Just an FYI…Tulane is in the middle of replacing those dorms, ultimately resulting in a residential village of five new dormitories. Phase 1 will be completed end of this year with two new dorms opening. Irby, Phelps and Paterson Halls, in the style you dislike, will be demolished as part of this project. Additionally, many students at Tulane choose to move off campus as juniors, so dorms aren’t as central to the four year experience as they are at other schools.
If OP is coming in as a junior transfer, A lot of these factors may be less important. The time for greek rush is over, and many upperclassmen live off campus (with cars) at both schools.
You wrote that you dislike the “size, location, and culture” of your current school which is a small New England LAC. Can you describe the aspects of the culture at your current school that you dislike ?
Also, have you investigated the upper level course offerings in psychology at Michigan, FSU, and Tulane ?
Do you want to live in a dorm or off campus at your new school ?
My lac is under 2000 students, is in a smaller town in Connecticut and felt a lot like a high school and people actively disliked being students there . Within my first week I had multiple people tell me that they were embarrassed to be going to the school. Everyone was constantly justifying why they didn’t go to a “better” school (this lac was mostly high achievers who didn’t do well on the SAT test optional before covid). I really want to go to a school that people are actually proud to be at. The small size made it very group based everyone had their social group and there was no straying from that- really felt like hs in that sense. The main demographic was rich kids from mass and there were very few kids from outside NE. I want to meet new types of people and have a new experience as well.
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Michigan by far has the best offerings. Tulane and fsu seem to come in about the same. A big difference is that Tulane had a 4+1 program and fsu doesn’t. I also want to live in dorms because I don’t know anyone at these schools and getting my own apartment is expensive and I don’t want to sign a lease with people I don’t know.
Have you verified whether or not you will have guaranteed on-campus housing at each school ?
If Michigan is unaffordable, then do you prefer the course offerings at Tulane or at FSU ?
Are you interested in the 4 + 1 program at Tulane ?
I have a significant amount of experience in both New Orleans and in the Florida Panhandle region. Totally different feel. Tulane is city life, while FSU has a big college feel; both seem quite different to me than the culture at Michigan. New Orleans is lively; Tallahassee is much more laid-back.
FWIW The Florida beaches (Destin & Panama City Beach) are a longer drive (about 2.5 hours) from FSU than one might expect, but the beaches are spectacular.
Have you joined incoming transfer social media groups? You might get some good information on those.
As you said you qualify for a Pell Grant and are responsible for paying your education costs, it seems you have to follow the money. You can achieve your goals from any of these schools, and can certainly ignore Greek Life at any as it seems at all 3 schools most students do not join a social frat/sorority.
What is the net COA of each school? I am sure you know you can only borrow $7.5K each of junior and senior years. How are you funding the rest? Note that you may be able to live less expensively off campus, if only because many off-campus students don’t spend as much as on campus students for food.
I have a housing contract at a really good dorm if I want it at Michigan. They others it could go either way. I could make Michigan work but it’s 20k more a year (40k in total extra debt). I’m just not sure Michigan is worth all the extra debt. I toured and loved it. #3 program in the country for psych with pretty much never ending opportunities in the department. But that’s a lot of extra debt. I would want to do a 4+1 program, my goal is to get my cages and work in school psych doing assessment and testing so getting my masters as quickly and as cheaper as possible would be ideal.
Umich is ~50k (shockingly bad finaid), Tulane 35k and fsu I haven’t gotten my final offer but just with the pell 28k if I get any institutional aid that will change things significantly. The rest of my debt I’m taking out in private loans I don’t have another option sadly. My parents REALLY don’t want me getting an apartment even tho I’d prefer it. They basically said that if I couldn’t get on campus housing I’d have to take the school of the list.
Who are you expecting to sign for that level of debt? You can’t. Are you parents likely to do so?
We’re planning on co-signing
You are sure they qualify? None of these schools are ideal if you want school counseling/diagnostics. That is a state-licensed degree
Crap this isn’t net cost just cost after grant aid and merit scholarships. Just for a fyi
Specific masters isn’t really important it’s the post masters program where you do your cert even tho there are combined programs.
Living off campus in New Orleans requires more research as the less safe areas can be within one or two blocks of a more desirable area.
Easier to find safe off campus housing in Tallahassee. I suspect that off campus housing is less costly in the FSU area, but I am not certain about this.
While Michigan may be your top choice, you have to consider the cost especially since substantial loans would be required. If you have any current student loans, then you should be concerned about COA.
That is one expensive way to reach your goal in a career that is not that high-paying and will make repaying your debt problematic
It’s actually cheaper to do a 1 year masters and 1 year cags compared to a 3 year combined program. The other alternative is a doctorate which is more expensive. Unfortunately to go into any field in psychology you need grad school.
My debt load rn is very minimal but I’m not convinced that it’s worth it. My parents are really torn on it. My dad wants me to pay to go to Michigan because of rankings my mom wants me to go as cheep as possible. That’s why I’m thinking Tulane might be a good middle ground because it’s much better regarded where I’m from than fsu but is much cheaper than Michigan.
With that said I really want to go and visit before I make any decisions
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How much debt do you and your parents already have for your first two years? Have your parents co-signed loans for other siblings? Michigan is a public school and generally gives poor aid to transfer students. As it would require another $100K in loans, it is not affordable so off the list it goes. It does look like FSU will end up the least expensive…it’s $38K COA for out of state students, less your Pell. They won’t give you any need based aid. Did they give you any merit aid so far?
Please figure out the financial end of things. The direct student debt of $27K over 4 undergrad years is typically ok. More than that for a job that is going to pay max $40K-$50K upon graduation will make it more challenging to meet your loan payments.
Here’s a loan repayment calculator: Mapping Your Future: Student loan repayment calculator Here’s a calculator where you can estimate what each paycheck will be: Take-Home-Paycheck Calculator
Lastly, why wouldn’t your parents want you to live off campus, if it means fewer loans?