Hello. I am trying to pick a school and am in desperate need of advice. They are all so different and I don’t know what to do. I’m interested in Political Science or International Relations but can see myself in a lot of paths. Fordham admitted me into their honors program which is most attractive to me yet is also significantly more expensive than the other 2. Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Where are you from? What are some of your core values? I like fordham and everything it stands for but sometimes its pretty annoying. The honors program is cool and uncommon but I’m not really sure how beneficial it is. Being close to Manhattan is cool too. Lmk
What is the annual COA for each school ?
Define “significant” in terms of your families budget and resources.
Fordham would be about an extra $20k/yr SLU would be 12k/yr total. Idk if it’s worth it for the honors program…
So $32k vs $12k? net?
That’s $80k over four years (not including the almost guaranteed tuition increases at Fordham.)
That’s a big chunk of change, and money that could go directly to graduate school.
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is it in your family budget? Can the $20k/yr extra be paid by (non retirement) savings, cutting back on extras or working extra? I think the common refrain around here is that borrowing $100k for undergrad is almost never worth it.
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have you appealed for additional FA from Fordham? They are pretty good in that regard, especially for high ranking (honors) students, from what I can tell. Late for that, and I don’t know if they will hold your admission spot pending appeal. You could then accept another offer and treat Fordham like a waitlist pending FA.
(Some argue it’s ok to commit to multiple schools pending FA. Some schools have even advised me to do that. Others warn strongly against it for valid reasons. I won’t weigh in on it.)
I already appealed financial aid and there is still that gap. I would have to take out loans and I do plan on going to grad school. I also might try transferring to somewhere else in my first year (Liberal Arts College or Ivy League) as these were nowhere near my top choices and want a place that would be the best for that.
@pinkbinder: It would be helpful to know which schools were your top choices.
Seems like a lot of money to borrow for a school and program you aren’t even excited about going to…
I think you’ve answered your own question.
I know less than zero about your particular majors, so maybe there’s something I’m missing in terms of program access, opportunity etc that MIGHT justify the added debt (99% doubtful).
If you can picture yourself being happy at St. Lawrence for four years and can get a stellar GPA, in four years you’ll be in a MUCH better financial position to consider grad school. (Im sure you know GPA is biggest determinant of grad school admission, NOT elitism rank of undergrad program…)
Lastly, and maybe most seriously , I’d really caution against an attitude of “I’ll go here, but this is nowhere near my top choice and I’m transferring year one”. You’ll be pretty guaranteed to live each day less happy and less grateful and less open to current “real” opportunities than you should.
You have several great options, one of which is head and shoulders more affordable. I say “love the school that loves you” with no second guesses for at least a year. Embrace it, and commit. If you hate it after freshman year, or you find that your 4.0 + leadership + ec + lifestyle just isn’t challenging you enough, you can consider a junior year transfer at that time.
(You dropped discussing RPI, so im assuming that’s been eliminated from your options.)
Thanks for all the info @ProudLoomisDad! Very good points to consider. Does anyone know how the “prestige” is evaluated in transfer admissions? I don’t want to go into any school with the plan of transferring but if that ends up happening I want to evaluate that as well.
I think you should go to St. Lawrence. If you are proactive, you will be able to accomplish everything you want to do from there. Did you go to an accepted students day? I was just there as a parent, and I thought the opportunities for study abroad were phenomenal and well-supported by the university. If you go there and make a connection right away with career services and your professors, you will be able to set a path to achieve anything you want to achieve. There are intelligent students at St. Lawrence and small class sizes - it will basically be like being in an honors program. I have a good friend who attended St. Lawrence many years ago. He says the relationships he formed with professors opened so many doors for him. He went on to Georgetown for grad school and at one point I believe the CIA or NSA tried to recruit him because he had studied Arabic. It’s all about what you make of your opportunities.