Making my college selection: UMass Dartmouth, U New Orleans, and Loyola-New Orleans

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello everyone!</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior in high school and I've been a part of a vocational program for 4 years focused on graphic and web design, mixed with photography and other visual arts. I plan on furthering my education in the field in the fall, and I also hoped to become a teacher as a backup or incase I ever get laid off from a design studio. I've run into a little trouble due to the top 3 colleges I had ranked equally accepting me.</p>

<p>I'm a Massachusetts resident but looking to move to New Orleans, LA (sister lives there). Of the three colleges that accepted me, I've compiled the following Pro/Con list for UMass Dartmouth, University of New Orleans, and Loyola University New Orleans.</p>

<p>I'm also not sure how the job market is for students/graduates in New Orleans in this field, as I've only lived there for a few months at a time sporadically and have never been fortunate enough to speak to a professor on a campus tour (though hopefully I will soon), but the opportunities seem to be running very high for UMass Dartmouth grads.</p>

<p>UMass Dartmouth
+ Top 50 in the country for my major
+ Can double in Digital Design & Art Education
+ 2.5 hours away from home makes for less of a hassle on vacations
+ Job security due to Boston and Providence
- Total cost of $80,000
- - (Yep, that's a double con) Really don't want to stay in MA and I feel as if this would trap me.</p>

<p>Loyola University New Orleans
+ Excellent college, didn't expect to be accepted
+ Can also double major here
+ Favorite campus of all 3, & only 4 blocks from my sister's apartment
- Total cost of ... $200,000 (haven't received scholarships or aid and won't see the results till Feb)
- Not sure how a Jesuit university will be for a liberal, gay, atheist man (when should I start devil worshipping?)</p>

<p>University of New Orleans
+ + Offered amazing scholarship bringing total cost to $45,000
+ Best housing by far of all 3
- Not sure how highly local employers value UNO grads but most likely lower than Loyola
- State school, funding looked to be lacking around campus
- Does not have art education as a possibility, would have to do a non-traditional teacher certification program after I graduate</p>

<p>I've been weighing the tuition cost very highly seeing as I've been working full-time since the age of 14, I understand that I won't always be making $9/hour but I'm also terrified because I know the value of a dollar, namely that $200,000 is a lot of dollars. I'm the first of my family to attend college, so they haven't really been able to help much (besides tell me not to worry–which instantly did me absolute wonders). I'd really appreciate any help, advice, or suggestions from whoever reads this post. Thank you very much!</p>

2

<p>UNO really isn’t a good university.
Did you apply for merit scholarship at Loyola? Have you received your financial aid package? It’s clearly a better school but it sounds like it’ll be unaffordable since you’re unlikely to have that much money saved in the bank (you could buy a HOUSE, no mortgage, with that!) As a freshman you’ll only be allowed to borrow $5,500. So contact Loyola and see when your financial aid package is arriving.
I suppose Tulane was out of range.
Did you apply to UMass Lowell in addition to UMassDartmouth? Could you apply to another MA school? If you’re lower income, there may be a good scholarship for you at 100% need schools.
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)
This is a list of schools still accepting applications:

[List</a> of Late Deadline Schools- Locate Colleges with Late Application Deadlines at Petersons.com](<a href=“College Search | College Finder | Colleges by Major & Location”>College Search | College Finder | Colleges by Major & Location)
I don’t know whether Clark or Hampshire are still accepting applications since they probably would match your preferences for “vibe”.</p>

3

<p>What makes you say UNO isn’t good? just curious.</p>

<p>Also, yes I’ve been accepted into every UMass but I’d only be interested in Dartmouth, the rest were fallbacks. Tulane deferred me to regular decision date. </p>

<p>And about the merit scholarships, are they not automatic? I wasn’t under the impression that they were, so I haven’t applied to any through Loyola or UMD. I also received the estimated $35,000 a year in total after aid (so -$15,000) which still wouldn’t help me all that much, seeing as I doubt Ill be able to work full time in college like I have been. I don’t think I’d qualify as low income but my parents were on disability and workman’s comp, if that matters.</p>

4

<p>Anything 60k and below qualifies as lower income at some schools. Unfortunately many schools that offer excellent financial aid packages are off the table due to deadlines, but check out the lists above.</p>

<p>Some merit scholarships are automatic, others require an application, it depends.</p>

<p>Excellent for Tulane - I suppose then that you’re waiting for results from there and are asking about the 3 choices simply in case you didn’t get in or couldn’t afford it?</p>

<p>UNO lacks funding and only 10% students graduate in 4 years… That’s really abysmal.</p>

<p>Perhaps, wait till you have all admissions and financial aid awards in hand, and can compare?</p>

5

<p>Things will sort themselves out after you receive the final financial aid numbers. Loyola would clearly seem to be the best choice for you if the $ work out. Given the economy, no one is recommending that students incur suffocating debt for a degree.
As far as Loyola being a Jesuit school, they don’t bash you across the head with it. Plus, remember that it has a wonderful music department. Being liberal and gay is clearly not an issue there!</p>

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<p>I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to address the post about UNO not being a very good university for anyone who comes across it in a search. </p>

<p>Is UNO as academically rigorous OVERALL as Loyola? Probably not, and the campus is not as beautiful or traditional. However, it is a national Tier 2 university (so not unranked). It’s very highly regarded for naval architecture and marine engineering, has a top 30 film program, and ranks in the national top 20 for least financial burden. </p>

<p>UNO also costs about $30,000 yearly sticker price for OOS vs $50,000 for Loyola. If you get the usual top scholarship (not the full ride or near-full ride) at Loyola, it goes down to $30,000 per year, so $120,000 total cost vs the $45,000 total cost for UNO. That’s a HUGE difference! A definite consideration for most of us, and it puts the student in the city they want to be in. </p>

<p>I don’t know UNO’s rep for art, design, etc, but one should always research the specific program they are looking at, not just the overall rep of the school. </p>