<p>I know these schools are not of the same caliber, but Truman has offered me a full ride plus 4k for study abroad. At NU I'd be paying over 30k/yr. </p>
<p>My major is undecided so I'm reluctant to pay that much money when I don't know what I want to do and I'd feel more comfortable exporing different subjects if I knew I wasn't paying thousands for each class. However I'm considering engineering and truman only has pre-engineering or a 3+2 dual degree program. </p>
<p>At the same time I am in love with northwestern and have worked my butt off to get there. Part of me feels like I'd be selling myself short to settle for Truman (although it is an excellent school, if not top tier).</p>
<p>So I guess it comes down to the question of whether I follow my heart or my wallet. Any advice?</p>
<p>I have never even heard of Truman State. Where the hell is that even?</p>
<p>All of my friends who’ve “settled” for the cheap state schools have been sorely disappointed unless the school was the state flagship.</p>
<p>But I’d decide based on which you like better. Can you visit them both? I highly recommend you make it out to the admitted students weekend at both and decide based on that.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat, just different schools. Cornell (probably paying about 30k/yr), or U of New Mexico, where I can go absolutely free. If you want to be an engineer, I’d suggest NU, but if you’re going to go to grad school, it’ll be a tougher choice. It’s hard for me because I’m going to either med or grad school, and so it comes down to do I want to pay 30k/yr for a fantastic school that I’d absolutely love to be at,or do I take the free ride, even if I won’t love it? </p>
<p>Personally, I think I’ll be taking the debt. When you’re 70 years old, or heck, even 30, will you look back and regret not going to NU or Cornell, or whatever it is for whoever, just to save the money? </p>
<p>The way I see it, you only get to do undergrad once. Do it right. If you can afford it (even if it’s a little tough and means some debt), then I think you should go for the gold. However, if it’s going be nearly impossible to pay it all back in any reasonable amount of time,and you just can’t afford it, then it’s probably better to take the free ride.</p>
<p>It’s a question you have to ask yourself- are you willing to take the debt (if your parents won’t) to go where you’re dying to go?</p>
<p>arbiter -Truman state is a missouri state school. and I’ve visited them both. NU’s campus definitely wins (truman is out in the middle of nowhere, but I think I could survive there if I had to)</p>
<p>zfanatic -I’m inclined to agree with you. I guess what I’m really scared about is if I do decide to go with Northwestern and for some reason I end up not liking it and in piles of debt when I could have at least gone for free at truman. but at the same time, I know you can’t live by “what ifs”. </p>
<p>Thanks for your input :)</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation, too. I could go to University of Tulsa for free, or pay ~20k/year at NU… it’s a tough choice, and I’m still not sure what I’m gong to do.</p>
<p>ilak, you always have the option of transferring out, but I’m guessing you’ll lose your scholarship if you do that. You also have the option of trying to transfer into NU after a year if you’re unhappy at Truman. Our transfer rates are pretty reasonable at ~30%. Just keep up your HS grades and get at least a 3.7 at Truman. Going through the admissions process twice could be a pain though.</p>
<p>One of my brothers goes to Truman, the other Northwestern. You can’t go wrong either way- Truman is still a great school and very cheap (and honestly, there’s plenty to do on campus. It’s not that bad). Northwestern does have the reputation. Good luck deciding!</p>
<p>Hmm. Missouri eh?</p>
<p>I’d probably say go to NU, from the tone of your posts.</p>
<p>Go to NU!! It has a good reputation for a reason. At NU you’ll meet better professors and brighter peers, which will all contribute to your experience. Besides, you worked so hard to be accepted, your regret will double if you didn’t enjoy Truman (which will probably happen since you seem to prefer NU over Truman).</p>
<p>You can always pay back the debt, but you can’t get back those 4 precious years of college. When you graduate from a famous school like Northwestern you’ll be one step ahead than the Truman graduates, even if it is just because of the reputation. As long as you did well at NU, you’ll get a job with decent salaries and eventually pay back the debts.</p>