<p>Any advice on deciding on college would be appreciated. I just got into NYU ED2 and have to decide by march 11. Ever since I was a freshman NYU was the only school I dreamed of and I though it was a long shot of getting in so I was surprised when I got in but sadly I got put into lsp (liberal studies program). At first I didn't mind it but I realized I wouldn't be able to pick most of my classes for 2 years before getting switched into the college of arts and sciences which would be hard for me since I'm undecided and I need to use the first 2 years of college to take different classes to kind of get a feel for what I want to major in. I am thinking either journalism or something to do with film or television so I applied to CAS thinking I can just switch to tisch if I realize journalism isn't my thing but I'll never have that chance now. Another problem is money. NYU only gave me 5000 in aid so that's really terrible. Why should I get loans for a school that will provide me with a degree that will probably be hard to get money at realistically (I envy all of you STEM loving people). So anyways I have only gotten into my local state school so far which I visited and hated and I'm waiting on Boston University and Northeastern. They're just as expensive as NYU but they might give me better aid. I was thinking as an option of going to my state school for two years and transferring after taking journalism and film writing classes deciding on a school that is good for one or the other but I'm afraid I won't get the same college experience as everyone else. I am a very shy person and I'm scared after transferring to the second school I'll be miserable for not knowing everybody during a year that everyone is already in their groups. Any advice from people who are transfers, went to NYU LSP, went the cheap route and went to their state school, etc. would help. I know that was long and want to thank everyone ahead of time who actually managed to read the whole thing so....thanks!</p>
<p>look, you can only go where your family can afford to send you. so all this talk about where you want to go so far has nothing to do with where you can afford to go. have you run the “net price calculators” for each school. what do they tell your parents about what your family will have to pay? what have your parents said about that? are they willing to swing 55K/yr to send you to NYU? or BU or NU? These are terribly expensive schools and you need to know whether there’s any chance you’ll be able to afford them. Come back to us with that info.</p>
<p>My parents can pay comfortably if I take 10,000 a year in loans because I have another family member who will pay for dorming which is 13,000 so that plus my loan plus fafsa is an amount they are fine with. In fact my parents want me to go to NYU more than anything and are crushed that I am on the fence about it because of the loans I might have to take on. If nu or bu gives 10000 a year in fafsa (which is what I’m hoping for because nyu is notorious for giving the lowest fafsa) I would be much happier and wouldn’t have to spend too much money at a college I might end up transferring from. I really hated visiting my state school so I’m hoping that’s a last resort and I get good fafsa from other schools. </p>
<p>It’s pretty close to insane to take out 10K in loans your first year with the expectation that you’ll take out the same 10K each year plus any increases in costs of attendance. (The feds will only let you borrow 5500 your first year.) That could easily put you in the whole by $50K after four years. In order to get anyone to give you that kind of loan, your parents would have to co-sign the loan, making them or any co-signer responsible should you default on the loan. You are more likely to default on loans the more money you borrow. No matter what the pressure from your parents, it is not wise to do this. Do your parents realize they will have to co-sign your loans and this will affect their credit rating and ability to borrow? You’re talking about 10 years of payments at about 600/month. That is money that could be going into savings, home purchase, a car, graduate education, etc. That’s 15K more than you borrowed. It’s going to determine how far you have to commute to your job, your credit score, your ability to get an apartment, when you’ll have children, etc. You’re talking about journalism for a career at a time when journalism is reinventing itself and those steady jobs are drying up like slices of bread in the sunlight. If you don’t get lots of money from BU (which seems very unlikely) or Northeastern, you cannot stand your state school and have no other options, community college looks like a good idea if your parents will let you continue to live at home. Talk to the career counselors at the cc and to the guidance counselors about what courses to take at the cc.</p>
<p>Okay if I hate it at my state school why would I go to a community college where it is bound to be worse? I would like to be surrounded by like-minded individuals in a 4 year college. I’m not saying everyone at cc’s are dumb I understand by financial reasons that some people are forced to go to community college. However, the kids at my school who are planning on going to cc aren’t the brightest. Anyways boston u and northeastern’s tuition are lower if I could take out a 5500 loan a year for northeastern and get let’s say 6000 in aid (which I think I will considering basically every school gets more than they would at NYU) and my family member pays for room and board then I am fine. It would be basically the same for boston and nyu if I get the same aid but northeastern is 4000 less so it would work for me to get the 5500 loan instead of 10000. By the way why doesn’t anyone ever actually answer the op’s questions on cc? I wanted info on transfers, opinions on state schools vs experience and expense at private colleges, etc. And another thing why advise someone against a job they may want to have a career in or they may actually thrive in? Not everyone is fit to do jobs in the science/math/technology/medicine fields that are only doing well today. I personally hate doing all of those things and I never mentioned journalism as being a steady job whatsoever. Also where the hell did you get your numbers from? I am only willing to graduate with 40000 in debt and I will work part time in college and have already signed up for work study which I will do until I find a better paying part time job. Also I currently have a part time job (which I have had for a while) and some money saved up that should cover if my tuition increases a few thousand dollars next year and will continue to have money in the bank just in case anything happens. Anyways 40000 in debt with 6.8 interest rate is $464 a month (I know that will equal 55000 over 10 years but def not 600 a month.)</p>
<p>Oh at first I said boston and northeastern are the same tuition and then I said they weren’t. My mistake. They aren’t boston is like 3900 more. So boston won’t work if I get the 5000 in grant money. </p>
<p>Ana, it sounds like you didn’t run the Net Price Calculators. Go and do that right now. You will have a pretty good idea of how much each school will expect you to pay.</p>
<p>BU, Northeastern, and NYU do NOT meet need. It means they don’t feel they have to provide a certain amount of financial aid to anyone. You’re right that NYU is notorious for giving lousy financial aid, but it doesn’t mean the other schools will be better…
As for loans, you need to stick to the federal amounts, ie., $5,500 your first year. Don’t make your parents co-sign since they’d affect their credit score (hene, your family’s.)</p>
<p>In your loan calculation you forgot that interests accrue. $600 is the correct, basic estimate… and it’s a minimum. You wouldn’t have the 6.8% on all of that loan, you’d have much higher rates for a portion of it. Listen to the adults here: they really know what they’re talking about when they’re talking loans. Anything above $30,000 TOTAL for all 4 years is the maximum you can envision taking on without shackling yourself to an amount you won’t be able to handle. </p>
<p>Right now, the NYU LSP admission is an admit/deny, ie., if you want to shackle yourself to unaffordable amounts of debt, not their problem. LSP will allow to make up for any academic deficiency you may have (that’s what it’s for - NYU sees you have potential and can possibly pay, but you can’t get into their “regular” college) but its costs make journalism school after CAS impossible. In other words, NYU LSP will not allow you to do what you want to do.</p>
<p>Based on what you said, Northeastern sounds like the closest to what you need but still is a gamble financially.</p>
<p>Right now, the odds are very high that you’ll end up at your state university, which you said you hate. How can you avoid that?
Someone mentioned going to community college. There’s always the possibility of applying to another state school ASAP.</p>
<p>If you hate your state school, there are still a few excellent colleges that accept applications, but you have to hurry:
Hendrix
Albion
Earlham
Elizabethtown
Ohio Wesleyan
SUNY Buffalo (one of New York State’s flagships… but a state school)
SUNY Albany (same thing)
<strong><em>SUNY Oswego (not a flagship but very good for communication/journalism and likely to be affordable)
*</em></strong> Ithaca (well-known communication program, top of the line opportunities, however that late in the game it’s unlikely you’d get sufficient scholarships)
Albright
Austin College
Ramapo (state school, but fairly atypical)
TCNJ (same thing)
Washington of Maryland
Washington&Jefferson
Moravian
Wittenberg
Agnes Scott
Drew
Flagler
Quinnipiac
Barry (FL)</p>
<p>Many students end up in the Spring in your exact situation: forced to attend their state school (which they dislike) or a community college, because none of their other options are affordable even though they got into these schools. So if you’re genuine in your dislike of the state school, apply to a few of the above colleges so that you’re not one of the students who end up “stuck” in April.
At worst, BU or Northeastern will come through and you won’t have to worry about the rest, but if they don’t come through you’ll have an alternative.</p>
<p>well said, MYOS.</p>
<p>Like MYOS said. Consider casting a wider net. Good liberal arts will help with both journalism and film. However, both are now so technical, you should keep an eye out for journalism or film programs/majors with excellent practical training too. Start working on overcoming your shyness, as you have to be very confident in your approach with others to work in those two fields. </p>
<p>The other problem you have is that you may need to inform NYU before you hear from the other schools because you applied ED2. That means you have to accept NYU unless the dollars don’t work for you. But honestly, it is quite clear the dollars don’t work for you, plus you didn’t get admitted to the school you wanted anyway.</p>
<p>Do you know where to find the net price calculators for the rest of your colleges? They are on the financial aid website pages for each school. They give a pretty good read on what you can expect for FA from each school, so you could go run them today to see what you could expect.</p>
<p>You really should not take out more than federal loans for college if you can help it. It is fine that you are excited about your potential career, but you do have to be realistic about the earning potential of the degree you are seeking. Too much debt from college can make it hard to go to graduate school, start a family, or buy a home in 10 years. You need to be smart now about finances to avoid those problems down the road.</p>