With only about two weeks to decide I’m deliberating between two different schools: Ohio State and Miami University (Ohio). At face value, I think OSU is the better school for computer science, but the thing is it costs ~5k more per year than Miami (~18.6k per year) for me. This is a big concern for me since I will be paying for the vast majority of my college myself, meaning I’m going to be taking out large student loans and would like to go into as little debt as possible. I’ve done some reading and some people say you’re fine in computer science regardless of where you get your education since once you get a job and have some experience that’s all employers really care about (and GPA/internships can set you aside from people from bigger name institutions). On the other hand, it is easier to land interviews at higher-paying, big tech companies such as Google from a more well-known institution. So would you say it’s worth it to go into ~20k more of debt for a degree in computer science from OSU rather than Miami? How much weight does the OSU brand really carry over a place like Miami? I was also admitted into both of the schools’ respective honors programs, but I don’t know if that makes a huge difference. Thanks for any insight/help!
You can only borrow $5,500/year (you get half of that per semester) as a freshman. If you have dual enrollment credits the FA office could count those to increase your borrowing capacity to the sophomore (30+ credits) of $6,500. Juniors/Seniors can borrow $7,500.
I’d lean toward Miami. Their honors program is residential and highly selective this year (approx. 400 students per class). They have excellent undergraduate teaching quality and in their honors college you’d have a lot of opportunities. They also have a strong alumni network.
Are you in state for Ohio? What was your Ohio State FA package? Did you receive any merit aid or affordability grants?
If your parents are only paying $2k/year but earn too much for you to get aid then you need to choose one of the more affordable options you mentioned in your other thread. If your mom doesn’t want to contribute to your education she probably won’t agree to their cosigning loans.
Are you definitely majoring in cs? Three months ago you were talking about premed. I wouldn’t take cosigned loans, especially if you’re not sure about what you want to do.
Yes, I’m in state for Ohio. The FA package gave me nothing in aid except the loan and said that osu would have a direct cost of $25k per year. I did receive a 2k per year merit scholarship directly from osu so that shaves it down to ~23k per year. I also applied for a few odd scholarships from family employers but am still waiting to see if I get those.
I am definitely majoring in CS. It was between that and premed but I’m definitely set on computer science now.
My Dad is willing to cosign loans for me.
I’d stick with Miami unless you have a more affordable option. Contact the Admissions/FA offices and let them know they are your first choice and ask if there are any additional scholarships you can apply for since you are trying to make the finances work.
You could also contact a regional Ohio State campus, tell them main is too expensive, but you’d like to be a Buckeye and ask if they would make financial aid offer to you. They are less expensive to begin with and have their own funds for merit aid.
I’d probably only do this if it’s commutable, many kids schedule so they only have to commute 2-3 days a week. If you have to pay for housing, you might as well do that at Miami.
Well, you could have your cake and eat it too, but this option is less glamourous. You could opt for community college for the first 2 years, then transfer to OSU. Your degree would still bear the name “Ohio State” with all of the prestige. And it would be cheaper than both options you currently have.
It gets tricky in Ohio with cohort pricing. This student was likely awarded $13,500 in merit from Miami and will have a fixed price for the next four years (tuition, fees, room and board). Technically, if he picks up any more scholarships in the next few years he could end up with falling rather than rising college costs.
If he waits he will be priced in at the higher rates 2 years from now, and likely with much lower merit at Miami, and probably none at OSU. Looking at his other threads it looks like he will already have quite a few credits from AP classes, reducing potential classes from community college that would even be useful toward a degree. At OSU, he’d also have to apply for the major. Miami he knows he can pursue CS.
The Miami offer is excellent. Nearly full tuition for an instate student and a spot in their honors college.
I do have a cheap local university that I could commute to for the same price as a community college. I did seriously consider this but I don’t think I’m going to do it for a few reasons. First of all, I really would rather not commute, especially in my area where we get lake effect snow in the winter and the road conditions become very poor during the winter. Secondly, my parents said I could live with them after I graduate rent-free until I pay down my student loans if I have to. I’m not too worried about “prestige” so long as I can succeed either way. I only posted this to see if the brand of OSU would really help me in landing a job over a lesser-known school like Miami. But it seems Miami is the more logical option.
In the Ohio market, tOSU and MiamiU are both of viewed as fairly equal. I would even throw UCincy into that mix.
Btw, you don’t need to have a work study award to get an on camps job. Miami has already started posting student jobs for the 2021-2022 school year. They will work around your class schedule. On campus jobs are great for building additional references. And work and save as much as possible this summer.
Work through debt calculators. Your federal student loans ($5,500,$6,500,$7,500,$7,500) won’t have payments until you graduate although they will accrue interest. Beyond those you will have monthly payments.
Make sure everyone understands how the cash flow is going to work. Who is going to make those payments while you are in school?
Personally, I wouldn’t cosign a student loan for my kid. I think the fees and interest are too high. If I really couldn’t afford to chip in for some reason, I’d probably ask my kid to sign a promissory note to me and take out a home equity line of credit in my name only.
Take advantage of the American Opportunity Credit if you or a parent can.
I would run the numbers looking at the cashflow plan (build yourself an excel sheet), monthly payments, total fees and interest and compare that one more time against your local commutable option.
As far as I understand most private student loan payments are also deferred until graduation… https://studentloanhero.com/featured/private-student-loan-repayment-school/
I didn’t know about that tax credit either, so thanks for letting me know about that. I highly doubt my parents would be willing to take out a home equity line of credit under any circumstance but I’m going to let them know it’s an option. Thanks for the insight, I do appreciate it.
I’m not sure why you believe this. Google and other top SW companies are beating the bushes looking for talent. If you have good grades and internships they are going to talk to you.
Other people from Miami University (Ohio) have landed jobs at Google. Looking at LinkedIn https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/school/miami-university/people/?keywords=google shows 156 working there
Miami is a solid option. Take it from someone who does this for a living. It doesn’t matter where you go to school. But it does matter how much debt you have. The less you have, the better.
Work study helps if campus jobs are in shortage, since work study is a subsidy to the employing entity that gives it an incentive to hire work study students first. On campuses where jobs are plentiful, that may not matter too much, but on campuses where jobs are scarce, that may be significant.
Nobody’s going to pay you more money because your degree says Ohio State rather than Miami. And I seriously doubt your education will be all that different depending on which school you go to.
But if you really want to go to Ohio State, CS jobs pay well enough that $20K isn’t an onerous amount of extra debt.
The OP doesn’t qualify for any need based aid, other than student loans due to parent income. State schools in Ohio like Miami have lots of on campus student jobs (no work study award required for the vast majority). I’d love to think this was by design as a way to provide students work experience, but it’s been a way to stretch tight state budgets since students are part timers with no benefits.
Nevertheless, these jobs follow the academic calendar and will schedule around classes and exams. And they are a way to stay on campus and engaged while earning money. Something I wanted to point out for his particular case, hoping he can grab one that suits him, since they are already starting to list student positions for fall on their website and taking applications online. Some of the jobs are better than others, even if they pay the same.
Scarcity of student jobs is a real issue at some schools. I know a young lady that had planned to earn money with work study, but even with her award was unable to find a position freshman year. She attended a private LAC oos and her parents ended up borrowing more than expected to cover that.
The OP already plans to borrow the maximum federal student loan amounts (27k) plus whatever else he needs beyond what his parents will contribute which is less than what he needs to stick to the $5,500 freshman limit. Hopefully, he’ll be able to cash flow a good portion of his costs through income and minimize debts.
I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that some of those outside scholarships he applied for come through, since every little bit helps. 
This is an interesting statement. Are you saying that even when a school lists work-study on its financial aid form that there is actually no guarantee that work-study will be offered?
"Being awarded work-study doesn’t guarantee a position.
While some schools match students with a work-study position, other institutions require recipients to find and apply for positions on their own just like any other job. At the University of California—Berkeley, being awarded federal work-study in a financial aid letter means you’re eligible to apply for one of these positions."