<p>I need advice in making one of the most difficult choices of my life !!!!
I got accepted to both University of Michigan and Barnard College (Women's college with Columbia Univ affiliation). UMich offered me a full ride for the first year, no loans... However if I attend Barnard I'm looking at around $4,000-$5,000 per year in loans and I would have to work. Barnard is absolutely my DREAM SCHOOL, but I really do like UMich... I can't decide between the two !!! I feel like Barnard would provide me with more opportunities, but is it worth the student loan debt ? I come from a very low-income family so paying back the loans will fall solely upon me and I am considering grad school. OPINIONS? HELP?</p>
<p>You say a full ride for the first year - is that scholarship not extendable for a four-year course of study?</p>
<p>$5,000 per year is not an insurmountable amount of borrowing, but if you plan to attend graduate school, you may end up borrowing significantly more - so the less you borrow now, the lighter your debt load will be when you graduate. If you can get your bachelor’s degree debt-free at a great school like Michigan, that is a very compelling opportunity.</p>
<p>@polarscribe Full ride as in grants/merit scholarships offered by the government and university… I can’t be sure that they will offer me the same amount for the next few years but if my financial situation doesn’t change drastically then I would assume that they would. & That makes sense, UMich is in-state for me, but I would love to experience a new environment in NYC</p>
<p>You can find ways to experience NYC without trying to live on a very limited income for four years in one of the most expensive places in the country.</p>
<p>You need to think about your budget and draw up a realistic spending plan. Your COA will not include a lot of the small things you might do on a daily basis, like going out to eat. You probably won’t want to eat at the cafeteria every single day, but if all your money and work hours are tied up in loans and work-study, where will you get the money for non-dorm food? There’s many other things like that.</p>
<p>Basically, think very hard before committing yourself to the most expensive and financially-stretched option, especially when your family is on a very limited income.</p>
<p>@polarscribe Very true. I am going to visit the Barnard on an all expense paid trip funded by the university very soon so that will either make the decision easier or much harder :(</p>
<p>Check with the Barnard forum and Parents’ forums here on CC to see how people have done with Barnard financial aid after freshman year. Tuition and living expenses will increase every year that you’re in college. If Barnard increases your aid so that your out of pocket costs remain the same each year, then Barnard is affordable (albeit with sacrifice on your part). If you’ll be required to pay more each year, then the loan amount could go up rapidly. Talk with the FA folks at Barnard, as well. </p>
<p>No academic bad choices here–these are both wonderful schools!</p>
<p>@brendank21 I have thought about travel expense a little, but I probably would not be going home very often. & I have visited UMich three times, I live about 1.5hours from Ann Arbor. I am visiting Barnard in two weeks on an all expense paid trip by the university</p>
<p>@SlitheyTove Thanks for the advice !!! & I would like to ask Barnard for more FA since my EFC is $0; However, I believe they are offering one of the maximum FA packages</p>
<p>Attend college that offers free ride. Closer to home = cheap travel. No job needed.
(Seriously, you’re even questioning turning down a full ride?)</p>
<p>Graduate from college with no debt at all.</p>
<p>Move to NYC and get a job after college.</p>
<p>Easy, huh?</p>
<p>It’s not like $5000 is a lot of money for loans each year. But, you’ll be surprised at what other expenses you’ll have in NYC (travel back and forth to family for Thanksgiving/Christmas/spring break/summer/any emergencies, costs of getting around the city, eating out, entertainment, etc.). There’s at least a few trips home that most people take each year. I don’t see Barnard as worthy of turning down a full ride at another college. If I could go to NYU for only $5000 a year, I would probably do it. Barnard, no. Columbia, yes. CUNY, no. SUNY, no.</p>
<p>Barnard might consider increasing your financial aid package; you can ask. A friend of mine got her scholarship increased (at a much less prestigious school, though) by going to the FA office on her visit and making her case. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Michigan is a great school. Are you planning to go to graduate school? You could do THAT in New York, especially if the fact that you wouldn’t have to work at Michigan means that you might get better grades. I’m worried though about the fact that the financial aid offer you have is only good for one year. </p>
<p>Your title “Dream School vs Affordable School” might easily be rewritten as “Dream Life vs Life Paying Back Student Loans.” (Though $5k per year is certainly an easy debt to pay off, if that’s all you’d have to borrow). Plenty of people are taking, and then stuck in, jobs they don’t want because they need to pay their loans. A person who graduates debt-free has their choice of where they want to work, or doing something for a nonprofit or startup, or traveling. Heavy student debt (which, again, I don’t consider $20k for 4 years to be) can affect your life for much longer than the 4 years that you might be at your dream school.</p>
<p>I’d say go to Barnard and enjoy your experience, it’s a great school. $5,000 a year is not going to prevent you from grad school, if you choose that route later. If you graduate in 4 years, $20,000 is more than manageable to pay off. As far transportation and misc expense to attend Barnard, those are usually calculated into your FA offer.</p>
<p>A full-ride to Michigan is fantastic. However, if you feel Barnard is better for your career aspirations, then that’s the place to go.</p>
<p>I had the opportunity to attend a state-school and graduate practically debt free, but choose to acquire school loans to attend my dream school… I have no regrets: I have a great job, my loans will be paid of on schedule, and am beyond happy where I am today.</p>
<p>If your parent makes <$15K why are you considering anything that requires borrowing? See if Barnard will up their offer but if they don’t stay close to home at a top notch school.</p>
<p>I agree with Erin’s Dad. The fact of the matter is that things do go wrong. When you have no margin for taking care of those things, it can become a catastrophe. My son had a lot of thing go wrong last year at college that cost a lot of money. A tooth developed an abscess and needed a root canal and crown, Broken glasses–needed eye check up for prescription. Couldn’t keep his job as the hours conflicted with a course that he was having trouble with and the extra consultation times were during work hours and the job wouldn’t budge from its minimum hours requirement or give him different. Then some happy news which was a great opportunity to go abroad with a friend whose family was picking up most of the costs–but it meant leaving his summer job earlier which meant less money than he planned to earn during the summer. Got shut out of a course that he wants for his major for which he has to apply, so he has to take it over the summer to make the switch and get out in time which means paying for a summer course. Too late to get it at a state school, so had to pay private, plus transportation there. Meant that what he lost out on in the school year, he could not pick up in extra time and money over the summer. But he had a margin for this in that he had no loans, so he took out the Staffords to pay for the summer course, worked 90 hour work weeks for a while, and paid off most of his loan and he’s working it out now. But he also had a back up in that we are able to help out if it came down to that. Even then, we are at the max of what we have budgeted. And we are not at the $15K range. Believe me, that whatever you put down on paper, is likely not going to be the real costs. Things happen, and you need some funds for some leeway.</p>