Do you think the "college experience" is worth the money?

<p>I'm a high school senior getting ready to go off to college, but I can't decide what to do. I've always envisioned myself at a college out of state, or at least a ways from home, living in the dorms and being on my own. I want to go to the University of Washington, but the out-of-state costs are SUPER high, above $46k annually, and I won't be receiving a lot, if any, financial aid. I have been diligently applying for scholarships, so far to no avail. Thing is, I want to be an elementary school teacher, and lately I'm wondering if incurring all that debt will be worth it in the end, seeing as teachers don't make a lot of money. Would I be better off going to community college and saving tons of money to not be in so much debt for the rest of my life, but missing out on the "college experience" of dorm life, meeting new people, and a sense of independence and freedom? If I were to go to community college, I would live with relatives in Seattle, so that expense would be taken care of. Another option would be to go to college in my hometown, either community or my local university, but I see that as my last resort. I like living at home, but I wouldn't be able to be as independent as I'd like, be able to grow as a person and gain new experiences. Also, the schools here aren't very great, mostly for locals. What are your thoughts? What would you suggest I do/ any advice? If you had a similar situation, what did you choose and how has it turned out for you/ do you regret it? Anything helps, I've been stressing over this for months now. Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Surely there are other options with costs between your local CC and an expensive out-of-state public university. What is wrong with your in-state public universities?</p>

<p>They don’t offer the major/minor I’d like, so I’d have to pick something else. It’s mainly an engineering and research university, and I’d like to study linguistics with a minor in ASL. It’s a commuter campus that accepts about 99% of applicants, but it’s just not for me. I’d really like to get out of the city, staying here is just my safety net.</p>

<p>Are there other public universities in your state which offer the major that you want? Or other universities that cost less than University of Washington?</p>

<p>There are also regional tuition discount agreements between various states that may allow you to get lower tuition at some universities in those other states. Of course, if you named your state of residency, perhaps people can help you better.</p>

<p>What state do you live in? </p>

<p>Is the college experience worth 46k a year? Yes if you can afford it
If not you gotta buy whatever you can afford. </p>

<p>Please use the college Search and Selection area to get some practical advice from a wide range of members. No that amount is too high unless you have a parent happy to pay it without serious sacrifice to their retirement. There may be more options for you. Read this post first so you can give info for best help:</p>

<p><a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums;

<p>No, it is not worth the debt – especially considering that UW is a state school (even though very good). Besides, big state schools like UW are not the best place for either the “college experience” or good financial aid.</p>

<p>If you have not been accepted at any other schools, then going the CC route for a year or two is a good idea. You can get the “college experience” for you junior and senior years. Plus, in order to be a teacher you will pretty much need to get a masters degree. Now there is an experience – and even more money spent (or debt).</p>

<p>I used to live in Seattle, and know UW pretty well. You can go to excellent private colleges for a lot cheaper. I recommend a small liberal arts college with good financial aid. Private schools are much more generous with financial aid (without loans) than state schools like UW. Look into the University of Puget Sound or Whitman College, for starters. It might be too late for this year, but most colleges accept transfer students from CC’s.</p>

<p>What’s in-state for you? The public university you describe (local) sounds like your directional, but what about your state’s flagship?
You could indeed go to community college near your relatives… but there have to be other choices, either private colleges that still accepts applications (in the Seattle area there are lots of them) or in-state publics that don’t cost 46k which indeed is too much. The #1 source of financial aid (beside Pell and federal grants) is the university itself which is why OOS public universities are not affordable in most cases.
Some colleges are still accepting applications:
<a href=“College Search | College Finder | Colleges by Major & Location”>College Search | College Finder | Colleges by Major & Location;

<p>The problem with this thread is that the title is not really accurate; the OP’s more severe constraint on college choice is the desired academic offerings (linguistics and American Sign Language). The OP should really have done a better college search last year to find all of the colleges that have the desired academics, instead of ending up with a choice between (a) a school that is probably far too expensive and (b) schools that do not have the desired academic offerings.</p>

<p>I live in Texas, and I already got accepted to UNT. I would also receive a bit of financial aid from UNT, and so far a few scholarships. The only thing about UNT is that I’m not sure if I can really see myself going there. I haven’t visited the campus yet, but I’m planning on it very soon. I fell in love with UW when I saw it. And again, my local university is really just a last resort. I don’t WANT to go there, but it’s there if I need it. My heart has been set on moving to Seattle, going to UW, for a few years. That’s why I hadn’t really looked into other schools. I never expected the cost to be an issue until recently, unfortunately. Thanks for all the advice, everyone!</p>

<p>Your apparent dream school of UW will become a nightmare of debt. Even if you get Pell grants and work as much as colleges expect full time students to work, you might have to borrow “only” $36,000 per year, or $144,000 for four years. That is far more than most people would recommend (and probably at least three times the yearly pay of an entry level teacher), if anyone is even willing to lend you that much money.</p>

<p>It appears that UNT makes a lot more financial sense given that it is in-state and you are getting financial aid and scholarships (what is the net price?). It offers a linguistics major and American Sign Language courses, so it fulfills your academic needs.</p>

<p>UNT’s in-state tuition for 2013-14 year is $20,984, significantly less than UW. I guess at this point UW shouldn’t really be an option unless I win the lottery or something. </p>

<p>You can cut your loses by going to a CC for the first two years and then transfer out of state for the last two. Piling up debt is never a good strategy especially when you aren’t sure about the job market, etc. You can always go to an expensive school for your post-grad. </p>

<p>@ainnat ASL as in American Sign Language? </p>

<p>I know CSUN is really tops at that, we have friends whose son is deaf and the top information seemed to all come from there. Out of state it wouldn’t be as inexpensive as in state, and in any event the applications for fall 2014 have passed, I am pretty sure. However, it would be considerably less expensive than UW out of state.</p>

<p>OK, CSUN out of state doesn’t seem more expensive than UNT. People say the CSUs’s worst image issue is that the UCs are so good, that they are overshadowed. I don’t know what to do about the timing issue, though.</p>

<p>note, the costs here are IN STATE to CA, for out of state you add $372 per unit. It looks like 7 units is considered full time (not sure.) Even with that, though, total cost of attendance INCLUDING living on campus (if you wanted that) would be $24,362. Note you could go to a community college within its draw area and increase chances of acceptance when you transfer (grades required would be lower), as well as saving money. PLUS you may still be able to get into the community colleges now. (Valley College or Pierce, I assume would be in that area, but you would have to check.) <a href=“http://www.csun.edu/financialaid/basics/cost.php”>http://www.csun.edu/financialaid/basics/cost.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>IF ASL is really what you are thinking of, note that the National Center on Deafness, begun there, even has tutoring and outreach and employment opportunities through the campus. <a href=“http://www.csun.edu/ncod”>http://www.csun.edu/ncod&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Take a “gap” year AND move to Seattle to establish residency. Get some kind of job, so that you will not become a financial burden to your relatives there.</p>

<p>In other words, DO NOT go to college next year. Even going to CC will keep you from establishing residency for university purposes.</p>

<p>I assume that you have already been accepted at the UW for this year. So you probably can wait a year, but you might need to re-apply.</p>

<p>This strategy will more than pay for itself. Waiting a year to go to college is not a big deal. In fact, if anything you will be more mature and emotionally prepared by delaying a year.</p>

<p>THIS IS YOUR DREAM… GO FOR IT! Whatever it takes – except debt.</p>

<p>Still, you need a backup plan (everybody needs a backup plan). So, apply to some other schools both in Texas and Seattle for next year. Consider University of Puget Sound and Seattle University; plus at least a couple of Texas state schools besides UNT. Maybe UT-Arlington or UT-Dallas or even UT-Austin. Texas has some great state universities. Perfect for backup plans.</p>

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<p>Creative, and can save a lot of money - but I’d make sure the OP knows, the money differential is so substantial that /most colleges are particularly diligent in making residency determinations. For someone considering taking that route, they need to be certain to read every rule and applicable law to be sure nothing is missed - such as having to submit parent’s tax returns to prove you’re financially independent - if they claim you as a dependent, your residency status will be denied. </p>

<p>Another point, if you look at CSUs and find you like them, there are others than CSUN which actually isn’t amongst the most college town beautiful of them – it just has a world class education and training in special education, in particular for the deaf. Others might have linguistic majors. and you could go CC OR do a gap year – but don’t count on residency unless you work it out in advance. It is hard when your parents live elsewhere, you are under 24, and you graduated from high school elsewhere --where your parents still reside.</p>

<p>@Squiddy</p>

<p>Good advice… which is why I recommend a strong backup plan.</p>

<p>Pursue your dreams, but always have a backup plan.</p>

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<p>Full time for financial aid purposes is 12 or more units per term, and full time to graduate in four academic years is 15 units per term (so 30 semester units per year). So an out-of-state student taking a course load to graduate in four academic years would find CSUN to be about $33,000 to $35,000 per year.</p>

<p>CSUN does have a linguistics bachelor’s degree program.</p>

<p>University of Washington residency is described here:
<a href=“Residency for Tuition Purposes - Office of the University Registrar”>Residency for Tuition Purposes - Office of the University Registrar;