Is >200K too much debt in my case?

<p>Beyond everything else, no one should graduate with more debt than the first-year’s salary in their field. Doing so leads to financial ruin.</p>

<p>If you qualify for Pell and resident tuition in CA, you should qualify for Blue & Gold program UC has. UCs cover tuition for families making less than 80,000. You should look it up and see if you qualify.
Also you should consider that out-of-state transfer applicant have the lowest priority. They come after CA CCs and in-state 4-year transfers, so you need a solid GPA to even be considered.</p>

<p>Kazyaa, I’ll have to look up that Blue & Gold program. I haven’t heard of it before.</p>

<p>UCs determine residency for admissions and tuition separately. I’m pretty sure that I will be considered a resident by admissions, not out of state, as when I transfer I will have been the state three years, I will be holding a California state id, I will be filing my taxes with California, I will be voting in California, and I will be 25 years old.</p>

<p>I have been using Assist. I saw something I liked at UC Santa Cruz, and sent them an email. They emailed me back to set up a time to talk to their school of engineering about how I’d transfer into it, and I’m just waiting to find out what time we’ll talk.</p>

<p>You can use the net price calculators to get financial aid estimates. Example for UCSC is here: [UCSC</a> Financial Aid Estimator](<a href=“http://www2.ucsc.edu/finaidcalc/calculator/]UCSC”>http://www2.ucsc.edu/finaidcalc/calculator/)</p>

<p>Wow. That is a lot more grant money than I was expecting.</p>

<p>“Out of state transfer” meaning you are transferring from out-of-state institution.
That determines your admissions priority.
You might want to finish your prereqs in one of the CCs in California.
You can find more information in UC transfers forum.</p>

<p>I might be confusing you, Kazyaa. I was accepted into the University of Montana, but I declined to attend because I could not pay the in state rate. I moved to California last month, as here I can pay the in state rate do to having grown up in the state. I’m currently registered for my first term of classes at De Anza College in Cupertino, California.</p>

<p>Yeah, I misunderstood. That’s great!
Research CalGrant and Blue&Gold, you should be eligible.</p>

<p>Most of the engineers I know don’t pay much if anything for graduate school. Rather they get tuition assistance by being graduate assistants.</p>

<p>Note that UCSC has only bioengineering, computer engineering, and electrical engineering for engineering majors. You may have to look into other UCs or CSUs for other types of engineering.</p>

<p>For aerospace engineering, CPP, CPSLO, CSULB, SDSU, SJSU, UCD, UCI, UCLA, UCSD have it, but some students go into aerospace through mechanical engineering, which may give more options of schools.</p>

<p>Get a job after under grad in ur desired field then pay some debts off… Look for grad sschools which offer scholarships…</p>

<p>The UCSC program that caught my eye is a combination computer engineering program.</p>

<p>I’m thinking I’m going to try getting a job before going to graduate school, and I might get a second bachelor’s online instead.</p>

<p>Now you are really going off the rails. What would be the point of an 2nd bachelor’s?</p>

<p>The program I saw at Santa Cruz is computer engineering with game design (I had no idea state schools carried stuff that awesome). If I go this route instead of aerospace, I don’t need a master’s much. A second bachelor’s in anthropology, however, could be useful when it comes to writing up settings and plots. I won’t need this degree to find work, and I’ll wait until I can pay for it out of pocket to start studying for it, but it would make me better at my job once I did get it.</p>

<p>You can just take anthropology courses as electives if you feel that they are interesting and/or useful. There should not be need for a second bachelor’s degree.</p>

<p>But be aware that game design is only a small part of the computer industry, so overspecializing in it in school may limit your job and career opportunities. Note that the computer game industry does hire those with a general CS background (the general CS stuff is just as applicable to games as other computer software), though CS electives in artificial intelligence and graphics can be helpful, as well as non-major electives in art, physics (mechanics), and various social studies subjects.</p>

<p>This program is computer programming with some computer engineering and a specific set of electives that adds some words onto your degree saying you know game design. I’d be qualified to go out and get a computer job outside the game industry. Or, if I play my cards right, maybe go into animation. That’s what I like about this program. I have a shot at video games and animation, while remaining qualified for technology jobs outside those fields. I have an appointment to talk with the program’s adviser this afternoon to make sure I understand all of this correctly and go over some other questions I have.</p>

<p>The problem with taking anthropology electives is that this program sacrifices a lot of GE requirements in order to get in all the necessary classes. I’m taking as many as I can, but that isn’t many. Anthropology is something I enjoy and would study if it weren’t for the job market, and I do feel it is a useful subject for a professional storyteller, so it’s something I want to establish a deep background in. Once I’ve paid off my debts from my first degree and saved up some money, going back for that degree is something I would enjoy.</p>

<p>Plus, there is a good chance I won’t start out as a game designer because of how small a part of the industry it is. I may have to work somewhere else for a while. If, later on, I can show that second degree, it could help me move into game design by showing I understand the science of people, which can greatly improve how immersive and lifelike I can make a setting. The degree isn’t necessary, which is why I’m waiting until I can pay for it out of pocket, but I think it’ll be fun and have some use.</p>

<p>I appreciate your ambition and your range of interests. You have a lot to look forward to as you pursue your dreams. A great place to be. But I would humbly recommend that one of the best ways to learn the science of people is to immerse yourself in real life with real people, not in anthropology classes. There is a lot to be said for becoming a self-educated person, and you obviously have a lot of ability. You don’t need to learn everything within a classroom setting or even get official credentials to validate your knowledge of a particular subject. Of course, you can pursue whatever additional degrees you want. A lot cheaper route would be to subscribe to some magazines, and get a library card and check out great literature, non-fiction history, adventure stories (both fiction and non-fiction), and even some anthropology-related books if you have that interest. Read, read, and read some more in your free time, and get out into the world with people face-to-face in all sorts of settings and circumstances. You will learn more than you ever wanted to learn about the science of people and your imagination will be stoked - and isn’t that what you need to create settings and plots? Imagination and creativity? You can hone both without paying for another degree :)</p>