So I’m certain I’ve posted something along these lines before, however I’m looking for some advice on picking a school.
It’s getting about that time and as I’m sure many of you have experienced/are starting to experience the never ending thoughts about which school to pick, I’d greatly appreciate your input on my situation.
I have to pick between staying home and going to Richard Stockton College for free (scholarships/financial aid cover it all)
Or attending an out of state school (U of Tampa, SDSU, ASU, FSU) and getting to experience the whole college thing at the cost of assuming about $12k of debt per year.
Important note: I believe I would greatly benefit from such a social situation as going away to school.
If it matters; I intend to study Computer science/ cyber security.
What about two years debt-free at Richard Stockton and then transferring for the last two years for that ‘away’ experience? $25k in debt is still quite a bit, but manageable with a career in comp sci and cyber security. (Yes, it matters - some industries are easier to find well-paying work in than others.) $50k is a lot - you may regret the loss of options that much debt entails.
In the end it boils down to what your family can comfortably afford. If gong away means saddling yourself and your family with too much debt then it isn’t feasible. Maybe if you stay home you can go abroad or an exchange program to another US college for a year.
Just make sure you’re allowed to transfer if you receive scholarships–my brother took a full ride to a school, and he realized his first semester he hated it there. he can’t transfer either, because he’d have to pay the college back the cost of attending for however many semesters he was there (since he accepted the scholarship on a four-year deal). That was just that particular college’s policy, but other schools may be like that too.
^I second this.
Won’t your parents give you at least the tax credit you’ll “get” them by going to college (which is supposed to go toward your college expenses)? Won’t they pay for food you’ll eat (considering they’d pay for food if you stay at home)?
Are you getting scholarships from SDSU, ASU, FSU?
I wouldn’t get into that much debt for UTampa, but is your scholarship till pending (ie., it’d end up costing less)?
Are you saying $12,000 is the total costs for each of these universities? If not can you write it here:
(tuition, fees, room&board) - (scholarships, grants) =…
for each university?
If it’s $12,000 total, would you pay with $5,500 loans + summer job + work study/part time job + college tax credit … or is that $12,000 left to borrow after you’ve factored in your job earnings and other sources of money?
48,000 in debt is too much.
You had better figure out what you can afford. As others have said, unlikely you can borrow more than the statuatory $5500 freshman year… What is your EFC, estimated if you haven’t filed one yet? Do you have any aid packages and scholarships yet? Usually financial aid is integrated with merit, not stacked, so don’t count them chickens till they are hatched. If you are using NPCs, be aware that the results are averages and for those schools that do not guarantee to meet need, which are the schools you mention, the results are not likely going to be as shown for you. That’s an average.
