Hi all! About a month ago i found out i got into UCLA and i was so excited and had mentally planned out my entire experience at UCLA and i went to all the info sessions and met amazing people! UCLA was my dream school and I was set on attending as my parents said they would fund everything when I got in, however this changed when they saw the real financial aid package. Since i’m an out of state student from VA and my EFC was incredibly unrealistic and high, i received absolutely no financial aid and was stuck paying 66k plus plane tickets/expenses per year. My parents then realized this was way out our budget since I have plans on going to medical school and I have a younger sister that is going to college in a few years, however they said I could take out loans if I truly wished to attend. I am grateful and lucky enough that my parents offered to pay $120k total for my education, however this would mean that i would have to take out $144k loans at a 4% interest rate and that growing number is very daunting especially since I have med school plans. I chose to attend Virginia Commonwealth Uni on a full ride scholarship per the guidance of many people on CC and my family, and defer my parent’s college savings to med school. I am also working as an EMT so i’ll essentially be able to graduate from med school debt free with my residency money to use for either a down payment on a house or potentially to save for a practice.
Although I know that this was financially the right decision, I am bummed/embarrassed since i worked extremely hard in high school and was told that I could go anywhere if i worked hard but the only thing holding me back from LA is the money. Although VCU is, from what i hear, the best school for pre-med in virginia, I am a little disappointed since I am mainly coming here because of money and not because i really love the school (even though i know the school is probably amazing). How do i get over this sense of grief and sadness after declining my dream school? 
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Try to list things you like about UCLA that VCU has, too.
For instance:
- Excellent state for weather, education, tourism – lots of things to see and do during breaks
- Urban university
- University with a broad diversity of students
- prestigious program
(Did you get into another Virginia university that’d be affordable or is VCU your favorite among all universities you got into?)
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I only applied to UVA and VCU since these were the two that appealed most to me. I was accepted into both but UVA would’ve cost me 35k per year and I’ve spoke to premed students at both schools who all say VCU is the way to go since they have a better premed program and I have the full scholarship so I would pay absolutely nothing
i was also accepted into UMiami on half scholarship and USC in california but no aid
Ice cream & time!
I am so sorry about so many parts of this.
I’m sorry that you got so close … and couldn’t afford it.
I’m sorry that your parents didn’t understand the realities of the promise that they made.
I’m sorry that you finished HS feeling that your hard work wasn’t rewarded
I do disagree with that last point though: you have a full ride to a great school that will give you everything you need to get into medical school. You can have an amazing college experience, making true friends, and having great adventures even if you never grow to love VCU. You may discover that your pre-med classes are as good or better than they would have been at UCLA
And future you, whatever she is doing, is going to love not only not having college debt, but having $120K in the bank for med school (or other grad school or house downpayment, etc).
You will always know that you aimed for the brass ring and you made it. Now shoot for the next brass ring- and get that one!
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Sorry to hear that you’re disappointed with your college situation. You did work hard and you received a lot of great options as validation of your efforts. Seems like the unfortunate part was 1. You didn’t know that UCs don’t give FA to OOS and 2. Your parents made an very nice offer/gesture without understanding the full implications.
The good news is that since med school is very expensive, being able to graduate debt free from undergrad will be an amazing gift. And as med school is your goal, take advantage of the full ride and opportunities you’ll have at VCU. Maybe UCLA could be in your future for med school?
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Hang in there - this happened to me when I was in HS. Got into my dream school but my parents weren’t really clear on how financial aid worked and it was unaffordable. Went to my state school for free. Did really well and then went to a T-20 grad school for free. There’s a different kind of bragging rights in following the money. You’re being pragmatic and VCU is paying you to get a degree. Once you’re settled in, you will probably like it and nobody there will think any less of you for your choice.
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Wouldn’t your actual dream school be a medical school?
If you do get into medical school, doing so without undergraduate debt and with the money your parents saved by your going to free college to reduce medical school debt would be another dream come true. Having less debt at the end of medical school will mean that your career and life choices will be less restricted by debt pressure.
To put it in actual numbers:
VCU: $0, medical school $400k - parents’ $120k → $280k debt at the end.
UCLA: $144k debt, medical school $400k → $544k debt at the end.
Even at physician pay levels, $264k extra debt is a significant difference.
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This and every thing that followed from @ucbalumnus is THE take home message. It might suck because you got too close before vetting whether or not you could afford it, but undergrad is the stepping stone, not the goal. Med schools could care less where you go to undergrad. In every respect you are probably better off at VCU than UCLA. If embarrassment is part of the issue, reframe it. You turned down UCLA because VCU was the better option. Hang in there and good luck!
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This is a HUGE win!
In no way should you bummed or embarrassed. Since you worked extremely hard in high school, you’re getting a FULL RIDE to college. My goodness, not many people can say that.
This is a triumph, not a disaster. I hope you achieve your goal of med school. You will do well regardless of where you go to college as an undergrad. Best of luck.
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So, VCU is truly the best school FOR YOU! 
It may not be a generic “dream school” but it’s the school where you’ll have everything you need to get where you want to go - for free - and, I bet, with lots of perks. 
You’ll have priority registration - so you can pick all the classes you want, never worry about being shut out of a class you need but also certain that if a class piques your interest you can take it. If you work better early, you can stack your schedule with early morning classes, and if you work better later, you can take classes at 10 or 11am and never start at 8 am again! You can avoid “bad” teachers (there are professors who have trouble teaching undergrads) and that’s a thing MANY premeds will be jealous of. 
Honors gives you Honors-only volunteer and leadership opportunities, and being in the city you’ll have tons of options to show what med schools want to see in a candidate.
I just checked this Fall’s Honors courses that have been confirmed, and right off the bat 4 work well for premeds: Honors Bio, Honors Chem, Honors Women’s&Gender Studies, and SCTS200 An interdisciplinary introduction to the ethical, social and political dimensions of science, technology and medicine examined through case studies and debates.
And the “Humans of RVA” new course (student-tested below) sounds very interesting!
https://news.vcu.edu/students/Honors_College_revamps_curriculum_to_emphasize_collaboration
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If you got a full scholarship into VCU, then your hard work WAS worth it. Being saddled with debt is a stress you or your family don’t need. You saved them so much stress by going to VCU.
You will find kids who go to UCLA, which will lack personalization - and hate it. Or they have a bad roommate or bad professor. You will find kids who go to VCU and you will meet your BFF. It can go either way.
My point is - if you want to, you will have an awesome experience at VCU. There will be many smart kids, many who also that could get into UCLA but chose VCU for location or money.
Millions of kids are choosing a school based on finances and that happened because you did so well - so congrats. My kid didn’t apply to a UC because there’d be no help - but you didn’t realize and it’s ok.
It’s why it is smart to apply to many schools - and TO NOT get emotionally attached to any.
Mine was attached to American - fortunately I weaned her off that concept early and she’s going to a much cheaper school - College of Charleston. She got into Washington & Lee (high rated LAC) and Miami - and guess what - she’s going to lesser - but they treat her well.
Take advantage of what VCU offers, get to know the profs, participate in the programs - and you will see you made the best decision ever - especially after all your friends are paying hundreds a month in debt after college and you aren’t.
Congrats - I do believe your hard work was rewarded. Don’t forget, it’s the kid, not the school, that will drive your success. If you are driven, you will find success.
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This is very true.
However, there is another reason that your hard work in high school was very much worth it. Premed classes are TOUGH. You are going to find premed classes to be tougher than you expect at any very good university, including VCU. By working hard in high school, you are better prepared to do well in your premed classes.
Please, do not underestimate how hard premed classes are going to be. Do not underestimate how strong the other students are going to be in those classes. You need to show up on day 1 prepared to work hard and to do well in very tough classes. Your hard work in high school will help you a lot when you get to university.
Definitely the right choice.
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