BU (film) vs. Davidson vs. DePauw vs. KU (architecture) vs. Webster (full tuition) vs. UCLA (OOS debt)

College Search & Selection
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I very urgently need help deciding on a college, and I’ve only got 5 days left. Potential career interests (from most to least interested) are Film-related fields (Particularly VFX and Stunt Work), Architecture, Ophthalmology, Computer Science, and potentially law. At college, I would like to act in theater productions and participate in music ensembles, although probably not pursue either as my primary major (my goal is to do music gigs in my spare time throughout my life, but not necessarily make it my primary career). I’d prefer to live in California long-term, but mostly I just prefer living in a coast location and not being in the Midwest. My family’s EFC is $18,145 and my parents have offered to contribute $100k total for my education (including grad school if I decide to go that route). I’ll run through each college choice below:

Boston University- I’ve been admitted to their Film and Television program, which has a nearly guaranteed Los Angeles internship in senior year. There’s also the flexibility of exploring other options and there are many majors at BU available in case I decide I don’t like film. Something I like about BU is the number of specific classes available to choose from. The campus isn’t really a college campus feel, which is alright to me because it would be a change of pace.
Davidson College- Davidson’s primary pro is that I would be able to explore different career options because it’s a liberal arts school. However, like other liberal arts schools, while it offers a handful of classes I would find interesting, it doesn’t really offer a specific program I’m interested in. The campus is nice, and it is full of motivated students. I’m a bit concerned about the workload preventing me from
DePauw University- Also a liberal arts school where I could explore. It’s similar in that there’s no specific program I’m interested in. DePauw would likely allot me more free time versus Davidson. I’m also interested in participating in theater and ensembles during college, and I imagine Davidson and DePauw would make this a bit more possible because fewer people are competing for the same roles.
KU- I’ve been admitted to their architecture program, which I think seems really cool, but given the workload of an architecture program and the number of performing arts (music and theater) majors at the school, it would be difficult to find time or even get positions for theater and music interests. This is the only one of my options that has a five year M.Arch option. If I decided I didn’t like architecture, I’d likely have to transfer schools because outside of the arch program, I don’t really like KU that much.
Webster University- They offered me a full tuition scholarship (not full ride), and they have a really good music program. I don’t know much about their film program because I never ended up having time to visit that department. I don’t feel like I would mesh well socially there or fit in, and I had some experiences that turned me off of it a bit. One primary one is when I attended the honors college and they said “honors students take classes with the non-honors students so that they can motivate the less academically gifted students to do better,” which really made me feel like it might not be a good investment of my time. It’s also within 45 minutes of my house, which is not ideal. However, they have a really good study abroad program, I’d have a bit more free time, and I’d still have access to the gymnastics gym I do parkour/freerunning at.
UCLA- UCLA has a lot of programs I’m really interested in, is in the location where I intend to live as an adult, will let me build an LA network, is about 45 minutes from my favorite parkour gym in the world, has a parkour club which I haven’t found at any other college, is close to the film industry which is of interest to me, and is very near some of my family. This option would leave me with 115k debt + interest after graduating if I attended for four years. This would end up being 600 per month for 30 years. However, my intention if I went here would be to apply for many scholarships and try to become an RA. If I couldn’t get the price down, then I would transfer to another school. I imagine good grades at UCLA would make a transfer to a similar school easier than if I transferred from a school like Webster potentially? Either way, there is no situation in which I would attend UCLA and leave with 115k+ debt because if that were the case, I would transfer out. As many have pointed out, this option is hardly practical, but if anyone disagrees please let me know. The only reason it’s remotely in consideration is because there’s a situation in which I might need to transfer no matter where I go. My parents and I want me to go here but the cost is most likely not justifiable. I’m only mentioning it really in case someone knows something I don’t about acquiring money at UCLA.

While there are other factors, ultimately, I want to feel proud of where I go as well. I really like telling people in my city where I go to high school and I want to attend a college where I feel the same pride and confidence in my community and the opportunities I am being provided. I want the amount of work I did in high school to pay off rather than feeling like I could have ended up in the same place without trying so hard. Let me know if you need any more information to help me decide, thank you very much.

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You only mention the cost of UCLA.

I’ll note that you can’t borrow $115,000 as a college student. Almost $90,000 of that debt would be in your parents’ name.

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For background, here is OP’s last thread:

It looks like BU us new to the list. I’m unsure why UCLA is still being considered given the cost, as other users have mentioned on each of the previous threads

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Why another thread? You have to spend time critically thinking what major you want…your interests are varied, but you have to narrow it down.

Just to recap on the costs: Davidson, DePauw and Webster would not require parental debt correct? Would they require any student debt?

BU would require $57K in total debt?

UCLA requires $115K in total debt. Student and parent plus loans are payable in 10 years, not 30.

I would immediately drop UCLA. It’s just not affordable and that debt will be an albatross around your neck for a very long time. I also think it’s difficult for non-majors to act in theater productions there and/or be part of music ensembles…have you researched that? Hopefully someone else will weigh in on that too.

It doesn’t seem like KU makes sense. You don’t seem interested enough in an arch major, and agree that doing music and theater are unlikely to happen.

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With a career intent aiming for the film industry, avoid taking any debt. It is basically elite-or-bust, and the entry points are low paid or unpaid internships. If you have any debt, you will not be able to afford even trying to enter the industry.

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Well…Depauw isn’t on or near either coast….if that is a criteria.

Davidson isn’t either…but it’s not a long drive to get to the coast every so often…

Webster isn’t on the coasts either.

UCLA is out. It would require every penny your parents can contribute plus the $115,000 or so of debt.

KU…you got into a major you say you aren’t interested in.

I know a bit about Depauw, and more about Davidson. It seems you would have opportunities to explore lots of options…and you just don’t know what will actually pique your interest in the end.

I can’t comment about Webster at all.

BU is a great school (one of our kids is a grad). But is it really affordable?

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If you’re going to take a debt leap, I would 100% go to BU over UCLA. You’re actually admitted to the film/TV major at BU. You’ll still get the LA internship experience. And the parent debt load would be only 1/3 of what you’d have to take for UCLA. Also, the flexibility to change majors, double-major/minor in other departments, or just get into elective courses in other areas is significantly better at BU vs. UCLA.

I can’t quite bring myself to recommend incurring 40K in parent debt for BU over one of your more affordable LAC’s, but I understand why you’d be tempted to do so. Choosing UCLA over BU in this scenario is not something I could understand in any way, shape or form. If you want to go out on a financial limb at all, do it at BU where it’s at least an arguably-sane limb.

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I keep wondering if the OP will continue making new threads until he finds someone who will tell him it’s OK to choose UCLA.

Since he wants to be in LA so badly, would it make sense to move out there, get a job, go to a community college and transfer to UCLA or USC in a couple of years?

(But of the options, BU seems like a decent compromise since it gets closest to the goal with less debt)

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He could do that…but he wouldn’t get instate tuition status at UCLA if his parents live elsewhere.

USC? Very costly….no guarantee of any merit aid as a transfer student.

And I believe he would need to find (affordable housing….haha) and pay not resident costs even at the community colleges…right @Gumbymom ?

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We do know about acquiring money for UCLA, but it usually has to do with in-state residents resources.

Most of the “better amount” scholarships are set in freshman year. Some community scholarships are generally about a few hundred dollars and do not repeat every year. You can’t bank on getting scholarships.

As for becoming an RA, it’s competitive and assignments are usually distributed to upper classmen or grad students. Plus, your chances as an OOS, with limited knowledge of the regional area (airports, freeways, emergency services, grocers, shopping centers, etc.) will put you at a significant disadvantage for providing local resources.

Because this child, come hell or high water, has already decided he is going to UCLA. He wants the community-at-large to support his decision.

Okay @7Steps_22, [color=red]this is what you want to hear [/color](otherwise why are you fighting so hard to continue this broken record?): [Color=blue]GO TO UCLA [/color] because it is:

  • “on the coast”,
  • it’s where you and your parents have already decided to borrow money, against common sense, better judgment, and future paychecks. They’ll be paying a lot for that “prestige” and will lose any retirement nest egg. But that’s okay because you’ll be at UCLA.
  • You’ve justified that its where you will probably live after graduation. How you’ll live day to day is what you’re going to have to figure out.

GO TO UCLA because you will:

  • Pay through the eye teeth with borrowed money.
  • Be in debt for a number of decades without being financially stable. Expect to not own a car nor property, keep a stable relationship, nor have cash on hand. Vacations or a break? No.
  • Compete with thousands of people looking to get into the “industry” by having “day” jobs that will probably cover a day’s meals. You’ll be hustling . . . A LOT! But, you’ll have that " prestige".
  • learn to research the local homeless shelters. (I know this one from personal experiences of people arriving to California thinking they can pay our rents and ending up in our shelters.)

You and your parents have already decided. Don’t expect everyone else to congratulate your decision.

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Sorry I forgot to mention the cost of the other ones, that was unintentional. Davidson and DePauw are affordable. 24k per year each. I personally wouldn’t actually be leaving with any debt that I’m responsible for, and my parents would cover that. I would need to take out money for grad school in those cases. BU is a middle-ground between those and UCLA. It’s 39.5k per year. KU is 22k per year for five years. My parents are offering to contribute 100k total to my education, and I pay the rest. We already know the situation with loans and how that would all work.

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That list was just so I could narrow down my LAC options. That wasn’t my final list of schools.

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Thank you for the input about scholarships and the RA position. Let’s not start again with that second part. I don’t know why you seem stuck on prestige here when it’s clear that’s not the reason I want to go to UCLA (it is, admittedly a very small reason). If I cared that much about prestige to make it a deciding factor, then I would have chosen Davidson without hesitation instead of making that second thread. Also, if I had “decided” on going to UCLA, then why would I be posting here asking questions or facing any anxiety about this at all. The hostility doesn’t help. You, yourself, bolded the reasons I brought it up in this thread. There’s no reason to be hostile or make it personal because I clearly didn’t seek out college confidential and type all that for “everyone else to congratulate [my] decision.” I’m not seeking validation from you, I’m seeking advice from those who can offer it, and I’ve already received yours. I really appreciate it. You and others from that first thread have really put things into perspective.

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Then you need to have just one thread with all your current options. There is no need for multiple threads with every permutation and combination. The users are trying to help you. Don’t complicate for them or you

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I was trying to make it less complicated by having a final thread with fewer options. I don’t know much about how people generally use College Confidential, my bad.

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There are 2 options I would consider:

  1. Davidson or DePauw as it doesn’t sound like Webster is the right fit. And from your comments it seems you’re leaning towards DePauw, so sounds good.

  2. See how much it costs to go to stunt school. See if any of them provide opportunities for internships or real-world experience. Realize that if you take this option you are unlikely to get similar merit packages in the future for this level of colleges, but that other colleges are definite possibilities. Depending on the length of stunt school, maybe it’s something you could try during a deferral year, but realize that if your family is paying for your living expenses and tuition, that’s probably at least 1 year worth of DePauw/Davidson that you will then need to cover as I can’t imagine stunt school and CA living expenses coming out to less than $25k/year. But then maybe you won’t be second-guessing and doubting your decision to go to one of these fine colleges. Or maybe you will have gotten the lucky breaks and broken into stunt work and will decide not to go to college.

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The new thread was because I figured it might be easier for people to help me make a decision once I’ve narrowed down some different types of schools a bit. Anyway, as for the loan payment, I just reported what my family’s financial advisor said. She seemed to think 30 years was something that could somehow be done.

As for KU, I actually am fairly interested in architecture as a career, it just so happened that previous threads focused a bit more on film. The way I see architecture vs. film is that film would be much more rewarding to me but bring with it a worse work/life balance and pay while architecture would be somewhat rewarding but bring with it better work/life balance and pay. I wish the liberal arts colleges I applied to had 5-year M.Arch programs. That would make this decision much easier without having to risk transferring schools.

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As for location, that’s less of a factor to me than the other things, but I’d prefer to leave the midwest and at least leave St. Louis. As for KU, I didn’t mean to imply I’m not interested in architecture. I’m actually fairly interested in architecture. The way I see architecture vs. film is that film would be much more rewarding to me but bring with it a worse work/life balance and pay while architecture would be somewhat rewarding but bring with it better work/life balance and pay. I wish the liberal arts colleges I applied to had 5-year M.Arch programs. That would make this decision much easier without having to risk transferring schools.

As for DePauw and Davidson, that’s the case. I would be able to explore, and I do like the schools themselves, but the programs don’t seem to peak my interest at this moment. It seems there are classes here and there that are interesting to me but not entire programs. I really like BU, and it’s not outrageously unaffordable. I would just be responsible for more loans in the long run with BU. I don’t know if 57k is a life-altering amount of loans or not, but my interest would be min/maxing the price and projected opportunities/outcomes. BU seems like a great school, still. I was actually hoping to get more opinions on it since not many people have mentioned BU thus far.

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This is actually very helpful. Do you have anything you could tell me about BU that I might not already know? I haven’t had the chance to visit, but it seems like a really cool place. I’m still considering the LACs just as much when I consider costs, but I will say BU feels like it has more actual programs that match my interests rather than just a few classes here and there. Could you also tell me a bit about the flexibility to change majors? I tried emailing them about dual-enrolling in the college of Arts and Sciences since I’m currently in COM only, but they never emailed me back. I’ll try calling them tomorrow.

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I’m not sure how College Confidential really works, so I didn’t know multiple threads was frowned upon, I’m very sorry. My previous thread was to narrow down my school choices a bit so it would be easier for others to help me make a decision in this final thread in which I mention all my options I’m considering. UCLA was not even mentioned but it seems you and bea are getting the impression that this is all about UCLA. I explained why I mentioned UCLA in this thread in my post.

Anyway, I’ve considered a California Community College but my parents absolutely will not allow it. As for USC, I was rejected. It seems my best shot would just be getting my first post-grad job in LA or going to an LA grad school.

Do you have anything you can tell me about BU as a school? I know a bit already, but I didn’t get the chance to visit, and I’ve been too stressed looking at all of the 40 schools I applied to, so I haven’t been able to narrow in on BU specifically as much. Thank you.

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