<p>So, I am currently a Junior in high school, I live in a small city in the mid west, and I really really really want to go to a bigger city on the East for college..My top 3 schools at the moment are NYU, BU, and Drexel University. I think my chances of getting into these schools are pretty good because my ACT is a 30 (and I plan on getting it up to a 33), my GPA is in the 3.7-3.8 range (unweighted), and I'm enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Program. I am also planning on taking the SAT subject tests for Math II and Physics.</p>
<p>However, after doing some research on paying for college, I am starting to realize that it is going to be extremely impractical to attend a school that costs $30,000+ a year. My family makes between $150,000-200,000 a year, but they refuse to pay for my schooling, especially if I choose to go to a more expensive university. With that said, I have basically eliminated BU and NYU off of my list because they don't offer very many students merit-based financial aid, and because of my family's income, there is no way that I am going to be eligible for need-based financial aid. </p>
<p>So, basically, my two options are now: Go to Drexel University and still rack up a lot of student loans OR Go to college in state for undergrad school. I haven't completely ruled out Drexel yet because my chances of receiving merit-based financial aid are decent. Plus, they have an incredible co-op program and their science/engineering/math department is great. Unfortunately, it still will cost a fortune to go, even if I get some scholarships. So should I just suck it up and go to school in state for now? Would it be completely impractical to go to Drexel? Are there other ways to get scholarships that would help cover most my expenses? If I can't get scholarships, would going there be worth the hassle of paying off student loans for the rest of my life?</p>
<p>I know this was long winded, and I apologize! I hope I get some useful insight :)</p>
<p>I’d strongly encourage you to find a number of options, including some that are true financial safeties. To be a financial safety, it has to be:
A school which you will WILLINGLY attend
A school which your family can afford, either because it is inexpensive, or because your stats guarantee you a significant merit scholarship that brings the school into range for your family, or because your state offers certain guaranteed scholarships that you know you’re eligible for. </p>
<p>To figure out #2, you’ll first need to have a solid conversation with your parents to make sure you all understand how much they’re willing to contribute to college each year – that’s critical. </p>
<p>There’s a big difference between an ACT of 30 and and ACT of 33. Working really hard to up that score this spring will maximize your options. If you go to the College Search and Selection subforum and put in some information about your statistics and interests (engineering? liberal arts? Japanese?) and any geographic and financial constraints, you might get some good suggestions that you haven’t yet considered.</p>
<p>My S was offered half tuition scholarship at Drexel with a 31 ACT. If you enroll in the 3 co-op option, you can earn significant money your last couple of years. I paid my way through engineering in the 80’s by co-oping, scholarships, and loans. Granted, tuition was a lot less then, but so were salaries. I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but see what Drexel offers you and investigate the co-op carefully. It is free to apply there online.</p>
<p>Tuition, room and board at Drexel is over $46K a year. Add books, personal expenses and travel from the midwest and it would probably be close to $50K/ year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply, just making sure you’re aware that it is significantly more than $30K. </p>
<p>I suggest that you start a thread in the Parents Forum. Tell them what you’re looking for in a school (urban, eastern), what you might study, your stats and that you will need merit aid. They will be able to suggest other schools you might be interested in and where you would likely be awarded a merit scholarship. Then you can research them, add to your list and then compare costs and benefits of multiple schools.</p>
<p>Drexel is a very good school. My nephew attends it and loves it. My son applied and was accepted, but Drexel’s fin aid/merit package was the lowest package he received, with a significant gap, and huge parent loans. Our local HS had its #3 student apply, receive a similar fin aid /merit package. Your stats are better than my son’s. Work on upping your test scores to improve your chances everywhere. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, most people will realize that as far as the loans required to attend Drexel are high. Many people like yourself want to attend college in a large, east coast city but many may not be able to attend colleges like Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Georgetown, or Penn. The other alternative is the high cost, high debt, prestige colleges that are easy to get into like NYU, Northeastern, Drexel, or George Washington. Temple is also in Philadelphia which is much more affordable even paying out of state tuition than Drexel. If you get into Penn your parents would probably contribute their expected contribution just for bragging rights alone. Why don’t you just try Penn, Columbia, or Georgetown and if you don’t get in find a college in the Midwest where they are much more affordable? What about colleges like Northwestern and University of Chicago? They are far better than Drexel.</p>
<p>Pull your grade up and improve your SAT/ACT you may be good merit scholarship. They have a good coop program. With scholarship, earning from coop and loan, it doable. Have you considered Case Western in Cleavland, OH? They are also very generous in scholarship. Son has almost full tuition scholarship for both Drexel & Case.</p>
<p>One thing to be careful of with Drexel is that you pay tuition and fees for 5 years if you do the 5-year co-op. Every other 5-year co-op I know of you still only pay for 4 years worth of tuition (paying for just the semesters/quarters you are in school, which works out to 4 years worth of semesters or quarters). Also if you have a scholarship that is a % of tuition, note that Drexel has higher fees than many peer schools. That said, Drexel gives some great merit scholarships. And you will make money on your co-op terms (especially if you live somewhere that you could get a job within commuting distance from home).</p>