<p>I recently got awarded a Morrill Distinction Scholarship at Ohio State, which covers everything - tuition, room and board, even books. But I also got a great offer from Oberlin College for everything but about $2000 (which I could cover in outside scholarships my freshman year but I'm worried about future years). I also have pretty much a full ride from Kent State as well.
My predicament is this: I really wanted to stay away from OSU, as it's a huge environment, and I'm from a small town. I think I could handle Kent, but its academics are lackluster. Oberlin's academics are great, but the school is really expensive and I'd probably lose need-based money once my brother graduates from college next year.<br>
If it helps any, my whole goal of going to college is to get a Ph.D. and become a professor one day. It just seems I'm stuck in three bad situations. Any advice?</p>
<p>"It just seems I'm stuck in three bad situations." I hope you were joking about the "bad situations". It make me laught.</p>
<p>Well, not necessarily "bad" situations, but situations that I would not necessarily like to be in. Sorry. Don't mean to offend anyone.</p>
<p>Good for you pierce08 for considering all your options, thoughtfully. Generally the advice here is to take the best offer if you are going to incur substantial debt at the graduate or professional level (ie: grad, med or law school). You don't say what your intended field is. Most hard science PhD programs provide full tuition and stipend funding (may also include TA duties, etc. Schools differ in their stipend amounts and funding process). If your intended field is humanities/social science related then paying for your grad work will likely be your responsbility (although some funding and scholarships are available). I presume the Morrill scholarship is merit based and is yours for four years as long as you meet academic criteria and would not be sensitive to your EFC. You don't give enough info about Kent State to judge that package or whether you might lose funds if your EFC rises. You can run a FAFSA calculator to see what your EFC will be with only 1 child in college next year. And you may want to check with the financial aid offices to see how each package might differ next year with a higher EFC. And then hopefully you can make a fully informed decision. Best wishes with the process.</p>
<p>I say go with oberlin.</p>
<p>If you really want the smaller college environment, 2k a year (even with the possible increase) is NOT a lot at all. 8K debt is next to nothing, MUCH less than most. So if you'd be significantly happier in the Oberlin environment, then try calculating your new EFC and see if you can swing that too.</p>
<p>Are you working over the summer/doing work study? If that's not in the mix already, you can easily make 2K over the school year and if you're smart about your job, you can do it over the summer too.</p>
<p>thanks you guys. Yeah, I work at the local movie theater in the summer (bowtie and all...hahaha) and earn about $1500. I plan in majoring in econ, though, and since I went to enter a Ph.D. program, the debts could be massive. I just want to make sure I don't have to quit my education to pay off debts for undergrad, you know?
Kent is offering me a lot of merit aid, but also some need-based. But since my twin sister is attending OSU next year, my EFC still won't be very high. I guess I'll just have to visit them this week and try to judge it, but thanks for the input.</p>
<p>If you're good enough to get into a PhD program, you generally won't incur much if any debt for grad school. Most people I know don't pay anything for PhD programs--their costs are entirely paid by working as teaching assistants. I agree with brillar: 8K for the difference between Oberlin and Ohio State is next to nothing.</p>