<p>I'm class of 2013 headed to college this fall. During the admissions process, I applied to a bunch of safety schools (6/12), a few schools I loved that were low-matches, and a few reaches. I got accepted to all my safety schools with decent financial aid, got accepted into my dream schools with none, and rejected from reaches (no matter). </p>
<p>I had to turn down several schools that I really, really wanted to attend because I couldn't afford it. That was hard, and a moment of growing up for me. When it came down to it, I had 2 choices: an expensive but affordable great school, WashU (because hey, they gave me financial aid), and a completely free school that I visited and realized I didn't like that much, OSU.</p>
<p>I chose WashU because my parents said they could pay for it and supported the decision. However, it's right by my house and I feel like I'm losing one of my few opportunities to get out of where I am (finding jobs close to undergrad is convenient). I am living with guilt that my parents are paying so much when they don't need to. I feel rigid and tense and stressed that I can't change my major/school because I don't know what I want to do! </p>
<p>When I was applying, I never really expected to go to WashU, and although it is a great school and I'm sure I'll be happy there, there is a lot of bad feelings and anxiety towards starting school next year. </p>
<p>I am thinking of transferring, but I feel I should go to an equally prestigious school to maintain strength of my resume, and my chance of getting any aid as a transfer seems even more impossible than originally. </p>
<p>Can someone offer insight into my situation?</p>
<p>Yes, you are having typical buyers remorse. If your parent’s can pay for their share at WashU then get over that. It’s not an issue. If the allure of being out of state is enough to attract you to “a completely free school that I visited and realized I didn’t like that much” then maybe you should take a gap year and reapply, or ask one of the other affordable schools if they would allow you to still take their scholarship. Transferring is absolutely the wrong way to go forward. The vast majority of merit aid is reserved for freshman applicants. Transfers get little, if any. IMO, stay with WashU, don’t go home more than once/month and enjoy the education.</p>
<p>If you go into your first semester with the mindset of “Well, I’m going to transfer”, then you’re setting yourself up to hate it, and you will. Why write off a great school right off the bat, just because you couldn’t afford something else?</p>
<p>Get excited about it, go in positive, and you’ll have a much better experience. Yes, you might still decide to transfer (happens to people who go to their “dream school” and find the dream’s not reality, too), but at least you’re giving yourself a fighting chance at a great experience.</p>
<p>If you can’t do that, save your parents’ money, take that gap year, and try again. Just realize that you might not do better next time.</p>
<p>WUSTL? So many kids ache to get accepted there. You’ll likely find the academics great and plenty of social choices. Unless you grew up on campus, in a dorm, with friends attending, being a student there is very different from being a local resident. I’m near our local Ivy and, even working there, don’t think I come close to the student experience. Your friends will likely be from all over, you may visit their home areas on breaks, hunt for future jobs with them. Frankly, it’s not like you chose the local No-Name college. Or a place that clears out on weekends. And, yes, plenty of kids get nervous, summer before they start.</p>
<p>Your goal right now should be to get the best education possible. Be grateful for the opportunity you have, even though it is too close to home. You have the rest of your life to get away from home!!! Go to grad school out of state or get a job somewhere else when you graduate. You could even use summer internships to get away.</p>
<p>If all my connections will be in St. Louis (which they will be, because my entire life has been spent here), then it will be extremely difficult to find a job outside of the area. Going home with friends and looking there is completely impractical- how long do you expect me to be living with them? </p>
<p>Grad school is not looking like an option unless I want to take out massive loans.</p>
<p>This is my thought process for the frustration I feel- WashU is a great school and a good fit for many who come here. I know that so many kids would be grateful to be in my position. However, I worked so hard throughout high school to be able to go to a decent school that I enjoyed, and because of something completely out of my control (financial aid), that is wasted. Prestige is not my priority here (if it was, I would have applied to Ivies like everyone else), I really just wanted a school that was a good fit for me that I could afford. Despite working hard for so long, I ended up with something that I never really pictured myself at.</p>
<p>Sometimes, it’s a matter of revving yourself up- or deciding to punt. So many kids are not limited to job hunts in their school areas. You sound defeated before you start- if this is something else, I can’t tell. </p>
<p>Depending on your major and goals, WUSTL probably has better on-campus recruiting or the plain old career support services- and better access to that staff- than OSU. (Or were you thinking you wanted to work in the area around OSU?) If you don’t have a big bag of family/friends connections today, you make them. I really don’t mean to rag on you, but you need to reconsider your attitude. The winnings go to the kids who make something of their opportunities, who empower themselves. Think about it. Glass half full, not glass half empty.</p>
<p>I am a transfer to Wesleyan University and received a sizable financial aid package (especially in comparison to my last college) so it is possible to get better financial aid as a transfer. </p>
<p>I went very far away from home, hated school, and regretted being so far away from friends and family - especially when other kids parents would come visit or buy them lunch. Many of my friends who only go to school an hour away from home (I will be about an hour and a half away from home) said that they felt very independent even though they were very close to home, but they could come home for a family dinner or holiday event, or pretty much anything under the sun. So don’t worry about that because you don’t have to see your parents every day if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>Next, if your parents said they could afford it, you should not feel guilty about the price tag.</p>
<p>Do not go in with the idea of transferring. If you hate WashU, by all means transfer out to a school where you may get a better financial aid package or merit scholarship. However, going in with the idea of I’m going to transfer will just make you miserable. I went in with very high hopes, but within a few weeks, I knew I was at the wrong school, and I stick by that decision and I am very happy that I decided to transfer out, but it did make me feel a little uneasy knowing I wouldn’t be back for my sophomore year, ESPECIALLY come march when you apply.</p>
<p>Good luck and I hope you make the best decision for you! :)</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters. WashU is a wonderful school and if the aid package made it affordable to your family then consider yourself blessed. </p>
<p>What I want to add is that my S ended up at a college only 20 minutes from our home. It was a school he loved and he got a very helpful merit award (sounds similar?). Anyway, we had a discussion as a family and made a conscious decision to treat him as if he were hours, not minutes away. We did not expect him to stop home for every little thing nor did we just stop by campus when we were “in the area”. And over the years, there were a few times when being nearby was helpful (ex. when his laptop had a problem I drove an old computer we had for him to use until his got fixed) but it was never a problem. He went to China as an undergrad and later attended grad school halfway across the country. As a result, he had a full college experience. </p>
<p>WashU sounds like it made sense academically and financially so enjoy your experience there.</p>
<p>WashU will be your network. You don’t find internships through friends or family, like in high school, you find them through the school’s career center and their alumni network. WashU’s is superb. In addition, they have semesters-away (in DC, for example) and abroad ([Overseas</a> Programs | Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“http://overseas.wustl.edu/]Overseas”>http://overseas.wustl.edu/)) so you could plan to go away Sophomore Spring and Junior Spring with no problem.</p>
<p>The Career Center has their first Career Fair on Sept. 18th.
[Fall</a> Career Fair | Career Center | Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“Career Center - Students”>Career Center - Students)
Do yourself a favor, and once you have access the their system in the fall, take a look at the list of companies that recruit there for both jobs and internships. You will find many national and international companies there and they are not only looking to hire locally. Go in and talk to someone at the career center about your concerns, and get some information to work with instead of the naive assumptions you are using to bring yourself down.</p>
<p>The vast majority of students in this country have to go to the college that their family can afford and not the “best” school they got into. For many it is commuting to their local community college. Not everyone can afford a quarter of a million dollars on a degree! I wish every family had a conversation early on about what they can truly afford to pay, so students don’t feel so unnecessarily disappointed.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the support here. I am normally not this pessimistic, it is just very frustrating as I attend a very good boarding high school 5 hours away from home (much farther than WashU :P) and many of my friends get to see their hard work gratified when they go to Ivies or their dream schools… or I see the fact that their money makes up for them not working as hard as I have.
I’m going to attempt a positive attitude as much as possible.</p>
<p>Also, to BeanTownGirl, it wasn’t my parents that were the issue, it was my not realizing that “stingy with financial aid” meant making no attempts to meet need- I just didn’t comprehend that some schools could so blatantly offer so little help when it was clear I needed it. THAT was naive, and something I know I would’ve done different.</p>
<p>When I joined CC and as my kids started college, there were no NPC/Net Price Calculators on the college websites. Today, those give families a better idea of what they might get. That factors into many families’ decisions about whether to apply, what it might cost. What limited funds the UC system has generally go to in-state kids first. USC doesn’t seem to be on the list of schools that “meet full need.” WUSTL is. </p>
<p>Many have the misunderstanding you do- your “need” (either your own assessment or per the Fafsa,) is not what these schools can necessarily fund. Sorry you’re going through this. But, so many kids would almost die to get into WUSTL- it has an unpredictable admisisons process. You are envied, believe us.</p>
Frankly from your posting history it looks like you didn’t understand FA at all. You applied to mostly public OOS schools. Yes you were accepted. No they generally don’t give money (provided by state taxes) to OOS students. What did you think? Contrary to what seems to be generally thought by graduating HS seniors, noone owes you a college education. Many students have to work their way through college, starting at a CC.
Welcome to the real world. And yes, the 22K+ of students who applied to WashU and were not admitted would LOVE to trade places with you, particularly if they have financial need.</p>