Hi, I’m not sure whether I should attend RIT. The only condition holding me back is money. On average I will owe around 4000 in direct and indirect loans to the government and around 8000 to the school, which I need to take out private loans. I was accepted to BU, Penn State and Purdue but could not attend because of my money situation. In terms of majors, I want to study engineering or related field such as project manager, civil engineer or computer related fields but I have not decided what yet. Should I attend RIT and carry the financial burden (they have a good co-op program) or attend a community college (and use my tuition waiver for MA state schools) and transfer to a more prestigious school?
Are you saying that you will owe $4000 in federal loans plus another $8,000 in loans issued by RIT itself for each year you will be there? If so, that is too much debt.
It looks like your only affordable option right now is your CC or an in-state public U. If you can’t get things together for this fall, then take a Gap Year and apply to a better list for Fall 2016.
You don’t have to attend a place with an official co-op program to get good work experience. Just work with the Career Center wherever it is you do end up studying, and identify places that can give you the work experience you are looking for.
lol sorry for not specifying, but that amount of money is for each semester and I want to get at least one master’s degree. Thank you for your advice.
Go the tuition waiver route and start at community college in pre-engineering. Nephew just did this, earned a 3.9 GPA and transferred with no debt after getting an almost full ride to the school from which he will receive his BS.
12k a semester is awfully close to 100,000 for four years. I recommend plan b.
Go to the CC first, get high grades and then find the best financial offer at a university with an ABET accredited engineering program. Don’t worry about"prestige" if you get an accredited engineering degree and have minimized your loans, you will be ahead of the game in only a few year of work.