<p>Thanks for the advice everyone! My parents isn't paying for me to go to ANY college. They think that once I become a doctor, I can pay for the loans myself. </p>
<p>interesteddad, I must admit I really liked Emory last semester. I applied ED because my parents kept nagging me about it and had me visit Emory like 121012120230 times in the summer. It came to the point that I really wanted to go there. After I was rejected ED, I moved on and fell in love with other schools: Duke, Vandy, Mercer... but anyways, I just like Mercer. No boyfriend, nothing. Can't a girl like a school? </p>
<p>I was waitlisted from Oxford but hey, I was already attached to Mercer. When I found out that Oxford accepted me, I was in horror. My parents were estatic. Their dream of having me graduate from Emory is coming true. </p>
<p>I got my finaid package from Oxford today and they are paying for everything except for the $2,000 work study. In other words, no loans. If I went to Mercer, I would have to pay $10k/yr. in loans.</p>
<p>So I'm going to Oxford. Am I happy? No, I'm not. But I'm going to look at the bright side and tell myself that hey, at least I won't be in debt after I graduate. And that's one of the most important things. I'll also go after my dream and major in CS (I'll give the premed track a try) and I'll be the adult that I am and talk to my parents about what I plan to do in the future............... after summer.</p>
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I got my finaid package from Oxford today and they are paying for everything except for the $2,000 work study. In other words, no loans. If I went to Mercer, I would have to pay $10k/yr. in loans.
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<p>I can see why your parents sent the deposit! You would have to be nuts to take on $50,000 in loans to go to Mercer versus a free-ride at Oxford/Emory!</p>
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I'm going to Oxford. Am I happy? No, I'm not.
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<p>You are tough to please! A free 4-year education ending up with a degree at one of the country's nicest and most prestigious universities. FREE! NO DEBT! Wow. That's Christmas and your birthday all wrapped up with a big ol' red bow. That's fantastic! </p>
<p>You should drive over to Emory this weekend, stroll around taking in the dogwoods and the azaleas, get a cup of coffee at the John Portman designed student center and get happy!</p>
<p>I'm so happy for you! A wonderful opportunity awaits! I hope you will embrace it, and that you will eventually feel better about things. The very best of luck to you :)</p>
<p>Congratulations and best of luck Mika. I understand that you like Mercer better but, given the costs and the fact that your parents are not going to pay anything, a full ride with a guaranteed transfer to Emory in a couple of years is a great deal. Not having to repay that $50,000 loan (or maybe more depending on how much the increase in cost outstrips the increase in aid) counterbalances a whole lot of "like". The silver lining is that you will be able to major in whatever you want since your parents will not be able to threaten to remove the financial support that they are not providing.</p>
<p>Mika, I know you are disappointed, but your attitude is great. I -- and most of the other parents here -- predict that a year from now you will be SO HAPPY that you took this deal rather than borrowing to go to Mercer. We all wish you the best.</p>
<p>Re trying premed: I wouldn't do that. It's a ton of work, and a ton of competitiveness, and hard enough on people who really, really want to do it. The majority of them wind up abandoning it. Don't use up your time and energy on something that isn't meaningful to you just to avoid having an unpleasant discussion with your parents. You only have four years in college -- it seems like a lot, now, but it won't later -- and being a premed will eat up about half of your time the first three years (if you are trying to put yourself on a track to go to med school straight from college). If you know that's not what you want to do, it's a colossal misuse of your time -- you don't need three full years of introductory-level lab science courses to get a grounding in science, and you may have other math you want to take than straight calculus.</p>
<p>If you change your mind, there are lots of ways to get back on the pre-med track.</p>
<p>Mika, thank you for the update! I've been thinking about this all day.
Honestly, when I looked at the Oxford/Emory website, it looked like a great program.
I hope that you will be happy...you sound like a smart and determined person, and those qualities will serve you well in college.</p>
<p>Thanks for your update. You will find that many students end up at their nonfavorite school for many reasons, make the most of it and enjoy going to college. Do not let premed courses interfere with your desired courses this fall, only take any if they fulfill other requirements or you want to. Many parents have the dream of "my child, the doctor" without knowing how many other good jobs there are, and they often don't know any of the realities of attempting to be one. Our son will be halfway through his undergrad career this spring and we physician parents know there is no way he will meet the medical school prereqs, and since he has never shown any interest in anything medical that is good (when asked we have told people around here that he is too smart to become a physician).</p>
<p>Thank you for the kind words and advice. I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush and take premed courses just to make my parents happy. It would make sense to take classes that I'm highly interested in and that would make me happy in the end. If I'm happy, I'm likely to do better. </p>
<p>It seems like Oxford doesn't offer many CS courses though. Actually, they only offer 2 intro courses and 1 math based CS course:</p>
<p>I just clicked on your link and see they also have "Directed Study" in CS. That could be anything -- an independent project or inquiry -- that you'd work out with a professor, arranging to meet perhsaps once weekly or biweekly to review your progress. What an exciting opportunity!</p>
<p>This is your opportunity to try all kinds of classes. Try an art class, a Lit class, a new language, anthropology, poli sci--anything that might be interesting. You never know where your interests might take you.</p>
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It seems like Oxford doesn't offer many CS courses though. Actually, they only offer 2 intro courses and 1 math based CS course:
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<p>You are only going to be there for 4 semesters and it looks like you probably have to take 3 semesters of math to get started on the CS major.</p>
<p>In the total of 16 courses you'll take in two years at Oxford, you'll also be nailing down all the required courses in the various divisions: Economics, maybe some History, some English, maybe art history, maybe psych, maybe a languague....whatever floats your boat. Trust me, the hard part will be chopping the list DOWN to 16 courses.</p>
<p>Yeah, you will need to take multivariable calc and linear algebra for a CS major. Physics classes often count as a "Related field" or concentration electives if they aren't actually required. So count those as major classes you can take at Oxford, too.</p>
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Yeah, you will need to take multivariable calc and linear algebra for a CS major.
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<p>Yep. That means two semesters of calc freshman year and linear algebra fall of sophmore year. Add the three semesters of intro-track CS and we've already filled 6 of the 16 available slots, leaving just 10 more courses over four semesters to cover all the other fun stuff.</p>