<p>I am conflicted about where exactly I want to go to. I have a couple of good options here in Oklahoma...I'm just not sure which will be best for me. Let me go through my stats really quickly first. </p>
<p>GPA: 3.82
ACT Composite: 29
Extra-Curriculars: National Officer in Student organization, Local Student Body President, Leader in multiple local student organizations and community groups</p>
<p>I am going to give you three of the options I am seriously considering at the moment.</p>
<p>East Central University
Tuition/Room/Board/Fees/Books will be around $8500 per year
Qualify for a full tuition/room waiver
Closer to home but still far enough to have some freedom
Regional University on same level as UCO
Scholarships Info: ECU</a> - How will I Pay for College?</p>
<p>My parents would prefer I go to East Central because of the scholarship opportunities. I could graduate debt-free there...Whereas with OU (which I LOVE and really do want to attend) I would rack up quite a bit of debt...</p>
<p>Any thoughts, advice, suggestions, or opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>How much money would your parents be willing/able to pay per year? What is your EFC as determined by the FAFSA? (If it’s below $5200 or so, you would qualify for some federal grant aid on top of your institutional scholarships. It wouldn’t be a lot, but it could help to close some gaps.) How much debt would you have to take on for OU or OCU?</p>
<p>*The University of Oklahoma -
Tuition/Room/Board/Fees/Books will be nearly $17,000 per year
Currently Qualify for $8000 automatic scholarship
Will qualify for $2000 more if I can raise my ACT to a 31
Tier 1 Research University
Scholarships Info:</p>
<p>My parents would prefer I go to East Central because of the scholarship opportunities. I could graduate debt-free there…Whereas with OU (which I LOVE and really do want to attend) I would rack up quite a bit of debt…
*</p>
<p>When will you be taking the ACT again? What about the SAT? You should take that too. It’s easier to get a 1360 M+CR SAT.</p>
<p>It’s too early to be making any decisions. take both tests and see how you do. </p>
<p>How much will your parents contribute wherever you go?</p>
<p>East Central University
Closer to home but still far enough to have some freedom
Tuition/Room/Board/Fees/Books will be around $8500 per year</p>
<p>??? Is that correct? Tuition room and board will be $8500 per year? or would you be commuting? Don’t understand the freedom comment if commuting.</p>
<p>My EFC is pretty high from the 4Caster, don’t have exact number on hand. Only qualify for loans.</p>
<p>Anyway, they are a really good deal…especially with the scholarships I qualify for. They require Freshmen to live on campus so not so much a commuter school…</p>
<p>Dorms aren’t horrible but not nearly as good as OU.</p>
<p>I can always transfer after two or three years or whenever I get ready for OU Law…IDK. I want the OU name but can’t really afford it, haha. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help so far…any more thoughs?</p>
<p>*I can always transfer after two or three years or whenever I get ready for OU Law…IDK. I want the OU name but can’t really afford it, haha. *</p>
<p>Forget about transferring. If you transfer, you’ll have to pay the full cost because those good scholarships are only available to incoming freshmen. You can’t borrow enough to pay full cost. As a junior or senior, you can only borrow $7500 each year. ($5500 for freshmen, $6500 for sophomores)</p>
<p>So how much will your parents contribute each year? You’re saying that your EFC is high. Are you saying that they won’t contribute anything?</p>
<p>The school may require kids to live on campus for freshmen year, but after that, the school could feel like a commuter school. At a minimum, it’s a suitcase school. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong…I’m not in favor of kids borrowing more than is needed to go to college…especially if they are going to have to borrow for law school later. </p>
<p>Besides…the limit for Stafford federal student loans is $5500 for freshman year…so unless you get a bigger scholarship or your parents give a decent contribution, you can’t afford to go there anyway. </p>
<p>I would put my efforts NOW into studying for the SAT and ACT to try to get a better scholarship from OU. Also, OU may give out additional dept scholarships for particular majors. </p>
<p>Well, they will contribute some but probably can’t meet our EFC…OU is my dream school and I really do no want to be stuck at a regional university just because it’s cheap…although it is hard to think about turning down a full ride anywhere.</p>
<p>If you get the $10k/year scholarship, you’d have $7k/year left to pay. How much of that can your parents pay? If it’s all, that would be great. Figure out how much they can pay. Then, if there’s more to cover, pursue outside scholarships. Look for local ones… they may be only $500-$1000 each, but a few of those make a significant difference. If there’s still anything left, then borrow with a federal loan. If your EFC is that high, your parents can likely pay $2000/year, minimum, given that they’d probably be saving more than that with you not living at home.</p>
<p>Actually, it looks like ECU requires people to live on campus to keep non-resident tuition waivers and/or room stipends. Plus, given that on campus housing is so cheap, I could see many opting to stay on campus for financial reasons.</p>
<p>My two cents: If the OP plans to go to law school (plenty of debt to accured there, even at an in-state law school) and going to OU would put him in debt over $20k (maybe $25k) or so, ECU would probably be the better option. He could “save” his debt for law school and work on getting a high GPA and LSAT score at ECU (GPA and LSAT tend to be weightged quite heavily in law school admissions, from what I understand). Doing undergrad debt free could potentially give him a bit more freedom in selecting a law school as well, as he wouldn’t have undergrad debt on top of law school debt.</p>
<p>Take the SAT and shoot for the 1360. From your stats, I definitely think you can achieve this. Also exhaust all your options for financial aid. OU is where you want to go (and has a better rep. if that matters to you) and you might not be happy elsewhere. College can be a chore if you aren’t passionate about where you attend. </p>
<p>And whoa there kiddy…the majority of people drop the idea of law school sometime in the first two years of university. I’m not saying you shouldn’t shoot for it, just try not to make too many decisions based on “what ifs” in the somewhat distant future.</p>