So far my daughter has only two acceptances which could be financially viable. SDSU which is near $40k per year as we are out of state and Western Washington at $23k per year (in state). Is San Diego St worth this premium?
One suggestion is to have your D write down her list of pros and cons for each school. My D did this on poster board and kept it in kitchen for a few days. Then it might be clearer if SDSU is or isn’t worth the extra.
Although SDSU is a great option especially as a Business major, if finances are an issue, I think her in-state option sounds like a better deal. I have nothing but good things to say about SDSU and my son a recent graduate in May 2018 agrees that it was the best choice for him; however, being an in-state student the costs are much lower than with your situation.
Personally I feel that no school is worth a large amount of debt beyond the $27K available from federal student loans and the best gift you can give any student is a debt free college education.
San Diego will always be there for her after she graduates.
@Gumbymom
Thanks, I need to talk to her more. My wife just started freaking out so I don’t even really know how my daughter feels other than that she is upset because she keeps getting into schools that are pricey without merit (one with low merit). We also are waiting on some other decisions.
Best of luck to her. She will end up where she is meant to be.
Thanks @Gumbymom
She was just admitted to Ohio Wesleyan with a $30k per year scholarship and invitation to apply for another $10k per year. I kind of made her apply and she said “No way am I moving to Ohio.”
Ugh teenagers!!!
@JBSeattle: Wow, Congrats to her and yes, teenagers have their own mind set. I was lucky both my son’s wanted to stay in-state CA for college, all their options were affordable (thanks to Mom saving in a 529) and were happy with their final choice. All you can do is help guide them and hopefully they come to the realization that for many students affordability is a huge factor in their college decision but no college is going to limit them on their post graduation opportunities as long as they take advantage for what is offered at their institution.
@Gumbymom
Yes, I have saved in a 529 as well which covers about $15k per year. I also know what I can comfortably afford above that. I don’t want her to have any loans upon graduating and my wife has an even stronger view about no loans. I have sweetened the pot for my D as well in that I am giving her any money savings that is under budget. Schools that are $10k or less above budget I said she could work in order to attend.
It just stinks that she is depressed now.
Where does she want to live after college? If in WA then i would stay in state. Did she try to get in to WSU or UW?
No disrespect to SDSU but the reason I think it has moved up considerably in selectivity is it’s relatively cheap for in state residents compared to the UCs and private colleges and the great weather/location making it highly selective now. When I was applying to colleges in the dark ages you only needed a 2.5 GPA and a heartbeat and you were admitted to SDSU.
@socaldad2002
Yes I remember the same about SDSU. I think location is the driving factor.
In talking with her I don’t think she really was so deadset on it, more just upset that she did not get merit aid at these other schools.
She still could get into Cal Poly, maybe get nice merit from Manhattan College or get a huge surprise from Vermont (deferred and she needs merit $).
@JBSeattle: Not sure why she would expect merit from a California public school. Even in-state students get little to no merit from these schools. Financial aid for the California public’s is mainly need based.
Unfortunately, the Cal States and UC’s rely on a certain percentage of OOS and International students for $$$.
Did you and her run the Net Price Calculator on SDSU before applying? It would have given her a pretty accurate picture and if she does get into SLO, it will not be any different. Actually for both my son’s, SLO’s cost of attendance is higher than the other Cal states in which they were admitted.
@Gumbymom
Was not expecting merit from SDSU. I viewed it as another possibility in the off chance she did not have other options. My wife just was angry because Western seemed like an obvious better choice. However, she just got angry without really talking to my D or I. My D is not even that interested in SDSU it turns out. I did get her to agree to look at Ohio Wesleyan as they have offered a huge scholarship with potential for more. I think we just needed this day or two for things to settle.
And we feel Cal Poly is different as the ROI is superior. It would be pricey but worth her working. Her decision and will be tough for her to get in. I am just glad she has choices.
She already has some good choices early in the process. Unless there is some compelling reason she needs to decide soon, May 1 is the SIR deadline. This gives her plenty of time to revisit some schools that may not be high on her list now, but a few months can sometimes make the difference. After all the decisions were in, I made sure my son’s visited their top choices before enrolling.
@Gumbymom
Yes, thank you for the advice. Our plan is to probably visit Ohio Wesleyan, perhaps Manhattan and/or Cal Poly depending on results. She can also visit Western again whenever she wants.
@JBSeattle
No, Cal Poly’s ROI is no better than SDSU. Unless she is going to be an architectural engineer.
@Darcytina
Could you direct me to some data showing that?
Where do you think you would find that? It’s a weird thing to state in the first place. Let me help you though. Neither school is overall better than the other, just at specific things. SDSU comes with many many many more opportunities. I will let you research that on your own, seems fairly obvious.
She should really consider in in state options.
It does affect your quality of life when you have to shell out extra dollars.
Flight costs add up.
She needs to book those far in advance to get the low rates.
And in the same dark ages, my buddies and I only needed a weighted 3.3 to get into UCLA and less to get into UCI (and I still chose SDSU). SDSU has increased in selectivity for a variety of reasons, but in-state parents aren’t going to spend $29,000 per year (for tuition/fees/housing/books/personal expenses) because the school is located 20 minutes away from the beach and has great weather. $120,000 is a lot of money over four years. The reason my kid chose it over UCLA, UCSD, etc. was for research opportunities and his STEM program. And, he’s gone to the beach twice during that time, and both times were at night. That said, I would never pay out-of-state tuition for any public university in the country.