I committed to ASU a while back. I had aunts and uncles, my grandparents, cousins, etc out near the school. Not why I decided to pick the school, I just love Arizona and it’s my dream place to live, so I figured I’d take the leap and go to school out there.
My family has special circumstances (FAFSA EFC of 0 :/) so I can’t exactly afford it, but I’ve been going crazy making sure I have scholarships and saving up.
Anyways, I’m having second thoughts about going so far away (I’m from Connecticut). I have 2 amazing friends, my dad and brother, and my lovely horse barn here that I just hate thinking about parting with.
I know transferring is always an option, but I’m just so nervous.
Maybe it’s just me freaking myself out instead of being excited, but there just seems to be soooo many more things to worry about going so far than there would be going just a few states over (like residency, moving out there, affording coming home, etc).
Has anyone moved cross country for school and had a blast? Anyone transferred back because they didn’t like it?
How’d you make it work?
I want to be excited about this! It’s a once in a lifetime chance to move on my own, and I want it to be great, but I’m so scared.
I think the biggest question is if you’ve worked out the finances for all four years. If not, you’ll probably need to transfer back anyway, like it or not. You won’t get instate tuition at any time in your four years unless your parents move there, too (other relatives won’t matter). Taking out more than your federal loans would be a mistake, too.
My kids, and myself, we all went far far away for college. The biggest problem of being far way is that it’s time consuming and expensive to get back home or parents to get to you, if something urgent comes up. Money is a huge part of it.
If you barely have the money to get by and your parents are financially struggling too, if something bad happens, it becomes a financial disaster too. Compounds and exacerbates an already bad scene.
Looking over the OP’s other threads, they’ve been told repeatedly that they won’t meet the residency requirements in AZ, and they don’t have a financial plan. But they keep repeating that it is their “dream school”, as if that will somehow fix those issues. It won’t. The OP should be worrying about the bills, not the distance.
Arizona is my “dream school”, just as a community college could be someone else’s and Harvard could be the other person. Just cause it isn’t someone’s idea of a dream school doesn’t mean it’s not mine.
I’m paying for college on my own. I’ve payed for countless things in my life on my own because I have one parent and can’t rely on him to pay for every single thing. I have a plan to pay for as much as I can.
However, I just got an offer from UMaine that they’ll match in-state tuition (I’m from CT) on top of other merit scholarships that they offered me when I first got accepted. That means it would cost about $15000 for tuition, ASU is $27000, minus whatever financial aid I’m getting.
I’m just not sure I’d be happy at Umaine…it’s a really tough decision. And decision day is tomorrow
You will have an easier time getting happy if you are not worried about how you will pay for the next semester’s college bill and not exhausted from working long hours to earn more money. Add up the total costs, not just the tuition, and lets compare those fro the two schools.
How are you gonna pay for those schools? You can only take out $5500 yourself for freshman year, and I don’t know how you would make enough to cover the rest. It sounds like your dad is probably not in a financial position to co-sign loans, and that’s not a great idea in the first place.
You’d be surprised by how many people end up going to their second or third choice school and end up loving it. From what you’ve described, going to UMaine sounds like the best option but if you don’t like it, you could always transfer to ASU and have saved some money.
To answer your question about moving far away from home, I’m currently spending my freshman year abroad in Paris without ever having taken French in high school and in March of last year, I had no idea id end up here and although I don’t regret this decision, I do often miss being with people more like me. You’ll make friends wherever you go but UMaine may surprise you
Those doubts are there for a good reason. Cost is a precondition before even applying to a college. If you can’t afford to attend ASU, then why are you going there? Assuming you could even get the financing to pay the tuition, you would graduate with $100k in debt. That kind of debt would crush you like a grape.
Money is a simple fact of life. I have a dream of owning a Malibu mansion, but my bank account says no. Should I be unhappy with a middle-class life? No, that would be an absolutely miserable way to live! My bank account is a precondition for the things I purchase.
You’re not obligated to go to any school you can’t afford, and you shouldn’t be doing that. I recommend going to some place more affordable, even if it’s community college for a year or 2. Otherwise you would most likely destroy your future on a dream school.
