I live in Miami and my two choices are FIU, FSU & Penn State.
I can afford FIU and FSU with almost no debt. However penn state is giving me $15k in aid and i would have to pay around $30k a year to attend. I am in a huge conflict because I dont know what to do. I committed to Penn state & chose a room mate already but now my parents are hesitating on whether taking $30k in loans a year is worth it. I have a week until May 1 to decide. I feel so strongly about going to Penn state seeing as it is a far better school than my other options and my number one goal is to leave Florida & start a life elsewhere. I feel like Penn State is my right choice & I am willing to take on the debt but how can I make my parents see that? Its really stressing because I feel like i would give up such an amazing opportunity if i ended up at FIU or FSU & I know i wouldnt be happy
Why are your parents hesitating only now? That would have been an obvious bad idea when you first discovered it.
There’s no big career advantage to be had in going to PSU over your FL options.
What’s stopping u from leaving FL and starting a life elsewhere AFTER u graduate. It’s not like you’re likely to settle in State College, PA anyway, since it’s in the middle of nowhere.
No… The difference between FSU, FIU and Penn State doesn’t justify a 30k difference. Also Penn state isn’t a top tier school so it isn’t worth spending 120k more money to attend, especially if you plan on going to grad school.
Horrible idea. That’s a heck of a lot of debt.
My parents can pay $15k of the $30k so we would only take out the $15k in loans
Why “we”?
Would your opinion change if it was “I” would take out $15k in loans?
PSU is not a tier 1 university. If you do well and keep your GPA high in either of the universities in Florida, you will have equal opportunities for graduate studies.
@GMTplus7 if it was I it wouldn’t change my opinion either. They just want to take it out under their name
15K x 4yr x 4% fee increases + travel expenses = Penn State is a bad idea. Start that new life unencumbered by debt. Penn State is not a magic unicorn farm covered in rainbows. It’s just a school.
Be thankful that you live in Florida with affordable instate options. We are PA residents. My daughter would love to go to one of the FL public universities but neither they nor Penn State are affordable.
I say this as an alumni of PSU, the wife of an alumni of PSU and the mother of a daughter currently at PSU…We are are a Penn State family and love it here, but NO school is worth going 30K into debt if you have nearly free options. My son would love to go to school in Florida - but it is way too expensive. Keep in mind the grass is always greener. My son will move south when he is finishes college somewhere in state. It makes no sense to start your life with debt if you can avoid it. “only 15k” will add up over the years.
As a current PSU freshman who is from OOS, I would also agree that it’s probably not worth it to take on that much debt when you have quality options in your home state. Obviously Penn State is not a top tier university, but it is still a great school and the alumni network is unparalleled.
Also, I think it depends largely on the major you pursue. For example, I’m here studying Meteorology, and Penn State is known as having the best program in the country. Already as a freshman I’m going on a 10 day fully funded trip to the West Coast to study tornadoes and will have a chance to go to another worldwide conference in Seattle next January. These are opportunities that are highly beneficial for my career, and I don’t think I would have gotten them if I attended another school. I still don’t believe the amount of debt you’d be taking on is worth it, especially if you have other options, but you will get a solid return on your investment if you choose PSU.