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

College Search & Selection
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Have you considered shadowing folks in some of these professions you aren’t positive you want to do? Every time someone makes a suggestion, you mention your uncertainty about that possible career.

And also, please understand…many college students enter college with no actual idea what they really want to be when they grow up. Part of college is figuring this out which is why so many colleges don’t require a major to be declared right away. And why you will see many students switching majors multiple times.

You need to pick a college where you can grow as a person, and at the same time figure out your future. And again I say…many many jobs are actually not related to the actual major a student has in college.

Once you choose a college….you probably should have a visit with the career center. They often will tease out your likes and dislikes and give you options for study based on those.

And lastly, some of the career jobs you when you graduate might not even exist now. The job landscape is always changing.

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I don’t need mental services for anxiety, I wouldn’t be too concerned about that.
As for Kelley, I really think you misinterpreted what I said before. I’m not interested in Kelley or business in the slightest. I didn’t even apply to Kelley. I can’t really think of another way to describe it than the way I did, so for the sake of convenience, I’ll just say Kelley and business aren’t relevant to my situation at all.

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I’m actually very interested in shadowing some different careers. I’d like to shadow both an ophthalmologist and an architect if I take a gap year, in fact. I don’t know how difficult it is to gain access to shadowing opportunities, and in the past, I haven’t had the time to do so.

I will say that when I initially applied to the 40 colleges I applied to, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, which is why I had so many LAC options. Now that I know some of the things I’m interested in and know that they’re somewhat niche fields that aren’t really offered at LACs, it has become somewhat problematic. Like I know the things I want to do and feel like I don’t want to do something that isn’t one of those things, so while exploration is what I’m looking for, I’d like it to be exploration within the fields I’m interested in. I think so far, it seems like BU is offering the best opportunity for that, but then if I decide upon going to grad school, it will be a bit more of a financial burden. I don’t know much about their current student scholarship opportunities. It is unfortunate that the schools I really seem to like more also seem to be the more expensive ones.

Thanks for the advice on career centers by the way. That’s a good idea.

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Did you get a merit award from BU…or just need based aid?

There are (smaller) departmental scholarships for continuing students. But these are for those IN a major with some attachment to a department during the freshman year. It doesn’t seem you are there.

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I’m pretty sure to get merit award at BU you need a 33 ACT at least. I got a 32 and no merit award. I’ll definitely seek out departmental scholarships. I’m currently admitted for the film major and might try to double major in architectural studies if I go to BU. I tried calling them today asking about if I can dual enroll in the film school and arts and sciences school, but I forgot about timezones so I just missed them.

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A much better way to test the waters in architecture (and highly recommended before committing to a specialized program) is to do a summer intensive. My daughter did this one and had a great experience Architecture Summer Immersion Program | Portland State University , but that’s just one example. There were a few students in her program that had just graduated from high school and were starting college in the fall, so I know that can be an option.

Arch Studies at BU doesn’t have it’s own arch studio classes. There are studio art classes that are part of the interdisciplinary major, and arch history classes, but students do summer intensives elsewhere to get the true studio architecture experience. There are some arch studies majors that have real studio classes, but many don’t.

You really don’t want to sink a full year or even a semester into a BArch program if you’re not reasonably sure about your level of commitment.

With a BA+MArch taking 6-7 years (depending on whether your undergrad gives you a head start or not), vs. a BArch taking 5 years, I don’t see a preemptive commitment to a BArch as a good idea for a student like you who still needs time to explore. A BArch will tie you up for five years without giving you much elective time to explore other roads-not-taken. It’s hard to see this working out well, from where your head is at right now.

I’m wondering why your aid at BU (which theoretically meets full need) is so much worse than at Davidson. Have you considered appealing? I feel as if BU would be the obvious choice for you if the price points were more similar.

As to your question about flexibility at BU, it’s similar to many schools in that the College of Liberal Arts majors tend to be pretty open-access. When I went there (which admittedly was before you were born, sigh), I started out in PT and added a double major in psych once I was there, with no difficulty. The reverse would have been much more difficult to do. Since you’re already into the film/TV program, you don’t have to worry about that barrier, and you could explore liberal arts minors or dual/double majors pretty easily (including arch studies).

Also, there are definitely parkour clubs in Boston, even if there’s not one based at BU. (There has been one in the past but I’m not sure it’s currently active. You could be the one to revive it, though!)

Boy, am I getting Pippin vibes here! I absolutely get that the idea of a 9-5 job doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. But you’re not talking about what you want or what you enjoy - you’re talking about a fear of being less than (less than your father, less than whatever other creative/famous/larger-than-life people you admire?) and if you don’t mind my saying so, I think that’s something you need to unpack. Figuring out what is fulfilling for you is enough of a challenge without the burden of having so very much to prove. The part about taking risks and not letting anxiety make your life small is definitely something to work through but… you’re still very young, and you need time to figure out which risks are worth taking. You’re putting way too much pressure on yourself to be on some sort of grandiose Path To Greatness. What you need in a college experience is an incubator that will give you what you need to grow and figure out your goals - ideally without incurring debts that will later sabotage the very creative freedom you will need to make your goals a reality. You have good options. Just try to pick the one that keeps as many doors open as possible.

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I’ll guess. This poster said his dad is a musician. Guessing he could be self employed and deductions might have been added back in as income. In addition, if the family owns a home, the schools might treat home equity differently.

@7Steps_22 are your parents divorced or married?

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Married. My dad is self-employed, and we do own a home.

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I don’t know how these colleges treat home equity. But it very well could be different.

Same with self employed. Some colleges look at the deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes, but they don’t allow them for financial aid purposes. These get added back in as income.

Because you submitted to so many colleges…you would have needed to submit your financial aid applications more than once. Did you make any changes when you added schools?

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A much better way to test the waters in architecture (and highly recommended before committing to a specialized program) is to do a summer intensive

I imagine the students taking an architecture summer intensive who are immediately going into college would probably have already committed to an architecture program. That said, I’ll look into this as a potential avenue, but I’d have to make a commitment somewhere first. KU’s program, by the way, is a 5-year MArch program as far as I’m aware, not BArch. I think your point remains the same though. The reason the KU thing is a difficult decision for me is that if I don’t enroll in KU now, but decide to do architecture later on, then I’d be attending 6 or 7 years of school versus 5, and that’s money. I really do see your point about exploration though, and maybe the extra two years tuition could be worth it if I end up deciding on architecture, but then I might not have a lot of options in terms of which school I get my masters at (maybe I’d have to go very cheap). An architect I’ve talked to recently who owns a successful firm told me that the school you go to really matters in architecture. He went to Cornell for undergrad and KU for masters.

Thanks for the information about BU’s architectural studies program. Not a deal-breaker, but I see where the existence of a studio class is probably important.

I’m working on an appeal, but I’m not sure I’ll get it back in time. From what I’ve seen, a lot of colleges claim to cover your full demonstrated need but then cover it by offering you loans, which doesn’t really help all that much.

I’m trying to figure out how easy it is to dual enroll in majors outside of the film program, but I never got a response to the email I sent them. As far as you’re aware, would I need to reapply to the college of arts and sciences and be accepted for that?

The parkour club I saw seemed pretty inactive, but yes, I’m sure there are gymnastics or parkour gyms nearby since it’s a big city. I’m also wondering about potential opportunities for me to participate in music and theater at BU given my limited experience. I’d like to participate in a Jazz Ensemble or form a band while I’m there (I’m relatively new to taking piano seriously so I’m not great yet). I’d also be interested in acting a bit (not as a career, but just in theater productions for now).

As for the rest, it’s not so much that I fear being less than these roles. It’s more so that the lifestyle appeals to me, as it does with a lot of people. I want that kind of life because it seems incredibly rewarding, and I don’t feel like I will feel rewarded with a “traditional” lifestyle I suppose. I agree about needing to find a place that will give me the most and best opportunities and incubate the most creativity while not putting me into crippling debt. It’s just so hard to find the right balance in this situation is all. I do really like BU after looking into it a lot more recently, but it’s hard to tell what 57k loans will do in the long run and if I could get it down via scholarships and working and such.

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As far as I’m aware, no changes were made to our financial aid applications. One thing, however, is that some schools require FAFSA and some schools require FAFSA+CSS.

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There’s an internal application, but it’s not like applying through Admissions: Dual Degree Program » Academics | Boston University For CAS specifically, this page gives a person to contact Dual Degree Program | Arts & Sciences

And yes, I know you need to decide now, about whether to commit to the KU architecture program. It just seems like a huge leap to make, without even being able to hold onto the reciprocity rate if you don’t stay in architecture. (It does look as if Industrial Design qualifies too - did you consider that? Seems potentially easier than architecture to dovetail with your other interests… and it’s a four-year BFA rather than a 5-year BA/MArch. But it doesn’t seem all that likely that you could switch now, before starting in the fall.)

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I’m not aware of any universal merit deadline, but you could always call any institution you were thinking of and ask.

I suspect Lake Forest is a bit like DePauw. It is more regionally known rather than nationally known, so if the commenters aren’t from that region, they don’t know as much about it. Just because people don’t mention it doesn’t mean it’s not a good school. It sounds like you liked it, though. Was it your favorite of the liberal arts colleges?

Asking random strangers on the internet is unlikely to help you get much clarity at this point. If you want to keep your options open for the future, pick one of the schools where you won’t go into debt. All of them will give you the opportunity to do something in theater, get behind a camera, get some career guidance, take an array of classes, etc. Pick the one where your gut says you’d be happiest, commit, and don’t look back.

What about architecture? Take a summer intensive in architecture. If it blows you away and you’re convinced that’s the route for you, you can always transfer. And since Kansas will grant you in-state tuition at any point since Missouri doesn’t have an architecture program, you can always fall back on that as an option in the future.

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BU and Davidson both use the CSS Profile.

I guess you didn’t read my response above where I wrote about the BUMO (Boston University Music Organizations which are the ensembles for those who are not music majors. You can audition for those. However, you don’t really have musical instrument experience…so maybe do the choir. There are a lot of experienced musicians who aren’t music majors.

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You seem like a very bright and talented person with many interests which are not yet fully formed or focused. This is not a bad thing, but I suggest that you take into account that your path over the next few years will likely change many times. With respect, it seems to change from one of your posts to another.
The amount spent on undergraduate education should be as low as possible while you explore your interests. It should be invested on a program which does not lock you into a specific program.
Although it may seem like a life altering decision, where you go for college (and in some ways even what you study) is not as important as having the flexibility to grow and learn what is important to you.
But choosing a barely affordable college or one with a specified curriculum when you are uncertain about your path will likely end in much more stress than you are currently experiencing. You will either : a) feel obligated to plow through a path you don’t want to be on because that is what your parents invested in, b) need more than 4 years to finish and run out of money.
Taking a gap year or choosing one of your affordable programs will give you so much more opportunity in the next 4-5 years and beyond.
So pick whichever school is easily affordable and has the most open curriculum. Don’t over think the rest. You can’t plan right now which doors will open or when, but they will.

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Well said!

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I remember reading your response now. It was quite late when I read it if I remember correctly, I apologize. In terms of music, I’m pretty much only interested in piano. I’ve played since I was 14 and played drums since I was 10, but never really took either seriously until this year. My goal is to be able to do jazz piano and one day regularly do gigs in my spare time outside of my primary career. I suppose it’s definitely going to be easy to find music lessons anywhere I go to college. one question I suppose I have about BU is the possibility of doing music classes as a non-major and non-minor. I’d prefer to minor, but I don’t really think my audition would be good enough to qualify.

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What kind of music classes? You will have to pay for lessons if you take them at BU. I’m sure you could find a music major student who would be willing to give you these lessons. But where is the money for this going to come from?

https://www.bu.edu/academics/cfa/courses/cfa-mp-115/

There are music classes for students who are not music majors.

https://www.bu.edu/arts/cfa-courses-for-non-cfa-students/

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I only visited Lake Forest and DePauw, and I liked both of them. I imagine I would like Davidson as well, probably. It’s hard to tell which one would be best. I was hoping for some input from people who went to Lake Forest and some from DePauw but no one here seems to have attended. I will say that the discussions on these threads actually have helped a bit so far. My ADHD makes it hard to do research, so it’s much easier asking questions to people who might know rather than the internet. Also in my real life, no one gives me their opinion, and they just tell me that I’m the only one who can make that choice. Given that I’m not qualified to make the choice, it helps that people here aren’t as afraid to offer their views. Anyway, I’ll definitely talk to my parents about a summer intensive or shadowing an architect.

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At the end…they are correct. This has to be your choice.

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