I am from Indiana and I got accepted to the big two state schoolsin Indiana, IU-Bloomington and Purdue-West Lafayette. I will be paying in state obviously. I got into Purdue as a liberal arts major and got into IU-B as public health major specifically in nutrition.
However, I have always wanted to go to a college in California since I plan on living in LA after I finish college. I’ve really hated living in the mid-west my entire life. I got accepted to the University of the Pacific which is a private school as a Chinese Studies major(which is in the liberal arts school). However, Purdue and IU-B are a lot higher ranked than University of the Pacific and I want to go the best school I can get into. It’s weird though, since the University of the Pacific has a much lower acceptance rate and is harder to get into.
Other colleges I got accepted are Butler, Ball State, Seattle Pacific University,and Allegheny College. Likely won’t be attending any of these though. I also applied to Chapman, Nazareth College and Loyola Marmount University but still waiting for a decision.
Do you have an eventual career goal in mind? Will you need to take out loans to attend Pacific? What kind of atmosphere are you looking for in a college (size, etc.)?
Not sure right now but I am thinking of maybe doing something health related(not a doctor). Maybe a physical therapist or nutritionist. I wish I had applied to Purdue or University of the Pacific as a health major now but I guess I will just change majors(if I can).
I probably will have to take out loans if I attend Pacific since it’s 50K and they only gave me a 12k scholarship per semester. Still waiting for my financial aid award.
UoP is in Stockton in the Central Valley. If you are expecting something like the areas around San Francisco or Los Angeles, it may not be what you are expecting. Also, given your interest in Chinese studies, note that Stockton has few people of Chinese ethnicity (1.8%; the 21.5% Asian population there is mostly Filipino and various southeast Asian ethnicities).
If you want to change majors, search for “[school name] change major [new major]” to see if there are administrative or capacity limitations on doing so.
If you will need to take more loans than the federal direct loans to attend a given school, it is unlikely to be a good choice. Loans beyond the federal direct loans generally need to have a cosigner, or be taken out by parents, neither of which is a good idea in most cases.
But I want to live in California after I finish college. Isn’t easier to get a job if you graduate from a college in the same state or close to the state(unless it’s an ivy or top school)? I don’t want to live in the mid-west anymore.
Yes, it can help to be local, although Stockton is quite far from the parts of California that most people want to move to, so it would not be that local to where you probably want to find a job at. Of course, a heavy debt burden will severely restrict your career and other life choices. Also, if one of the other schools is substantially less expensive, the savings could more than pay for a relocation to some place in California.
What is the price difference between the various schools? (If you do not have actual financial aid offers, what do their net price calculators say?)
University of the Pacific is a great school with a gorgeous campus, but given what you’ve written here it doesn’t sound like there’s a compelling reason to attend. If you do pursue something in the health field you may be looking at a Master’s degree, and you’ll want to take that into financial consideration. Perhaps consider doing your undergrad at in-state student rates in Indiana and come to California for grad school.
Stockton does not have a good reputation. That school doesn’t either. You happen to live in a state with great public universities. Why not attend in state and then move to California with degree in hand? Seems a whole lot better than going to school in Stockton!
Butler and Allegheny are terrific colleges, which offer a quality of education at least on par with IU. (Purdue wouldnt be the best choice for your major and it’s very hard to switch). Look into them more.
What’s your budget ?
Can you list, for each college, the following:
(tuition, fees, room, board ) - ( grants, scholarships ) =
As soon as you receive your packages ?
Yea I’ll just make a new thread once I get a decision from the rest of the colleges I applied to and the financial stuff. I applied to 3 other Californian colleges, USF, Chapman, and LMU. Should get into the former two with no problem, plus there all in great cities unlike Stockton. Are any of these 3 colleges worth it if I do get in?
Since grad school looks like it is in your future, a public U in Indiana probably is the best place for your undergrad degree. You can go to grad school in the part of the country where you want to start your career.
Really, you have to go to grad school to be a nutritionist? They make less than 60k a year… I think I might reconsider, plus I really don’t want to go to grad school in the first place. I just want to go to undergrad and be done.
Again, it depends on the cost. So, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that not only will you get in but you will also get sufficient financial aid (Chapman and LMU don’t meet need, and USF on top of it is known for being really, really lousy with financial aid.) So it’ll really depend on your financial aid package.
Have you run the NPCs? If you do that today, now, you’ll have an idea of costs for each.
My understanding is that you can become a Registered Dietitian with a bachelor’s degree in many states. But to be a physical therapist, which you mentioned above, you would definitely need to attend grad school. You may want to do some exploration of the fields that interest you to find out which occupations and locations will fit your desire to find employment with a BA/BS degree.
Okay, I ran the NPC using my parent’s 2014 tax forms since 2015 isn’t done yet.
For UoP:
ESTIMATED NET PRICE: 41,468
(Does not include the scholarship UoP gave me which was a 6,000 scholarship per year that is worth 24k in 4 years)
Estimated Total Self Help: 41,450
IUB:
ESTIMATED NET PRICE: 23,073
Estimated Total Self Help: 7,000
Purdue:
ESTIMATED NET PRICE: 16,767
Estimated Total Self Help: 16,767
My state schools are more expensive than I thought… I remember going to a campus tour of Purdue a couple days ago and they said something about how you have to apply by November to be considered for full scholarships and merit. I applied to both schools on Feb 1 which was the last day you can apply.
“self help” is a euphemism for federal loans, a summer job/student contribution, and work study. It looks like UoP also packaged PLUS loans for your parents, which is extremely misleading.
What’s your parents’ budget?
Do you currently have a job?
Your current costs are 35K vs. 23K vs. 17K, roughly - unless your parents can pay 35K out of pocket (from savings and income, NOT from loans), you have to cross out UoP for now.
Can you run the NPCs for Allegheny, Butler, LMU, Chapman to see if they’re even in the picture?
No I don’t have a job. I am an only child so my parent’s budget for my college is more flexible. When it asks for how much my parents have in cash, savings, and checking accounts I put down 60k but my parents own a business which has a different account and has 150k in it. Was I suppose to include that too?
Anyways, I don’t think I would need to borrow that much money. If I sell the new car my parents brought me which was paid in full already(spoiled I know) I should be able to afford 35k for 4 years. Though if I go to grad school I’m not sure.