Hello! I recently was accepted to UCSD as undeclared in Revelle College and to USC as an aerospace engineering major. If money weren’t an issue, I would be set on USC in a heartbeat. I love the school and the social scene there, something I hear UCSD doesn’t have as much of. As of writing, I have not been offered any financial aid by either university. I am appealing the USC financial aid package as my family works in aviation and it is currently hurting us financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My parents are able to financially support me for the full price of UCSD or half of USC. My question is would it be worth going into debt if I can get a bit of aid from USC? I don’t plan to attend if I can’t get some help from the university, and am fairly confident I have a decent appeal case. I love the school and could see myself there more than I could at UCSD. Thanks for the help!
It’s a no-brainer. USC is out of your price range. Scratch it off your list and don’t look back. UCSD is a great engineering school. If USC can give you a comparable financial aid package, sure a “little” bit of debt is fine…like 10k to 20k, if it means a guarantee of the major you want. I would probably do that. If it means co-signing $100,000 in student loans…RUN!
The issue is that as an Undeclared student at UCSD, getting into Engineering is not guaranteed. Would you be happy at UCSD if you could not get into your preferred major?
Any other options where you got a direct admit into Aerospace Engineering and that are affordable?
I am always advocating for the direct admit into your preferred major if possible.
We’re you accepted anywhere else?
Your current choices will be financially hard on your family because your parent is not working. It takes a while to “catch up”. Both choices will be expensive. You can’t rely on significant financial aid changes.
If you’re a person who thrives on social activities then, UCSD would NOT be the right fit. If you can’t get into the major at UCSD, you will be stuck and unhappy. Housing, after Freshman year, will be an issue. That’s a lot of money to pay to be miserable.
Your family, at this time, cannot afford USC. $72k is a LOT!
So, where else were you accepted?
Don’t take on unnecessary debt.
I was accepted to SDSU for aerospace engineering and wait listed at cal poly SLO for aero. I’m not sure how happy I would be at UCSD, but I don’t think I would be miserable. The rest of the schools I applied to I wasn’t accepted at. Now my parent is still working and is guaranteed a job until fall, but after that things are hard to see. more likely a pay cut than losing his job. How likely do you think it is for me to be able to secure a financial aid package from USC if I’m not being offered anything right now?
You can’t bet on receiving a financial aid package that will meet what you view as your need. There are a lot of people out of work right now.
What do you want out of your college experience? I’m a UCLA grad, but I definitely have friends and family that went to USC, and in this day (not when I went), I believe USC is worth the extra money. You will likely have a much more stereotypical college experience at USC–football, frats/sorority–plus you will have a lot more administrative support and for lack of a better word, hand-holding at USC. The alumni network is also a very powerful benefit of attending USC, and I assume you have read your fair share about Revelle, so you may want to factor that in also.