<p>somebodynew,</p>
<p>wow, it looks like not only have you found your niche, but you've found your passion at UMD-CP and who can put a price on that.</p>
<p>thanks so much for sharing your story. You deserve a separate post and a sticky :)</p>
<p>I agree with Sybbie, that was an excellent post, somebodynew.</p>
<p>somebodynew, Your parents must be really proud of you for making your decision in such a mature, thoughtful way. Hooray for yu that yuo have had such a good year at Maryland...Fear the Turtle:smile:</p>
<p>Maybe I missed this information but it sounds as if the OP is contemplating borrowing the total cost of a UVA OOS education. Canthe parents contribute nothing? If the family has a low EFC then the UVA Access program applies to both instate and out of state students. Unlike W & M which only applies to instate. The program puts a cap on the amount of loans that student has to borrow in order to finance his or her education. The OP should check that out.</p>
<p>Yes, I did, in 1979. I wanted desperately to go to the Berklee College of Music and was accepted there. I was an independent student and could not swing the tuition and r&b. They offered me zero FA. I could not borrow enough to make the cost.</p>
<p>I ended up at a music program at a SUNY school, with about $10k in debt total. Even that took me 10 years to pay off. </p>
<p>Would I have preferred to go to Berklee? Yes, but it wasn't even an option. Kind of irked me too. But then I was able to have my own tiny apartment in NYC after graduation and was not saddled with crushing debt and on an iffy musician's salary.</p>
<p>parents! thanks a ton for all your help. you never cease to amaze me! i've visited all your links and checked out AccessUVA.</p>
<p>slightly embarrassed about my $130k guesstimate...now i realize that my parents brought that up the other day to scare me; i had no idea it was impossible to get. thanks for the wake-up call!</p>
<p>i'm pleasantly surprised at the amount of people that turned down their top to go where the money was. an above poster talked about how amazed they were about the preconceived notions kids have about not going to their dream school.</p>
<p>here's how i'd address that: personally, i've gone to an incredibly rigorous high school. i've been taught (and believed) that when i work hard to achieve something, and i actually achieve it, then i should do whatever i can to make it work out. i (incorrectly) assumed that this applied to college decisions also; i worked extremely hard to get into UVA (as an out of stater, its no easy task!), got in, and want to go more than anything.</p>
<p>so as much as it royally sucks to probably turn it down for mizzou, i think i'll just have to start looking at UVA for what it is: a huge accomplishment, but unrealistic. </p>
<p>thanks again for all your help...keep the stories coming!!</p>
<p>kristen: it seems that you don't have hollow space in the top floor. good luck :)</p>
<p>Generally speaking, it's not considered a great thing to go "trophy hunting' when the trophy is a college admission. ON THE OTHER HAND ... that trophy is a validation that you have accomplished a great deal in high school and you have the potential to do really well in college.</p>
<p>I think that's why my parents let me apply to OOS schools they knew I wasn't going to get to go to ... so that I had some validation that I had the smarts and the potential and I wasn't just going to the instate public because it was all I could get into ...</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>you know i couldn't quite put my finger on the word i was looking for to describe my "UVA accomplishment"</p>
<p>validation is perfect, thanks CNP</p>
<p>Kristin,</p>
<p>Don't worry about it. You are a really great student and will do great things at Mizzou. I am a little tired right now but will you have th option of going to the honors college? if yes, take advantage of everything they have to offer; honors, the chance to do research, writing, study abroad (if applicable) exchange programs, etc. </p>
<p>you just may end up coming full circle to UVA for grad/professional school.</p>
<p>all the best</p>
<p>Great post Somebodynew.</p>
<p>That reminds me of a friend of mine who chose the lower cost college over the $40,000 a year because she was going for an english degree and probably a low starting salary. That was on the advice of her brother, an accountant, who told her the rule of thumb was to not have more total college debt than your annual starting salary would be.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would not take out $130 k to go to college. That's a crippling amount of debt.</p>
<p>If I really didn't like Mizzou, I'd take a gap year and apply to colleges that I knew that I could afford (possibly by taking out up to a total of $20 k in loans to cover the 4 years) and would enjoy. I'd look for colleges that had some of the things that I liked about U Va., but were cheaper or were likely to give me merit aid, which means that more than likely they'd be lower ranked than U Va.</p>
<p>If I continued to like U Va., I'd look for ways to be able to go there for grad school -- and to afford to do so.</p>
<p>Kristin: It is a good thing to put things into perspective and I agree with the others on how you've come to a more realistic view. But, if I were you I would lay all the cards out on the table. I'm still unclear where the $130,000 amount came from. If UVA is your dream then compare the costs accurately to your other option. Borrowing $130,000 is certainly not needed nor should you even entertain that notion. But before you completely reject UVA be sure you have all of your numbers in front of you. As I recall the financial aid statement from UVA was fairly clear and gave a total borrowing amount at the bottom. Your decision may well end up the same but at least make it based on facts.</p>