Hi, so I recently received a very large scholarship for a school that I applied to sort of as a backup backup backup backup school. I had my heart set on attending University of South Florida because their programs are way better, but my parents say I should take the scholarship at this other school that doesn’t even offer the specific major I want and save my money.
Advice?
What is this backup school that you feel is so inferior to USF?
You probably haven’t even heard of it. Grace College, a small, janky college close to where I grew up in northern Indiana.
Hmm, small religious college / seminary versus big out of state public university?
What about your in state public universities?
I honestly don’t want to stay in state for numerous personal reasons. Also, none of them offer good zoology programs (besides Purdue and Ball State but again, I don’t want to stay that close to home)
If it doesn’t offer what you want as a course of study, it’s not a good use of your time. Even if it’s free.
You do realize that out of state public universities are likely to be much more expensive than in state public universities, right?
Have you looked at Earlham? They won’t have zoology but they have great life sciences. I don’t blame you for not wanting to attend Grace College. That degree is of negative value for you.
Grace College really doesn’t sound like a good fit for you at all.
USF is relatively affordable as OOS public U’s go - around 33K/year. Of course, that is a lot of money (although it’s only half of what attending, say, UCLA costs for an OOS student)… but it sounds as if your parents were okay with it before. Have they actually realized that this is more than your family can afford, or are they just having second thoughts because free sounds so much better?
If it turns out that you need to look at less costly alternatives, perhaps consider SIUC: https://zoology.siu.edu/ It’s very affordable because they make in-state rates available to all students - all you have to do to get reclassified as an IL resident for tuition purposes is fill out a form and have it notarized. Cost would be about $26K/year minus any additional merit.
Also, Ohio Wesleyan is generous with merit aid and could maybe be worth a look: https://www.owu.edu/academics/departments-programs/department-of-zoology/zoology-majors/
Good luck with the decision; I’m sorry this offer of something-you-don’t-want, for free, is muddying the waters.
Tell your parents you will be considering all your options and not making any decisions until sometime after April 15.
You said it was a back up backup backup backup school, so I’m assuming you applied to more than these two schools. Have you even heard back yet from all the other schools you applied to?
Have you been following up with USF for scholarships. “Please note: You must activate your USF NetID and email in order to login to the scholarship application and begin applying for scholarships.” https://www.usf.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/index.aspx
Some schools won’t have their aid packages to you until April. It’s too early to make any decisions because you don’t have all of the information yet to properly evaluate your options.
You can use this additional time to send out a few more applications. Make sure the schools you apply to have your major (or a closely related one you’d be happy with), are likely to be affordable and are places you’d be happy to attend.
What are your career goals and interests? Why zoology – are you thinking of a specific career path, grad school? We know kids at Grace and they are getting a good education and are well set on their career path – it is probably more pre-professionally oriented than learning for learning’s sake kind of place, at least from what we have heard from the kids we know.
As others have said, there is no need to decide now. Your parents are undoubtedly thrilled at the large merit award, and that is understandable. Let them know you are honored and thrilled too about the award, but want to weigh all your options when they come through in the spring and decide based on all the information, educational and financial, in April.
Why did you apply to a school that you didn’t want to attend and didn’t have your major?
You may be in a pickle unless you can quickly apply to the instate schools that will give you merit.
My guess is that your parents won’t pay $35k per year for you to go to USF. Is that correct?
What are your stats? What is your career goal?
It’s too late for merit at Purdue, I think…what are the scholarship deadlines for Ball State?
How much will your parents pay each year?
You may not have a choice. You can’t pay for USF yourself. You can only borrow $5,500…not enough.
Indiana is a good sized state. If you go to a college in another part of the state, it won’t feel like you’re “still at home.”
What part do you currently live?
None but Purdue and Ball State? Well, that’s hardly “none”. That’s two options!
Will your career expect/require a grad degree?
Getting a “zoology degree” is rarely required. Many bio depts offer a variety of zoology courses. And if you’re going to need a grad degree anyway, then getting a good ole bio degree with some zoology/animal science courses will be fine.
IUPUI would be a very different feel than Grace or anything in the Warsaw, Fort Wayne area.
Don’t mean to sound harsh, but why didn’t you apply to Ball State as a backup? I too had a sense of wanderlust back in the mid-90s, but like a good boy Hap stayed in his home state of IL, three hours from home (plenty far). Then, for grad school I went OOS (AL, OH, MO) and have worked outside of IL as an adult as well (MO, Spain, and now FL).
Also, can your parents not afford USF or do they not want to pay? Either way, parents do have a say, though it can be frustrating, I know.
I think Ohio Wesleyan has zoology.
Absolutely
I do have a specific career path in mind. I have taken several Jump Start classes through Grace and I really didn’t like it. The admissions people were rude and very unwilling to help. It’s a good school for some people, just not for me!