<p>I just looked up undergraduate scholarships and unfortunately they do not offer any for the institutions that I applied to 
but to complicate things more, I am a recruited athlete and I want to compete in college next year, so don’t particularly want to take a year off of sports for that reason.im not understanding why all of the colleges I applied to are not feasible… ? I did my research and applied to a range of 13 schools, so I do not want to undergo the process again next year. I plan to apply for a TON of scholarships, and I have earned academic scholarships for nearly every college I applied to. So I plan to take out loans with my parents for the remaining costs. I am just wondering if 40k more a year for a better fit for my major and interests will not be significant in the long run (I am young and I don’t have too much of a clue about money lol) however I appreciate all suggestions that are given and will definitely look into them . I guess I’m in a dilemma at the moment…</p>
<p>Well, the issue is that College1 is the best for you, clearly, but it sounds like it’d be a stretch financially, to the point it may not be comfortable for your family. And College2 rests upon the fact you’ll like a major that isn’t your favorite major and may not involve subjects you’re especially passionate about, in a major known to be very intense and to include many weed out classes.
What are your other choices (since you applied to 13 schools and got scholarships, there may be a happy medium between those two?)</p>
<p>Is the LAC 40k more per year or 10k more per year? I am reading conflicting info. After four years that would make a big difference…so is it 160K more or 40k more over the course of your undergrad time?</p>
<p>The LAC is 10k more per yr. sorry for the confusion. @MidwestSalmon</p>
<p>My son is just a junior in high school, but I could see him ending up in a somewhat similar position as we recently visited an interesting LAC. If we were in a similar position and we could financially manage the extra 10 k per year (even if this meant about 20k in loans for us and about 20k in loans for son–I do not recall the exact maximum loans students can take but it is around there), I would be encouraging son to go to the school he felt was a better fit. But, we would be very carefully looking at the financial package offered by the first choice school, calling the school to see if any additional aid could be mustered up and checking to see if work study was already included, etc etc. </p>
<p>Do you have any interest in study abroad programs? Sometimes on threads like this I see people mention going to the lower cost school so you can do a study abroad program or some other special excursion. My son has little interest in those though so they wouldn’t factor into his decision but if that is a priority for you, it could be a part of your decision making process.</p>
<p>best wishes as you make these decisions. </p>
<p>@midwestsalmon Thanks so much for your response, that helps a lot. I definitely would love to study abroad, but it’s not a primary factor in my decision at the moment. If it works out great, if it doesn’t, there will be other chances to go abroad down the road.</p>
<p>Call the school and say they’re your first choice but you got another offer that gives your parents pause so you wondered if there was any chance for a little more financial aid that may help persuade them.</p>