I have till May 1st to make my college decision, and I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’ve narrowed down my choices to a state school (not highly regarded or well-ranked) and to my top choice college. My main issue is with cost. I have a full tuition scholarship to attend the state school, and my financial aid package also includes a yearly stipend and a one-time travel grant. On the other hand, my top choice is a private school that would cost well over $67k all in. I did receive scholarships that would bring the cost down to around $50k, but that still seems insanely high to me.
The clear advantage to staying home would be graduating debt free. Additionally, I’d likely be able to study abroad with the travel grant, and I’d be responsible for only paying for room and board at whichever college I traveled to. The yearly stipend could also help me in a lot of ways. My parents would be able to help me with grad school later. My concern with staying home is that I won’t get the “college experience”. I think that going away for college would force me to be independent and to grow more as a person. I’m also concerned that I won’t be getting a good quality education at the state school, because it’s notorious for its low graduation rate and for being a party school.
As previously stated, the advantage to going away would be the “college experience” and higher quality education. I’ve wanted to go to this school since last summer. I love its location (great place for getting internships), size (small enough to meet people, big enough to feel like a college), and academics (good business program, which is my major). With that being said, I don’t see how it’s possible to justify paying so much to go away, especially since I have such a great offer to stay home. I’d likely have to take on around $20k+ in debt, and my parents probably couldn’t help much with grad school.
Should I stay home for free, or get the “college experience” for $50k?
I’d appreciate input from current college students/recent college grads. What have your experiences been with staying home/going away? Are you happy with your decision? Do you have regrets? Any debt?
Is the 50k yearly or over the course of 4 years? Also, which colleges are you deciding between? I know there’s some state schools, like the one in my city, that are quite terrible and would not be worth the time to even consider.
@lvgtc25 It would be 50k yearly. I wish it could be 50k for the 4 years! I’d prefer not to say the state school for the sake of privacy, but I think it’s ranked around #150 nationally on US News if that gives you any idea.
Are you saying your parents have the money to pay for this school without debt AND that your personal debt would be UNDER the Stafford total (ie., your federal loans would be under 27K after 4 years AND your parents can pay “out of pocket”, from income and savings AND are willing to do so?)
If your parents said they were willing to pay AND have the money, then thank them profusely, accept their offer, and do everything you can to live up to that investment.
You asked for recent grad but I think perspective from an older grad can be helpful. I went to state university on full tuition. It was definitely a party school with lower than avg four year graduation rates. Occassionally I went out on Monday or Tuesday and interacted with the students dragging down the graduation rate. Some simply were going to party until their family ran out money. I rarely interacted with such students in class. I made great friends. Met high achievers. I built good relationships with a few prof’s on my major. I had no debt. And, generally I had a great college experience.
No one has ever cared where I graduated and I’ve been successful in my profession. Grad school name matters more. Your ability, personality, and personal drive, matter most.
It depends on the state school, it depends on the “dream school” and it depends on the major. If the “dream school” is Stanford and the major is CS, or if the dream school is Wharton and the major is economics, go for it.
You don’t tell us your major and I respect your privacy but that matters. There are a couple majors that undergrad pedigree can be a big deal such as investment banking on Wall Street. Others are even more clear to go to state school due to grad school costs. Think med school and law school where GPA and MCAT/LSAT rule the day for acceptance.
My eldest is commuting to a local state school, so I understand your concerns. You’ve matured while living at home for high school, right? Personal growth doesn’t stop when you graduate from high school. If you want to learn to be independent, be independent. As a college student, you’ll have lots of opportunities.
Commuter students do get a college experience, but it’s not the same as dorming. I encouraged my son to dorm for the first year, but he preferred the freedom of living at home. He’s active in clubs, though, and spends a lot of time on campus. It takes some effort to become involved in the campus social life (whether you dorm or not), but it can be done.
If you want to avoid debt or would rather your parents help pay for grad school instead of undergrad, I’d suggest attending the state school.
I was in the same situation as you. I chose the full ride scholarship to the local state school.
One of my friends from high school chose to attend the school I turned down (30k a year for both of us - would have to be financed via loans.) I am a pre-law student, she wants to be a teacher. We went out for dinner last night and she told me that she just found out she’s going to need to stay an extra semester in order to complete one of her degree requirements and she was practically ripping the hair out of her head over the accruing interest on her current debt and the additional loans she’s going to need to cosign. While I obviously felt sympathy for her plight, I was incredibly grateful for the fact that every semester, my tuition bill reads “0.00”
Honestly, the name of the dream school would be important. If it’s an Ivy or Chicago, then maybe. If it’s Northeastern or NYU, I’d say, no. Nobody is going to figure out who you are by naming the dream school.
Can your folks pay or would they/you have to assume debt. If they can pay free and clear, then it’s worth having that discussion. If you’re going to rack up debt, I’d say go to the state school.
FWIW, I went to my state flagship (Rutgers) with admission to its Honors Program for free. I met lots of like-minded people and got a fine education and was admitted to Ivies for grad school (with free rides). But Rutgers is pretty well ranked. Without knowing your particulars, it’s hard to say how your state option compares.
I do know students that have attended state schools that hover at around the #200 rank and have gotten into top grad and law programs (Georgetown, BU, Brown, etc) with generous funding. So you definitely attain your long term goals by going this route. As for the “college experience,” that’s a different metric.
It depends on what your parents can truly afford to pay, coupled with what they are willing to pay towards your education at the private school you have selected.
I have no doubt that if we worked hard at it, we could have found (almost) full tuition scholarships for both of my daughters. Instead, from the onset, we chose to spend the money and send them to a more selective schools in programs that were perfect for them. We still pursued merit aid, but only at schools that were more selective and fit each daughter’s criteria.
I didn’t go down the path of pursuing a free ride with either of them because I knew that I was willing and able to pay for a school that would provide a better education for them.
So in the end, that is the question for your parents to answer. There is no right or wrong answer. It is their money and their right to have their own viewpoint and budget.
I will add though, that I was very surprised at how difficult it was for some students I know with great scores and great work experience to get into highly ranked MBA programs after attending state schools. Their parents would have made a different choice for undergrad had they known.
I will chime in with a personal experience. Not sure if it will help but here goes. I chose the more prestigious university over the state school way back in the 80s. I left school with $30K worth of debt (which was a lot back then!) My first job out of college, I made $20K per year. I was always scared that I couldn’t make my loan payments, but I was always able to work it out somehow.
My reasons for my choice were similar to yours. Our state school is very highly ranked but also very large. Plus, 90 percent of the students were from in-state. I wanted to meet all kinds of people…and, boy, did I do that. My roommate was from Long Island and I could barely understand her. The girl next door was from Boston, had gone to prep school and was much more “mature” than me, my freshman year best friend was from Kentucky and we ate the Derby pies her mom would send in care packages. I’m extremely happy I made this choice. Do I think I had a better career because of my choice? No. Do I think I broadened my horizons? Absolutely. This midwestern girl loved meeting her first Jewish friend (no joke, I had never met anyone who was even Jewish!!) and going to her first seder. I loved laughing with my new CA friends who brought the craziest winter coats to our freezing campus thinking it would be like the Antarctic. Meeting people from different places and with different up-bringings was very eye opening. And I never had to go far or try hard to find very bright and interesting study partners!
I have seen a statistic, though, that says kids really shouldn’t have more debt than their first salary. In my case, I was a little over but it was ok. I’m afraid that, in your case, you will have to be very careful about your decisions. Have you saved no money for school? That $50K for year will be all loans?
Yes, this question has been asked frequently, and the answers are typically similar. If you/your parents can comfortably be almost full pay, paying $200+K without it affecting their lifestyle, retirement plans, etc, then you are a lucky one and should go with the one that fits you better. If, however, this involves loans, touching retirement $, refinancing a house, its probably not worth it. Hawaii is a nice place to go to school. Can you live on campus?
I want to mention something I don’t think was brought up (or maybe it was and I’m just bad at skimming) - the fact that you were awarded a full scholarship is an indication that you were at the top of the applicant pool at that school. This is important because it may suggest something about the nature of your academic experience - it’ll signify that you’ll likely be a big fish in a small pond.
For some students, that is really unappealing (some students don’t want to be top dog and want to be challenged by their peers in certain ways, etc. as part of their college experience) however, for other students, the idea of being the big fish means that they’ll stand out a lot more to faculty members and university administration - this means better access to research opportunities, internships, and so on. Scholarship recipients at a lot of universities are placed into Honors Colleges/Programs which means additional scholarships/funding, smaller classes, and priority registration.
Obviously this all depends on your preferences and career goals - for a student interested in medical or law school, I think the “big fish, small pond” dynamic works more in their favor academically - but for a student interested in a more pedigree driven field (such as finance) - it’s better to be a small fish in a very large, prestigious pond lol.
@MYOS1634 My parents would be willing to pay, but they’d have to take out a few loans. I think I’d be close to or at the Stafford total. I really don’t want them to take out loans, and I myself don’t want college debt. Also, they would have a hard time helping me with grad school if I chose to go to the private school.