Really confused about my upcoming decision.

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hello CC, i don't know if this is the right place for this topic, so if its not I will just ask a moderator to move it.</p>

<p>So here is my conundrum, i applied to many schools this year and I really wanted to go to University of Florida, however i did not get excepted (despite the fact that people with lower gpa's and test scores got in). this really upset me because it was the perfect school for me because it was a relatively inexpensive school, and it has a great computer science program. so now i have two options for schools that i have to choose between. They are the University of Southern California, and Florida state University. And i really need some advice on which school to pick. I have been offered 2100$ in grants and scholarships per semester at FSU, got into their honors college and i have recieved the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, which would bring the cost of college at FSU to 8000$ per year, which is great. I have also gotten in USC's Viterbi engineering school, which i did not expect to actually get into, however I got into the school for the spring semester, not fall, due to a lack of space in the school. With financial aid the first year of school at USC will cost me about 20,000-30,000$, however in the rest of the school years i will only have to pay 8000$ (around there) because my parents are going to be seperated after this summer, and only my mother can help me pay for college (she makes around 60,000 a year as a nurse), this leads to me paying about 45,000 to 60,000 dollars for my 4 years of college at USC. </p>

<p>here is the problem however, there is no way my family can come up with any type of money during this time due to our bills and our financial situation will be even worse after they separate. my mom will barely be able to pay for her house and the monthly bills with her salary. This means that i am going to have to get a job (which i would have done anyways), but this wont come close to making a dent in the cost of attending USC or FSU. This means that no matter what university i go to, i will probably have to take loans out to pay for most of the tuition and fees. </p>

<p>I would like to go to USC much more than FSU, however i don't want to be in a financial crisis after i graduate from college. Therefore, while my heart says go to USC, my brain is saying going to FSU. I planned on going to graduate school afterwards, but if i went to USC, i wouldn't want to pile on more debt to the potentially already large debt i would have accumulated during the undergraduate years, therefore i would have to go straight into the workforce, for at least a few years so i can at least be a bit financial secure and pay off some debt. </p>

<p>So here is the question: Should i go to USC knowing I will have about 2x -3x more debt than if i went to FSU? i plan on majoring in computer science, so therefore USC is a better school, however is it so much better than FSU that it would be justified to go despite the extra debt that i would accrue because i would have to pay for the majority of my schooling with loans? I also have another question, that slightly pertains to this overall question. </p>

<p>question 2: does the undergraduate school influence what graduate school you can get into? my ultimate goal was to go straight to graduate school after finishing my undergraduate school, and if FSU will give a roughly equal chance of going to any graduate school after undergraduate, then i might choose FSU over USC due to its lower costs for the undergraduate years. </p>

<p>thanx in advance</p>

2

<p>You have a top-quality head on your shoulders and it shows in how you are thinking this through.</p>

<p>Yes, you will be in a financial crisis if you make the USC choice. So follow your brain and go to FSU. Do well there; excel; get to know your profs well. Grad school admissions can have a lot to do with prof relationships - and their “championing” you for the schools you are targeting. </p>

<p>(As an aside, I’m not sure that the idea that "only my mother can help me pay for college " will work the way you plan it. Non-custodial parent income - whether they want to help or not - can factor in. Other parents are more knowledgeable about finaid aspects and I’m sure they’ll chime in).</p>

<p>Great good luck to you.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>If you are a spring admit for USC, wouldn’t you only be paying half of the $20,000 to $30,000 first year costs (i.e. $10,000 to $15,000) if you spent the fall at a community college taking transferable courses? Or does that $20,000 to $30,000 estimate you list account for just the spring semester at USC?</p>

<p>So if I understand correctly, net cost after non-loan financial aid is:</p>

<p>A. FSU: $8,000 * 4 = $32,000
B. USC (if $20,000 to $30,000 for first spring semester): $20,000 to $30,000 + $8,000 * 3 = $44,000 to $54,000
C. USC (if $10,000 to $20,000 for first spring semester): $10,000 to $15,000 + community college costs + $8,000 * 3 = $34,000 to $39,000 + community college costs</p>

<p>If you are choosing A vs. B, the decision may well be different compared to choosing A vs. C.</p>

4

<p>You and your parent(s) need to really bone up on Financial Aid- and the difference between public and private school policies. USC will count both parents income, assets and retirement accounts - how they calculate it will not be clear until that times comes, and it could change every year. The issue is you need to make a decision soon, and the USC option is a potentially expensive one. The FSU option is easier to predict, and in your case that really matters. I am so sorry you did not get into UF, it would be easier for you to decide I’m sure. USC is a wonderful school, but I’m not sure you want to graduate with a heavy debt load. If you were accepted to USC, you have what it takes to do well at any school, and be a success in your life. Debt will be the only thing holding you back most likely. Be careful, especially as you head into this very difficult time in your family. Best of luck, and look out for yourself.</p>

5

<p>@jimmom: thanks for the advice about grad school. from what i can gather, are you saying, the recommendation letter counts a bit more than the actual school you are attending? if so, that makes FSU a bit more appealing (not that it already isn’t). also my father will not be able to help pay for my college because he makes less of an income, and that income will go to supporting himself(he makes about 30k), therefore when i apply for financial aid in the following years (no matter where i go), i will only put my mother as my custodial parent. i know if i put my father as the custodial parent, i will have an extremely low EFC, however he invests in the stock market a lot with a TDameritrade account that he has 50,000$ in, and if he ever makes a significant amount of money that will increase my EFC, so therefore i dont want to put him as my custodial parent. also i can’t stand him for ruining our family (through mishandling of finances, and the mental and physical abuse of my mother), therefore after college i will try to have as little contact as possible with him.</p>

<p>@ucbalmnus: i actually plan on calling the financial aid office soon about this exact question, because if i only have to pay for half of the costs if i go for half a semester, then i will definitely consider USC a lot more. also because of this bright futures scholarship, i will get 125$/credit hour therefore enabling me to go to CC virtually for free. </p>

<p>@OlympicLady: Thank you for the work of caution and encouragement. i was not aware that schools calculate financial aid differently, so maybe i will get more than i expect due to our small assets (only about 10,000$ in bank) and my father has a tiny retirement fund, and my mother has an almost nonexistent one, and our house isnt worth very much. our EFC according to FAFSA is about 30,000 even though it should be in the low 20,000 range due to a problem with my father taking out money from his retirement fund(about 25k) 2 years ago as a loan, not paying it back and having it count as income in the 2010 year, which is the year that FAFSA needed our financial information from. therefore i am going to try to appeal to USC to lower our EFC. </p>

<p>also i have two more questions:
how exactly do work studies work, because from what i have been reading, they can lower the yearly cost up to 3000$ which over 4 years can amount to $12000. i imagine these jobs are quite competitive, however are they only for upperclassmen or are they available to everybody?</p>

<p>last question:
if i tell the financial aid office that my parents will be separating, will i be able to work out a new financial aid package, or will i be stuck with that financial aid package, despite the fact that only one of my parent’s will be able to help pay a little and the other will not have the ability to help at all. also, do schools generally allow students to work out a new package during the middle of the school year due to changes in financial situations (such as parents splitting)?</p>

<p>sorry for all the questions, but i have looked everywhere and its pretty hard to find the answer to some of these questions, and the USC website isn’t the most helpful, and calling the USC financial aid office takes forever (last time it took 45 minutes to get a person, then my crappy phone ran out of battery and i had to wait all over again).</p>

6

<p>On the grad school point - a lot of people have grad school in mind before they start college yet change their minds once in college - especially those in engineering/CS - somewhat due to wanting to take a break from the difficult major, and somewhat due to the fact that they can often get high paying jobs with the BS degree - they don’t need an advanced degree to get a good paying job at a good company. It’s hard to say at this point whether you’ll really decide to go to grad school 4 years from now. It’s even hard to say if you’ll stick with the CS major - it’s a major in which a lot of people switch out because of the amount of work required and the difficulty of the work or, they simply don’t like it.</p>

<p>The points -

  • You might decide to not go to grad school which changes the equation on the debt load.
  • You might decide to switch out of the CS major into one with less lucrative job prospects - i.e. you might end up earning less than you planned and have a more difficult time paying back the loans.</p>

<p>However, if you do end up going to grad school you’re wise to consider the debt you’d end up with in UG and the impact on the quality of your life.</p>

<p>Another factor - where do you want to end up working when done? There may be more on campus interviews and contacts by companies within the region so some people choose on this basis - i.e. USC may have more recognition and contacts among California companies and FSU among Florida companies.</p>

7

<p>^ Ironman…please think of posing your USC finaid questions on the USC forum. Alamemom there is extremely knowledgeable and helpful regarding the more complicated finaid questions, and she may be of help. You could also PM her…really, she wouldn’t mind…many PM her with questions.
I’d like you to have solid info before you make your decision.</p>

<p>USC also does not require the non custodial CSS Profile (which could be an issue in future years)…they have their own one page form which can be filled out by the custodial parent.
I believe that USC would re evaluate the financial aid packet if circumstances change over the year…plus they are pretty generous with financial aid.</p>

8

<p>The economy is struggling so you cannot expect colleges to offer more in aid – the picture may get worse before it ever gets better. </p>

<p>Consider that the grass tends to look greener elsewhere. Somewhere there is a CA kid who is pining to be in Florida. FSU is a decent college. Go there, get your undergraduate degree and then you will have options: work life without debt over your head or head out to CA for a graduate degree (one where you get in tuition and living money as part of the graduate program). </p>

<p>So, think about postponing CA – not that you will never be there. It’d be the shrewd thing to do right now. </p>

<p>We spent the '90-00’s telling kids that they could do anything and go anywhere. It’s turning out that there are some limits on money and opportunities. That doesn’t mean there isn’t much that is worthwhile and delightful. Make your own road – one that makes sense.</p>

9

<p>You should be able to email fin aid with your questions. Work/Study varies by campus. Be aware that it might be something you’d rather not do – again, email the questions in so you know.</p>

<p>I think it might be hard to get someone in financial aid to be sympathetic about your situation right now-- that sounds mean, but families everywhere are hurting and scrambling. By all means, try. I could be wrong (just an opinionator on the internet here!) – in our experience, the fin aid people like hard numbers. They can re-work a family’s package when you say “we had to pay for a new roof and here’s the roofing bill for $8K” or “We had $12K in unexpected medical expenses and here’s a copy of the bills” – but without hard numbers with paper to back them, it is hard for them to know what is real and what is a soap story. </p>

<p>It may take several months for your family situation to resolve and for you to know what the dollars really look like. </p>

<p>Yet another option is to start at FSU and get some credits rolling and then see about SCU for spring term or for a year out. That would give you time to know and present your new situation.</p>