Take the full ride offer or the gap year?

College Search & Selection
21

Your ACT and SAT scores are too low for you to likely qualify for substantial merit aid at other universities. In other words, the odds of you getting a “full ride” elsewhere are low. In my definition, “full ride” does not mean that most of the financial aid package is student loans.

Your GPA is ok, but it’s not great. The other posters who gave advice about University of Chicago and UCLA are correct. Listen to them.

A “full ride” usually involves the following:

  • free tuition & fees for 4 consecutive years
  • free on campus room & board for 4 years
  • sometimes this also includes an annual stipend for books
  • some ‘full ride’ scholarships might also include a 1-time stipend for you to purchase a laptop computer

Usually this sort of scholarship also includes a GPA requirement. What I mean is this: you have to maintain a minimum GPA each year or each semester in order to keep the scholarship each academic year. Some universities will only evaluate your GPA for scholarship renewal at the end of spring semester. Other universities have a rule where you have to maintain that minimum GPA every semester.

This full ride opportunity is a very very good one. You should seriously consider it. Financially speaking, it would be VERY wise for you to seriously consider it. I’m not joking here. The ability to graduate from college debt free will give you so much more financial freedom than the average college graduate. This could launch you and your family out of poverty.

Have you ever heard the phrase “A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush”? You have a bird in hand - the full ride scholarship. You’re trying to decide whether to toss that bird to the side in the hopes of getting 2 birds (or a bigger bird) that’s in the bush - taking a gap year and hoping you can get into a more prestigious university with your existing GPA and low test scores.

It would be very foolish for you to take a gap year. If you were my kid or if I were your guidance counselor, I’d be advising you to take the full ride scholarship to the college you might not like very much. Find something worthwhile about it, immerse yourself in that school, work hard, maintain good grades, and if you want to transfer at the end of sophomore year to a more prestigious school, then go for it.

If you went that route…look on the bright side…you’d have 2 years of your college education paid for totally for free at no cost to you. If you transferred for junior year, your diploma would come from whatever the other university is. Nobody cares where your freshman and sophomore years were.

And you know what? After your first job out of college, nobody really cares where your diploma came from unless you are in specific lines of work like the legal profession.

22

Take the full ride and do not look back. Those other schools will be there for Graduate school if you intend to further your education.

As stated by several posters, UCLA does not offer financial aid for OOS students. $240,000 for 4 years at UCLA is not worth it. Getting your test scores up is only one obstacle since your GPA is too low for consideration. Race/ethnicity not considered in UC admissions. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by graduating debt free. Best of luck.

23

Take the money. Plain and simple. Gettysburg and Lafayette and are not going to come in full ride. Both will prove more expensive then your current family financial situation can afford. Apply yourself and get involved in things that interest you. Embrace the opportunity being offered you and don’t look back. A gap year would just be a lost year and who knows if the full ride offer would be offered to you next year. Take the money, thank them, and get a start on a great college career! Best of luck to you!

24

Welcome, OP. My one suggestion would be that you break your posts up into paragraphs. It’s really hard to wade through a “wall of text.” I edited your OP to include paragraphs.

25

@Levon36 Unlike many people who claim to have higher stats on CC, you write very well. No glaring typos or misspellings noticed at first glance. You appear mature enough to understand the ramifications of this important decision.

Based on the information given, please take the full ride. Live in the dorms to meet and network with new people you would otherwise not interact with during a gap year. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Best of luck.

26

@austinmshauri said: “my best advice to you is to avoid borrowing anything if you can.”

Yes, absolutely true…

“Being able to start your adult life with a college degree and no debt is a gift.”

Yes again. A college degree plus no debt is HUGE.

27

^ Wouldn’t matter for UCLA. Stats are too low to matter for the U of C anyway.<<<<<

Sure, I just wondered if there was something I was missing, outside of the somewhat delusional aspect.

28

@Levon36 Take the money and run. Do well you first 1-2 years and transfer to a school that offers great Aid to transfer students.
Also you didn’t answer the “are you URM” question. If you are HBCU’s are a great option for minority students. Your stats put you above avg for all of them (except Howard I think, although you have a great shot there as well).

29

Take the full ride - with your stats and economics its the best thing going.

You can always transfer at a later date. Even IF and its a huge IF, if you got into other schools it appears very likely you cannot afford them and have no way to pay the way, therefore, go with the sure thing.

30

Does the acceptance of the scholarship also require you to submit an enrollment deposit? If not, then it’s an indication of interest more than a commitment. So you should accept it without hesitation. Then you would still have till May 1 to figure out if you’re going to one of your other choices, taking a gap year or attending your safety with the full tuition scholarship.

Good luck to you!

31

You could always try to /transfer/ to the University of Chicago. Do well for two years at your local college and prove to them that you are capable of handling the workload.

32

@VANDEMORY1342 I am an URM, I think so at least. I wasn’t sure at first what the acronym stood for, but after a quick Google search alone, I was sure I understood its general criteria. My mother is white, my father black, as a result I am a mix of both. I’m also told he has native american roots, but since I know of no immediate source to prove this, I avoid listing it on almost any official documentation.

33

Just for anyone who wanted to know though, the school offering me the full ride is California University of Pennsylvania, or as referred to by the locals, Cal U.

34

@Levon36
What are your plans in life? What major were you considering? Talk it over with your parents or parental figure, do you know about HBCU’S? They’re a great option.
I looked up CalU as you call it and it seems like a decent school. It performs it’s mission well… To get people it the workplace.
Did you not apply to Penn state?

35

Take the full ride. College presents a lot of opportunities and experiences. You should go and try it out now not bank on some school you might not like.

36

@VANDEMORY1342 OP’s stats are too low for Penn State main campus and Penn State gives lousy financial aid even to top, low income students.

37

@kidzncatz
Penn State is a reasonable Reach, he certainly has a chance especially considering his hooks. And he’s Instate, it can’t be that expensive.

38

@VANDEMORY1342:
“And he’s Instate, it can’t be that expensive.”

Expensive is relative. And PSU in-state tuition is as expensive as some (non-elite) privates.

39

@Levon36 - Here is an old thread worth reading through.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/905843-top-student-at-a-3rd-tier-school-four-years-later-p1.html

That student was not in precisely the same position as you are now, but concludes the post with words you should take to heart because they can apply to you:

"So, I went to a third tier school. I was challenged and happy. And next year, I’ll be heading off to a very good PhD program, fully funded, with the chance to work for a top person in my field.

The point of this post is not arrogance but simply to show that a student, including a “top” student, can have an enjoyable experience and successful grad school admissions outcome coming from a (gasp!) third tier school."

40

@VANDEMORY1342 Penn State is over $30,000 a year for instate students and even $0 EFC families most times get NO institutional aid. Even with maximum Pell and state grants, net price would be over $20,000. Even if the OP was able to gain admission (unlikely even as a URM), it would not be affordable.