<p>I'm doing my part of the loan application now through Sallie Mae, and I literally feel like this is the worst decision ever. I like my school, and I want to attend, but the loan money is making my head spin. I think about the future, whether I'll get a job or not, the amount of debt I'll be in (~70k). I have a cosigner, but I still feel like I'm basically jumping off a cliff into a rocky shark filled ocean called Sallie. I can't really "back out" now, CC classes in my area started like a week and a half ago, so I'd have to wait until spring term I think. My CC is super far away, and I don't have money to buy a car. Everything is set for me to go to my school, and I leave in one day. </p>
<p>Should I go for a year then drop out? Or switch to CC, and then go to a state school (if I get enough $$)? I don't know what to do. At this rate, I should have just done really crap in HS. What was the point of working hard, being super stressed and getting accepted into these good schools when I can't afford them? There was a point where I didn't even wanna go to college, I feel like that would have been a better option at this point.</p>
<p>$70k is too much debt for an undergraduate degree. You are smart to be worried about this.</p>
<p>Consider withdrawing, working for a while, and making a new list of colleges to apply to for next year. If you were good enough to be accepted at a bunch of “good schools”, you may be good enough to be accepted at a place that will offer you significant merit aid and where your education would be affordable. Go to the top of this forum, and read through the threads stickied there, and see if anything looks good.</p>
<p>By withdrawing do you mean like calling the school tomorrow the day before I leave and being like “just kidding, I can’t go” or waiting mid-semester, or finishing a semester, and then dropping out or transferring?</p>
<p>I’m sorry that you are in this situation but if you were only working hard to gain acceptance to “good” schools instead of to actually learn, then maybe it’s for the best that you re-think college right now. If you start attending your current school using loans to pay and then drop out, you will have to begin re-paying the loans right away and I can’t really see any point to that.</p>
<p>I get your frustration but saying you should have “done crap” in HS is incredibly immature. Did you even consider your financial situation while you were applying to college? If not, you should probably withdraw, take a gap year while working to save money and then apply to schools where your stats can get you merit money. The amount you plan to borrow is frankly insane and a very bad plan for an undergrad. You don’t mention your planned major or what state you live in but there are many excellent state schools and it’s very silly to look down your nose at them when they can get you every bit as far as your “good” school.</p>
<p>Don’t go and then transfer. Transfer students get far less financial aid than freshmen so you really want to preserve your status as a freshman.</p>
<p>Calling them tomorrow to say that things have changed, and that you won’t be attending after all. Ask them what you need to do to formally, and completely withdraw. In most cases students who withdraw this early do not owe one cent, although they may lose their deposits.</p>
<p>If you do decide to attend, do not drop out in the middle of the semester. You will have paid for the semester, but you won’t have earned any credits. In that case, it is better to stay to the end of the semester, then make arrangements to withdraw so that you don’t have to pay for the second semester. Whether you would want to transfer elsewhere for the spring would be up to you. </p>
<p>Here is the deal: transfers get lousy financial aid. If you want better aid, you should not start this fall. You should get a job so you can save up a bit of money, and you should come up with a whole new list of places to apply to and/or contact any of the places that accepted you last spring that you now realize are more affordable.</p>
<p>Why did you wait until the 11th hour to get advice and weigh your options? If you are second guessing it, and you should because there are less costly ways to attend college, you need to withdraw before class starts so you will have the least penalty and no loans. Dropping mid semester makes absolutely no sense as you will have paid good money for nothing. Get your thinking cap on, for goodness sake.</p>
<p>Potters, you are smart to be thinking about the amount of loans, and glad you are realizing it now before you actually start, even if it is the midnight hour. Do you think with your stats you could get any guaranteed issue scholarships that will allow you to go to school for a lower price? There is absolutely no shame in stopping right now, pulling out of the school, and working for a year, and really researching where you could get more money. Or work on getting that car so you could commute to community college. Once you get the loans you are stuck with them and if there is even a remote chance that you will not finish your education because of the high amount of loans, then it is better not to even start until you figure out a plan to get more scholarships, earn more money, or go to a less expensive school. There are lots of kids at my kids school that decide last minute not to attend for one reason or another. My D’s roommate last year did just that. She decided to stay home and go to a school within commuting distance. Another friend from high school started the first couple of days, then decided it wasn’t for her, was able to withdraw while still maintaining freshman status, worked for a year and ended up going to a school much closer to home with much more money offered - and a year of savings under her belt.</p>
<p>Why not make an appointment tomorrow with the financial aid or admissions department to discuss your options. Tell them your concerns and maybe they can defer your admission so you can keep that option open if need be. Maybe you can also retake the ACT or SAT if it isn’t high enough now to get any guaranteed scholarships to see if you can bring that up to earn more scholarship money.</p>