I just got accepted into my ultimate dream school which is the University of Oregon, I am a resident of Washington state so I’m going to have to pay out of state tuition but if I go to my backup which is Western Washington University it will be significantly cheaper. I want to major in Urban Planning which is offered at both schools, and I’m trying to decide whether to go to law school afterward to be an environmental lawyer or to get my masters in Urban Planning. My parents really want me to go to western and my dad just straight up doesn’t support me going to Oregon, I also want to note that I will be paying for it all by myself. I have been to both campuses and I never felt a connection to Western like I did with Oregon (I felt like I was at home the second I stepped onto campus) and I don’t know if I will happy at Western. Should I go to the school that is far more expensive that I know I will be happier at or do I attend the school that is cheaper and that I am still unsure about?
How exactly are you going to pay for this yourself?
What is affordable without hardship/debt?
financial aid, student loans, etc.
You can’t borrow enough money, and what FA are you getting? I am not sure this is even an actual choice, right?
You can only borrow $5500/year. Do you qualify for a Pell grant or merit aid?
If you have to take loans for an OOS school, how are you going to finance grad school?
All the above questions are important to answer. This may not even be a choice for you - you can’t borrow the full cost of attendance without a cosigner, and so it may be functionally impossible for you to summon enough money to pay for UO. So figure that out first.
But even with that said…5 years post-college, your college memories will have devolved into warm fuzzy feelings, mostly. You may still have some friends that you made there, but you can make friends anywhere; of course your university choice can influence your first job through recruiting and opportunities, but Western is a great school and has a lot of those, too. One thing that will stick with you, though, is the debt. Taking on a small amount of debt sometimes is worth it. But as a not-so-recent graduate, I will tell you that when you’re 30, you’d probably rather have an additional $500-1000+ in your pocket every month than slightly warmer, fuzzier feelings from college. Paying massive debt is going to touch every corner of your life and fundamentally alter your standard of living for a decade or more.
Can you go back to WWU and visit? If you can, make sure you go with an open heart and mind, and really try to soak it in. Are you unhappy because you just really want to go to UO? What about other options in WA, like Washington State (which may feel a little more like UO in terms of being a large state flagship)?
You’re not going to get financial aid that will help your situation. And you’ll only get a $5500 loan.
So…Oregon is now moot.
Who will be paying for Western Washington? Can you commute there? If not, how will you pay for that?
Your post is unclear. Will your parents help you pay for WWU? If not, unless you can commute to the school and tuition is low, I don’t see how it will be affordable either.
Why do kids think that they can just borrow all/most all of their college costs??? Do they really think a lender is going to lend them all that money???
You want to keep UG costs as low as possible, esp if you want to go on for an advanced degree. If you will not have scholarship at WW and it is not in commuting range, can you commute to a CC for a little and save up? You need to be working if parents will not assist - however they may ‘assist’ by letting you continue with room/board at home and any other costs they are footing for you now.
@mom2collegekids - It’s probably because up until relatively recently (like around 2009-ish), a student really could more easily borrow the full cost of attendance to college. Moreover, I think there are a lot of scaremongering articles that profile students with $100K+ in student loan debt that glide over the fact that their parents or some other adult co-signed for them - or are legacies of the time before you needed a co-signer - so a lot of students think it’s quite possible. I also think a lot of students have no idea what borrowing $150,000 or $200,000 means or how much salary you need to repay it. I think they assume that they’ll make $60K out of college and that should be enough (neither of which is generally true).
Pure speculation, though!
U of O is 50k for OOS. WWU is 22k.
That is 28k annually that you’ll need to come up with, assuming your parents are willing and able to pay the full WWU price tag.
You cannot come up with that. The max you could reasonably come up with would be $5500 in loans, maybe another $5000 from summer savings and a job during the school year.
Unless your parents will pay the difference or sign for a loan themselves (@$18k annually) U of O is not an option.
U of O is a fine school. However it is not worth over $100k more than WWU which is also a fine school and well regarded both instate and out of state.
It is a very different vibe that U of O, I agree that if big sports and large school is what you want, WSU is arguably a better fit if they have your major. However I believe the application deadline has passed. You could consider transferring there or applying for spring admisssion. It may be worth calling and checking on to make sure.
That said, WWU has so many clubs and activities and ways to get involved. I encourage you to attend the upcoming admitted student day on 4/1 and go to the program sessions, really take the time to give it a fair chance, it’s a fabulous school that for others out of state, is their dream.
@juillet Bingo! Because they’ve never had a job and expenses, so they don’t realize how much their debt repayment actually is…
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/loans/student-loan-calculator