</p>
<p>It sounds like you’ve thought this through, but you might consider including Louisiana Tech in your applications. Your 32 ACT would get you a full ride there and if you are still concerned about grades at decision time it only requires a 3.0 to keep the scholarship.</p>
<p>You go to the course catalog to understand requirements for depth and breadth and the sorts of classes available- your major and gen ed courses or cores. If you are engineering or another math-sci track, how prepared are you for what you’ll face? Top of your game is different than liked physics and want more.</p>
<p>In general, for most in-state kids, how easy is it to get admitted to these schools? (My flagship routinely admits kids with 2.0 gpa- that tells a lot about general competitiveness.) Does your dept stand head and shoulders above others? Is it “the” destination for top state kids in your major? Those sorts of considerations. See if you can find the breakdown (eg, for the “college of engineering,” ) for how many kids were 32 ACT or higher.</p>
<p>Sometimes, you can glean info on students review dot com- how cooperative a dept is versus competitive. Whether the school practices serious grade deflation. But that’s not sure. Some kids have axes to grind. Are there forums here for these colleges?</p>
<p>In the end, it has a lot to do with your confidence and determination.</p>
<p>This is one thing I always mention when people try to decide - do some research on how a particular college going to help you with your next venture, may it be a job or graduate school. There are some very highly ranked colleges where employers do not recruit there, and their career centers do not view it as a priority. If you want to go to medical school, what’s their placement rate?</p>
<p>It is very silly in tring to choose schools over $2K. No matter how cheap a school is, if it’s not going to give you a good education or help you in life then it is pointless, and you would be wasting 4 years of your life, and that’s priceless.</p>
<p>One other thing you may want to check out is what is the % of students who graduate in 4 years, 6 years. One school maybe less expensive, but if it’s going to take you 5 years to graduate due to lack of required courses selection, then ultimately it is more expensive.</p>
<p>3.5 GPA is a lot more difficult to maintain in college than in high school. I would think twice before I commit to that stipulation.</p>