<p>Ok, I am about to lose my mind. I'm from South Alabama and I got into NYU, and I'm only getting $9,000 in grants, and $9000 in other various loans and work-studies, and I plan to be a pre-med major, and then go to med school to be a medical examiner. I don't want to put my parents in debt with tons of loans, but I don't want to have to stay here in Alabama either. NYU is my top choice and I want to go there so badly that I can taste it. Also, transferring to Penn after a year is also one of my options, since it was my initial school of choice. I don't exactly know what I'm doing because I don't have the greatest advisors helping me, so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>Is your EFC affordable? What can your parent's contribute? Where else have you been accepted? Do you have a "Financial Safety School?" We need more info to offer you good advice!</p>
<p>So how much are your parents expecting/willing to fork over?</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to do your undergraduate in Alabama and try to go north for your medical school. If you don't have "need" and your package is insufficient you are pretty stuck. You could not earn enough to make up the gap, and you would be foolish to borrow heavily for both undergraduate and medical school. I know you want it so badly you can taste it, but step back and think logically. You might try talking to the financial affairs office, but I don't think there is anything they can do for you unless you left something off your forms or something has changed.</p>
<p>You could always go to Troy.</p>
<p>MY EFC is $8,470 and my safety schools are Penn State and University of Alabama. I am way more willing to go to Penn State than UA, but I guess I do need to be more rational...My parents are willing to fork over $8,470...but not happily.</p>
<p>Koreactor12 - If you got into NYU you're certainly smart enough to succeed in your stated career path. Good for you. I do think NYU is a somewhat odd choice for pre-med, but it is what it is. The bigger issue perhaps is that New York is a very expensive place to attend college. It's hard to see you enjoying Manhattan if you're having trouble coming up with tuition. But if New York is your dream, by all means pursue that.</p>
<p>Koreactor, my niece is graduating from med school this June. She has racked up $160K in debt,and limited it to that amount because she did not have undergraduate loans. She also had about $10-15K a year in help from the family for her to have that debt level. </p>
<p>The way I see your situation is that if your parents fork over $9000 which is slightly more than your EFC, you have $9000 in grants and $9000 in self help which is still short of the $45K NYU costs. You need to come up with another $18K from somewhere, and unless you work like a fiend on weekends starting now and through the summer, double shifts, all kinds of work, you are looking at a pretty big debt just for getting your undergraduate degree. Penn State is not going to be any better if you did not get an aid package from them. The way I look at it is that if you go to NYU or Penn State, you will likely be close to $100k in debt for undergraduate studies. If you then go back to Alabama for med school, you will probably need to borrown an additional $60-70K in today's dollar to go in state there, which puts you about where my niece is which is typical. If you go to Alabama for undergrad taking out no loans and go to a private med school (generally very selective admissions for that option), you will end up borrowing close to a quarter million. Your cheapest option would be to go Alabama all the way but then you are missing out on some out state experience. So those are your options, as I see them. Good luck making your decision.</p>
<p>Koreactor12 - I'm a Mom, and an MD in the city across the bay, UA med school grad. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!! Go to UA, be a star, get to know your profs, you can, especially in the higher level courses; volunteer at Druid City; be active in the pre-med honorary, I'm blocking on the Greek letters; go to UAB, no one on this board will understand except maybe Oldman, but it is one of the best med schools in the Southeast. UAB grads are in demand all over the SE for the best residencies in any specialty, the TOP of the class grads can compete for any residency in the country, you will not sell yourself short there, and it is cheap - 20K/ year right now. Eight years may seem like a long time now, but you are talking about borrowing sums of money that won't be paid back for 20+ years, for very little improvement in your education, and NO improvement in your chances of getting into med school.
Trust me, the high schools are crappy, the colleges are so-so, but that med school is a jewel - take advantage of it save your money, have a great, and much less stressful life.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posts. Try not to borrow. Go to UA. Or better yet, go to
Auburn.</p>
<p>oooo, I detect some blue and orange, Asdad ;).
Yes, Koreactor, you can always go to Auburn!</p>
<p>Another point: With all that money you save by attending UA, which is a great school, as cangel points out, you can finance some fabulous vacations in New York, Europe or whereever. Look for some study abroad and intern opportunities at UA when you feel the need to expand your horizons.</p>
<p>We can always go on a road trip together to visit RJ in NY.</p>