The anxiety is primarily based on big decisions like this. When I’m not being faced with huge important deadlines that will completely change the direction of my life, I’m actually not very anxious at all. Part of it is that I’m very severely obsessive compulsive, and we’ve explored the route of medication and I’ve decided that it’s not the most effective or preferable option for me. The anxiety has only held me back from my interests in the sense that I spent so much time working that I never had time to do what I truly wanted to do because I wanted life to work out long-term. Recently, I’ve had the epiphany that I need to stop long-term planning because I’m only shooting myself in the foot and not truly enjoying my life. Soon enough, I’ll be in my 60s regretting spending all of my time making “safe” bets and never taking risks. My father is a somewhat famous musician who took a HUGE risk and is now living a dream life, which is beginning to feel like the route I need to take now if I ever want to become something more than a regular 9-5 guy.
It might be worth mentioning, because you guys seem to think BU isn’t out of the range of affordability, Loyola Chicago is also about the same price as BU. What do you guys make of this. I actually like Loyola Chicago as well but don’t know how it compares to BU.
Also out of curiosity, why is everyone suggesting Davidson over DePauw?
I should have clarified … you might not get to move to LA … YET. But the beauty of having a goal like that is that it’s something to work towards. You will get there. Or you might discover you have another, even more exciting dream to attend to. 
I don’t know you, but the more I read of your posts, the more I see a gap year in your future. Maybe defer from BU, use the time to explore your interests, do some travel on the cheap, get some paid work and save it to help contribute to BU’s tuition, and figure stuff out.
As for whether or not the 56k total debt is worth it at BU, I think BU will set you up for professional success, if that’s what you want (ie, the so-called 9-5). 56k in school debt is not great, but it’s not insurmountable if you land in a well-paying job. I also think you can get work during the summers or after school and contribute along the way, which could bring down the total even more.
Also, I’d pick BU over Loyola, but I don’t know Loyola well, so just going off reputation/rankings.
Out of curiosity, is there a reason why you chose to no longer consider IU Bloomington? On your initial chart it appeared to be around the $25k point. The media major offers a concentration in film production, and there’s an array of other majors to explore as well. Also, there’s a parkour community in Bloomington. I am just curious as to your rationale.
I’m guessing people are suggesting Davidson over Depauw for the same reason people would recommend UCLA over UC Riverside.
It’s an elite name. Depauw is solid.
Davidson is elite.
I noticed KU has a film program with production, screenwriting, and more - a robust course list.
Where you go in this regard matters less - than the networking you’ll do.
Why not look at an internal transfer at KU?
Did you get in Honors - their Honors college is well regarded.
That’s a good question. I think in the process of narrowing down my 18 schools a month or two ago, I ruled it out for two reasons. I wasn’t in IU Kelley, so IU wasn’t particularly a “stand-out” option at the time. I also couldn’t figure out their financial aid situation. Their financial aid package description was difficult to analyze. I’ll try again. What do you know about IU other than those two things? Do you feel that it would be a better option than the ones I’ve listed here? I’m starting to like BU a bit more based on what people here are saying.
Unfortunately, I did not apply for the honors college in time. If I go, I’ll be applying for the honors college as a new student. Another thing is that I believe leaving the architecture program will also mean I’m forfeiting my financial aid reciprocity that I believe only comes with the architecture program, meaning I’ll have OOS tuition.
One can ask why you would be looking at Kelley…
One thing that’s odd - no one at 18 knows what they want but you applied to various disciplines, unrelated, depending on the school.
You really need to figure out what you want - if it’s film - let’s focus there.
KU has big aid - so don’t be so sure.
Call, talk to admissions or an advisor and see.
The reason I mention Kelley is because IU is really only considered a “top school” for its business school, not that I’m interested in business. Given how difficult it was going to be to decide which school I wanted, I just went ahead and ruled it out initially I guess. My strategy for my initial eliminations of schools was probably poor, but now I’m on such an insane crunch time, and it’s hard to do research on a whole new school when I’m trying to narrow down to one. If you guys know things about IU that would put them above the other options I’m considering, let me know I suppose.
As for knowing what I want to do, I really can’t know that. I do know the fields in which I am interested, as I listed at the top of my post, but I’m not quite sure of the specific one thing I would like to pursue. It just becomes difficult when none of my options have all of those things.
For KU, even if the tuition is in-state, I think if I decided I wanted to move out of architecture, I would probably switch schools instead because there are certainly more fitting campuses with better film programs than KU’s (not saying KU’s is bad at all, I really don’t know). What I will say is that I wasn’t particularly impressed by their film portfolios, but they could be outdated or I could have been looking in the wrong spot.
What I read is you chase rank.
UCLA
Davidson - I mean, you seem not to know much about it but you must know it’s elite.
There are many kids at any public flagship or even private schools - that could go to “higher pedigree” schools. They choose these for many reasons - location, cost, major, favorite football/basketball team growing up, and more.
There are a boat load of kids at IU - forget Kelley - that could go to “higher ranked” schools. Same with KU.
Going to UCLA doesn’t guarantee success just like going to Webster doesn’t mean failure.
You, not your school, will make your success in life.
That’s why everyone is pushing you to something affordable.
Everyone – 100% of students - should attend somewhere that is affordable.
Affordable is different to everyone.
For someone with so many interests, an LAC is tailor made for you. I said on the other thread - but don’t simply see a major - say sociology. That could mean 3 or 5 things. There are aspects of each major.
Even if you don’t end up in a major that loves you - it’s ok - you’ll get a job after and go back to grad school once you figure out what you want. Or you’ll get in some industry you know nothing about - and end up loving it.
Life is a marathon…you’re just at the starter gate.
Start now - and if something goes wrong, you’ll pivot…not an issue - you have a great road ahead of you.
Davidson is just a better school than DePauw by virtually any measure. If Davidson is affordable for you, almost irrespective of what you think you want to do (because those things change), I can’t see turning it down. It’s an elite education on a wonderful campus, close enough to a big city to keep things interesting – near mountains and not that far from coast if you love to visit the coast. My husband went to Davidson and it was life-changing. Amazing experience. A student population that’s much less provincial than it is at schools that are similar in size. Incredible small classes with close attention from professors. We would have been full pay so our son didn’t apply. We are in-state for UCs so UCLA was a no-brainer for him so that we don’t end up in the poor house, but if somehow Davidson had been affordable and he was accepted, he would probably have been there without a second thought. It’s a top-notch school. Good luck deciding! Don’t put yourself in debt.
I didn’t mean to imply that I chase rank. I meant that could have been a reason I initially eliminated IU 2 months ago when I was trying really hard to narrow the 40 schools I applied to down to 1. Again, I’m very open to consider IU again if I’m provided with a compelling reason to. The only issue is that I have about 3 days to make a decision, so it’s painful to be adding more schools to the consideration pile rather than removing options. Prestige is not a factor I’m considering heavily in my decision, hence why I haven’t already committed to Davidson given that it’s the most “prestigious” one behind UCLA. My overall goal here, and I think you agree with me to an extent, is min/maxing my cost and opportunities. I just want to find the best fit for my potential goals without needing to spend exorbitant money (including grad school if finding the right option now would make that an unnecessary endeavor). It’s just hard to pinpoint which “potential goals” I should pursue considering no one school has them all.
I forgot to add – my husband’s best friend from Davidson? Works in the film industry producing all kinds of movies, big budget and small. Has worked with tons of famous actors, directors, producers you have for sure heard of. He went to grad school in LA after Davidson (USC), was based in LA for years but is successful enough that he actually moved the family back to North Carolina – not too far from Davidson – and travels to shoot movies all over the place from that home base. You can go to Davidson or one of your other schools and still have a film career.
I did not bring up IU. Came up in one of the other emails.
Here’s the thing.
You have lots of great options. Any school you can afford…not one you can’t.
Choose one. Forget the others. Go with it. It will be fine if you want it to be.
In fact, I contend that for all the twisting students do choosing the “right” one there are probably several or even more that they could be happy at.
In other words, you have multiple schools that fit your affordability and ability to pivot if needed - and likely each and everyone of them can give you a wonderful experience.
So when you pick one - don’t second guess - go with it - it’ll be great!!
And get off the CC - it’s driving you nuts -a nd it needn’t…again, whatever you pick, it’s going to work!!!
@7Steps_22,The University of Kansas has a well respected school of architecture. Its undergraduate Master of Architecture is a relatively new concept in architecture education, accredited, but still evolving. It’s basically a BS+an MArch squished into 5 years, instead of the usual 6. It will be extremely intense and narrow. If you’re not sure that you want to become an architect, this doesn’t seem to be the right degree path for you.
You don’t need to rush the decision whether or not to become an architect. You can get into a good MArch program with an undergraduate degree from just about anywhere, in just about anything, as long as you fulfill the MArch entrance requirements, which are usually an art portfolio, some art courses, some art history, and in most (but not all) cases some physics and some calculus. MArch programs are full of students with diverse undergraduate experiences; many are older with prior careers in entirely different fields.
The cost of the BA/BS+MArch is widely variable, depending on the cost of each segment. If you save money on your undergraduate degree then you’ll have more to spend on a masters in architecture, film or whatever appeals to you 4 years from now. A BA in art+art history from Davidson could easily lead to admission to a top rated MArch program or film program. The same could apply to BU’s BA in Architectural studies or BS in film. You’ll be well positioned for graduate school either way. (I don’t know much about DePauw so won’t make a comparison.)
I understand that you’re disappointed that you can’t make UCLA work financially (you can’t) but both Davidson and BU are wonderful opportunities. Since you haven’t had a chance to visit BU you may not be aware of how dynamic BU’s relationship with Boston is. Of course Boston and Los Angeles have completely different cultures, but the combination of Boston/Cambridge is a terrific “college town” and BU is right in its heart.
My son went to a small LAC (not Davidson, but similar) and then to an Ivy League MArch program. If you asked him, he’d say that that was the perfect combination, and that his liberal arts education deepened and enhanced his skill as an architect. The same could apply to any arts career that depends on a collaborating network and the ability to present and defend your concepts, both visually and verbally. Nobody builds a building or makes a movie single handedly.
I’m the one who brought up IU. I brought it up because it was an affordable choice that has lots of different majors and you can also create an individualized major if you can’t find just the perfect one. It’s a strong school and you might qualify for its honors program as well.
But the issue is not IU. The issue is that you have a fondness for places you can’t afford. Although going almost $60k in debt for BU is better than $115k in debt for UCLA, neither one is a wise option for you. If you go into film work or architecture work, your income is likely to start off well below either of those figures. And even the most aggressive people on this forum with respect to college loans don’t recommend taking out more in loans than what you expect to earn in your first year of salary. Thus, neither one of those should be in consideration.
In the other thread I recommended you talk to DePauw, Davidson, and Lake Forest about particular opportunities related to your questions. Did you do that? If so, what did they say? If not, why not? The colleges themselves have far more answers than the people on this board about the specific schools you’re looking at.
People are recommending Davidson over DePauw, at least in large part, because it is higher ranked by USNWR and thus they’re more familiar with it. I’ve never attended either, but I know people with very good academic credentials (i.e. getting full rides at flagship universities) who strongly considered DePauw. It might not have as strong of a reputation, but I believe it to be a fine school.
I know you say you haven’t visiting many campuses of the schools that accepted you. Have you visited any? If you haven’t, have you visited any other college campuses? What are your preferences? What types of things have you liked or disliked? If you haven’t visited any college campuses, why not?
It’s 100% okay not to know what you want to do when you get older. There are tons of things you’ve never been exposed to before. But you seem super undecided about so many things. I’d recommend picking your favorite college that is affordable (no debt), and request a medical deferral. Then you can take the time to try some art, or filming some things with your smartphone, or shadowing different professions, etc. You can visit college campuses while they’re in session, sit in on classes, and see what feels right to you. If need be, find a list of schools that meets more of what you think you want and apply to them next year (and again, I would seriously consider Drury).
I originally thought Davidson was a great choice. But if this student needs any mental health services for anxiety, this is a teeny little town. I’m not sure those would be readily available.
And to the OP…you hop around so much it’s hard to keep track! You seem to want the top program at each college or the top schools. I think you need to figure out where you want to spend the next four years…understanding that college is also a time to learn and define what you want to do. Kelley at IU is great but only if you want to major in business. You don’t…so why would a direct admit to Kelley matter one bit. It wouldn’t.
A concern with taking the route of waiting to do an architecture masters is that I’ll never know for sure that I want to do it until I try it, and no liberal arts colleges have architecture programs (or even classes that I can find for that matter). However, BU has an architectural studies undergrad program, which could be interesting. Waiting would also add an additional year’s tuition to my loan debt unfortunately.
Out of curiosity, what did your son major in that got him into an Ivy League MArch program?
Also, it really seems like not many people are concerned about the $57k loan debt I would have from BU. Is it not as big of a deal as I feel it might be?
As for contacting the universities, I haven’t gotten emails back from some of them about previous questions, so I spent time on other types of research instead of emailing. I suppose I can try again emailing these schools about that tonight. I’m also wondering why no one seemed to say anything about Lake Forest. It’s certainly a good college that I liked when I visited, so I wonder why others didn’t recommend it over DePauw or Davidson. I also visited DePauw and IU and liked them. Overall, I slightly prefer smaller schools but not enough to make that a huge deciding factor, especially when I also like being in a big city and having a lot around. I was only able to visit the campuses in nearby states.
As for the gap year, I’m still strongly considering it. I’m somewhat worried of losing my academic momentum and also I hear gap years tend to get very lonely when your friends are out there in college and you’re now suddenly alienated from them in the sense that you’re one year behind. I fear a gap year making me more depressed, but at the same time, I think it could make me a lot happier and less anxious at the same time if that makes sense. I’ll look more into Drury, but not quite yet given my time crunch to pick between what I have. Isn’t the universal merit aid deadline passed as well?