<p>First off, I'm a Senior in the state of Hawaii with an EFC of 5k.</p>
<p>My top two colleges are University of California, Davis and Illinois Institute of Technology. I have no problem of going to either school, but rather, I'm relying on the financial aid I got from both schools to make my decision. I got accepted to both schools with a civil engineering major, but that may possibly change to another type of engineering.</p>
<p>I'm leaning more toward UCD because I have family near the campus and it has a community service organization that I'ld like to join, Circle K. </p>
<p>IIT on the other hand, had been my dream school since Freshman year and the campus is innovative. </p>
<p>Cost of attendance for UCD is $54,187 a year and I got $16,444 from the school, leaving $37,743 in loans a year.</p>
<p>Cost of attendance for IIT is $54,677 a year and I got $28,500 from the school, leaving $26,177 in loans a year. </p>
<p>I've applied for a ton of outside scholarships, but I don't hear back from them until May/June. I only have 2k in outside scholarships. </p>
<p>Is $37k worth it in loans a year? My parents would have to take out most of that in loans, but once I get more outside scholarships, my loans will decrease?</p>
<p>If you’re planning on becoming an engineer, you must be able to do simple math: multiply each of those annual loan figures by four. Do the totals seem like reasonable amounts to you???</p>
<p>Your loan amount for IIT for one year is about what you should be borrowing for your entire four years. The annual loan amount for USD is almost 50% more! Neither of these is an affordable option.</p>
<p>Outside scholarships are not the solution. Even if you somehow, miraculously, managed to find sufficient outside money to cover your first year, how would you pay for the subsequent three years? (And don’t forget that tuition costs will go up each year.)</p>
<p>If you had the stat’s to get into UCD, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t have been able to get a full tuition or full ride merit scholarship somewhere else. And don’t they have schools in Hawaii???</p>
<p>University of Hawaii - Manoa is the only school in Hawaii with civil engineering. Its net price calculator indicates that it is likely to be affordable for an in-state student with a low EFC if the parents’ AFC >= EFC and the student is willing to take a Stafford loan and earn a few thousand dollars of work-study.</p>
<p>The loans per year for IIT and UCD are not worth it. Assuming UHM admitted you and gave you a reasonable financial aid offer (i.e. one where you will not need more than Stafford loan debt), go there.</p>
<p>If you have not yet applied to UHM, you can apply until May 1 for the fall semester. However, the priority deadline was January 5 for best consideration for financial aid and housing. If you are unable to get admission and reasonable financial aid at UHM for fall start, then your choices are:</p>
<p>a. Go to community college, do well, there, and transfer to UHM later.
b. Not go to college at all next year (or semester in the case of schools like UHM that accept applications for spring start) and apply to a set of colleges that are likely to be affordable based on either their net price calculators, or large merit scholarships like the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177</a></p>
<p>UCB and Dodgersmom are giving you very good advice. Your two choices are not viable options.</p>
<p>If your EFC is 5K - it is not likely you would get the loans either - even if you decided you wanted to try. I doubt your parents would be approved for loans that high having such a low EFC.</p>
<p>The amounts of those loans are ridiculous. Your parents don’t earn enough to take on those kinds of loans. </p>
<p>It’s also unlikely you’re going to get other scholarships while in college. Most scholarships are for incoming frosh, not ongoing students. The few scholarships for ongoing students are usually for very small amounts and hard to get. </p>
<p>You need to go to an affordable school.</p>