<p>I received my award letter today and I would have to take out about 5,500 in loans because my parents can not contribute much, being as they barely have enough to pay their bills. I'm going to major in pre-med and plan on either attending UF for med school or transferring to UM. I know that I will have to take out loans for med school (at least 80,000) so I don't want to take out even more for my undergrad. This is what my award letter said :</p>
<p>Bright Futures : 3,700
Pell Grant: 3,500
FL ASST. Grant : 2,700
Work study : 3,000 ( not guaranteed)</p>
<p>My question is, is it really worth taking out a loan for UF rather than attending UCF,FSU or FIU ?</p>
<p>If you don’t feel comfortable taking out the loan then dont. From what I’ve learned where you go to undergrad, short of you majoring in engineering, doesnt matter as long as you do well where you go. As you said, you’re premed , you have to just do well in your classes, volunteer, etc. and whether its at UF FSU UCF or elsewhere it doesnt matter where you go, just do well. Granted UF is well known for their science program but what really matters is how you do, thats what gets you into medical school, not the name recognition of the school you went to. No medical school will look down on you for choosing a school that didnt require you to take loans.</p>
<p>May I ask why you exempt engineering?? Sorry to impose upon the thread… </p>
<p>^^ is right. Go where you are comfortable.</p>
<p>Thank you ! You’re absolutely right.</p>
<p>The reason I exempted engineering is because most engineering students I know do not plan to continue their education with a masters or go further with a PhD, so going to a well known program for their undergrad engineering degree matters to them. Usually the last place you get your final degree i.e. masters PhD JD MD etc. matters the most. Engineering is one of those majors where technically you have a great potential to get a very good job without going for anything more than your undergrad. Potential employers will look at your GPA and projects worked on and if its between two engineer candidates with only undergrad degrees with essentially the same resume the person who went to CalTech has a better chance at the job over the person who went to local state university. However, it all comes down to how you do, your attitude, and drive. Your school doesnt define you and you should go where you feel most comfortable academically and financially. If you have the drive to be successful, no matter where you go you will be.</p>
<p>Thanks! I decided on Engineering and you are actually right! There is not many who pursue grad school for engineering… Thanks!</p>
<p>OP doesn’t have to take that many loans out. they say you need like 17k a year. you don’t.</p>
<p>its not difficult to get by with 11-12 k/year or less, and this should provide you some money in the bank in case of emergencies. i don’t think it would be impossible to get by on what you’re getting in grants alone, but i wouldn’t recommend it.</p>
<p>also: GO TO PROFESSORS AND ASK TO BE A RESEARCH ASSISTANT for work study.</p>
<p>I would only need 5,500 in loans not 11-12k…</p>
<p>Wait did you have to apply for awards at UF or is it based on GPA/SATs? Also when do bright futures scholarships come out??</p>
<p>And if u don’t want to take out a loan, don’t. If u are doing pre-med it doesn’t matter where u go for undergrad. Just do well where u end up 
my cousin just got into FSU’s med school after going to UCF undergrad.</p>
<p>lillyy, you posted about 10k in free aid. grants are not loans, and do not need to be paid back. you wont need more than $2k in loans, and could get by with your grants alone, though it would be hard. or if you manage to get a job with a good number of hours, you shouldn’t have to take a loan out.</p>