After all grants and scholarships the net costs are about $13,000.
Work study was estimated $3,000 and the rest would be loans of about $10,000.
My parents are not contributing to my education and will not take out loans so I don’t even know if it is possible to go here because of the max for student loans.
I was admitted into bioengineering: bioinformatics which was my second choice, but I may end up switching to a different engineering major if I find I don’t like it. Also I heard the bioinformatics part is not accredited.
I also got admitted into UCI and USC but I’m assuming it will be about the same price as UCSD. I have not received my financial aid status yet, but I’m calling them tomorrow when the office is open. At Cal State Fullerton I received the presidential scholarship which makes it significantly cheaper than the other universities. It pays for most everything except dorms which I should be able to pay for with a job.
Is UCSD worth the debt for an engineering degree? If I end up in bioengineering, I might have to go to med school after so I’m thinking it might not be the best choice for me, since I’m not completely set on my specific major. Or would it be better to go to CSUF and graduate with almost 0 debt upon graduation.
I’m just trying to look at all my options and weigh the pros and cons of each school, and I am contacting the financial aid offices tomorrow. Aside from money, I do like each of the schools. Thanks for any help.
Looks like CSUF (Fullerton?) does not have your major. This is something important to consider. You can be pre-med with any major, but if later you decide against med school and would like to major in bioengineering then that would be a problem. Maybe going to CC and saving up/transferring to a UC would be the best route??
Also, can you commute to any of these schools? This might allow you to attend right away.
$40K overall is manageable and you may well not need to borrow that much. Speak to people at UCSD and, if you can, attend an admitted students event or join the closed facebook group You’ll see that people do manage to improve their FA or reduce their loans.
@klingon97, You’re a teen who’s never had to repay a 5-figure loan. How do you know whether or not it’s manageable? OP can’t borrow that much on her own and the parents refuse to cosign, so she can’t borrow it anyway. Most students don’t get additional aid after freshman year. Costs rise and many grants stay the same. Others aren’t guaranteed for 4 years or have GPA conditions that must be met in order to keep them.
With work study, you get paid as you work. So you need the whole $13k up front. You can probably earn ~$3k over the summer and you can borrow the federal student loan (~$5500/year). That leaves you at a ~$4500 gap.
Let us know when you get all your financial aid packages.
There isn’t an accreditation process for bioinformatics, which is why UCSD’s program isn’t ABET-accredited. The other three majors in the department have been or will be accredited. It’s a solid bioinformatics program regardless.