I’m trying to decide between UC Berkeley and Soka University of America. If money was not an issue, I would attend UC Berkeley, since it has been my dream school since my sophomore year. I really love the atmosphere, spirit of activism, scholarship, and prestigious the university has to offer. But let’s be real–money is an issue. If I go to Berkeley, I will have to borrow about $120,000. I also want to get a Master’s and or Doctorate later, so I will have to get into even more debt later, regardless of where I go for now. SUA is offering me a full ride (worth about $180,000). However, the school is VERY tiny, (only about 412 students), relatively new, not very established, in the suburbs, and only offers Bachelors in liberal arts. It feels very limiting, and has the atmosphere of a prep school. I’m not really sure what I want to study yet. I know that I want to make the world a better place (as cheesy as that may sound), and I want to make around $200,000 / year (or else my parents will forever be disappointed in me), so I’m considering studying environmental science, law, writing, medicine, film, and communications, literature, and international studies. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know any + all opinions; I want to make a well-informed decision! Thanks! (P.S. UCLA is also an option, my third choice rn).
Do you have any other options that are affordable ($120,000 in loans is not affordable, and you will need a co-signer – not a good idea) and not academically limited?
If you can get into Berkeley and UCLA, you should have been able to get some full ride merit scholarships at various other schools with a wider range of academic programs.
One of my ex- neighbors is a teacher at SoKa but I’m not comfortable with the school. What other choices do you have ?
Honestly, I live right near Soka, and know nothing about it. Berkeley is a school that can really open so many doors, especially if you are planning to pursue higher education after. I would say that money is certainly something to factor (and this is coming from someone paying off loans as a recent grad), but looking back, I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Berkeley paying full ticket price for the name.
Take a deep breath, and relax. Be realistic. It’s your decision. Will your parents really be forever disappointed in you for not making $200k a year? There are very, very few fields where you’d be making that much within 5 years, maybe 10, of graduation.
Think about what you want to study as well. Anything liberal arts won’t get you to that target salary. Entry jobs in communications/entertainment are typically hourly or per diem.
Choices: UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Soka University of America, and Lewis and Clark College. I’m guessing most of the private schools I applied to rejected me because my Common App personal statement was really crazy and unconventional, to say the least.
I got $19,000 worth of scholarships from Lewis and Clark, but tuition there is around $60,000 a year so that school is out of the question. UCI is offering me their Regent’s scholarship which amounts to $10,000 over 4 years and membership in their Honors program. It’s also within commuting distance from my house (half an hour without traffic), so I could save some money there, but I really rather not commute. UCSD doesn’t offer scholarships. UCLA, UCSC, and UCB all invited me to apply for their merit scholarships; I started applying for UCLA’s, but my teacher forgot to send in my letter of rec their so I couldn’t complete the application, and I didn’t apply to UCSC’s and UCB’s because I had a bunch of papers due at the same time their applications were due (which also required a couple essays). UCB is the only UC offering me financial aid: $6,000 for my first year. I would have to pay about $35,000 a year at the other UCs.
And yes, my parents would very seriously be upset with me. They want me to go to medical school, and I wouldn’t hesitate if I actually liked the profession or had the money, which I don’t have. E. g., if I were to go to UCLA for 12 years of med school, I’d have to borrow $350,000.
I’m also considering going to Soka for two years and then transferring to UCB, or going to Soka and taking summer classes at UCI or doing a postbaccalaureate
program afterwards.
Most kids borrow for medical schools.
Looks like you have high income parents who will not contribute to your college costs, so you really needed to have a merit-seeking application list last fall. Note that loans more than the federal direct loans ($5,500 the first year) would require parent co-signing, which they are presumably unwilling to do. As it is, you have only one affordable choice, which is Soka. Whether it is actually suitable for your academic and post-graduation goals is something you need to check yourself. If it is not, you have been shut out.
Remember that merit scholarships are less available for transfers than they are for frosh, so if you attend Soka (or a community college) for two years and then transfer, you would still have the unaffordability problem.
Your other option is to take a gap year and work to earn some money, applying to a merit-seeking list of colleges (including at least one automatic full ride safety) for entry in fall 2016. See the following:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html
Yes, most medical students borrow to fund their medical school education, but having $120,000 of undergraduate debt on top makes the debt level even more difficult to pay off after you start your actual practice 12 or so years after you start undergraduate study. See https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf for examples, then consider the effects of adding $120,000 of undergraduate debt.
I don’t know how you can deal with your parents, who seem to have unreasonable expectations of you going to college and medical school with no financial contribution from them while their income is high enough to disqualify you from financial aid that will make UCs and some other undergraduate schools affordable.