<p>I have applied to the following schools, and I am having a really difficult time on which school I should apply to at this point:</p>
<p>UCLA (Accepted)
UC Berkeley (Rejected)
USC (Accepted)
Washington University in St. Louis (Waitlisted)
Case Western (Accepted)
University of Oregon Honors (Accepted)
New York University (Pending)</p>
<p>Now, the decision I need to make is, do I spend more money and go to a better school, or spend less money and go to a worse school?
Case Western has given me a 16k scholarship, UO has given me almost a full ride. However, USC and UCLA have accepted me but mentioned no big scholarship or anything like that. MY EFC for my FAFSA seems to be fairly large (in my opinion) so I don't know what I should do. Should I burden my parents this much? EFC = 25000. </p>
<p>Too bad I didn't manipulate the FAFSA like people richer than me did. Some people have an EFC of 8000 with a much higher income.. psh</p>
<p>Plus I am really into Business, and I know for sure that USC and UCLA and NYU have very good business programs (UCLA is more bizecon tho)..</p>
<p>Are you going to grad school or a prestigious MBA program after you graduate. Some post-undergrad programs are more sensitive to where to went undergrad. Med schools consider the prestigiousness of your undergrad college as does Harvard Law School. On the other hand, it doesn't affect doctoral candidates in the sciences that much. I'm not sure about the prestigious MBA programs. At any rate, it is better to be in the top of your class at a state U than the bottom of your class at Harvard. If you aren't going to grad school, where you got your undergrad degree won't matter much after you get your first job.</p>
<p>Another consideration is how much does the money mean to you. Bill Gates would send his kid to the expensive college, but Bill Gates can afford to pay $1000 for a candy bar.</p>
<p>If you do plan on going to grad school, you may want to conserve your money. It is very hard to start out in life owing $100,000. Do you have brothers and sisters coming along behind you?</p>
<p>A lot of people would take the free ride at UO. You are the kind of person that Honors Programs and free rides at state universities are aimed at. </p>
<p>Your EFC example of $8000 is a bit extreme. The EFC is based on your parents income and their savings, and your income and your savings. Your income/savings weigh much more in the equation than money in your parent's name. You do not want money in your name or in college funds in your name. Home equity, values of cars, and credit card debt do not affect the EFC. The # of children concurrently in college affects it. You apply for FA each year and have to do a FAFSA each year.</p>
<p>ok, clark honors will help u learn more, less reputation but if u graduate honors ur solid, especaily writing a thesis.... however, usc is a great business school.... but u can buy ur way in too! ups and downs... but those are the 2 i'd say to choose between</p>
<p>The thing I'm very hesitant on however, is the mere fact that a great deal of Fortune 500 companies come to schools like Haas(ucberk) and Marshall(usc) to recruit people straight from high school, and afterwards even pay for the MBA's. I'm not exactly sure how good of a chance people have to get recruited but I'm sure it's a great deal better at USC and UCLA than at UO. </p>
<p>However, if that's not really the case, then what? argh</p>