I have the opportunity to go to community college or a four year school, and I am trying to decide which one I should do. I am pretty average as far as finances go, but community college will definitely save a lot of money. My four years schools range from $25,000-$70,000 per year compared to community college which is $4,000 per year. I live in CT, and each of my schools is in a different state (NY, NJ, MA, VT, NH). I have a lot of anxiety and seasonal depression problems, so there is a concern of whether going away would be harder or if I should choose an easy shift for the first year and just stay home for community college. Also, my boyfriend and family are here, and going away would mean not seeing them as much. I know starting fresh is appealing to most, but I really like where I am, although I am excited to be independent. Also, my parents separated this year, and if they divorce while I am in high school, I think that I should be at home. Especially to be there for my parents and for my 13 year old brother. I can also keep my job and work more hours. These are all the reasons why I like the idea of community college. I just have a few things holding me back. First, I want to be a classics and Latin major, and community college cannot support that, so staying would be putting off my major. But is it smart to do that anyway because people usually change their major? If I stay, am I missing out on key experiences that I should have? If I stay and my parents divorce, will I regret not going away? Lastly, just in general, is going away really all that it is cracked up to be? Is staying for community college really all that it is cracked up to be?What do you think about my situation?
Community college can give you a profession that can earn you money. You can become less dependent on your parents and save money and go to college bit later after your family problems have resolved. Also I doubt there are a lot of jobs for a Latin major, or that college life is all that interesting and worth spending 50k on.
What are your stats? What’s your EFC? What can your parents contribute - do you need merit scholarships?
(attending community college means losing all merit scholarships, and transfers get lousy aid so it can e more limiting…)
What are your stats?
Have you been admitted to UConn?
Not sure what EFC is. If by stats you mean grades and test scores, I have a 3.9 weighted GPA, 1250 SAT out of 1600, and a 24 on the ACT. As far as UCONN goes, I wish that I had applied because now I am interested, but I had early decided that I didn’t want to go there. My father owns a business so we get money from commission mostly but my mom also has a full time job.
Actually it is quite the contrary. Classics is a common and valued major for a pre-law student, and Latin teachers make between $50,000-$70,000 per year. I have no problem being practical about where I should go, but I am struggling with the social and daily life aspects of community college versus a four year university.
Not sure what EFC is. If by stats you mean grades and test scores, I have a 3.9 weighted GPA, 1250 SAT out of 1600, and a 24 on the ACT. As far as UCONN goes, I wish that I had applied because now I am interested, but I had early decided that I didn’t want to go there. My father owns a business so we get money from commission mostly but my mom also has a full time job.
EFC = Expected Family Contribution. That is what your family is expected to pay towards your education according to the FAFSA, and it can have a pretty big effect on the amount of scholarship money you are offered. Have you done your FAFSA yet?
Apply quickly to UConn. It’d be much better for you than community college.
Classics and philosophy are excellent majors for law school.
Dax123…I completed my FAFSA, but I have not gotten the results back yet on how much aid I will receive. So far I have received a good amount of financial aid scholarships from schools, but still not enough to outweigh the economic benefit of going to community college.
MYOS1634…What makes you say that UCONN would be much better for me than community college?
Beczuse
- law schools don’t like community college classes because they’re much less rigorous in the humanities and a bit less so in the sciences. You can overcome that obstacle but there are enough on our path to admissions, why add one more when you can avoid it?
- classics are rarely taught at community college.
With a 3.9 and 1250 there’s a 4-year college you can attend.
The BIG ISSUE is cost : how much can your parents afford?
If you don’t like Uconn, here’s a list of colleges you can apply to right now, often with commonapp:
St Michael’s (excellent academics, friendly, and in really cool college town, to boot)
Austin College, TX (want to wear tee shirts all year long?)
Creighton (you must have heard of it?)
DePauw (academics, fraternities, and parties - work hard/party hard)
Knox (knockout humanities)
Loyola Chicago (Chicago!)
Mercer (more conservative than most)
Wabash (all-men, more conservative)
Wheaton MA (more liberal than most)
Ohio Wesleyan (good balance between social life/sports, and academics)
U Scranton (beautiful campus and facilities, not far from NYC)
Carroll Montana (in State Capital, nice outdoors opportunities, good automatic scholarships)
Cornell Iowa (one course at a time)
Earlham (really strong preparation for grad school)
Hiram (support for students with strong EC’s)