<p>I've been planning to go to University of Florida.</p>
<p>I applied for scholarships, but didn't get any of them.
I have 100% Bright Futures, which is $3K a year.
UF is giving me a $2.6K grant.
They are expecting my parents to give me $5.4K and take out a $10K loan.
But my parents aren't giving me a cent for college.</p>
<p>My EFC is $5,581.
UF offered me a $3.5K subsidized loan and a $2K unsubsidized loan.
UF's estimated cost of attendance is $21K, but I was able to lower it down to $16.5K.</p>
<p>$16.5K - $2.6K - $3K = 10.9K that I would need in loans.
But UF is only offering me 5.5K in loans.</p>
<p>I can't get any private loans because my parents won't cosign.</p>
<p>I worked so hard in high school; I'm a great student.</p>
<p>Why do you have that title when you have affordable choices???</p>
<p>*UCF is offering me $14K.
USF is offering me $17K.</p>
<p>I will know whether UF offers me any scholarships by the end of March, which is a while to wait. I heard that they pretty much only give Presidential Scholarships to minorities. I’m half White and half Dominican, so I don’t know whether that qualifies as a “minority.” My stats are below, but there are a lot of other people with stats like mine. Soooo… I dunno.</p>
<p>My high school is ranked #60 in the country.
So colleges know my school by name.
Dozens of my classmates have been accepted to UF.
Rank: 38/320
GPA: 3.8
HPA: 4.6
SAT: 1890
ACT: 30
AP Classes: 10 (passed all exams)
Dual Enrollment Credits: 3*</p>
<p>It’s a very simple fact that you cannot afford University of Florida They did not give you enough money. So either you find a local school to which you can commute, or if the above post as accurate info, you go to one of your other affordable choices.</p>
<p>had the similar situation (actually a more close one); with UF being ~20k more over the course of 4 years… had to choose between UF and USF. Chose USF.</p>
<p>You’d lose your dignity by going to a perfectly respectable school where you can get a more than adequate education??? I think you need to adjust your attitude. College will be what you make of it. It’s what YOU put into it, not the school name on the diploma, that will have the greatest impact on your success. You can’t afford UF; you need to move on. Call the housing department at USF and figure out what the actual situation is.</p>
<p>Well, if you are ‘too good’ for USF but don’t have the money for UF - if those are your only options - then I guess you don’t get to go anywhere. You can get a job at McD instead. Is that beneath your dignity?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, your high school’s high standards will not pay your UF tuition. If you aren’t willing to attend one of your affordable choices, you could take a gap year and try again next year with a list of schools that meet your standards where you will get sufficient merit aid to attend. Get a job and save money for school during that year. Out of curiosity, why did you apply to schools you weren’t willing to attend? Seems like a waste of the application fee to me.</p>
<p>^^One of the best pieces of advice my son got from his college advisor was “do not apply to any school you aren’t willing to attend.” She said they don’t all have to be “dream” schools…they don’t even have to be schools that you’re in love with. They just have to be schools that, in the end, you’d be willing (and hopefully, eventually) happy to attend.</p>
<p>The UCF campus is beautiful. I could suffer the indignity of spending 4 years there. Or Tampa. Yeah, Tampa would be ok too. Trust me, there are kids smarter than you who are at both of those schools.</p>
<p>Would it help to distinguish between a want and a need? You want to go to UF. You need a college education. (Some might debate that point, but I’m going with it.) You can’t go to UF, because you don’t have the money. So choose the education you need, at a price you can afford. </p>
<p>You can always find ways to challenge yourself, if necessary. Taking more difficult classes or choosing more difficult professors. Taking time to study abroad - something you can’t do at UF because you won’t be able to afford it. </p>
<p>Our high school had their National Honor Society induction last week. Seniors use the event to announce their college choice. There were very few kids going to “elite” universities, but lots going to local state U’s or small, relatively unknown LAC’s. Very different from previous years. It was obvious to me from the breakdown that these kids have chosen the less expensive, merit-full options. The ground game has changed and this is becoming a common scenario. So don’t be worried about a ‘lesser’ school. They are the colleges of choice for many smart kids.</p>