Thanks guys! But yeah, a part of me does wonder though, like “What if I don’t actually end up going to grad school?” That’s my plan right now, but of course I may not actually go. I’m also pretty sure that if I go to UCLA and establish Californian residency after graduation, it’d be cheaper to go to UC’s as well as for grad school.
However, another thing distorting my decision-making is that I’m obviously only 18. I don’t know how it feels to have a burden of debt. I barely make my own financial decisions at this stage—I just can’t picture debt and money in the ways that I want to picture. I wish I could know what the burden of debt feels like. I always tell myself that “I’ll just pay off the debt,” but I know it’s illogical, and I know the me of 20 years from now will be angry at myself for not realizing the burden of debt. It’s just my current emotions clouding over my ability to think logically, and the fact that I truly can’t picture what debt is like. My parents have been pretty financially-stable, so I have never had to worry about debt to understand it fully.
I mean UCLA does have many scholarships though—I haven’t applied to any. I think I can try to apply for some scholarships and see how it goes, and if it can lower my tuition significantly or not.
As of now, I’m just going to keep waiting for other college decisions to come out before trying to decide all of this. I think I could still attend schools that aren’t UCLA, as other private schools may be $10k per year cheaper than UCLA, but these schools would likely still leave me with 40k of debt, but it’s better than 60k of debt at ucla. Again, I’m not totally sure if $40k debt is necessarily a lot/how that burden would be.
Beyond that, I’m curious: what’s the reputation of UGA outside of Georgia? Since many of you aren’t in Georgia.
As an undergraduate student, by attending UCLA, you will not be able to establish California Residency without your parents moving to California. Once you are independent (age 24 or older), you can establish residency on your own. You will be paying OOS costs for UCLA until you graduate or unless your parents establish residency in California.
Undergraduates: If you’re a nonresident undergraduate student with nonresident parents, obtaining California residency for the purposes of tuition is extremely difficult (this includes transfer students from community colleges and other postsecondary institutions within California). Virtually all nonresident undergraduates with nonresident parents remain nonresidents for the duration of their undergraduate career at UC.
I’ll tell you what debt looks like- and I only had grad school debt.
I took a five week maternity leave with my first child, and zero maternity leave with my second (literally back at work the day after being discharged from the hospital). My options were to put the loan repayment on pause (which just means you owe MORE when you go back to monthly payments) or to keep paying. But I could not afford to repay my loans with our reduced income (my company paid maternity leave at the disability insurance rate- so it was a huge pay cut NOT to be working five days a week).
So- that’s what I did. I am not a hardship case, I don’t regret what I’ve done (financially, professionally or otherwise) but that’s what the “burden of loans” means. You go house-hunting and a house you could theoretically afford is out of reach (darn you, monthly loan payments). Your friends are doing ski weekends and exotic beaches over holiday weekends, and you are making a pot of chili and inviting the next door neighbor. And that’s with a comfortable, professional income!
It was worth it- and I was a working adult when I sat in the loan office and signed my promissory notes. And by year 8 of repayment I was able to accelerate my repayments (so no issues with zero maternity leave going forward) and get out from under it. But I did not have the luxury of turning down promotions for “better work life balance”. Back in the day, better work life balance meant less money, and I was focused on loan repayment to the exclusion of everything else!
Spouses story is even worse since he had loans from undergrad AND grad!
But it ends happily. We put the monthly payments in college funds for our kids- starting with the very first month after the loans were retired, and we don’t regret our own borrowing nor do we regret setting our kids up for their education.
But think hard. I’m sure the posters here can help you with a more practical plan!
Any college campus is going to feel like a whole new world to you if you are living rural. Large campuses are all about bringing the world to the students.
In general, taking out over federal loan limits is a bad idea and will be very life limiting. Double that if you are considering any sort of grad school path.
You will have many more options open to you in terms of where you live, grad school options, career paths, if you keep that debt to a minimum. I would be very careful with this. I personally think your parents are not being wise agreeing to sign for a plus loan for you for this purpose. Would they hold that extra money for grad school if you went to a cheaper option?
There are actually a lot more options that would have been much more affordable to you than applying to UCLA. You could gap year, work, and reapply to some out of state choices that are likely to come in much more affordable with merit. The exchange idea is a great one too and could give you an opportunity to study somewhere else. When you get on campus, they may have opportunities for study abroad as well.
I recommend going to read some stories on reddit on their student loan board.
No, you don’t want to know what the burden of debt feels like. Please listen to what all these adult posters are telling you. Also, because your parents have to take the Parent Plus loans, that will impact their ability to take on other debt like a car loan, and will likely impact their credit rating…because it is their loan obligation, not yours.
You definitely seem to understand it is your emotions ruling the day right now. So…just stop. Think critically and logically, and make big decisions like this without emotion.
If you want to keep open the possibility of attending law school or grad school for psych then you need to minimize debt in undergrad. The $27K total allowable undergrad loans is ok, but anything beyond that really isn’t affordable. An undergrad degree from UCLA will not qualify you for a better job (or get you better law/grad school results) than UGA.
UGA has a good reputation, and most importantly you will be able to achieve all your goals from UGA.
I would try to make a deal with your parents. Ask them to put aside their savings from you attending UGA and then gift it to you for graduation. Then you can use that money to move to California.
Ha. Good luck with that- that’s still your dream-self talking.
IF it’s CA or bust, go find a (relatively) less expensive (it will also be less glamorous) CC (such as Saddleback). Find shared housing and live frugally, plan your courses carefully and transfer to UCLA or UC-B to finish your degree. Do the math, but I think that the money saved on the first 2 years could balance out the overrun on the 2nd years. Of course, it would mean taking off the rose-colored glasses and being pragmatic, not the glory dream of riding off into the sunset, but it could achieve what you say is the primary goal.
OP it sounds like you’re really trying to talk yourself into UCLA. The math just doesn’t work. It’s Ok. Older you would tell current you not to go in debt.
I grew-up in a rural area and went to a state flagship. It’s not HS 2.0. Plenty of OOS and internationals.
What about Georgia State? Atlanta is very diverse. They send plenty of students to law schools or grad school. If you hate it transfer to UGA or another school.
There are other schools in the LA area. Cal Lutheran, Whittier, and others. If you want the diversity and location you can get it at an affordable price.
You may have to give up name brand recognition to stay in budget. But if you want a law degree or a psych degree either of those schools would give you a good base at a price that would leave you debt free.
It all comes down to choices, and you still have plenty of you are willing to give on others.
why “ha?” UCLA does have a scholarship webpage with scholarships to apply to… of course they’re “hard” to get, but to be fair, getting into ucla was the hardest part… i’m going to apply to outside and uc scholarships. i dont get how that’s “ha…” i’m just trying to get the lowest tuition possible to be able to compare with other schools and their tuition and make the best decision at the end
Is this a false dichotomy? Are your only two choices UGA or a California school? There seems to be a lot of space in between where you can spend a great deal less.
If you are already planning on graduate school incur debt for grad school and not undergrad. There are so many options and programs to participate in at UGA and any large school that offer tremendous amounts of diversity. Others have mentioned study abroad. Have you researched psychology and sociology at UGA to understand their full opportunities?
Getting enamored with a far off location and running away from the perceived perception of others is not a reason to go into debt. I have no doubt your intellectual curiosity and open mindedness will take you far as long as you think critically about the decisions in front of you. Best wishes!
no, all of my decisions are really coming out next week. so this thread is just based off what i have now. to be honest, i probably don’t even need to think this deeply about it all until i get ALL my decisions back. i feel i can make much more productive decisions/ comparisons after april first, once all my decisions have come out, and i can make more comparisons when i see the financial aid of other schools too next week. idk why im stressing so much about this right now
georgia state is just an “average” school. i also went there and do not like it.–uga is far greater in psych than ga state, and uga is also like the same price and has far more research, jobs, better professors, internships, reputation, and opportunities than georgia state. a lot of students in georgia also don’t really see georgia state in the best light. though i said that i dont rly like uga, i’m NOT disregarding the fact that uga is a great, great school. it’s just the fact that i’m not sure if it matches my particular fit. but of georgia schools, my ideal/top ones are emory and uga.
it’s a bit over, but i’m fine with a “smaller” about of debt (tho it’s still an average-ish debt level. unfortunately, i think debt for me would be inevitable unless i go to uga, since my family is upper-middle class and aid is worse for this class bracket). it’s farrrr smaller debt than ucla of course, and my parents said they may move to atlanta in a few years and i can just live with them if i go to emory. also, i qualify for in-state scholarships that apply to emory too. emory (atlanta) is also cheaper cost of living than california’s area. my ideal college locations are nyc, atlanta, la, and atl is far cheaper than the other two
i did apply to other schools that actually have no loans too, like Rice and the ivies. so i just have to wait on other schools! there’s not too much point right now in trying to think so hard about this when i’m still waiting on other schools to compare
The 4 years of undergrad will go faster than you think. You’re very lucky to have UGA as your in state option. It might not be everything you want but it’s probably more diverse than you realize and it’s only for 4 years and then you can live the life you want, debt free in a city of your choice. Thirty years ago I was only given the choice to go to my Midwest, in state flagship even though I really wanted to go to the west coast. I had a great time and as soon as I graduated I moved to Seattle. Since then I’ve had a job that allowed me to travel the world and I’ve traveled to 5 continents, lived on 3. You have a lot of time to create the life you want. FWIW, my S23 is possibly going to UGA from the DC area. His highly diverse school district sends tons of grads to UGA each year.
Many ppl at my highschool now will also go to UGA, which makes UGA feel like a repeat of my highschool experience
I mainly feel like UGA would limit my exposure to the diversity and curiosity i always want to embrace to truly feel at my happiest. for context, my school is extremely homogenous culturally and creatively…i’m one of the only asian-americans in the entire school,
A few comments. First, no matter how big your HS is and how many kids go to UGA, you’ll never see them again unless you want to. UGA has 30,000 students. If you don’t request a HS friend as a roommate you might see them occasionally in passing but they’re not going to be in your classes, on your dorm floor, or in your life – unless you go out of your way to make it happen.