<p>I was accepted into the University of Chicago, and up until about a month ago, I was completely confident in my decision to enroll. The thing is, I've decided to major in English. I intend to go into publishing (at least, that's what I tell everyone), but my dream career would be screenwriting. I don't know if UChicago is the best place for that, or if the amount of money I'll be funneling into the University (68k a year) is worth it. I know it's a prestigious school, but I feel like the people going there are looking for more "professional" careers than the one I've finally set my heart on this past summer. Loyola University has a five year dual BA/MA English program, and I would have the option of also obtaining my BA in Film and Digital media in that time frame. I could even minor in Communications, Journalism, or Advertising. UChicago offers an English BA with a Creative Writing concentration. I can't even take it as a minor. I could supplement that degree with a minor in Linguistics or Classics, which seem impractical in comparison. Loyola has the better (and more affordable) degree options; UChicago has the name. Advice? </p>
<p>There is no reason to pay that sticker price when you know you can get a better education elsewhere for cheaper. The Chicago name will not propel your farther in the writing world. </p>
<p>How is Loyola cheaper?</p>
<p>If you really want to leave, find the program at a comparable institution. Don’t trade Chicago for Loyola… not even sure if you are serious or just trolling.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats, are you a writer?</p>
<p>I’m serious. And not to sound conceited, but Loyola might actually offer me a scholarship (a friend with the same academic record received over seventy thousand), in addition to having a lower cost of attendance overall. And UChicago doesn’t even have a specific program, unlike Loyola. I’ve met students AT Loyola who had to choose between that and Chicago for the same reasons, and they chose Loyola. I don’t know, the more I find out about UChicago, the less I feel like I made the right decision. They overcharge and overrate. Their faculty and alumni network are the only things holding me right now. </p>
<p>@PurpleTitan Yes. Yes, I am. If you are referring to my error in my previous post, let the record be known that I am typing with acrylic nails. @mom2collegekids It seems as though the OP would be full pay at Chicago. Loyola is cheaper.</p>
<p>I do not think the name of UChicago will give you any considerate advantage over the degree from Loyola.</p>
<p>No school will be worth 200k+ debt.</p>
<p>Are your parents paying out of pocket, full pay?
Or are you taking on loans?</p>
<p>UChicago isn’t worth 68k in loans.
However, if you got in and your parents have the money, and apparently consider this is a worthwhile investment, give it a year. After a year at Chicago, you’ll see whether you still want to attend Loyola or not.
Don’t be the kid who quit during the first week… give yourself enough time to adjust.
For the record, UChicago is one of the LEAST preprofessional universities in the country and one of the most “intellectual”.</p>
<p>As for Loyola:
Scholarships have been handed out already. If you leave Chicago, you’d have to “sit out” the year, you couldn’t just “go” to Loyola now, let alone get a merit scholarship.
(if you’re full pay at Chicago, which is very generous with need-based aid, it means you’d be full pay at Loyola and would need a merit scholarship to decrease the costs. The highest scholarship, the presidential, is 18k/year, and you can add the Rambler for $7,500. You’d have to apply in December or January to be considered.)</p>
<p>As for your professional goals:
Each university will help you differently.
Chicago has one of the best English programs in the country. It’s a powerful university with a worldwide reputation. The university will help you find internships and its network will be very useful in the publishing world (where positions are often gotten through knowing someone who can vouch for you). In addition, the level finesse and precision expected in Humanities classes at Chicago will force you to refine your writing skills at a very high level, you’ll be working on peer editing with very accomplished student writers, and there’ll be “name” professional writers who’ll help you put together a portfolio if you plan on applying for an MFA. It’s hard to beat UChicago all-around, unless we’re talking Yale or Kenyon or Penn. </p>
<p>HOWEVER if you’re paying with loans, it’s NOT worth it - you will NOT be able to pay your loans back while waiting for your agent to find you a publisher.
You want to graduate with a maximum of 27k in loans after 4 years. Work a maximum of 12 hours per week while in school.
That’s regardless of where you go to school.</p>
<p>If you want to work as a writer not “in the publishing world” (ie., a free lance writer who works as something else during the day until their work is published and sells enough) and we’re talking loans, Chicago isn’t worth it.
Choose a major (teaching, nursing…) that allows you to get a job right out of college, add a major/minor in Writing, make yourself try and experience as much as you can (study abroad, work, volunteering in environments different from your own, do something out of your comfort zone at least once a month and write something about it), join the newspaper or write a blog for Admissions, see what the career center can do for you and take advantage of that as much as possible. Not having 250K in debt is what will help you the most compared to Chicago.</p>
<p>If your parents have the money and have already paid your first semester tuition, though, don’t drop out now.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats : What error? I asked because you were so emphatic in your advice. I know that in the industries that I am familiar with, there are some situations where the name of your alma mater matters a lot and some where it matters minimally.</p>
<p>Anyway, to the OP: @MYOS1634 offers a great perspective.</p>
<p>I agree to finish out the semester at U of C. I also agree that price is important here. How does that figure in? </p>
<p>I don’t think that Loyola having your major matters at all. </p>
<p>@PurpleTitan The OP seems to have a desire to be in the communications field. I am very familiar with that field and your undergraduate degree means close to nothing. It’s about the internships.</p>
<p>The quarter won’t start at u of c for another couple weeks. I expect the OP can simply defer or take a gap year at this point. Should not be registered yet, if I recall their freshman orientation correctly.</p>
<p>If what attracts you to U of C is just the name and prestige, then I agree that you are probably overpaying. I haven’t heard anything about the value of having intellectual peers, growing as a thinker, meeting the brightest and most hardworking kids from around the country and world, learning to handle the toughest mental challenges, etc. If those things are not valuable to you, then U of C is a ripoff in my opinion. You have to want the educational experience as well as the degree for the investment to make sense.</p>
<p>You don’t go to the University of Chicago with ROI in mind. It’s not that type of a place. I’d transfer if I were you.</p>
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<p>That award was probably for an incoming frosh…not a transfer.</p>
<p>If you decide NOT to go to UChi and do a gap year, then you might get the loyola money next fall if you reapply as an incoming frosh. If you go to UChi and try to transfer, then likely you will NOT get that money.</p>
<p>If you really want to be a screenwriter, have you looked into schools in Southern California? I haven’t done any research on this, but I would think that some schools there would have serious film departments where you could write a screenplay and have aspiring producers and directors make it into a film with aspiring actors to star in it. The most important thing in any kind of writing is to write, write, and write some more to perfect your skills, and seeing what you’ve written turned into a film ought (I imagine) to be a lot of help in seeing where you can improve.</p>
<p>As for going into publishing, I have friends who work in publishing, and I have to tell you it’s a field in crisis. E-books have made print publishing much, much harder to turn a profit in. I’d talk to some people in the field before I’d set my sights on a career there. </p>
<p>If you’re determined to go into publishing, however, my impression is that the prestige of your college degree DOES matter – the big publishing houses are just as snobby as big law firms or big banks. And yes, they’ve all heard of U of Chicago. So you should think twice before jumping off of that ship.</p>
<p>If you’re tied to the Chicago area, I don’t know why you would “trade” U Chicago for Loyola, which is a step down academically, when you have Northwestern right there, with incredible film, theater and communication credentials, as well as connections in Hollywood and NY. Write for Waa-MU and you’ve got talent scouts in the audience. Investigate the school of communication’s MFA in screenwriting. </p>
<p>Additionally, going UChicago English -> Northwestern MFA Screenwriting is 10 times easier than Loyola -> Northwestern. That’s assuming you’ll get a decent GPA at Chicago - if you’re going to college to party, it’s probably the wrong school for you and taking a gap year should help you prioritize your goals.
And yes, dustypig is right, publishing is in crisis and is snobby (=internships are what matters and internships are found through your university’s career center and alumni network. In that area, Loyola and UChicago don’t move in the same circles).
Students should think of ROI before spending money on college. Which is why the key question here is: are your parents paying this with PLUS loans or are they paying out of pocket?
(In addition to the $5,500 loan you yourself would have - and it’s fine to take that on. But not more, especially for English/publishing).
If you’re not taking on loans, UChicago is better. If your parents have taken PLUS loans, then choose another school, either applying as a transfer during your first year at UChicago or taking a gap year. In any case, you can’t start at Loyola this year nor can you get a merit scholarship right now. Finally, Mom2k is right: the big merit scholarship at Loyola (18K) is for freshmen only, not transfers.</p>