So I was accepted to USC and Columbia as an English major, and it seems really obvious what choice I should make. However, USC has offered me their Trustee Merit scholarship, which is a full ride for all four years there. It also would cover all my travel abroad expenses. Columbia was my dream school, and my clear number one choice, but I just don’t know anymore. I can only afford to pay about $30,000 a year, but tuition is about $60,000, meaning I would end up about $120,000 in debt by the end of my undergraduate degree whereas at USC I could graduate with no debt at all. Columbia has a much stronger English program, but I would be able to stand out much more at USC. I might have more research opportunities and internships through the Trojan network. My greatest concern is applying for grad school. I want to go as far as a Ph.D., so I don’t want to end up with hundred of thousands in debt by the time I’m finished with my education, but I also want to make sure I have a quality education that will make me competitive in the job market. I can’t believe that after getting into my dream school I’m even considering turning it down, but graduating debt-free is incredibly appealing. New York, Ivy League, and great English major at Columbia, or free education, more special attention, and more studying abroad opportunities at USC? Please help!!
USC is an amazing school. And that is what you are choosing - a school, not a program. You’re going to undergrad; it’s not like choosing a graduate program where you spend all your time in one department. Most of your classes will be taken across the university in different departments, and student life and activities and enjoyment all play a bit role.
That said, again, USC is an AMAZING school. It’s highly respected in the job market, and you will have no trouble getting into a PhD program from USC assuming you otherwise have an outstanding packet. You have an excellent opportunity to get a free education at one of the elite universities in the U.S. It would be absolutely silly to take on six-figure debt in order to go to a place that is marginally better at best. (And that’s if you can even do it - you, as a student, can only borrow a total of around $30K from the federal government. Anything over that your parents would have to cosign for, which they shouldn’t!)
So go to USC, and don’t look back.
Thank you! It’s just that I had my heart set on Columbia for so long, and I only really applied to USC as an afterthought! I really wanted the New York experience, and I’m starting to realize that the Ivy League prestige isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but it’s still hard to let go of a future I’ve wanted for such a long time. I don’t want a “what if” or to wonder what could have happened ten years down the line and start wishing that I had just taken out loans. But you make very valid points! This definitely makes me lean towards USC.
There’s no choice here; just USC. You can’t borrow 120k.
Exactly. You have one viable option and that is USC. You should also note that as an English phD student, you will get paid pittances and if you enter the academic job market (a huge number of fully funded humanities phD students drop out), it is highly unlikely that you secure a tenure track position. Rather you will likely be forced to go the adjunct route which equates to poverty level wages for part time work.
$120,000 in debt is far too much for any undergraduate, let alone someone interested in obtaining an English phD.
At USC, your professors will have phDs from the top universities in the country. There will be a massive number of courses you can take with students who were almost uniformly near the top of their high school classes. Have fun in LA and enjoy not freezing to death in the winter.
Looks to me that NYC is a city whose joys can best be accessed by adults who have money, not impoverished college students who can’t even legally go in.a pub and buy a beer. Perhaps you could go to grad school.there.
I don’t think Trustee offers full ride, just full tuition. You will still have to pay about 15k per year.
USC, and save the money for grad school.
My advice:
Go to USC (on a full scholarship, I might add!!) and apply to Columbia for grad school (where you’re MORE likely to have a full scholarship with the credentials you’ll be leaving USC with!).
In other words…YOU CAN HAVE BOTH!! Always think BIG PICTURE, kid 
PS - I live in NY now. Trust me when i tell you its not all its cracked up to be. If you think the tuition alone is expensive…forgettabouit!!!
Histyness, you surely know nyc a million times better than I do…would u agree with my view that nyc is not geared for folks under 21 and who are pinching pennies? Not that LA is much better, but at least for this student the money situation would be better.