I got accepted to CU Boulder into the Aerospace Engineering program. I and a California resident And Boulder wasn’t my top choice. I struck out at the UC’s I wanted to attend (rejected at UCD, UCSB, waitlisted at UCSD) so Boulder is my top choice at the moment especially considering the highly ranked Aerospace program. But the price is insane even with the Chancellor scholarship and financial aide, the school is giving me 27k+ in parent loans. I think I would be in about 150k in debt by the four years, which is INSANE. Is it even worth attending at that point? My parent are in the 50k mark in income…
@Core2Q - The program at Boulder for aerospace engineering is outstanding. It’s hard to say whether it’s worth the cost for you to attend, however, unless you’re comparing it to other schools. Where else have you been admitted? How do those programs compare, both in quality and cost?
@Core2Q you yourself can only borrow $27,000 in stafford loans. The rest will be Parent Plus loans that is solely the responsibility of your parents while you’re in college and/or you borrow private loans assuming your family has outstanding credit. Using an online loan repayment calculator, assuming you pay this off in 10 years, you would pay almost $60,000 in interest…this is soul crushing debt because interest rates on those parent plus/private loans are ugly (6.8%+). These loans cannot be discharged easily (if ever) and will be on your parent’s hands too. If you fail to make the insane $1700+ payments for the rest of your life, your family will see their wages and social security garnished. I am from Colorado and can tell you the majority of students coming to Boulder from OOS are super mega rich and don’t go into debt. As much as Boulder has a great program, it’s not worth destroying the lives of your family. Just my two cents.
The cost seems extreme if loans are required. Also, have you visited? Beautiful location, and reputedly strong program, but our overall impression was of a party school. You may do better elsewhere.
You pretty much answered your own question @Core2Q. This is an insane option…but don’t feel down 
While you consider your options, have you considered the option of community college then transferring to a UC in California? I heard amazing things about your state’s education system and I would personally do this option in your shoes, assuming you don’t find an amazing deal elsewhere. You can go two years for cheap or free (with your financial circumstance) and then transfer to a UC to finish your degree. All that matters is where you finish, not where you start!
It may be egotistic to say, but I feel like I have worked too hard to go to community college. And I don’t want to go through the application process again…
And I don’t know if my SAT score and extracurriculars carry over. I don’t want to slave away at ec’s any more. Do colleges consider ec’s following high school when transferring from CC?
Plus do job prospects change if you transfer from CC to a good college? (specifically for engineering)
If you don’t mind me asking…what other universities were you accepted for aerospace engineering? What merit/need aid did you get?
I am just putting CC as an option because debt outside of stafford loans is 1) going to crush your family since they only make 50k a year and 2) may not be guaranteed because they need good credit. Even with the “best” case scenario you are allowed to borrow 10k a year for school if your parents are denied Parent Plus, but even then 40k is too much debt in some respects. If you can’t find a school where you can solely borrow the recommended stafford limits ($27,000 over 4 years) then you can’t afford that college, unfortunately.
Most of the time it matters those last two years if you can get your foot in the door for internships and co-ops. Now unfortunately some schools have requirements where you need to actually attend a year before you can use their career center for internships/co-ops…but you MUST search that per individual college policy. Some places are more lenient and will be happy to hook you up with work experience immediately. When it comes to engineering, nothing is more important than having some relevant work on your resume when you graduate. When you’re a junior and senior, those summer work experiences are valuable. If you know that a certain UC can allow you to use career services when you transfer from CC, it may be worth looking into. Remember: the goal is to graduate as little debt as possible. You can have debt, just manageable amounts. $27,000 max is manageable. $150,000 is not!
Keep me posted!
I would definitely NOT do this. Your options are to attend someplace that you did get in, go to a CC and transfer, or take a gap year and apply again with a better list of safeties and matches (places you want to attend that are affordable, and you are more likely to get admitted).
Going to CU is out of the question.
I already had a great internship last summer at a very well known company (that exactly matches my major). That will be gone completely to waste.
I have gotten into :
CU Boulder, UCR, CSULB, Penn State, Drexel
They are all either expensive or unappealing to me… 
Mkay…which ones can you afford for sure? i.e. you do not have to borrow more than the stafford amounts for COA (tuition, fees, books/supplies, transportation, medical, personal, etc.)? How much did your parents say they can contribute per year for college?
Probably some planning issues… you could have focused more efforts on the local Universities to avoid the financial challenges… Not just applying to them, but seriously focus your efforts on the scholarships / aid avenues in the local - instate options… Still time to explore those, I hope. Good luck with the finances. Hate to see that stop you from what you want to become…
The one thing that is MOST likely to stop you from what you want to become is extreme debt. Everything else you can figure out.
I doubt it has gone to waste. One would hope that you took the internship partly to learn skills and partly to confirm the direction you are taking on your major. College admissions should be an aside to that decision – you should be doing what you want to do anyway. I think you are overreacting to say it was a waste. Seems like you didn’t actually have a safety you wanted to attend. I think you are going to need to take one of your “unappealing” choices. CSU-LB has Aerospace Engineering. The good news is that you had a good internship before, and you can probably build on that – maybe spend another summer with them, then try to leverage to yet a different experience that can help build your resume. Engineering is a lot more about what you can do than about the school name on your diploma.
@atomicPACMAN07
Probably UCR and CSULB
@intparent
Don’t get me wrong, it was a great experience and was what convinced me to major in aerospace.
@Core2Q then you have two good options here…1) go to UCR or CSULB straight away for aerospace without the major financial burden or 2) go to CC and transfer to a UC. Honestly this will come down to your personal preference at this point and what you feel is right. I know it may not seem as nice as Boulder, but a better financial footing makes a world of difference later on. You seem smart and you got some time still to make a good choice here
Does UCR have aerospace?
I disagree with these comments. I don’t think you should let a price tag get in the way of an education. CU has an outstanding program in your field, extremely nice and well maintained facilities, TONS to do and an amazing college atmosphere that would make for an exceptional college experience. There are ways to pay, but don’t let a cost hold you back. There is nothing more valuable than an education. And honestly, going somewhere you aren’t 100% happy with is a worse investment than spending more and being satisfied. If you are happy you will have a better chance of excelling in school. Come be a Buff! There’s so much to do in Boulder and on the campus. Hope to see you there in the fall! SKO BUFFS!
@akylam I think you forgot to glance over the part where this education would be financed with 150k of student loans…unless OP finds a pot of gold or gets a hefty inheritance they cannot finance this education responsibly.
It’s like I see it…I want a Lamborghini but I am not going to kill myself in debt for it. I’ll take something more practical and less expensive. Maybe CU Boulder works for you @akylam because you somehow got the scholarship and/or well off parents that can cover the cost of your education, either in-state or OOS. Not everyone is as lucky and to just ignore the price tag as you suggest in your post let’s me assume you don’t even know how much your education really costs…150k of debt is not something to brush off lightly and just give the thumbs up for.
There is no denying CU is wonderful. I was actually in Boulder a week ago as a trip to see the area. But it sure as heck not worth a literal mortgage for an education.
At Drexel, a very fine co op school, you could work your way through. Philadelphia is a much bigger and more interesting city than Boulder. (I have lived ten minutes from Boulder for the last 16 years and grew up in New Jersey, and recently visited Phili for a week, lots more city type activities in Phili, and New York City is a train ride away, I mean this is way more interesting than any city in Colorado, including Denver or C Springs and for sure Boulder!
You will get out of your western/California element if you go back east. I think Drexel, being a private school with guaranteed co ops can be very affordable for you and also excellent to figure out what you want out of life because of the very practical nature of the school, with many semesters spent in industries both getting real engineering experience, and job connections for your career.
Being that it looks like you are from CA, evaluate your in state choices very carefully, as you have one of the best state systems in the country for education, and more importantly, Look carefully at Aerospace engineering programs in Los Angeles as your city is the BEST for jobs in Aerospace by far!
In Colorado we do have Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, the Air Force Academy for summer positions, and LASP at CU Boulder for jobs, but its really way way smaller than the job market you have locally in LA.
Ask yourself, do you want to be connected to Los Angeles or east coast jobs and pick accordingly. If you are not a strong student, at Boulder, you may struggle to get any job offer. The very top students are getting the summer positions at LASP. (and the entry level offers in Colorado when aerospace firms are hiring, that depends here
on the economy, which waxes and wanes for aerospace here, while LA is stronger).
If you stay in LA, you are likely to get good summer internships and eventually a job, because of connections between your state schools and the aerospace industry. . If you go to Drexel, you WILL get a co op job as that school is built on the co op way to educate students in industry jobs . If you go to Boulder,
you better study your brains out and pray a lot!! (while you ski, or have fun here).
Its a no brainer, stay in LA or go to Drexel.
I dig the assumption that I’m “well off” or got scholarships, because neither of those things are true.I’m accepting my inevitable life long debt because I believe in the value of education. But thank you for that. I was actually trying to offer a perspective from someone who happens to not be well off.