ID: Non-Traditional Transfer Student Accepted at SLO & SJSU
Considerations:
CalPoly:
- Pro’s: Great school, small class sizes. Learn by Doing Motto.
- Cons: $24,000 more expensive(I’m local to San Jose). Seemed not too friendly towards Transfer students. Even had a few disparaging remarks about how transfers are “poorer quality” students from a professor there. Majority students are very young(out of my age group). Campus seemed less diverse(I’m a minority and also a member of the LGBT community) and I’m not sure if I’m necessarily crazy about that(this one’s not too important on the priority list for me). Far from home (3 hour drive). People at open house seemed to be repeating the same things; almost as if they were reading from a script.
SJSU:
Pros: I’m Local to San Jose - SJSU will be at least $24,000 cheaper as I live in a home with family which is paid off. Maybe worth it to use that money for Grad school? Lots of Transfer and also Non-Traditional Students on Campus. Extremely diverse.
Cons: Campus is kind of depressing(for me personally, but at least I’ll be home with my family hence close to an emotional support system.)
$24k total or per year? How many years will you have left? Will you have to take a loan or do you have the cash?
$24k total - Conservative estimate for rent which I calculated at $1000 per month for 2 years. It is more likely to be more than that given the additional quarter or two(according to CalPoly) that it might take me to graduate. I have some investments that I can sell to get the cash, but I’d rather leave them alone and work and borrow to cover the difference as my investments have given me a greater ROI than the ROI I might get on a college education.
That’s a really tough call. The savings are real, especially when you consider the opportunity costs. There are some advantages to being away from home, but as you know, there are advantages to being at home too.
From a simple math perspective, over your career your CP degree would have to net you a career long earning increase of about $250,000 to offset pulling out the money (that’s assuming only a 6% return, not adding any further to the investment and not touching it for 40 years until you retire. It’s likely that you’ll earn even a better return than that). So, with that said, I’d be inclined to choose SJSU even though I like CP a lot.
BUT…that’s based on pure finances alone and none of the intangibles. Have you visited campus? Do you love it? Go with your gut. Good luck!
eyemgh, Thank you so much for your valuable input! The more I think about it, the more I’m starting to lean towards SJSU.
I visited CalPoly and absolutely loved the campus the first time and loved their class sizes and “Learn by Doing” philosophy. The low number of Transfer students and even lower number of Non-traditional students did make me feel a little out-of place but it didn’t seem like a big deal then. I had decided on CalPoly and didn’t even bother visiting most other campuses I’d been accepted to. But I visited again for Open House, where my concerns popped up strongly because of some disparaging remarks made about transfer students by a CP professor. There also seemed to be zero focus or support for Transfer students as Every presentation was geared towards impressing Freshmen and their Parents and did not address any Transfer students’ concerns. It irked me that CP did not seem to give a damn about Transfers or answering their questions at Open House where transfers were invited as well…
While I still really want to go to CP, given my recent discomfort, I’m hesitant to pull out my hard earned investment and forgo it’s returns to go to CP, especially when I can get a degree from SJSU which is quite decent as far as its Business Program is concerned. I’ll still net a decent career long increase with a degree from SJSU, but perhaps not as much as CP. (I calculated the difference in the 30 year ROI between the two colleges and they were quite comparable, with SJSU coming out ahead given the $24-30k additional investment at CP). I will also be debt-free coming out of college, Yay!
Also, maybe being in Silicon Valley will give me better opportunities and also the time to look for local internships/work while not having to worry about paying rent. I plan to stay and work in the Bay Area for at-least the next 5-10 years.
It’s a shame to turn down CalPoly. It’s also a shame that CalPoly will not get to benefit from my experiences/perspectives. I’m sure that some will call me crazy for doing that. I can’t believe that I’m doing it myself! I know that If I were local to SLO or somewhere nearby, I would not be having this dilemma and would have absolutely picked CP despite my discomfort. Or perhaps I’m using money as an excuse to justify turning down CP because I really don’t want to go there now.
Thank You again for your input! It has definitely helped me in confirming my decision!
If we were talking Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, I might lean CP even with the debt. This is really the truth though. At the end of the day, it’s far more about what you put into it than it is about the school itself. Your gut is telling you what it is for a reason. It’s important to listen to it. Your comfort and fit is way more important than the name of the school. Get involved with campus clubs, study hard, be organized and have a blast at SJSU. You’ll do great! Good luck.
san jose state.
cheaper for you. and you will receive the same degree anyways. and its right next to silicon valley which means job placement safety.
What is your business concentration?