PSU, SHU, or Fordham?

College Search & Selection
1

Penn State University Park, Seton Hall University, or Fordham University?
I am currently undecided on my career choice or intended major.

Okay this is going to be long, here’s the summary:
Can’t decide between PSU, SHU, or Fordham. Seton and Fordham are close, PSU is far. Friends are doing to SHU and its the cheapest by 10k. Family loves the idea of PSU. PSU was my first choice before I put everything into perspective. Can’t decide, any advice or shared experiences of each would be great!

Here we go…
I’m torn between the three right now. SHU is the cheapest by quite a bit, currently approx. 30k a year but waiting on more financial aid. PSU is like 40k a year and so it Fordham. I’m fairly interested in ROTC (not to simply pay for college, although that would be a bonus, I’m fairly interested). I am not rich, I don’t want dept to destroy me.

SHU is the closest and numerous of my close friends are going there. Could be fun, although I feel like the experience of college at the other schools may be better. Also, not sure how true this is, I’ve read that college name matters which is also affecting my decision making. PSU and Fordham both are bigger names from what I’ve seen, could be very wrong though. Fordham is like 45 minutes away and PSU is like nearly 4 hours away.

My family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, seemed excited at the thought of me going to PSU (I have a second-cousin there). Part of me would hate to disappoint. I know that may sound stupid, but it was my number 1 choice before I took everything into account, now its like 33% for each of the choices lol.

If I went to Seton I could move in with the squad (2 really close friends are going, not sure if there are 3 person dorms for freshmen but there is always next year). PSU seems to be the coolest choice as I love the campus, the college experience sounds great, and it’s a completely new experience. Fordham isn’t TOO far, it’s the same price as PSU after grants, etc, and I’m visiting again next week. I’m trying to get on top of this as May 1st is quickly approaching.

Thanks for any advice in comparing these schools. If any of you go to them, or know someone who does, any experiences would be great. I have a lot of respect for all of the schools, I like all of their campuses, but since I don’t know what I want to do when I get older, it’s a tough decision.

2

If you go to PSU or Fordham, where will the extra 10k come from?

3

That’s what I’m not too sure about. My parents currently pay 11k a year for my high school. They mentioned being about to pay about the same a year for my college. Still though, that drags SHU down another 11k. The extra spent on PSU or Fordham would simply be whether or not the education there is more worth it I guess.

4

Can you explain to us how you’re going to fund your college?
If I understand you, your parents would only pay 11K. You can work from now (part-time) until summer, then full time during the summer, and make about 4K. Add 3K in work during the year (1.5K each semester). 5.5K in federal loans. This is your MAXIMUM budget:23.5K. Right now, no college is affordable.
How are you going to pay for any of these colleges?

I agree PSU and Fordham are vastly stronger academically than Seton Hall. And if you’re thinking of Seton Hall as a sort of continuation of high school, it’s not a good sign. While either PSU or Fordham’s education is “better”, it’s not worth going into massive amounts of debt (which your parents would have to take for you since, as a freshman, you can “only” take 5.5K.)

5

Seton Hall honestly isn’t at all good compared to the other two. Penn State is the best choice here if you can afford it

6

Seton Hall is nowhere near Fordham or PSU, academically.

But NONE of these schools sound affordable. Where would you get the extra money?

7

Ok I am revisiting this as it is my last day. I put my deposit in for penn state over a month ago because I heard the housing was first come first serve. I would HAVE to take out loans to pay off college no matter what. Penn State and Seton are the only two choices I am left considering. I am heavily leaning towards PSU but is the financial burden worth it? Decisions decisions… :confused:

8

But how much in loans? If it’s more than 5.5k freshman year, you’ll have to cosign with your parents (unless a school offered you Perkins loans). Cosigning is usually a bad idea.

If you go to a PSU, and we assume you can use work earnings + Stafford loans to bring it to 23.5k, that will still leave 16.5k in freshman year PLUS loans, and 22k total for your first year alone. It will be 88k over four years - definitely too high. At SHU, it will still cost 48k, which is IMO also unaffordable.

9

Ugh idk what to do. I know plenty of people that will be paying off loans. I plan on pursuing a well-paying career (hopefully) but I am not sure which yet. Is paying off the loans that bad? I’m the type of guy that would pay as much as possible over the following years to rid myself of it, I dont like things like that hanging over me. I also want a good education. I also read online that name matters. I feel like if that is true then PSU would give me more opportunities. I’m stressing a little over here

10

Were you accepted at any public university in New Jersey (assuming it is in-state for you)? I wouldn’t spend $33K/yr for Seton Hall University. Without knowing your major, it is very difficult to dispense advice regarding school choices.

11

Can you answer: how much much in loans, per year, for you? For your parents?

12

21k a year in loans for seton and 39k a year for psu. Big difference yet a big difference in schools. I can’t really go by whatever my parents say because I sense they want me to stay close (Seton Hall). Not sure if that answers your questions, hopefully it did though! thanks btw, this is a very important decision obviously

13

Neither is affordable. You have to take a gap year.
You really need to stick to 30K FOR FOUR YEARS, starting with 5.5K for freshman year.

14

Agreed with the above, those are definitely not affordable.
What are your GPA and SAT/ACT?

15

On Friday there’ll be a list of colleges that miscalculated yield and thus still have a few places and, often, financial aid.

16

My gpa is like a 3.3 but I had a rough freshman year, the last two years have been around a 3.5. My SAT was a 1760 superscored and 1730 not.

Since these are all not affordable, what is my best option to make them more affordable? Apply for more grants or something? I dont want to be in a lot of financial trouble in the future

17

There aren’t any more grants. You have to turn them both down, and apply to new colleges from the NACAC list on Friday. Fortunately your stats are decent, you should get a few more affordable offers as long as you are open-minded with geography /distance from home.

18

I think that you should take a gap year and reapply to some in-state publics. My most expensive school was $35K & I didn’t choose it because it was too expensive.

Are you in New Jersey?
What is your GPA & SAT Scores?
Here are good NJ Publics to apply to.

Tier 1-RU/TCNJ
Tier 2-NJIT(STEM)
Tier 2.5-Ramapo/Rowan/RU-C/RU-N

I think that Rutgers New Brunswick is a good option for you. It’s similar to Penn State(although PSU is better) & you’ll probably get in for spring or fall. Also in the meantime you can get a job and work for extra money.

19

There is none. If your max budget is ~$20k ($11k from parents + $5500 federal student loan + $3k summer work earnings), you can’t afford a college that costs $30-40k. If you have to borrow more than the federal student loan, it’s too much. It doesn’t matter how much your aunts, uncles, and other relatives love the college unless they’re writing checks to cover your tuition.

There aren’t any schools you can commute to from home? If not, check the NACAC list that comes out later this week or take a gap year and apply to more affordable schools. Don’t ask your parents to cosign those kinds of loans.

20

Can you commute to one of the closer schools and save $10k ish each year?