<p>i'm a high school senior, and will be graduating in about a month. I've been accepted to an out of state college that i've been planning on attending for the past year. Recently though, i've been feeling wearing about attending next fall. I received a scholarship that allows me to pay in-state tuition plus 50% but it still totals up to about $16,000 a year. My parents did not save any money for my education, and the money i've been able to save from a part-time job is minimal so i will be working full time this summer to save, and will be taking out loans. I've been actively involved in my high school, but did not receive any scholarships, or financial aid.
I've been debating just taking a few general ed classes and working part time to save money, or just going to a bigger city and working full time somewhere and save money for a year, and then continue school the following year.
My attitude has shifted from being a full time student in a work study program with a part time job, to maybe not even attending school my first year out of high school.
Am i just having cold feet to start from scratch at a far away college? or should i keep considering deferring school for a year to save money?</p>
<p>I’d go full time to school.</p>
<p>If you’re uncomfortable with $16k debt, you can do community college for a year or two and then transfer to a university. You might be able to keep living at home so it wouldn’t cost too much.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’d have to take out close to $50 k in loans to go there. I think it would be wiser to start at your local community college and to live at home while attending there, and after getting your associates degree, transfer to an in-state public school. This more than likely would allow you to leave college with a manageable amount of loans.</p>
<p>Another plan is to get the whole first year as a freshman straight out of HS experience at the school you planned and then transfer to a cheaper instate public U. You need to consider the costs of health insurance and car insurance if you are not a student. Many places do not have the so called “community college” so often cited by CC posters. Would the gen ed classes locally be of a similar caliber to those of your 4 year college? The quality of your education must also be considered. Do you feel you will lose the schooling momentum if you wait to attend college? Do you have a planned major/goals for college? If part of your indecision hinges on mixed feelings about even attending college it may be best to work first, then attend college. You will do your best when motivated. If you are an excellent/good student who should be in college then find a way to do it full time at a four year college with your academic peer group.</p>
<p>My opinion is that a 4 year degree is more valuable than a 2 year degree, and a 2 year degree is more valuable than no degree at all.</p>
<p>For the purposes of deciding whether to go to college or not, I wouldn’t worry about the “caliber” of the community college courses. They get you a degree (a 2 year degree) and will generally meet the requirements of most state universities. </p>
<p>I think the basic question is:</p>
<p>Do you have the drive to graduate from college?</p>
<p>If so, then all you need to decide is how much you want to pay for college and which college to go to.</p>
<p>since tuition keeps going up, the total amount it will likely cost you to attend is a moving target. You need to weigh what you might be able to save next year against probable tuition increases. The university I teach at just raised tuition 10% and is likely to keep doing the same in future years. So If you’ve got an interesting or very lucrative way to spend a “gap year” then that’s fine, but otherwise I think you’re just deferring getting your life underway.</p>
<p>I would agree that going to a CC and working for a few years might be ideal, but that scholarship may not be available to the OP anymore as a transfer student and he could end up taking on even more debt than he would have originally even at an in state public-- he needs to do the math and see if four years plus scholarship or 2 years at a CC minus scholarship is better. This is the mistake my family made. In our case, where adding CC to the mix and losing scholarships made it equally or more expensive, I should have deferred for a year and saved money so I could have entered the freshman scholarship pool in a better position.</p>
<p>Why are the choices the out of state school or a community college? What happened to your in state 4 year schools?</p>
<p>
Taking a gap year to work may not be a bad idea, especially if you can live at home and work full time. [ul][<em>]Will your current part-time employer allow you to work full-time for a year or would you be planning to look for a job? [</em>]Will you be able to live at home to save more money?[*]Ask the college if you can keep the scholarship after a one-year deferral - many will say yes. But DO ask - don’t assume! [/ul]I wouldn’t recommend just not bothering with college at all. The lack of a degree may haunt your job prospects for the rest of your life in certain fields.</p>