<p>I'm over halfway through with my senior year and starting to make my final decision on where I will attend college next year. The problem is I have a free ride at a state university. A lot of my friends are going here and I know it would be fun. I could travel and it's close to home. The negative side is the school is in the middle of no where. I mean like a pasture. I've always told myself if I go there I would die.
My other option is Harvard. It's the school I've always dreamed about going to. It's in a big city and I do know people who go to other schools in Boston. I also believe it would be easier to get into graduate school (overseas) with Harvard on my resume as opposed to Podunk University. The negative side is I would graduate with a huge amount of debt and it is incredibly far away from home.
My parents have left the decision completely up to me. I know this is a problem that I will eventually have to work out on my own, but I was wondering if anybody has any advice they would like to share. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>waterfall, This is always a tough situation. In order to weigh the options we would need to know:
1. What is your state U? Public universities vary widely from state to state. Some are just as good as privates, some are not.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Did you actually get into Harvard? Congrats if you did, but don't stress yet if you're waiting for RD advice.</p></li>
<li><p>Is your family eligible for any need based financial aid? If no, will the cost of 4 years at Harvard + expenses fall on your shoulders or are your parents willing or able to absorb some?</p></li>
<li><p>Did you apply to any other private schools that might offer you merit money?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The campus environment, the distance from home and connections to graduate school are all valid concerns, but maybe not to the extent of being saddled with $200 grand in debt.</p>
<p>waterfall, you've lost credibility by recommending that the best way to handle a difficult interview question is to lie </p>
<p>Let us assume you are in H and would like to choose. Well only person who can make that decision is you since most parents will not know what will be your comfortable limit on loan? Since you have got in only thing you pay is $5200 and your parents EFC. Rest is aid. Howvere if your parents are not willing to pay EFC, then think as you have three months to decide if you would take loan. Also aply to some top 20 school like WUSTL/Duke/UChiacgo or whereever you can get merit based aid, and see if you can get merit based aid. But ultimately you have to make a call. Good luck.</p>
<p>Momrath:</p>
<p>I'm not going to name the specific state u because I am probably the only person from my state on this board. Let's just say it's somewhere in the south.</p>
<p>My family would be able to shoulder a lot of the financial aspects, but it would not be easy. </p>
<p>I applied to other private schools, but they are mostly ivies. Quite frankly public or private doesn't matter as long as I like the university. I would rather go to a great public school than a private school just because it's private.</p>
<p>celloguy:
I was being sarcastic. I hate computers because you can't tell when somebody is and isn't joking. I just assumed the people on CC (being as college minded as they are) would know I would not seriously suggest to lie on an interview as it would be an automatic rejection if the school found out. I guess I should probably go correct that though...</p>
<p>waterfall, if -- as you seem to imply -- your state school isn't academically distinguished, then I would lean toward accepting the place Harvard. There are still other mitigating factors that may not make this the best decision. E.g., It's difficult to judge what's doable for a family from a financial basis. Will sending you to Harvard place a bearable or unbearable burden on the whole family (other children included)? Really, only your parents can answer that question. </p>
<p>Secondly, you didn't actually answer the question of whether you've applied to any other schools that may offer you merit money. Ivies will not, but other privates may. An academically rigorous, but less pretigious, private is sometimes a good compromise and between a sub-par State U and a super-selective.</p>
<p>Third, does your State U have an honors program that might appeal?</p>
<p>I'm sorry to see a young person and his/her family faced with such a difficult decision, but really the time to face this kind of discussion is before you send out the applications. The cautionary tale is to make sure your safeties are schools you really want to attend and talk about finances before applying to dream schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just have to choose one and hope for the best. But on the other hand, I guess it's a good problem to have.</p>
<p>If your state school isn't distinguished, and your other choice is Harvard, you could consider:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Applying to all outside merit aid that you can find. A guy whose last name was Kaplan funded virtually all of his H education through outside merit aid. You can find plenty of his tips on websites or in his book.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to other first tier colleges that offer merit aid. A student who's good enough to get into Harvard EA is good enough to get merit aid from a variety of top colleges.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Or you can settle for your undistinguished state U.</p>
<p>Since Harvard is need-blind, your family may not qualify for much financial aid if it is determined that it can pay for your college expenses. I hope you have applied to some other schools that offer merit aid or some great state schools that are not quite as expensive as Harvard. I am a great booster of Harvard, but not if a family can ill afford it. There are other great alternatives!</p>
<p>It is definitely a good problem to have! Anyway, this is how I would look at it. Podunk state school can actually provide a good education - sometimes. Places like Univ. of Arizona, UMD, UF, USC (South Carolina) etc. schools can provide a great education that will not limit your options. Immediately they may not seem "prestigious", but the truth is, graduating with research/interships, good grades, and good MSAT/LSAT scores will not hinder your admission to a good grad school. I think that especially since you are considering grad school, you should go with your state uni. Paying full freight for Harvard and then jumping into more academia and saddling yourself with more debt is going to put you in a tough place once you get out into the real world. A lot of this is going to depend on exactly how much "a lot" of debt is. But I think students on the whole tend to marginalize how big of a problem is can be to get in over your head. My mom graduated school with debt about half that of her starting salary and had no problem paying it off - but she started with a lucrative first career and did not go to grad school. You should talk over with your parents what kind of career you are expecting (and therefore what starting salary you'll expect) as well as the cost of grad school and cost of living in wherever you plan to be after school. Of course a great compromise would be a private that is a bit more academically challenging than your state school that also offers you merit aid. If you got into Harvard, I expect that could be a real option for you.</p>