<p>You should probably try making a thread elsewhere, people will be more willing to help you out. Given your circumstances, Berkeley clearly isn’t a viable undergraduate option for you.</p>
<p>Also, instead of trying to blame the system, maybe you should consider owning up to your situation. If you had done research you would have discovered more options (I think UF at almost no cost is a great option, but that’s just me). I agree with others that suggest New College of Florida, it probably is the best you will get considering your needs. The person above me says you can still apply. </p>
<p>“But I god damn well deserve to go to Amherst and capitalism is responsible, income inequality is responsible, for pushing me out of Amherst.”</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, but Amherst owes you jack s***. They’re a private institution and can do whatever the hell they want. You are lucky you live in Florida, they have afforded you an amazing option in New College. It is the only public LAC of significance I know of.</p>
<p>Face facts: you were smart enough to get into Amherst and Wilkiams, but not smart enough (by your own admission) to figure out that the schools actually cost money and aren’t free (even for really smart people). Blaming that circumstance on capitalism is a little disingenuous, as it has been capitalism that allowed your family to earn $200,000 and permit you the privilegedetails upbringing you receibed in the suburbs. Blame your parents for not opening and funding, with capitalist incentiveso and tax deferrals, a 529 fund for you when you were born that may have paid for your Amherst dreams. Ask them what they have been spending all that money on our errors the past 18 years instead of planning for college. You have a problem with your parents, not with Amherst or the capitalist system.</p>
<p>The very fact that your parents CAN pay should tell you that you’re not eligible for a lot of aid, if any, at all. I agree with the above poster, your parents are stopping you from attending, not the fact that public schools aren’t nationally subsidized for all students or the fact that families with $200k per annum income receive little to no aid. If colleges gave large financial packages to every applicant with families earning $200k+ there would be nothing left for the students who REALLY need the money - students with sub $60k incomes.</p>
<p>Here are your best options:
Like posters above have said, apply to and attend New College of Florida.
Go to UF
If you haven’t declined offers from Amherst and Williams (however, I’m assuming you have since it’s past May 1st), then talk to your parents and see if you can reach a compromise? eg: double major in a science (to keep them happy) and Philosophy… and maybe minor in Japanese Studies. The fact that both of these schools are LACs would mean that many of the courses you take will not be in your major’s department anyways, so while you’d be majoring in a science, it’s not like you will concentrate solely on its department’s courses like you would at other schools. If I were you, this is what I would’ve tried to do (admittedly I enjoy the sciences though), so your education would be paid for, and you’d also be majoring in one of the subjects you wanted to. I realize though, that since it’s past May 1st, you may not have this option anymore?</p>
<p>You wouldn’t be a transfer student if you already had a BA, much less if you already had an MA. An applicant who already has an MA is a grad student looking at PhD programs.</p>
<p>That issue aside, you should not expect to get better need-based aid as a transfer student, and you should expect merit aid to be harder to come by.</p>
<p>It’s a lot easier to keep open the option of medical school than it is to keep open the option of being an engineer. Pre-med isn’t a major and med school requirements are a relatively small number of courses. You’d run the risk of being cut off at some point, but if your parents know as little about the med school process as they do about undergrad financial aid, that may be a risk you’re willing to take. It’s going to be easier to game them than to game the financial aid system.</p>
<p>I think I will begin a new thread (on a more specific topic, e.g. advantages of a big university vs. A small college), but to everyone who’s responded, thank you.</p>
<p>You’ve given me a lot think on. But I think I will go to UF. I’d begin as junior, I’ve already completed by gen. Ed. requirements, and (I spoke to philosophy major advisor at UF today) I would be eligible for an accelerated program to get my MA in philosophy (that’s normally only available to juniors).
Of course, I’d still consider transferring, and I’d still look out for scholarships, but going to UF doesn’t seem so devastating anymore. </p>