Hi, I was accepted to Penn State University Park for a major in Psychology, and Penn State is at the top of my college list. I’m from New York, however, so the OOS costs are incredibly expensive. I’m still waiting to hear back from the in-state schools that I applied to, which are Binghamton University and University at Buffalo.
My mom and I are in love with Penn State and she says that she doesn’t mind paying the fees but I don’t want her pockets to break. Penn State has everything that I could ever want in a school, but Binghamton and University at Buffalo are just okay. The main reason why I’m even considering those two schools is because they’re significantly less expensive than Penn State.
Should I go with my top choice, which would be really expensive for me to attend even though I know I’m going to love going there and I’m going to have a great experience, or should I just go with the cheaper option?
do you think you could grow to love the cheaper options? is it actually affordable for your mom or is it gonna break the bank? how does penn state’s education quality in your major/field compare to binghamton and buffalo?
i got accepted to penn state university park and even with an efc of 3k it’s wildly unaffordable at 22k a year. debt will kill you and take away opportunities once you graduate, and if you are going to grad school (esp pre-law or pre-med) you need to be as debt-free as possible. if binghamton and buffalo are both more affordable, i would go there, but if penn state is doable WITHOUT LOANS or even without loans in addition to the federal loan you yourself can take out without your mom paying, i’d do that.
I don’t think I’ll grow to love Binghamton or UBuff as much as I already love Penn State. But I do plan on going to graduate school, so that just makes me even more stuck.
Binghamton and UBuff are without a doubt better options for me in terms of affordability, but Penn State is a better fit for me personally, so I’m still at a dilemma 
It is really hard to make these decisions. If psychology is your intended major you have to think ahead about grad school as an undergrad degree in psychology provides you with close to zero career path. In order to get into grad school in pyschology you need two years of internship/related work experience before you can apply to any graduate program in pyschology. Two years of internship or low income work experience also requires living expenses either at home with parent or on your own. It is a long road to a career path. On the plus side, my d has several friends with undergrad degrees in psychology and none are working in any field related to psychology but both ended up with jobs/career paths. It is not necessarily a bad undergrad degree, just depends on your career goals.
I was a psychology major at UB (and I also got into Penn State, LOL). Back in those days they weren’t a D1 school as they are now. The campus has been greatly updated and expanded (it was already huge!) and has a lot to offer. The campus is on the outskirts of the city, but the city of Buffalo is really nice and there’s plenty to do. Even if you stay close to campus, there’s always a lot going on. If you stick with psychology and consider it as a profession you’re going to need grad school. That’s where you spend the money. If your mom is like mine was, she will quietly pay the college tab and never bring it up with you, and that would be delightfully generous. If you are going to take out loans or assume the responsibility of whatever loans she may take out down the road, that’s a heavy debt load to carry and adding grad school debt to that…
Going into significant debt for Penn State over a very respectable in-state option doesn’t not make much sense at all.
What’s your mother’s budget WITHOUT PARENT LOANS? ie, how much can she afford just from her income and her savings?
Penn State non-resident tuition is about $34,000 per year plus $11,300 for room & board = $45,300 per year x four years = $181,200.
SUNY–Binghamton: $9,550 in state tuition plus $14,650 room & board = $24,200 per year x four years = $96,800.
Difference over four years will be approximately $84,000.
If you have to borrow money to pay for Penn State, than the answer is clear.
Run the numbers here: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletter.phtml
Then talk with your mom about where the difference between Penn State and the others would have to come from.
Can your mother afford Penn State without loans? If the answer is no, then you should attend Bing or UB. When will you know whether you have been accepted to Binghamton and Buffalo? Did you apply to any other affordable schools?
Binghamton and Buffalo are planning on getting back to me soon, but after really thinking about it, I think it would be best to attend Binghamton or Buffalo over Penn State.
Thanks, guys.