<p>I really really want to go to U of Connecticut. I live in southern CA and I will not be able to visit uconn at all before the beginning of my first semester. Its my number one choice school and i love everything ive read/seen (pictures)/heard about it. My second choice school doesnt even compare to it...so should i go to uconn or pick another school?</p>
<p>you are concerned about visiting first?</p>
<p>I visited my school before going but I didn’t really learn anything relevant to my first semester experience other than that its a bit chilly. I know people who didn’t visit and knew nothing about it and they ended up loving the school. </p>
<p>My point is that a visit may not be entirely important. You might want to be careful because some schools have vibes from the student body that you could only get from visiting. My school was diverse enough that it didn’t really matter what kind of person a student was and he/she could always fit in. Ask around on UConns forum.</p>
<p>If you really want to go, you are probably safe.</p>
<p>I think I’m just nervous because i have visited schools that i thought i’d love, but end up hating. but i’ve done a lot of research on it and talked to a lot of people about the school. thats why im still considering it. its a big decision</p>
<p>Just so you know…UConn is in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing to do around the school at all. The winters are cold. Two of my son’s friends went here and hated it at first. One stayed and made the best of it by joining a frat and the other transferred out. I would really think hard about this decision, escpecially coming from Southern CA. My son wouldn’t even consider UConn and we are from NY. What is it about the school that attracts you so much and what other schools are you considering?</p>
<p>I actually love that its in the middle of nowhere lol weird, but i really really want that in a school. I love that the sports are good and that there’s a lot of school spirit. I do want a change in weather and i like the east coast. i like the size of the school and all the pictures ive seen. my best friend visited last spring so i got a lot of realistic pictures from her (not just ones from brochures). I would major in nursing there and 100% of the nursing students have a job at graduation. i like the security of that. its also a perfect fit for me academically. its the hardest school that i applied to and i think it’d be nice to go somewhere where i’d be surrounded by students that applied themselves in high school the way that i did.</p>
<p>I also applied to Eastern Washington U, Northern Arizona U, Sand Diego State, and Cal State Fresno…all as an athletic training major. Eastern washington is my number two choice. I really dont want to stay in california because of budget cuts. all my friends are suffering and hate it. i definitely will not go to fresno. possibly san diego as a last resort. eastern washington is also in the middle of nowhere. its not far from spokane, so i have a big city if i need it. i just dont really like spokane. its not a nice place. i love the campus and everything, but its a very easy school to get into (i had an automatic acceptance due to good high school grades). northern arizona is nice but im not a huge fan of the campus. and there are a few things about the athletic training and nursing programs that i dont love. </p>
<p>its a very difficult situation.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind the rural aspect of UConn, then maybe it’s a good choice for you. If you have a guaranteed nursing job at graduation, that is a good selling point.
Sounds like you should go for it.</p>
<p>It’s something I would never want to do personally just because I like to know where I’m going to be going, but I say go for it if you don’t really like the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>That’s how i used to feel. i thought that i would absolutely have to visit a campus to even consider attending…but since circumstances have changed, the decision is much harder</p>
<p>i would really love ANYONE’S opinion on this matter. I’m just wondering what other people would do in my sitauation</p>
<p>I decided on Michigan before I had ever been to ann arbor, but I lived 20 minutes away. I did end up coming here for an admitted students thing and i loved it. i dont know how i could have not loved it, though, knowing from research what ann arbor has to offer.</p>
<p>Thank you. That’s how i feel about uconn. i dont know what i would hate about it if i went there…but i definitely dont live 20 mins away lol there would be some major changes involved with going there.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s right. haha. Ann Arbor is much more urban and liberal than I was used to (and the students here 10 times wealthier than I am used to), but the weather and general region are what I am used to. If you do go to uconn you’ll have to let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>I think the important thing is to really consider your expectations. I had the expectation that I would live in a vibrant environment with tons of things to do and school spirit and culture and high academics, and I knew Ann Arbor would deliver because that’s exactly what it is.</p>
<p>I’ll definitely post it on here if i end up going 
i have lots of expectations and i’m pretty sure i’m right about them from people i’ve talked to. so hopefully everything works out</p>
<p>I went to grad school at Stanford without ever being west of Detroit. I loved Stanford.</p>
<p>One thing to consider: Have you ever experienced very cold weather and gray skies for a long time? You can find out a lot about U Conn by looking at videos, message boards, etc., but if you have never experienced very cold weather and months of dreary skies, U Conn could be a big shock.</p>
<p>For instance, I’ve known southerners who longed for a cooler climate until they moved to one and learned that snow may be appealing in pictures, but it was not appealing when they had to trudge through it to get to work or class. They also didn’t realize how wonderful it is to live in an area with lots of sunshine until they moved to an area in which for months sunshine was rare.</p>
<p>Not only is it not a bad idea to go to UConn site unseen, but at this point you practically have to.</p>
<p>Yes, in a perfect world you would be able to visit before committing to attending. It isn’t possible though, and it sounds like you’ve done the next best thing by researching it extensively and talking with people that have been there. You may go there and find out it isn’t as good as you thought it was, but unless you have a massive priority realignment it sounds like you should like it very much there.</p>
<p>If you don’t go to UConn you’ll be stuck wondering what it would be like if you’d have gone to your #1 school. Assuming admissions and finances are not major issues, you now have a choice between schools you are sure you won’t like very much, and a school that you have extensively researched and think that you would like very much. Settling for the #2 school when there is no real barrier for your #1 is going to leave you full of regret.</p>
<p>So basically, campus visits are a nice, though not absolutely essential, part of choosing a college. If your gut says UConn, go to UConn.</p>
<p>Why can’t you visit it? If I were in your position, I’d move heaven and earth to visit it --preferably during the winter so I saw it at its worst-- before accepting their acceptance.</p>
<p>My family doesn’t have the money. It would cost about $1000 for everything to visit. My dad recently got injured and had 3 surgeries and can’t work yet. And my mom has a disease and they’re going through a divorce. I’m not complaining, visiting just isn’t really an option.</p>
<p>Liking the rural environment is essential for going to a school surrounded by (literally) nothing for miles. But keep in mind that while the campus and surrounding area are beautiful, the actual campus has less of a rural feel to it. This is only my opinion, and only as someone who has visited friends there, but the campus has a much more city-like feel than you’d expect. Many dorms and classroom buildings are on roads accessible to cars, rather than the campus being isolated from outside activity. The school also has a huge number of students, which leads to it feeling like its own city. Keep in mind that there are smaller, more rural schools in places, including CT, that are not in as isolated a location but maintain a rural, isolated feeling on campus.
Also, the weather is a serious thing to consider. Like northstarmom said, many people take the cold into account, but few people take the wind, snow, and gray skies into account. I’ve always enjoyed winter, but growing up in CT and now going to school in Chicago, even I get tired of perpetually gray skies.
That being said, I visited many, many schools when I was applying to college, and found that, if I had done my research, which it seems you have, my perception of a college didn’t change that dramatically after I visited. If you really feel like UConn is the right place for you, then you should be able to make peace with some of the things that feel less right once you get there. Failing that, there’s always an opportunity to transfer. So if you feel like you know the school and love it, there’s nothing wrong with going to a school you haven’t visited.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford to visit, how can you afford to go there for college especially when Calif. must have cheaper college options for you. The cost of traveling to and from there will be even higher when you’re in college because airfares keep climbing, and when students fly it’s high season, so prices are very high. You’ll also have to buy a winter wardrobe.</p>
<p>And doesn’t U Conn. cost about $40 k a year for out of state? How is your family going to affod that?</p>
<p>My parents aren’t paying for my college. I have some scholarship money and I’ll be taking out loans. California colleges are cheaper but i dont want to go to a school where i’ll be unhappy.</p>
<p>How much in loans are you taking out? U Conn. is very expensive. The job market is horrendous. It’s almost always a bad idea to go deeply in debt for college.</p>
<p>On another thread, you said that you’re first generation college, and your parents aren’t helping as you decide where to go to college. Even though you’ve posted here asking students’ advice, I’m going to give advice from an older perspective.</p>
<p>For virtually no one is there only one perfect college where they’d be happy. Instead, for most people, there are probably dozens or even hundreds of colleges where they’d be well educated, happy and fulfilled.</p>
<p>Consequently, it’s very important to take under consideration finances, something that most students --except for the really wealthy --do, which is why most students attend a public university within 250 miles of their home.</p>
<p>There are probably many colleges that are cheaper than U Conn and where you could have a wonderful time and obtain a good education without going tens of thousands of dollars into debt. Keep in mind, too, that you can’t get out of paying college debt even if you go bankrupt.</p>
<p>One of my friends father won a large prize in the Irish Sweepstakes, and divided the money among his kids. My friend used all of his money to to pay his way through his dream school, George Washington University.</p>
<p>About 10 years after he had graduated, he was telling me how he realized that he had made a big mistake. He could have gone to a much cheaper school and had money left to do things lie buy a house and support the family that he later had. </p>
<p>He, though, is in a better position than you’ll probably be if you go deep into debt to pay for U Conn.</p>
<p>Here’s how to calculate how much you’d have to pay each month to repay your loans: <a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/sla.jsp[/url]”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/sla.jsp</a></p>
<p>"Jessica Hiddleson never thought she’d be on food stamps after graduating from college. </p>
<p>But with $18,000 in student loan debt and a part-time minimum wage job, the 22-year-old needed the help. She deferred her loan payments, but she still can’t afford her rent in Ashland, so she’s moving home to Albany and her parents next month. </p>
<p>View full size
Hiddleson and other new college graduates are getting a tough reality check as they hit the toughest job market in decades while saddled with record loan debt. </p>
<p>A national report released Tuesday shows just how hard it is for them: More than 60 percent of Oregon’s 2008 graduates in public and private colleges took loans averaging $21,029. That is the 22nd highest debt rate in the nation, and just slightly lower than the national average – a record high of $23,200. </p>
<p>Aggravating the problem is their difficulty in finding jobs that enable them to pay off their loans."</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/12/student_loan_debt_climbs_to_re.html[/url]”>College graduates' loan debt climbs to record levels - oregonlive.com;
“I get e-mails from readers who are $30,000, $40,000 or more in debt from student loans and who can’t find work in their fields. Even if you graduate with the average level of education debt – about $21,000, according to The Project on Student Debt – you may be jeopardizing your finances. Many newly minted graduates find their loan payments are so big that they can’t save for other goals, such as a house or retirement.
Four years of loans can last a lifetime
Putting off these goals to pay debt is an expensive choice. A 22-year-old’s $3,000 Roth IRA contribution, for example, could grow to more than $95,000 by the time she’s eligible for full Social Security benefits. Put off that contribution by 10 years, and her contribution will grow less than half as big, to about $44,000. Both examples assume 8% average annual returns.
It’s up to you to put limits on how much debt you’re willing to incur. As with mortgages, credit cards and most other kinds of debt, lenders are willing to give you far more money than you can comfortably afford to repay.”
<a href=“http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/CutCollegeCosts/HowMuchCollegeDebtIsTooMuch.aspx[/url]”>http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/CutCollegeCosts/HowMuchCollegeDebtIsTooMuch.aspx</a></p>
<p>"Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree. And forget about saving money for a home or retirement. He now firmly believes the money he spent earning a college degree was a waste.</p>
<p>“Every day I wish I had never gone to college,” Castillo said. “It has been the biggest mistake of my life. Sometimes I wish I had gone to prison instead of college. At least I would have learned a trade or two and started being independent once I got out.”</p>
<p>Castillo is one of thousands of student debtors who’ve found their way to the StudentLoanJustice.org Web site, propelled by last year’s credit squeeze and the abrupt economic downturn, according to Alan Collinge, who runs the site.</p>
<p>A recent study by Sallie Mae shows college student credit card debt is skyrocketing. Graduates leave school with 41 percent more credit card debt than four years ago, with one in five owing at least $7,000 on plastic by the time they get their diploma. Worse yet, the study showed that more students – 22 percent – make the minimum payment each month than the 17 percent who pay their bills in full. A full 82 percent said they carried balances each month, and were forced to pay finance charges, far more than the national average of about 50 percent."
<a href=“http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/05/college-debt-so-crushing-grad-says-i-wish-id-gone-to-prison-instead.html[/url]”>http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/05/college-debt-so-crushing-grad-says-i-wish-id-gone-to-prison-instead.html</a></p>