Oh snap...one of the biggest decisions I'll ever make!

Applying to College
1

Hi
wellll…my parents have absolutely refused to contribute to Any of my college expenses! sigh…
my dad did sayyy that he might pay a lot(read all) of the tution LATER…but i know better than to trust him.
Here are my choices:
University of Maryland, Baltimore: Third Tier.: Full Ride
University of Maryland, College Park: rank 56, Total expenses: $12000
Cornell University, rank 14, Total expenses: $35,000

i hope u all can help me make the decision, as my parents have really no opinion on any of it. i will be taking loans, but they might probably cosign.
btw, my EFC= $34000, so theyre plenty rich.

Also, im lookin to either be an engineer or a doctor as of now…an prolly go to grad school. But for all i know, lots of stuff could happen to me in college, changin those goals.

Thanks ppl…any advice is appreciated…or jus leave a funny comment.

2

<p>wow damn i made myself sound as if im such a nice person.</p>

3

<p>yea ur filthy rich... but whats the question? go to cornell if the question was what i think it was</p>

4

<p>Go with Cornell. You can pay the loans with the money you'll save by putting your folks in the state-run old folks home.</p>

<p>(That was advice + humor)</p>

5

<p>ur parents wont pay for you? thats ridiculous. lol yeah dont pay for their retirement. and thats not a joke. if that entire cornell tuition remains on your shoulders, youll be in debt for a long time. grad school would be tough with a debt like that.</p>

6

<p>I'd go with College Park. Great school, not too bad debt.</p>

7

<p>if you are going to get into debt you might as well go for it and get debt so go for cornell.</p>

8

<p>I'm in a similar position. My dad who is loaded won't pay a dime, and my mom who my dad left flat broke would love to help, but like I said, is broke. Fortunately, I got a full scholarship (excluding room and board) to Concordia Irvine, because otherwise, being broke and all, I would have had to go to an inexpensive CSU.</p>

9

<p>I disagree w/liek0806 on this. I think College Park is a good school, and you wanna be able to pay for grad school. You can always go to Cornell for grad.</p>

10

<p>btnoxpunk: just wondering, what are your parents' reasons in refusing to pay? i don't understand why a parent with adequate financial ability would not want to finance their kid's education...</p>

11

<p>i dont kno........they were just like we dont wanna be any part of it.....ever since my step mom came along.</p>

12

<p>so really how much would a Cornell Degree help as compared to the other institutions?</p>

13

<p>Hey btboxpunk. I'm in the exact same situation as you. My parents are loaded but have already stated that they will not contribute a dime to my college education. If I didn't have fairly mad skills with standardized tests, I would probably end up at Hamburger University (which really exists, btw). So I know how you feel. I just wanted to assure you that it's the general consensus (even here in this Ivy League or bust environment) that what you do while in college is infinitely more important than what college you attend.</p>

<p>If I were you and weren't planning on going to graduate school, I would definitely go with Cornell. Most people drool over Ivy League names, and I'm sure that doesn't exclude a lot of employers. If you're going to graduate school, go with College Park or maybe even Baltimore. Only the last place you went to school is considered, so there is no use in going into enormous debt for a degree that nobody is going to care much about.</p>

14

<p>but couldnt this be like an opportunity of a lifetime!</p>

15

<p>Only if your acceptance into Cornell is a fluke should you be worried about the "opportunity of a lifetime". If you continue with your high academic performance, you can go to a prestigious graduate school. Or, you can go into abysmal debt for college and even more abysmal debt for graduate school. If you really think you're going to miss out and you don't cower at the thought of graduating with a load of debt, go for it. </p>

<p>Do you plan on continuing to graduate school?</p>

16

<p>I think MOST people do not drool over an Ivy name school. Some may choose not to hire you because they prsume certain stereotypes about Ivy kids. I turned down Cornell. Its a great school but Ithaca seems boring. College Park has an excellent reputation and since you will stand out you will have opportunies you might not be as successful competing for elsewhere. Don't get too caught up on rankings. Some of what it is based on is irrelevant. Where do you see yourself happy, thriving, and not overwhelmed with fears of debt? I agree you'll do fine no matter where and all the statistics support that what lola-cho just said is true.</p>

17

<p>as of now im not really sure about goin to grad school.......hmmm</p>

18

<p>Grad school at good (aka rich) schools is free anyways. Cornell definitely gives you a leg up into getting into a good program, and thus, may actually prevent you from accumulating debt in your graduate studies.</p>

19

<p>do this: you will be 18 so tell cornell you are no longer dependedt upon ur parents you are an independent student, thus what ever ur parents make will not matter and you will get some good grants etc.</p>

20

<p>why dont you write to the cornell finaid department and explain to them ur situation? im sure they will be understanding. they might review ur file.</p>