<p>I'm posting this here because I can't get an answer worth a damn out of anybody I know personally - and I know that most of you here will probably have spent quite a bit of time dealing with issues just like this.</p>
<p>Here's my situation: I am a four year university graduate with about a year of full-time work experience under my belt. Sometime in the preceding months I decided to change careers while I'm still young and still unattached. Naturally, the career in question (energy industry) will require extensive schooling well beyond what I currently have to my name. My only recourse is to earn a second bachelor's degree in engineering or the sciences. Fair enough.</p>
<p>I applied to three different programs at four schools: three OOS, and my original undergraduate school. Because I applied late, my admissions materials did not reach two of the OOS schools by the stated deadlines, so my applications there were pushed to Spring 09 consideration. I was accepted at the third OOS (CU Boulder-Geology/Physics) and the original school (FSU-Physics). Most of the objective evidence I've seen indicates that the large research-oriented schools are the way to go considering my career goals. I'll certainly consider Stanford/MIT et al when I begin searching for grad opportunities, but that's a couple years away yet. I will seek residency in the state I ultimately choose, so I should have resident tuition for my second year. Nevertheless, first year tuition at any OOS school is a tough pill to swallow.</p>
<p>Note that I had a bad freshman year at FSU. I was a dumb kid and put little thought or effort into my future, and so I ended up under performing in just about every respect possible. I turned things around, and my upper division GPA was solid (~3.8) but the damage done during that freshman year left me with a mediocre 3.0 cumulative. I also had an exceptional GRE score, for what it's worth. As I see it, attending a different school gives my resume some diversity and will mitigate that little GPA problem (since I will, without question, earn a top notch GPA wherever I go at this point).</p>
<p>I have three basic options:
1.) Return to FSU for my second bachelors and then begin evaluating graduate school options. Cheap enough that I can finish out without taking on much, if any, debt.
2.) Attend CU Boulder this fall. Will cost me 65k to attend (even with resident tuition second year), less cash on hand. Financial aid is not forthcoming for year 1 (my income was apparently too high).
3.) Defer my admission to both schools to Spring to see if I am accepted at the other two schools (not appealing simply because I am thoroughly miserable in my current career and waiting yet another three-four months to get this underway could drive me into an asylum). One of the deferred programs that I applied to is a petroleum/nuclear engineering program; a masters would not be immediately required for quality employment so I would be more willing to tolerate significant debt under those circumstances.</p>
<p>Let me make one thing clear: I'm an adult. I already have one degree. At this point, I don't care about the "college experience" (though a pleasant campus and surrounding environs are always a plus) or clubs or sports or fraternities or anything else. I'm seeking an education and an education alone with singular determination.</p>
<p>Can I justify a ~50k debt load at CU Boulder - the program there is undoubtedly superior, but is a second undergraduate degree worth that sort of investment (I'm particularly concerned about grad school opportunities)? Is the "fresh start" worth it? Or, seeing that I intend to pursue a masters regardless, is my time and money better spent at FSU with a lesser known program where I can earn the required credits for graduate study without mortgaging my future (though at the risk of damaging my grad school prospects thanks to a mediocre cumulative there)? Any input at this point would help - I'm under tremendous pressure to make a decision ASAP.</p>