Im at a school with a full ride scholarship but am really unhappy here; I feel like i’m not learning much even though im taking higher level classes (I got a 4.0 my first semester). Commuting from home I also feel like I’m missing out on developing as a person.
I want to transfer ( i didn’t really want to come to this school in the first place) but its a full ride and I feel like I’ll be throwing away a lot of money if I leave. My parents have made me feel so guilty about the prospect of taking out around 100,000 in loans, which basically any school will cost for 3 years, if not more.
Is anyone else in a similar situation? Are years of debt worth the 3 years of college development?
100,000 dollars is a lot of money. You yourself can only borrow approximately 5-7K per year, so the rest would have to be co-signed by your parents (aka they will be held responsible if you don’t complete the payments in time). The first step would be to address the question: why are you unhappy? Could your parents arrange for you to live on campus instead of commuting for future semesters? Have you been able to join a club or talk to people in your classes?
Not living on campus does not prevent you from developing as a person. You’re just developing differently. Huge numbers of people have never lived on campus and yet turned into functional adults. You can be involved on campus without living there - I know my husband and I commuted but that didn’t stop us from participating in intramurals and going to events and just hanging out with friends who did live on campus. Could you move on campus if it’s that important? It would be cheaper than transferring somewhere where you have to pay tuition. Not being challenged is a legitimate issue, but that may get better after the first semester.
Taking out $100,000 in loans does not make sense. And you can’t get those loans yourself - either your parents would need to take them out or at a minimum they (or someone else) would need to co-sign the loans. Are your parents willing to do that? Do you realize how much it might hinder your development as a person once you graduate and find yourself unable to afford anything because of enormous loan payments?
I’m in some clubs and organizations and have met new people here, the problem is that in general people don’t seem to care about school as much as I’d like them to; I kind of feel like I’m just in the wrong environment, even the professors seem to stress test questions rather than actually learning information for the sake of learning. I could try living on campus but I don’t know if that’ll change the environment really.
In terms of the academics, I have friends who are taking the same courses as I am at different school and after comparing tests I can see that they are held to much higher standards than I am here, which worries me that I’m not getting a good education. I did well in high school, got into multiple ivy leagues and other top schools, and I just feel like four years from now I’m going to be so stunted in terms of academic ability. I used to be really passionate about learning and felt like I could really do something with my life but slowly that part of me is just draining away.
I know $100,000 in loans doesn’t make sense and I guess that’s my problem; I’m confused though, I knew there was a limit on how much the student could take out but if it’s only 5-7K like you said how does anyone afford college? Are all the loans just taken out in the parents names? So if someone is in a situation where their parents really won’t support them are they just stuck? I was lucky enough to get a scholarship but otherwise my school would be the price of an average state school and the 5-7K a year would not cover tuition.
Unless you want your financial future bogged down or destroyed by that much debt ($100,000 debt WITHOUT interest ), then please, don’t transfer.
Find some fun things to do outside school… I dont know, find a dancing or running club and get to know people there. Also ask if you can take any grad-level courses, or study high level material yourself outside of school. Also that 4.0 GPA will look great on your job searches, but you already know that
Federal student loans are currently capped at $5,500 your first year, $6,500 second year, and $7,500 after that. You can borrow more if your parents are unable to get a Federal PLUS loan. Federal loan information can be found here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized#how-much
Private bank loans require a cosigner who can demonstrate the ability to pay the loan if you can’t. And the interest is higher than on federal loans. If parental income is such that a student does not qualify for need-based aid, and the parents won’t help, then yes, the student is stuck unless they can obtain merit money. Many people can’t afford school and never go to college. Lots of students start at a community college to save money. Others go part-time and work to pay for school.
Yes, I’ll be going into my second semester. I’m a chem major now but have been considering a math or econ double major (along with the chem major), but i’m most likely headed for grad school for a phd.
I know that much debt is bad but I can’t seem to shake the feeling that its either the debt follows me for the rest of my life or I live with this stunted version of myself and what I could have accomplished for the rest of my life.
Thanks for the information of the loans; so essentially for people who don’t have their parent’s support they have to come up with the money upfront since they can’t take out enough in loans - hm I suppose that’s good in terms of protecting them from debt later in life.
NYU gave me the terms of a Parents Plus loan from a Bank, so I know. The interest rate is 7% per year and it is amortizing on day one. So, if you take out a total 100K loan, the interest on top of it will be another $15,000 after three years that is crazy for you and your parents. AND, your parents has to pay it back from day one with interest, its like an additional mortgage you have to pay. For the 100k you borrowed, the total interest when you paid off would likely another $100K, so you borrowed 100K but you ultimately paying 200K. Are you aware of that?
You should consult with your parents about the financial burdon before take the steps to apply out.
College is what you can make out of. You should know that the first year class tended to be easier to let the student make a transition. There will be weed out classes coming and you will be busy.
No amount of social activities will worth 200K, unless you can easily afford it. Hunker down for 4 years, once you start working you have plenty social activities that you may want to avoid.
@Coayay There are horror stories out there of people struggling to pay back mere $50,000. It’s not because they cant pay back $50,000. The interest rates on private loans are so high (federal ones too, but they are lower than the private ones), people have to pay back $80,000 in order to pay back the $50,000 debt.
Because the private loan organizations like Sallie Mae do not care whether or not you can pay them back. The more you pay back (ex: by defaulting), the more profit they make.
You’re overexaggerating your situation. Instead of whining, why don’t you seek out clubs or groups outside the school (or team up with people with your interests in school) and work hard to fulfill your interests? It’s not as if your undergraduate school is your only place to express your desires. Take difficult courses online, network outside of school to get internships, ask professors for possible opportunities, etc etc.
Also, the debt will only stop following you when you pass away. I’m not sure whether the debt is passed on to your family or kids, or to the taxpayers. Either way, nobody wins. Let’s say you have $100,000 in debt at 7% interest. You have to pay $1150 a month on a 10 year plan… that could very well place major shackles in your life.
Not even mentioning the fact that you’re probably paying your way into grad school as well…
Another thing is that no one can stunt your development if you take the initiative to not let that happen. You say that the tests your friends have to take are harder and classes aren’t challenging you? Then study through MIT OCW and try to pass those tests. Sign up for some grad-level courses.
For a PhD, while STEM ones (the ones worth going for, anyway) are generally fully-funded, grad schools would be looking for potential and for a self-starter who will do good research. Your professors obviously all got PhD’s, so ask them what you have to do to get from where you are in to a PhD program. No doubt, after dealing with tons of kids who don’t give a fig about learning, they might appreciate someone who actually does.
On a different note, you mentioned you were accepted to several other universities from high school, including ivy league universities. Were any of those affordable for you at the time of acceptance? Did you receive any scholarships or need based aid? If so, you may want to check with those universities to see if they would honor those financial terms if you applied as a transfer. Typically, transfer students receive less than a freshman applicant in terms of aid, but if you had the stats to get into those schools, then you likely would qualify for some sort of aid elsewhere
If your goal is to get into a graduate program in chemistry then the best thing you can do to achieve it is to get involved in research. ECs are nice but they don’t matter at all for graduate applications. What counts is your research experience and your academic performance. Find a chemistry professor who has a research program and volunteer. You will learn a lot more than what you can in classes and you will prepare yourself to get into a good graduate program. Take the toughest course sequence you can and instead of taking a second major, take graduate courses in chemistry if they are available.
By no means go where you have to put yourself under a massive debt load. I have seen that kind of debt negatively affect people’s lives for many years after graduation.
You can be the biggest fish in the pond if you put out half an effort. Get to know the Chem professors, and get involved in whatever research they have going on. I know a young person who basically did that at a not-remotely-famous state U, and now is in a fully-funded PhD program in Chemistry.
As for how people pay for their educations with only federal student loans, that can happen if the family has sufficient income to pay the difference, or if the family has been saving money for a long time and has enough available to cover the difference, or if the student lands enough need and/or merit based aid to make the difference. It doesn’t sound like that is your family’s situation.