<p>I am a high school student graduating in the spring and these are the current schools I am looking at attending next fall:
University of Oregon
University of Vermont
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina - Wilmington</p>
<p>UVM is my first choice, but I think the tuition for out of state students is too expensive and I am not sure how much I will be able to take off with financial aid and scholarship money.
I would also love to go to UO mostly because of the location. I have a lot of extended family in the Pacific Northwest, but my parents don't like the idea of me going that far away.
Finally, it comes down to UNC Chapel Hill vs. UNCW. I was originally thinking about majoring in neuroscience, but now I am considering more general biology. I know that UNC is ranked higher than UNCW, but UNCW is cheaper. Does anyone have any input on these schools? I think I would like Wilmington, but am concerned about the quality of the education (the science program in particular) and 4 year graduation rate.
I would appreciate any suggestions or experiences regarding all four of these schools!
Thanks</p>
<p>Do you live in NC? What are your stats? UNC-CH is brutally difficult for out-of-state admissions. My son fell in love with it, and applied to it as a first-choice reach. He was not accepted, but knew it was a reach. If you are a NC resident, it is not as selective. </p>
<p>No, I don’t live in NC. My unweighted GPA is 3.8 and weighted is 4.3. I got a 1970 on the SAT and 31 on the ACT but am retaking both in the next few weeks. I think I am an average applicant for UNC and a little above average for UNCW. The main reason I am looking at UNCW is its affordability. I really want to go out of state but I am still on the fence about these other schools because I am not 100% sure how much aid I can get. UNCW is definitely within a decent price range though, but I don’t know if I should pay cheaper tuition at a lower ranked school or just go to a better school and take out more loans.</p>
You as a borrower are limited to $5500 as a freshman. That tops out at $7500 as a junior and senior. That’s it. Anything else is what your parents would have to borrow or they would need to cosign for you.</p>