Hello everyone. I’m a bit of a nontrad student- I graduated from my CC about a year ago and took a gap year to save some money. I have a associates in environmental science. I am going to be going to university starting Fall 2018, but need some advice on which college to transfer to.
Some backstory: I have lived on my own for about 3 years. I’m 21. My parents live in TX, but I am a resident of WA state. I have my own apartment and stable job in my field. I have about 47K saved for college. As of right now I have 2 options for college.
College A: a large university in a large city. Pretty well known and prestigious.
The good things are that it has a very good reputation for my field of study. They have a lot of connections with environmental agencies, and they have a pretty big research focus. I would have a more traditional college experience as I would have to move out of my apartment and live in a dorm(not sure if I want to do this…) It’s in a great city with a lot of opportunities in itself.
The bad thing is mainly tuition. I would be paying around 25K a year, since it’s not in WA. That does not consider the cost of moving apartments, finding a new job, etc. The city is very high COL. It would basically demolish my savings account. They also do not have the exact major I want- they only have environmental studies, which is a BA degree, I want a BS degree. I would spend my entire savings on undergrad and have to take out a loan for grad school.
College B: A small college that is not well known.
The good things are that they have the exact major I want. It’s in my city so I wouldn’t have to relocate or change jobs. All of my costs would be covered through my stafford loan(7500), so I would only have to pay for books and normal living expenses out of pocket. I would be able to put my entire savings towards grad school, pay for that in entirety and still have about 20K leftover.
The bad things are: they don’t have as good of resources for the students, since it is such a small college. It also doesn’t have as good of a reputation as college A- it’s not bad, just not as well known.
What do you think I should do?
Sounds like you can’t afford college A. If you want to go to grad school, you should make sure college B will set you up for that including strong advising, faculty who care about undergrads, and ways to get research experience. Remember that “generally well known” and “respected in your field” are two different things and the latter is more important for grad school.
Unless you are willing to name names, the choice is obvious.
First off, BA vs BS is not important. What is important is the specific coursework that you take, the grades you earn, and the letters of recommendation you generate through your contacts with your faculty. If you look at the specific degree requirements for the BA at A, and the BS at B, you may find that the courses are exactly the same.
Right now you are working, and presumably can continue working if you attend B. You can run a quick analysis with UHaul or Rider or even a professional moving company and find out what it is likely to cost to move all of your loot from where you live now to where A is located. You are absolutely correct that this move will play havoc with your savings. That is a very clear argument against A.
Right now you have the sense that A has better professional contacts for you. How many of those contacts can you create for yourself at B? You are a grown up not a typical age undergrad, so you have some dealing-with-the-real-world skill those students lack. My guess is that you can put some of those skills together to expand on the opportunities at B.
@Publisher Not going to name names because my town is very small(pop >1,000). But it’s basically University of Texas vs West Texas A&M. I would say college A is the same level as any well ranked public uni, and college B is the same level as a small branch of a public uni
First, congrats on your accomplishments so far!
Since you may go to grad school, definately go with option B. Not all master’s students are funded, so you may need your savings for grad school. The important thing is to do well in your undergrad (high GPA) which will open doors for a well-known grad school.
IMO, I think the “traditional” college experience is overrated. You will be too busy with classes and working, anyway - at least that was my experience. Good luck!
Again, without names any advice is “garbage in, garbage out”.
With that in mind, Option A is the better option because these are very important years of your life & one should have as many options &resources as feasible.
Option B is a bit high risk in that you may want to transfer out after a year.
If you’re sure you’re going to grad school, spend as little as possible undergrad, and get good grades in the major you want. You can always choose to go to a larger/more well known grad school later.
A note about the traditional dorm college experience – you’re 21. If you’re just starting your undergrad and living in a dorm, you’re going to stick out a bit. That doesn’t mean it will be bad, but it won’t be as traditional as you imagine…unless you imagine a lot of people kissing up to you to buy because you’re of age.
That savings is a great start. Go wherever you can afford to go. In-state is always the best option over going out of state simply because of cost. Don’t worry about prestige. A masters degree from any regional university will squash a bachelors degree any day of the week no matter where it came from.
Not sure how you can be living in WA but West Texas A&M is in your city.
Since you are under 24/25, you may need to show some additional proof of independence from your parents for state university tuition residency purposes. However, it looks like both WA and TX have the residency through high school graduation in the state after being in the state three years up to then (does this apply to you in WA, TX, or any other state?). Check the rules carefully.
Since you can’t afford college A, it’s not really a choice. Your choices are college B or keep shopping. Since college B is in your town, it should be easy to go spend some time on campus talking to students, academic advising, and professors to see if the school will meet your needs. If not, keep shopping.
You can’t afford college A. In addition, where environmental science is well respected, environmental studies isn’t. So, it sounds like choice B is the better choice.
That being said, investigate the major. Will you be able to take a lot of higher level classes? Do professors conduct research and can undergraduate students be involved? Can you join the honors program (to ‘signal’ to grad schools that you’re more academic than the average school B student) and do a thesis (which will be another ‘signal’ for grad programs, but also would probably test the waters wrt grad school research and lead to closer interaction with faculty and thus better recommendations for grad school).
@ucbalumnus I’m living in WA. I was using West Texas A&M as an example, it’s not the college i’m talking about.
I would go with option B, and look for summer stipended programs in your area of interest at other schools. This would let you experience another school (at least for the summer between jr/sr year, which I believe will be the only one you’ll have). My foster son will be attending a program like this at an Ivy league school this summer, free room, in a well known area. He was come out with around $5,000 and a (hopefully) great experience in his area of interest and exposure to grad school ideas.
Good luck!
I agree with the majority here, I would recommend the more affordable option.
With option A, it sounds like you can’t afford it, there is risk that you will run out of money before graduating, nearly a certainty that you will graduate with significant debt that could be a problem for years, and you might not be able to afford to go to graduate school at all.
With option B, it sounds like you have the major that you want, it is very affordable, and you are likely to have good grades and be able to get into a higher ranked school for graduate school. I have seen many students go to a graduate school that is significantly higher ranked than their undergraduate program, provided that they had top grades as an undergrad, and provided that they could afford to go on to graduate school.
With admittedly less than complete information, it sounds like you are likely to do very well starting at college B.
It really doesn’t matter where you go to school if you want to go to graduate school. Obviously, there are exceptions like if you did very well at Harvard you probably have an advantage over someone who did really well at Unknown State U. It sounds to me like you’re really interested in the name of A and how that will affect your future if you don’t go there: It won’t. Good relationships with your professors, experience in your field, getting good grades, etc will.
The choice to me is obvious: Go to the affordable school, but visit first and make sure it’s a “fit”. Otherwise you’ll need to find other options. My older sister didn’t choose her affordable school for undergrad and now, after graduate school, has so much debt it’ll take her whole entire life to pay off. Granted, you’re in a better financial position than she but I’d still save the money.