<p>Okay so far I'm between either University of Oregon, Humboldt state, portland state, and possibly UC Merced. </p>
<p>I plan on majoring on zoology if I go to humboldt and biology for the other schools. I'm having such a tough time deciding. I'm look for strong academics with a laid back atmosphere and good student life I don't really care about sports.
I live in Cali, specifically LA
Financial aid has been really tough to get. My mom makes 100,000+ but my dad is unemployed. For oregon I am only being offered loans
Portland state gave me a $6500 scholarship but I'm still waiting on the financial aid
I havnt gotten my financial aid letter from humboldt yet
Merced is offering me a $5000 loan.
With an unemployed dad and a sister who is currently a sophomore in HS and will go to college in a couple years as well there is No way we will be able to afford full tuition and I really don't want to be six figures in debt after I graduate. I have been applying to scholarships like crazy. Please give me some advice on these schools or my financial aid situation.
Thank you!</p>
<p>Although I don’t know anything about the specific schools and their programs, I’ll just offer my opinion - a major in biology probably will offer you more opportunities career-wise than a major in zoology. You can select biology courses that support your interest in zoology I would think or seek out internships. From another perspective, it is hard to overlook $6500 scholarship - that probably has to count for a lot as you make your decision. I wonder - if you save the money undergraduate, would you want to take graduate courses in zoology? Would that be a helpful route? Anyway, I do wish you the best of luck in your decision. I hope you will be able to get advice more targeted to your specific situation.</p>
<p>Thank you for the response! I’m actually so not sure about grad school just yet. I want to work with animals but I’m not sure exactly yet what I want to do, I’m going to explore my options in college and depending on my financial situation after graduation, I may or may not be interested in going to grad school.</p>
<p>What is the total cost of portland state? Its not clear what your total cost will be</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but you may want to go to community college and transfer. You dont want to go to a school that only offers loans. How much are your parents willing to contribute?</p>
<p>I was accepted to Humboldt State as a transfer student/oceanography major, and am pretty stoked about it. I took a campus tour and was amazed by all of the facilities and resources the school offers. We walked through the biology and wildlife departments and it seemed pretty legit. They have this mini-zoo where students can observe different animals. The only animals I saw though were birds. But still, at least the have something like that. If you are interested you should make the trek and visit the campus. I’m glad I did and it only solidified my choice to go there.</p>