u new hampshire vs colorado state

College Search & Selection
1

I’ve been accepted to both, and am instate for UNH. I have so far received the presidential scholar awards for both schools (5000 for UNH and 10,000 for CSU). I’m majoring in animal science. The COA with scholarships at CSU would be around 32,000. unh would be closer to 23k. I do have some plans for graduate school.

Basically, I’d be able to graduate UNH with no debt-- I have enough credits through cc and ap that I can graduate in three years, and have a 15k college fund, 12k in my savings account and have plans to work through college. With parent’s and grandparent’s help, as well as additional scholarships I should easily afford it.

CSU has a better location, a better program and frankly, it’s where I want to be for the rest of my life. I can see myself at csu, whereas I can’t really see myself at unh. I would be graduating with about 30k in debt. I don’t think that’s outrageous, but 30k is 30k and since I want to go to graduate school, money is very important.

Thoughts?

2

I really think this is a personal decision. I think $30,000 is worth it for undergraduate to go to a better university, or one where you think you’ll enjoy the atmosphere more. It’s the kind of loan that can be easily repaid after undergrad, if that were the only debt. There’s also something to be said for being local. I don’t think undergrads need to go to school where they want to live long-term - and quite frankly, it’s hard to tell where you really want to live long-term when you’re 17. SO many things change. When I was 17, I thought I’d want to settle down in New York long-term. I moved back at 22 and by 25 I was ready to move away again. Still, though, being local does mean you can make some connections and network a bit.

But yes, it all adds up when you include graduate school. There’s no telling, of course, whether you will actually go to graduate school or whether you will go right away. What are your current plans?