Choosing schools based on cost, would like your advice.

Paying for College
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<p>Paying for school is going to be a tough task for myself. My parents did little to set up a college fund for myself, so I'm going to have to rely on the grants and scholarships I receive to cover some of the cost.</p>

<p>I have recieved 2 scholarships from 2 different schools.
The first is for $22,500 per year for a total of $90,000 over 4 years.
The next is for $15,000 per year for a total of $60,000 over 4 years.</p>

<p>Neither of the schools I received these scholarships from are my first choices, however they offered me a great package that is very hard to turn down. </p>

<p>I believe I would me much happier at my first choices, but the cost is insane to attend.</p>

<p>Would like some advice!</p>

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<p>Need more information. Without knowing how much you<a href=“and/or%20your%20parents”>/u</a> will have to pay at each school, the grant and scholarship figures mean nothing. Plus, there’s a lot more that needs to be known to offer any kind of useful advice. But net cost is a good starting point.</p>

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<p>What matters is your net cost to,the college…not the aid you get. What will it cost YOU per year to attend these schools?</p>

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<p>Lots of students end up perfectly happy at schools for which they had to “settle”. What do you dislike about the second school? Does it have the degree that you are planning to pursue? Can you go to an accepted student day/weekend and give it a second look and try to become more enthusiastic? Would the $30,000 difference come from loans? If so, then there is more of a $40,000 difference by the time you factor in interest payments. And are your parents willing to cosign for larger loans?</p>

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<p>Consider the requirements to keep the scholarships for all 4 years too. GPA? Eight consecutive semesters? A particular major? The lower award might turn out to be the better deal if the cost of that school is less than School A and you can more easily keep the award.</p>

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<p>Have been taking University classes for 3 years now. Will graduate with 50 hours.</p>

<p>I dont remember having to list any EC on my application, so I wont include them here.</p>

<p>Applied for Engineering.</p>

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<p>Your net cost is what’s important. </p>

<p>Which schools offered you merit and what is the net cost of each? </p>

<p>How much will your parents contribute each year?</p>

<p>How will you cover the uncovered costs?</p>

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<p>So you have other colleges that are preferred to the 2 you listed, but are you accepted and with no aid, or what is the situation? </p>

<p>Are you trying to go to OOS college that doesn’t help OOS students, I’m trying to figure from your posts. And are you doing engineering? Sure it is nice to get your first preference without considering money, but most people don’t get that, because cost constraints are just a fact of life.</p>

<p>So figure out how you are going to pay, what you can pay, what is reasonable to take in debt and what is not, and try to make a practical decision would be my advice. I was just talking to a youngish engineer at Boeing yesterday, he just went to a community college then transfer to Cal Poly Pomona a regional state college here with a low profile but good engineering dept. At least at an instate tuituon rate of 8k he doesn’t have debt and is able to enjoy his salary, working alongside people with more pricy colleges.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your comments. I’m going to wait until later in the spring when I receive all of my aid information to make any hard decisions. </p>

<p>Several people asked about the cost of attending my first choices compared to the schools I was offered aid. </p>

<p>My first 2 choices are Texas A&M University and Texas Christian University.</p>

<p>Arizona State is an option depending on the amount of AID I would receive, being an OOS school it would be much more expensive. </p>

<p>I wont receive word on admission for about a month. I will receive aid info when I get my acceptance from TCU but I wont receive aid info until after acceptance into TAMU… </p>

<p>TCU is a private school and much more expensive than Texas A&M.</p>

<p>For reference, average cost for Texas A&M would be about $22,500. The average cost for TCU would be $51,000 per year.</p>

<p>Texas A&M offers my first degree choice, TCU does not offer my first choice but does offer my 2nd. I have visited all the schools I applied to, TCU by far has the nicest campus(in my opinion).</p>

<p>I believe I would be happier at TCU than TAMU.</p>

<p>I’m in the middle of my FAFSA application, not quite sure how much I will receive. My father is a 100% disabled veteran so he is paid through the government, very small income. I have had 2 jobs in the past to help out with expenses. </p>

<p>Someone copy/pasted on of my last posts above. Ill address that:</p>

<p>I attend a dual enrollment program at my high school in which I will graduate with 50 hours that will transfer to any public university in the state of Texas. I will consider this a incentive to go to a public university, for an average degree plan with ~120 hours at a public university in Texas, the estimated cost of the tuition for the hours I already have would be $15000. </p>

<p>My safety school is Texas Tech in which I am automatically accepted, submitting that application is the last on my list of priorities.</p>

<p>The scholarships I received are for some private OOS schools which puts the cost for me a tad below the price of on instate school.</p>

<p>I’m typing this at 1:30 am, I apologize for any typo’s or grammatical errors.</p>

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<p>Be careful about the 50 hours of transfer credit – make sure that it can actually apply to 3 semesters’ worth of requirements for your major and general education requirements before assuming that you can shave 3 semesters off of your attendance and cost.</p>

<p>If those two other schools with the scholarships have a remaining cost about the same as TAMU and TTU, what is your rank order of preference between those four schools with similar costs (though in reality, TAMU and TTU might be cheaper if your transfer credit lets you shave more semesters off, or if you get scholarships at those schools)?</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus All of my hours will transfer to TAMU and TTU, I have already inquired about them. My dual enrollment program is at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. </p>

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<p>Actually, I meant that you should check that the courses you took would cover 3 semesters’ worth of subject requirements for your major and general education, rather than just be counted as elective credit. Many students go to college with lots of AP, IB, or college credit taken while in high school, but which does not cover the subject requirements for their majors or general education.</p>

<p>Also, can you afford the cheapest schools on your list without more debt than the federal direct loans (try each school’s net price calculator)? If not, then you may want to throw in an application to Prairie View A&M, which has a [full</a> ride scholarship](<a href=“http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid-2/scholarships/university-scholarships/]full”>http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid-2/scholarships/university-scholarships/) for your 1760 SAT and 3.8 GPA.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus I have checked, TAMU has a course equivalence “calculator” which allows me to enter the university II have credit from and it will show me what it counts for at TAMU. For instance my Calculus I at TAMUCC counts as Engineering Calculus I at TAMU which would be on my degree plan. The goal of the dual enrollment program is for students to complete most of their basics that would transfer to public universities in Texas.</p>

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<p>Is your dad able to give you any VA benefits for college? </p>

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<p>Good that you checked the course equivalency. But have you made sure that you have at least one safety that you know for sure is affordable?</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids Yes! I forgot to mention this. Currently my brother is attending a technical school for welding, he currently receives about $1000 every month from the VA. Not quite sure how much I will receive. </p>

<p>@ucbalumnus Texas Tech right now would be my most affordable option, not including the school you mentioned. I qualify for a few of their scholarship options. </p>

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<p>If the TTU scholarships are not assured based on your stats, will you be able to afford TTU without them?</p>

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<p>Depends on the amount of AID I receive from FAFSA. The number vary so greatly that its hard to judge how much I will receive. </p>

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<p>@BlakeGrhymes‌ </p>

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<p>You need to have your dad check into this. Your dad’s benefits may get completely spent on your brother’s education. There may not be any left for you…or there may only be enough to cover a year or two for you. So, have your dad check to see. That is important. </p>

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<p>The FAFSA for next year isn’t out until Jan 1 so if you are filling one out now, that will be for last year and you’ll need to do it again in January. Make sure you are doing it at <a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/&lt;/a&gt; - not any fafsa.com or anything like that.</p>

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<p>the FAFSA website has a calculator that will give you an estimate for next year based on income and assets…just need AGI and exemptions.</p>