<p>During my freshman year of college at DePaul University, my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I chose to drop out and return home to be with her. After one semester at a local community college, I enrolled at a nearby four-year school, Mills College. I've spent two years here and last summer my mom past away. I really am not enjoying myself at Mills and I'm strongly considering transferring. But a major issue is cost.</p>
<p>My dad promised to pay for 4 years of college, and if I stay at Mills, I will graduate on time and not have to late out any personal loans. But all of the schools I've applied to as a transfer require two years for me to graduate, so I would have to take out personal loans for one year.</p>
<p>I was accepted to several colleges, but am seriously considering University of Denver, Case Western Reserve University, and University of Hawaii at Manoa. Because I'm a California resident, I receive a serious discount at University of Hawaii. Tuition would be only $13,000 for a whole year. Also, I have a friend in Hawaii who will let me stay at their house for free. So Hawaii would be really affordable.</p>
<p>University of Denver offered me a $12,000 scholarship, but I estimated that I would still have to take out $35,000-$40,000 in loans for my final year, for both tuition and housing.</p>
<p>Case Western Reserve University is by far the most expensive of the options. They did not offer me any financial aid, so I would have to take out $55,000 in loans to go there.</p>
<p>I haven't gotten the chance to visit any of these school, so I'm not really sure about the vibe of the campuses of what kind of people would be there. Also, I'm majoring in Anthropology and I think that Hawaii and Denver seem to have the better anthropology programs. But I know Case is a more prestigious school.</p>
<p>You can only borrow the federal loan limit of $7,500, on your own so Case and Denver are is out unless your father will co-sign those loans or borrow that amount with a PLUS loan. Not to mention of course that $55,000 is way too much debt for an undergrad degree. Even $35,000 would be too much for an Anthropology major because your starting salary is not going to be very good at all, and you may need to go to grad school to qualify for a decent job.</p>
<p>In many ways transfer students are like grad students: they need to choose the institution that is best for their major rather than the one that is “best” overall. If Hawaii has one of the stronger programs in your field, and it is affordable, then it is a perfectly fine choice if you do decide to leave Mills.</p>
<p>To help understand what the numbers look like, run your aid packages through this handy calculator: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) You will quickly see what options are really workable for you. My guess is that finishing up at Mills probably is your best option. You only have one year left. Ask your advisor about taking one of those semesters somewhere else as a visiting student, or joining a semester-long field project in Anthropology. If that would be possible, you would only need to be at your home campus for one semester next year.</p>
<p>Sorry for your loss. But in all honesty, with just three semesters left, I would finish up at Mills. If you don’t like it there, talk to your advisor and the study abroad department and try to arrange to spend a semester or possibly a year abroad or as a visiting student at another college for a change of pace (there is usually only a minimal additional cost to do this through a program from your college) and maybe even try to take a few summer courses and finish up early. If you can stay debt free at this point in your life, that is a huge plus. Sorry it isn’t the answer you wanted.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your advice. You have no idea how helpful your opinions are. </p>
<p>happymomof1: I really like your perspective in that I should view it like graduate school. Hawaii definitely has the best program. I also really like your advice of possibly spending a semester as a visiting student at a different college. I’ll definitely contact Mills about that possibility.</p>
<p>happy1: Thanks for you advice. Study abroad may also be a possibility. I’ll also check out summer courses. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I actually noticed something that may be important to note. At Mills, I’m currently a psychology major (and hating it) and a math minor. If I drop the math minor, I could finish my psychology degree in just one semester. I really enjoy math and would like to have the math minor, but I’m not sure if it’s worth spending an extra semester at a school I’m not enjoying.</p>
<p>If you don’t enjoy the school, I’d consider if the math major is important in terms of where you want to end up for either a job or grad school. If it is important to your future, then continue with it but if you don’t need it, and you are not loving college life then finish up as soon as you can. Just have a plan in place for what you’d like to do post undergraduate college. I’d also suggest that you talk to your dad and see if he will let you use all or some of the money he will be save if you graduate early towards grad school.</p>