Our son was admitted to this program, but it would require loans that we’d rather he not take. I know that Ithaca’s film program is highly regarded, but it’s hard for me to see it being worth 15K a year more than the film program at the LAC where he was offered a large scholarship. Is this really a degree someone should go into debt for? Additionally, there is a minimum GPA to keep the scholarship and our son, while very capable, has not shown a lot of motivation during his high school years. His writing talent is undeniable, but my wife and I are not so sure this is a good fit for him.
I’m a BIG fan of avoiding debt 
What program is he considering at the LAC?
What LAC and what program?
Would the 15k come from belt tightening or would you have to borrow to fund that amount?
@MYOS1634, we’re not actually 15K short. Due to a contribution from my wife’s parents, it would be 8K short with what that had agreed to pay (I wouldn’t have thought to ask them the max amount of we hadn’t needed it for the CSS). There’s also the issue of a GPA requirement for an often unmotivated student. The only reason I’m posting this is that if he decided to take the full $5500 loan he could possibly try to convince his grandparents to up their contribution. My wife and I are of the opinion that McDaniel is the better match anyway, although we would have supported a decision to go to Ithaca if finances had permitted.
Ithaca is well-known for communication, film, etc., and has excellent contacts in an industry where it’s precious. So, it’s a complicated situation, because the potential ROI is much better for Ithaca, but the initial investment is much higher too.
You could stipulate some conditions for Ithaca, up to him to choose between his two choices. For instance, since there’s a GPA requirement, ask him to waive ferpa and give you full access to his grades. He takes his federal loan. If he doesn’t meet his scholarship’s conditions, he has to go home and (…commute to the community college/local college). It’s a very expensive opportunity - if he doesn’t show he’s up to the task, if he’s unable to seize the opportunity, then it’s pointless for him to attend the program.
In both cases, as a transfer his scholarships at McDaniel or Ithaca would no longer wait for him (in most cases).
On the other hand, if he chooses mcDaniels, he can start his life after college without debt. You can afford for him to spend a semester abroad and have an unpaid internship somewhere.
Are those choices you can present to him?
@MYOS1634, pretty much all that has entered my mind. The scholarship at McDaniel is automatic for children of educators, so it’s available to transfers as well. We hope that he is as antsy about loans as his parents (we’ve never borrowed for anything besides our house). I’m aware at the contacts in the industry that Ithaca provides, but to me looking at needle in haystack territory vs. nail in a haystack. We didn’t expect him to be admitted since he applied to a program in the Park School. His SAT is a solid but unspectacular 1320, and his GPA is less solid.
My friend’s son is at McDaniel as an English major and really likes it.
We had a similar situation with S17. He’s a theater tech BFA and we had to decide between expensive private schools and a program at SUNY. He’s finishing up his first year at SUNY and will graduate with no debt. At LIU or Adelphi, we would have had to pay $10K a year or more extra and that amount goes up every year - most scholarships don’t rise with tuition. I don’t believe in debt if it can be avoided.
If the McDaniel scholarship will be available to him even if he has to transfer from Ithaca due to losing his scholarships, considering the opposite isn’t true, then it’s probably worth it to see if he can be up to the task at Ithaca, with all provisions you may place, as long as he understands the restrictions and consequences.
My guess is that he’s a B student so you worry hell squander the opportunity, hence the need for safeguards.
@myos1634, He’s an A- student when motivated (seldom the case, since he’s never liked school very much), B most of the time, and C when completely unmotivated. He had one of those quarters where he was not very motivated 2nd quarter this year, so He would probably be in danger of being rescinded at Ithaca anyway. He got into a competitive communication arts program for high school, hated it, and ended up dropping out. He’s also had issues with anxiety. While he’s capable of doing the work, his high school career doesn’t bode well for success in a more competitive program. That’s the big reason we like McDaniel for him.
The counsel from @MYOS1634 is golden. The safeguards may provide the motivation he needs to do well at Ithaca.
On the other hand, at McDaniel he has the opportunity to mature and figure out if this is what he really wants to do. If so, he can then hone his craft at one of the many grad school film programs with no debt and better connections.
We hope that his second visit to McDaniel, which includes sitting in on a class and the chance to meet students/professors renews his interest somewhat. He was pretty much planning on going there until unexpectedly getting into the Ithaca program. He could flourish at Ithaca, but we’re not keen on him going into debt to find out.
5.5k in debt is worth seeing, if it doesn’t work it sounds like a relatively small amount in relation to the potential benefits - sounds like he can do well when stimulated. And safeguards can prevent issues.
It sounds like you don’t believe in him and his abilities, and you know him, we don’t.
I guess it’s a tough decision because the trust and hope could have been better before.
If he goes to mc Daniel’s and does well, will you finance his film grad studies with the savings from not going to Ithaca?
@MYOS1634, we won’t be in a position to finance any graduate education. Ithaca was only on the table due to grandparents’ contributions. Would they help finance graduate education? I don’t know. If screenwriting were an obvious passion, we might be more confident that he would be motivated in college. He has taken some related courses in HS and done well in those. Two things probably color our thinking. First, I didn’t like school either, but I went in an era when it was generally a lot easier to slide by without much effort. I didn’t want to go to college, but for me that was the easiest path to making a living. I didn’t mind grad school as much, since it was the only was to the career I ended up wanting (I’m a librarian). I majored in what I perceived to be the easiest major as an undergraduate, since I didn’t particularly want to be there. Second, our older son flamed out freshman year of college. Like his younger brother, he didn’t like school and didn’t put forth much effort. However, He’s a math whiz and an exceptional test taker. He made NMSF, had very good SAT scores, and got decent scholarship money despite nearly failing English classes his last three years. His grandparents were horrified at the prospect of him attending the southern flagship where he was offered a near full ride, so they offered to pay for him to attend his first choice school. He failed spectacularly, only passing 3 classes in 2 semesters. He has no desire to return at this point. I don’t think S18 would flunk out, but I don’t know that his chances of being a consistent B student in college of that great. If he had pursued opportunities in film on his own a!ready we might feel differently (the opportunities are available where we live), it might be different. It’s more of a “this looks interesting” than " this is what I’ve always wanted to do". We strongly believe that a LAC is a better place for him to figure out what he really wants to do. Interestingly, he has probably seen more work by the head of the film department at McDaniel than any other screenwriter; he wrote many of the segments shown between programs on our local PBS affiliate.
Sounds like it really is a matter of your knowing him well. We’re just strangers on the internet.
(There was a typo above, where I meant ‘hope and trust betrayed’)
Do keep the thread updated as this is interesting for other families too. There are many boys like him, bright but unfocused, looking for directions, yet with ability and ambitions. So, their parents struggle with college choice.
There are girls like him too, I’m sure. It’s funny that both of our underachieving sons have mostly high achieving friends (and my best friend from HS was the valdictorian, who is now a college professor). So much for peer groups being a big influence.
We had dinner with my in-laws this evening, and they asked out S to send a summary of what the costs for Ithaca would be. My father-in-law mentioned loans, and S said he doesn’t want to take any out. MIL changed the subject at some point, so they may not be in complete agreement. I told S that he needs to make sure his D in Calculus first semester (he hit the wall in math a lot later than I did) won’t get the present offer rescinded before going any further. It also wouldn’t hurt to sent the FA office Ithaca a copy of his package from McDaniel. I’m sure they won’t match it, but it could be good for an extra couple thousand. We’d be more comfortable with him at McDaniel, but if it’s affordable it’s his decision.
Update: he wrote an appeal, which got him a few thousand dollars. He also convinced up that this is something he really wants. He’s going to Ithaca this fall.
Congratulations to you and your son!