<p>You will most likely be happy wherever you go as long as you go with an open mind. </p>
<p>Plus, you will be much happier in the long term with less debt. </p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>Thanks roman, much appreciated.</p>
<p>Originally Posted by Yajayyy
I feel like you’re saying my parents are at fault for not being able to contribute. They have monthly bills and a mortgage to pay. I don’t know many families who can shove out 2k a month for no reason. I asked for insight and advice not criticism about my parents. </p>
<p>I don’t think you should feel bad about your parents situation at all. We are in a similar situation with our daughter. On paper we apparently look like we can pay a lot but the reality of the situation is that after private high school tuition we really are streched to make our current payments. D had to decide between Carnegie Mellon engineering and UMich CoE. We are in-state so the difference between $60k yr v $25K yr has turned into somewhat of a no-brainer. Student loans NEVER go away and debt is no fun. That diploma gets in hand and you will be much happier with less debt staring you down-IMHO. Good Luck, and given that you are a great student continue to work hard and you will make your own opportunities!</p>
<p>Thank you very much a2mom!</p>
<p>You’re welcome and you are mature for understanding your parents’ situation. I can also add that many moons ago I had all of $20K in student loans from grad school. I remember my husband and I with 2 young kids, mortgage and car payments and feeling like we would never get rid of that stupid loan-AND we had good jobs! Never so happy as making the final payment on that one! Remember the #1 rule of marketing is making the buyer think that more $ = better and that is often not the case–as I’m sure you have already experienced.</p>
<p>Yojayyy, you’re such a matured kid and you sound a determined person as well. That will get you very far in life. I went to a probationary school and I’ve done just fine in my life, standing toe to toe with folks from schools that anyone would dream of. Good luck in your decision.</p>
<p>Remember, “enjoying yourself and your ed” is what you make of it. Have not heard of anyone who ENJOYS crushing debt when they graduate. Worse yet, some never do get the degree but still have tons of debt that DOES NOT get discharged, even in bankruptcy! Please, please show your good judgment and be sure you don’t acquire crushing debt with this uncertain economy.</p>
<p><komobo>, IMHO, you are doing your child a HUGE disservice by allowing her to acquire debt of $80K. If & when she ends school because she graduates or just leaves, IF she doesn’t have a job with LOTS more income that you are envisioning, how will the debt be repaid? When S graduated in 2010 from engineering school at USC and several of his classmates graduated with masters as well, there were A LOT of them with NO JOB. Please, please rethink and run the numbers to see what it would take to pay off the debt, over what period of time, with other expenses such as rent, car, insurance, gas, food and other essentials.</komobo></p>
<p>Check out a repayment calculator like this one to see how much debt you’re talking about. [Repayment</a> Calculator](<a href=“College Planning - Make a Plan For College | Sallie Mae”>Sallie Mae | Education Loans, College Planning & Online Banking)</p>
<p>Remember, tuition and expenses often go UP every year and it is common for students to take longer than 4 years to graduate.</p>
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<p>You very well might, but once the loan repayment period began, you would be regretting every minute of it.</p>
<p>As for community college, I don’t know why people say that they worked too hard to go to community college. The hard work you do in high school provides you with an excellent base, both of knowledge and study skills, that will benefit you no matter where you go. Sure, you could have slacked off and still gone to community college, but you wouldn’t be as prepared and you wouldn’t do as well. Your hard work is an investment in yourself; it shouldn’t be done merely to get into a prestigious college. My D is planning to go to a state university next year, but she has taken summer classes at our CC and will take another this summer. She loved her teachers. They were caring and they were excellent instructors. I suspect she’ll find they were every bit as good as the professors at her university will be, if not better. Her classes were small, too. We have nothing but good things to say about our community college. If one of my kids chose to go there for two years, I have no doubt she’d get an excellent beginning to her education. </p>
<p>In your situation, though, it sounds like commuting to SDSU might be the best option. Even if you went to CC for the first two years, the amount of debt you would incur for even two years at UCSB sounds crippling to me.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to lean to SDSU, but I feel I’d enjoy myself and education more at UCSB.</p>
<p>Sweetie…the dream is the career and your future adult life. Besides, it’s not as if San Diego State is some boring school. It’s full of life and a great location. </p>
<p>Once you’re graduated and have some discretionary money (because of much smaller loans), you’ll be soooooooo happy that your young adulthood is not burdened with big ole ugly loan payments.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the help everyone.</p>
<p>Yojayyy, I strongly suggest you call UCSB, if you have not already. (I tried to read most of these 5 pages of posts, but it’s late so I’m not sure if this got covered before now.) They can review the FAFSA with you so you understand exactly what the situation is and discuss the actual costs. One example is that if you are covered by your parents’ health plan, you can receive a waiver and that removes that fee. If a triple room is available, that would lower your costs, too. You can see if there are any additional things available such as work study. Did you apply for any scholarships from your high school or elsewhere that could go to UCSB? (My son just learned today he won a $1000 scholarship from a local club in our city and that’s a grand less we have to come up with. Yes, on one level a drop in the bucket, but everything helps.) My son also found out we have jobs at our local grocery store and with AP tests nearly over, he can go to work a couple of months before all kids are looking for summer jobs. Another possibility is ROTC. You obviously have to be interested in the military, but they do pay small stipends every semester and I think you have two years before you have to make the final commitment. Finally, I spoke with a UC FA person today who said every January there are scholarships for campus posted. Perhaps you did not get them this year, but there are more you can apply for down the road. Not a guarantee, of course, but you could create a plan to figure out how to avoid 100% loans. Just some more food for thought. UCSB is a terrific school and obviously not easy to have gotten into.</p>
<p>One more note about CC’s. California’s are seriously impacted at present and it is getting harder and harder to get the courses you need. If anyone considers this a viable option, I strongly recommend you have a long talk with the admissions counselors at your local one and get the absolutely bottom line about this. With California’s economy in the tank, the UCs, CSUs, and CCs have all suffered and it’s affecting students’ abilities to get the courses they need or the majors they want, depending on the campus. Just be informed and weigh the liabilities before you think a CSU or CC is the solution to “expensive” UCSB.</p>
<p>Komobu, my brother is a Tech grad, and is doing extremely well. But he would be the very first to say that it had nothing to do with VT, and to take a huge debt for that option would have been folly. A close friend is a MIT grad. When he graduated from MIT as an engineer, he was working side by side and making exactly what the engineering grads from East New Mexico Tech who did two years at CC were making. Engineering, accounting, nursing do pay good salaries and these days the jobs are there for such grads, but you aren’t doing your kid any favor saddling her with a lot of debt as compared to her peers at the first step out. You never feel poorer than when you are surrounded by those who have more, with those people being your peers. </p>
<p>Also the the "change in heart"on majors and courses of study are statistically very high for those taking engineering. College freshmen tend to change their minds a lot of about their majors and plans, but even those truly dedicated to the courses of the hard sciences, tech and engineering are among those who decide it’s not for them when they get a taste of the curriculum. The numbers are right there. You then have a situation where all of that debt is in hand, and then you have your liberal arts major. Take it from a veteran mom who has seen this repeatedly, not only with this generation, but with those who went to school with me, many years ago. It is a fact that engineering has a high attrition rate in undergrad studies as does the premed major. Better,. she starts out at a less expensive school, and shows her stripes and dedication and settles in with that major as a junior. </p>
<p>I am not adverse to loans at all, and feel they offer great flexibility and relief for many, if used wisely. But they can really ruin the financial lives of kid and family alike. We are seeing this a lot now as the cost of colleges have gone way, way up, far exceeding its proportion to income. When I took out loans many years ago, the debt that seemed so staggering was not at these numbers. My father was a civil servant, so I can look up what his pay would be today to the dollar. I can look up the cost the college I attended to the dollar too. The proportion is way off. The cost of college has sky rocketed in proportion to income to the point that a person who is making what my dad did 40 years ago would be unwise taking out the loans necessary to do so. THe same would go to an OOS public. </p>
<p>I just got the schedule for next year’s payment to my son’s OOS public and I have to grimace. It hurts like crazy. That the school is nice enough to offer a 12 month payment plan does force one to budget it out, but it also brings the reality of that cost to home. I have less than a month to come up with $3K and so it will be month in and month out until I finally capitulate and have to borrow. I should have the income and have some savings to put towards this, as we are high income and did save, but it still hurts. It always does.</p>
<p>A very wise parent who frequents these boards made the statement, that it is more difficult to come up with the money in the future than it was to save in the past. Many of the factors that made it impossible to save up a nest egg for college are still there and going strong for the future. Cars still break down, people lose their jobs, the economy tanks, the roof needs to be fixed, and, yes, we are getting older and our health is more precarious. Paying for college should be a 3 legged stool (no pun intended here, I mean the chair kind, LOL) with each leg about equal. You borrowing should be about in proportion to what you are paying as you go and what you have saved. NOt perfect, analogies often aren’t’, but if you are shoving the maximum of your costs into the future, thinking that you are suddenly going to turn a new leaf and be able to make these payments that you have not been able to do in the past, that is not magical thinking but delusional. To start a college grad out with that mountain of debt is doing him/her no favor. They tend to make their own mistakes with money anyways, but to have that impossible sum as a monkey on their backs from the get go, makes things even more unrealistic in terms of ever getting out from under that debt.</p>
<p>My husband has an engineering degree from UCSB, two of his friends have engineering degrees from SDSU. They all have good jobs in San Diego. I wouldn’t go into huge debt for UCSB since you can do SDSU at far less cost. Even paying off my husband’s $10,000 loan in the '90s took us awhile…and his salary wasn’t any greater than that of an SDSU engineer.</p>
<p>I also think that very few people are going to get the nuances between UCSB and SDSU. MIT and East New Mexico Institute of Tech, yes, but not the choices you have.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>In Calif, companies that are hiring engineers aren’t going to care whether the degree comes from San Diego State or UCSB. They just aren’t. Both have respected engineering programs. Period. San Diego State is considered a top tier CSU along with Fullerton and Long Beach (and of course, the Cal Polys).</p>
<p>Listen to mom2ck about debt, come up with a 4 (5 for California) plan that keeps debt under $30000. Totally understand your parents cash flow problems. You might soften the blow to them by reminding them of federal tax credits. Many people get a $2000 tax credit for the first $2000 of tuition and fees expenses they pay. With appropriate planning that’s almost $200/month without changing your net take-home pay, or a nice refund in the spring for the last tuition payment. It won’t finance an expensive dream school, but it will help them help you.</p>
<p>Del. Wrong topic.</p>
<p>Outside of California, hardly anyone is even going to know there is a difference. Other than Berkeley and UCLA, the other state schools are a blur.</p>