<p>I'm a white male, 2190 SAT (1560 CR+M) 34 ACT 3.9 GPA in IB, top 2% of my class. Family income is right below 100k a year but my dad is losing his current job in a few months and may or may not have a new job after. Currently 2 parents and 4 kids in my house.
So, my parents are not going to be able to pay for my college, so if I go to the University of Florida, what would I expect to have to pay? I think that they don't give academic-merit based scholarships, so that sucks for me. Also, what would I expect to pay if I go to somewhere like: Princeton Columbia Standford MIT (applying, probably won't get in but you never know), would it be much more than somewhere like UF, or not really, and would it be worth the extra cost if I do get in? Also if I end up getting into to UF, but it costs a decent amount, would it be better to go there, or to somewhere less-well-known (I'm going into something STEM by the way) like UCF, New College, USF or anywhere in-state where I could probably go cheaply? I know lots of people say undergrad doesn't matter, but if I try to go into physics, I've heard it actually does matter a lot, and if a job in physics later in life doesn't pay a lot, is it worth going into debt (or would I have to, or would the money probably end up working out?). Finally, if I'm doomed to pay a lot in college, would it be smarter to focus on my studies and pay back debt after college, or work a job simultaneously to try to avoid debt, even if it takes longer to get through college, and it would be harder to stay as focused on studies? Thank you to anyone with advice. I have lots of decisions to make soon and I'm pretty lost on the financial aspect of things, and I don't know what the smart decisions are.</p>
<p>Going to Princeton/MIT will probably be cheaper then UF</p>
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<p>?? You got a 630 W score? Why? That seems so odd. Is English not your first language?</p>
<p>Are you low income? Or does your family have a good income, but won’t pay?</p>
<p>Are you a NMSF? What was your PSAT?</p>
<p>UF seems to rely a lot on Bright Futures for merit.</p>
<p>What is your major and career goal?</p>
<p>Do you realize that YOU can only borrow $5500 for freshman year? You can’t borrow your way thru college.</p>
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<p>Why are you majoring in physics? What exactly do you hope to do after college?
Keep in mind to get a job doing physics research or practicing physics, a PhD is necessary. I can’t say much on how prestige affects employment opportunities for Physics majors at the Bachelor’s level, but it does not matter at all for graduate school admissions if that is your goal. </p>
<p>If your family cannot afford anything, look into automatic full tuition/full ride merit scholarships.
<a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a></p>
<p>UAH is an excellent school for engineering and sciences.With your gpa and ACT score, you’d receive Full Tuition + Housing, leaving you with 5.5k / yr to make up, which can be covered by federal loans.
<a href=“http://www.uah.edu/”>http://www.uah.edu/</a></p>
<p>Given your family situation, it would be a bad idea to take on any more debt than the federal loans. Any much you borrow over the set 5.5k yr amount (and 7.5k/yr for junior and senior year) will have to be cosigned by your parents. If your dad will lose his job soon you do not want to put that burden on him.</p>
<p>UF may give you a small scholarship
UCF will give you a full scholarship if you are NMF
USF will give you a huge scholarship for IB</p>
<p>You have to get a master’s in physics to actually get a job doing physics. The main prospects for a bachelors is a lab tech or a small time pseudo engineering job. So yo will want to save money on your bachelors and then get some funding for grad school.</p>
<p>You can’t afford out of state especially prestigious schools.</p>
<p>UF is about $20k (all in) for instate. You’ll get $3000 for Bright Futures with your grades and scores (if you’ve completed the other requirements like foreign language, community service). There are a few other UF scholarships, but much better money at UCF or UNF (good for engineering) or even FAU. Many of my kids’ classmates got full tuition at those schools with lower stats than yours. They could then use their other money like BF for R&B.</p>
<p>Are you going in 2015? If so, your family will still have a fairly high income on the 2014 taxes, but you may get to check the ‘displaced worker’ box so assets will be excluded. That might get you some Pell money. Sure, try the Princetons and Stanfords, but have your Florida schools as backup.</p>
<p>New College of Florida may give you some merit money as well.</p>
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<p>Is your dad the sole family income? I assume that your dad is currently looking for a job. If he found a job OOS would you keep your Bright Futures and instate status?</p>
<p>What do you want to do with a physics degree? And why physics? </p>
<p>Run the Net Price Calculators on the school web sites (each is different). Your grad school matters much more in Physics than UG. And you are limited to taking out $5.5-7.5K/year for school. That’s it. Anything else would have to be borrowed by your parents or cosigned. Look at the pinned threads at the top of this forum for some good merit aid options.</p>