<p>I'm stuck deciding between two schools. One is just the local state college that would be cheap and in my hometown. The other is in a larger city and there's around 50,000 students. This also means the cost is larger, unfortunately. But the campus is beautiful and it's just what I've always imagined college to be like.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Is the "college experience" worth the extra money? How much more would you be willing to pay?</p>
<p>Just pick which one you would be happier at. You can get the “college experience” at any college you like. </p>
<p>You have to think what it would be like to pay off any loans for many years after graduating just to have the ‘college experience’. Or spend money now that you wish you had later for graduate school or a car or a house down payment. </p>
<p>Don’t think about money. Being succesful is all about connections. If you feel that you will have better networks and connections at the bigger school then take that opportunity. I myself am transferring to a very big school for that same reason.</p>
<p>After these last two years of college I can not stress enough the importance of friends in college. Not just any friends but people with the same mindset as you. At a bigger school you will have a much bigger crowd to choose your networks from. These are the people you will be calling in the next financial crisis is the way I see it.</p>
<p>What is the college experience to you? A beautiful campus? What else? It doesn’t mean the same for everybody. For me it means challenging and interesting classes and opportunities to research or do internships. I couldn’t care less about the campus as long as it works.</p>
<p>Flesh out your definition. I don’t know your finances at all, but if the second college would leave you with a lot of debt, it’s not worth it. People hype college so much and see it as the goal, when it’s really just the beginning of your career. Why get in serious debt (assuming you are) that will take many years to pay off for just four years that might be “the best years of your life”. Yeah, have a fun four years then have a not fun life paying off your debt in case you don’t get a well paying job out of school (which is common now).</p>
<p>Like I said, this is the worst case scenario. I don’t know your finances or how much the college is. If the debt you would get from the second college is manageable and minimal, go there. If not, just go to the cheap state school. It’s also a college, you can get your experience there. Or how about, go to the cheap school, excel, then go to a grad school that you really like? You are more likely to afford it as well.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is pretty silly. I don’t dispute that you need friends in college, and even that your college friends might help you find a job later. In fact, one of my kids got her job after college because she stayed connected with an older student who had already graduated. But this was from a LAC with only about 2,500 students. You don’t have to go to a bigger school to create a network. In fact, my network from a large university was awful – classes are huge, and my friends weren’t even mostly in my major (they were people I met in dorms/housing). So they weren’t going to be much help after graduation. And transferring in junior year, you have even less time to build connections. So this is pretty lousy advice – do NOT go to the bigger school just because you somehow think you will have a better network coming out of it. This is false logic.</p>
<p>Yeah, 50,000 students is too many to make meaningful connections. My college class has less people than my high school class, but I’ve been able to make great friends and in general meet people that could help me out in the future (or I could help) since I see them often and have classes with them. Also, your major’s students basically spend most of their time with you in class, so you have a solid amount of people that want to work or study in your field.</p>
<p>Different strokes for different folks. All Im saying is, if he goes to a smaller school and finds its not for him, he is screwed and will end up transferring. If he was at a school with 50,000 people in it and found out the people he met the first day were not his cup of tea, he could definitely find a different group the next day.</p>
<p>It is not false logic is is common sense. If you have a bigger audience you will have a greater chance at meeting more people. How is that false logic?</p>
<p>Plus I never said you need to go to a big school. Just make sure it’s for you before you commit to it because if you can’t find a group it will be awful.</p>
<p>4 years of bliss at a “dream school” fly by whereas 10-30 years of crippling debt goes by in a crawl. Keep that in mind - try to be fiscally wise in your foresight. </p>
<p>I’m a little different than most on here. I went to my dream school. It was the only school applied to and I was accepted. It’s a big school with 40,000 students. I enjoyed almost every minute of it and will graduate in a little over a week with about $40,000 in school loan debt. </p>
<p>Was it worth it? In my opinion yes. In High School I was very conservative but in college I let loose. I joined a Fraternity my first semester. I made mistakes, made friends, and made the grades and have a good job when I graduate. I can live at home and commute and pay off that debt in a little over a year easily. </p>
<p>You could probably have the ideal “college experience” at any school. But this is just one example how you can make a huge school feel small. I feel like I know half the school but in all honestly I may only know maybe 2%. But I made so many connections and did so much crazy stuff to get it out of my system. Now I’m ready for the next step. </p>
<p>All in all, choose the place where you think you belong. Just don’t make it all for nothing. Apply yourself, get good grades, and most importantly network your ass off. </p>
<p>People seriously don’t know how valuable networking is. Which is why theres so many unemployed college students. Don’t waste you or your parents money for four years with nothing to show for it. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It depends on how much more, and whether it will be extra debt. Of course, any differences in academic suitability for your goals need to be considered as well.</p>
<pre><code> Like some other posters here have responded, “LARGE SCHOOL in a BIG CITY” does not always translate to a better academic environment or in your case “COLLEGE EXPERIENCE”.
</code></pre>
<p>That being said, your answer lies on your desires and goal. What do you consider an ideal “COLLEGE EXPERIENCE?” What one student wants out of college could be very different from another. You also have to consider “FIT & BALANCE” - the pros and cons of each institution.
You have mentioned a large campus in a big city, this can also mean hundreds in a lecture hall by a TA, fewer opportunities for research, internship, access to professors, etc due to competition and large number of students. Now compare that to your small state school, with fewer class size, access to professors and research opportunities, etc. At the end, college is what you make out of it…I know it is said too often but it is true, you just have to find the right FIT & BALANCE. Then again if you are interested in graduate school, that is always another opportunity to go to a larger city depending on your field of study and still experience a larger campus but a more personalized academics this time around, since the graduate programs usually have fewer students compared to undergraduate schools.
So yes MONEY matters, and so does your college experience, but you have to plan wisely, Student loans is no fun when all you are working for several years goes to pay of your debt. I always say it is better to avoid loans by all means except it is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.</p>
<p>It depends on the debt. I wouldn’t take on more than about $40,000 in debt.</p>
<p>I agree with the sentiment that 4 years flies by but student debt is a long slog. I’m finishing up my PhD 6 years after graduating from college and I’m already in a brand-new stage of life - I have new friends, I don’t have that many friends from college that I still keep in close contact with, I live in a different city. While I remember college warmly, and I had a lot of fun and grew incredibly, I think that would’ve happened regardless of where I went (especially since I’m gregarious and make friends easily). BUT. Starting in December-ish my student loans will come due! I’m nearly 30 and I’ll be paying them off until I’m almost 40 years old. My starting salary in my postdoc is nice ($50K) and my starting salary in my next professional job will probably be better. But that’s still $300 I have to fork over to the feds every month, which is more than my car note, my car insurance, and probably more than my groceries.</p>
<p>If you take on untenable amounts of debt for a degree and have to stretch out the repayment period to 30 years, you too could be paying loans into your 50s. </p>