Trying to determine whether it is beneficial to pay a total (over all four years) of $50,000 more for my daughter to attend UCSD for Psychology undergrad than Kenyon. Attending UCSD would require max loans for her and loans for me to cover most of the remaining cost, less any amount I’m able to cover in payments which I would be making from day one. I have expected to take out loans all along and can afford to make payments, just can’t afford to pay full amount due each year. At Kenyon, she essentially has a full ride for this year (roughly $1,000 net cost, no loans) and should have similar funding for the remaining three years assuming financial need doesn’t change dramatically. She was selected as a STEM scholar which means no loans or work study for all four years, but I’m not certain yet how need based aid will look for the next three years. I know need based aid is not guaranteed, although I’m confident we would get some. The no loans aspect is guaranteed for all four years-she does not need to maintain a certain GPA to stay in the STEM scholar program, just needs to be making progress toward her degree.
I realize on the surface this probably seems like a no-brainer, but I don’t think Kenyon is known for their Psychology program and want to do what I can to improve her chances of getting into grad school. I realize that Kenyon is a very good school in general. An additional complication is that, due to her health, I would have to move to Ohio to be accessible to her in case her health starts to decline. I have no problem doing this, assuming I can find a job, but don’t want to go to this effort if Kenyon’s psychology program isn’t highly regarded. We live very close to UCSD. From looking at both schools’ catalogs it is clear that UCSD offers many more courses, but is that worth the additional cost? Will she be at a disadvantage when applying to grad school since Kenyon’s psych offerings are limited? I know in general undergrads have more opportunities for research at LACs than larger state schools, but do you have any idea whether Kenyon would be able to provide good research opportunities since it is so rural? Is there any way to research psychology grad school admits for Kenyon graduates?
Thanks in advance for your input-sorry I have so many questions. I will also ask Kenyon these questions, but wanted to ask here also.
Many, many college students change their mind regarding their choice of major. It may be that she does as well, and that could change your outlook.
Will the cold weather on Ohio have a negative impact on her health?
It is a small college and she could get a bad case of “cabin fever” once there, given that she currently lives in a large metropolitan area in Calif.
Will your financial situation change much if you move to Ohio? Do you currently own your home? If so the profits from the sale could impact her FA going forward. I dont like the idea of a one year “full ride”. Perhaps you could ask Kenyon to sweeten the pot and increase her offer to cover 4 years ? In other words, a scholarship, rather than loans?
If I were you, If they can’t or wont’, given that you had planned on taking out loans anyway, I’d stay in SD.
hi there. i don’t know much (if anything) about ucsd, but i looked into kenyon quite a bit. kenyon offers psychology and neuroscience, and my admissions counselor explained an Off-Campus Activities Program in Psychology (OAPP) is offered which allows students to take advantage of its relationship with the James Cancer Hospital in Colombus to volunteer/pursue internships there. kenyon ends up placing students in very good graduate schools, so i would not worry about that.
@Eeyore123 thank you, I did see that also, but wasn’t sure how much weight to put on that since it is such a small school. Your response is reassuring.
@menloparkmom The weather will not have any impact on her health, cabin fever is an additional concern and is hard to quantify. She is not currently a super social person, but no way to know how she’ll feel once at college. She will definitely miss the beach although having seasons would be nice.
My financial situation shouldn’t change much. I expect to make less on an annual basis, but pretty close to the same amount when factoring in cost of living difference. I do not own a home, so no concern there. She is guaranteed no loans or work study for the entire four years and Kenyon claims to meet full need, which they certainly did this year. I am concerned that they will reduce need based aid in future years which could potentially increase net cost-meaning they might determine her need is less resulting in less financial aid and higher cost to us with them deciding the amount doesn’t require a loan? Not sure I’m making myself clear with this question. Additionally, is this not really a concern since she has the no loan guarantee for all four years? Trying to look for potential loopholes that I could be overlooking. Don’t need any surprises next year!!
I believe that a higher percentage of students get into graduate school from Kenyon than from UCSD. And psychology at Kenyon is quite good - a psychology major from Kenyon would have that as an advantage, not something to overcome.
I’m not specifically familiar with Psych programs so I could be wrong, but I generally thought that Masters programs are generally full pay, by the student, so not having loan debt would be ideal for a student pursing a Masters. On the other hand, a candidate for a Ph.D. program should be fully funded, that is, the university waives the student’s tuition, and will pay them a (sometimes barely) living stipend, with the student having to work as a TA in exchange.
Kenyon is about an hour away from Columbus, so that coordination program sounds like it would be perhaps once a week, and a student would need a car if the school does not provide van or other transportation for participating students.
An email to the administrative assistant for the Psych dept, asking who would be best equipped within the department to answer questions about preparation for grad school and past track record for grad school admission, would be a way to get the OP’s questions in front of someone with knowledge. The other approach is to email the Chair of the department directly, but sometimes those emails can get lost in the shuffle. We found that contacting the support staff for the department often meant they pointed us in the direction of the person who would be most responsive. I would also recommend a more detailed conversation with Financial Aid, asking about what might happen to aid if parent relocates etc.
Congrats to the OP’s daughter on her wonderful options!
How close do you think you need to live to her? I have never been to Gambier (will be there a week from Friday), but it doesn’t sound like the place that an adult finds a job and apartment. If you are able to be an hour away by car, that opens up the greater Columns and Cleveland areas.
Yes, there is not much in Gambier for an adult looking for employment, unless they worked for the College. Mt Vernon is about 10-15 minutes away, more of a town, with the usual chains and franchises, but still not a lot in terms of employment. Columbus is about an hour away, much of it on back roads, so not a mindless commute. Cleveland is close to 2 hours.
Gambier really is the middle of nowhere . . . .you either love it, or not!
@Eeyore123 I’m comfortable being up to an hour away, most likely Columbus area. I don’t want to be on top of her, she needs space to be a kid, just need to be close enough to keep an eye on her health and help her if necessary. Do you have someone attending Kenyon? (although it seems to be beautiful, not sure why else anyone would go there, lol)
As others have pointed out, as far as psychology goes, whether her interests are clinically and/or research-based, grad school will be the name of the game. The types of close relationships with professors that she will be able to develop at a place like Kenyon will be unmatched at a large, public university. These relationships, in turn, will translate into better recommendations and more support.
Does she need to major in a STEM field to maintain her status as a STEM Scholar?
Why not see how she is doing health-wise before you start moving across country?
@LoveTheBard Yes,she needs to remain in a STEM field to maintain STEM scholar status. Although her specific intended major has changed over the years, as typical for most kids, they have all been STEM related so I think it is safe to think she will at least stay in a STEM program, even if she does change her mind from Psychology.
Her health has greatly improved. Myself and her medical team initially thought she would need to take a gap year, but based on her progress are comfortable with her attending college as long as I am nearby to check in on her regularly. I don’t have anything in San Diego that keeps me here, truly don’t mind moving…looking at it as an adventure. I do have a good job, they have been super understanding in regard to my need for a modified schedule due to her illness, but now that she’s doing better that isn’t as much of an issue. We do still need to visit the school and see if it will be a good fit for her, no reason to make the move if it’s clear that she will be miserable.
What will happen to your job when you leave?
(Although it may mean more need based aid, it won’t really help if you can’t afford rent and food for yourself )
@MYOS1634 I’m going to have to find one…clearly another issue to consider. I’ve done a quick search and there are certainly jobs I qualify for…actually being hired is another story. I will start inquiring more seriously in the next week or so.
All in all, for a kid who wants to do into research, Kenyon, being a highly selective LAC with lots of resources and professors who have been hired because of their ability to integrate undergraduates into their research, is ideal - especially due to the full ride.
Your having to switch jobs isn’t ideal though. Even if jobs are plentiful, the problem isn’t finding job, it’s finding a good, stable job with good pay and benefits. Is your current job portable? Does your company have branches in the Columbus area?
Are you sure you have to move? Could you plan with the college’s health system, set up a plan for her so that she’s checked regularly by a doctor recommended by her hospital or knows what to do?
@ucbalumnus UCSD gave her the least financial aid out of all schools she was admitted to including the other 2 UC schools. I was pretty disappointed with their package. She qualifys for full Cal Grant and small Pell grant, and UCSD is giving her $3,360. This leaves us with loans in the amount of $12,476 per year and work study of $1,800. Then, as I’m sure you know, this amount will likely increase each year with the expected rise in tuition. I was hoping for more, but UCSB and UCSC offered similar amounts so it is what it is.
So net price of $14,276 at UCSD, but you can actually afford $0?
If you can actually afford to contribute without loans about $5,000 (possibly some of which may come from saving the amount of food and utilities that she consumes at home), then she would need $9,276 (typical amount of student contribution expected by UCs), which would be covered by $5,500 federal direct loan, $1,800 work study, and $1,976 other work earnings (e.g. summer and/or non-work-study part time jobs during the school year).
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