Unsure of matches for both financial and academics

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey all, I'm a Georgia resident going into my senior year and am not sure where to apply that would be feasible in terms of aid as well as a good education.</p>

<p>I'm thinking about a degree in Accounting, or maybe Actuarial Science for the business route--but I'm also pretty into Chemical or Mechanical Engineering. There's a draw for meteorology as well, or I might want to do something that involves me being outside, maybe on a golf course or sports complex and being able to enjoy the facilities.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.7</p>

<p>AP Classes taken: US Govt/Pol (3), Physics B (3), US History, Language & Comp
AP Classes taking this year (sr. year): European History, Calculus AB and BC, Psychology, Microeconomics and am signing up for the AP Macroeconomics + Lit and maybe Statistics tests</p>

<p>I'm ranked about 70th in my class of 772 students</p>

<p>SAT: 1310/1600 (670 CR + 640 M), 1860/2400 (550 WR)</p>

<p>EC/Honors: 3 Years Track (2 Varsity), 2 Years Cross Country (2 Varsity), 2 Years of FIRST Robotics (First year the program has been at our school), will definitely graduate with honors</p>

<p>Another thing I really, really want during/after college is to stay in the southeast, preferably the Golden Isles in GA (where I live now), Florida, SC coast or NC coast.</p>

<p>I'm taking the ACT and SAT again this september/october and have been studying like crazy which will hopefully land me at least a 32 ACT or 1400 SAT in the coming months. </p>

<p>Last piece of information is that I'm looking to graduate with 20-25k in debt MAXIMUM, so I will go to the college it takes because I definitely don't want to compromise my lifestyle after college because of the burden of enormous student loans. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for reading and replying!</p>

<p>P.S. My current college list is: </p>

<p>FSU
Auburn
Bama
NC State
Drake
Maryland, College Park
Miami
LSU
Texas @ Austin
Georgia Tech
Georgia State
College of Coastal Georgia (the ultimate financial safety school, haha)</p>

2

<p>We would need to know how much your family is willing to pay.</p>

3

<p>Both my parents are retired (old couple), and told me they’d be willing to pay about $7k / yr, I don’t think I’ll be getting any need-based aid from universities however.</p>

4

<p>With regard to your academic choices, Florida State would be excellent. As to finances, your credentials could earn you some scholarships(retake the SAT, however). </p>

<p>Consider: [FSU</a> Admissions | Freshman | Finances | Freshman Scholarships](<a href=“FSU Admissions | Error 404 page not found”>FSU Admissions | Error 404 page not found)</p>

5

<p>Cut UT-Austin if you are OOS and financials are an issue.</p>

<p>What was your PSAT score?</p>

6

<p>UGA, GT are great schools with great options for you. With the Hope scholarship your tuition will be covered, right? The $7K from you parents will be a big portion of room/board and expenses left.</p>

7

<p>Just curious why you left off UGA? GT is a great choice for your majors.</p>

8

<p>noimagination: Not sure, I’ll have to look at my sheet later, but I only think it was enough for me to take it again junior year.</p>

<p>crazed: Yeah, it will definitely be a cheap option–I also want to explore as many OOS options as I could, but the overwhelming support for GT will be hard to pass should I get accepted.</p>

<p>Erin’s Dad: UGA just isn’t my kind of college: I’ve lived in the state all my life and have to say nothing about the university really appeals to me.</p>

<p>A few extra things: Our estimated EFC is around 10k, so I don’t know how that works out or what it exactly means, to be honest. + I heard the southern states have an agreement that if a degree isn’t offered in your resident state you can go to college for in-state tuition in another state if you are attempting said degree. The reason I bring this up is should I pursue meteorology I’m not sure if going to another SE university would work because even though no schools in Georgia offer the degree “Meteorology”, GT does offer what they call “Atmospheric Sciences”, so I’m not completely sure about all those nuances and whether or not they would be considered the same thing or if I’d actually be able to go OOS for meteorology through the SREB agreements.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the helpful answers so far!</p>

9

<p>bump 10char</p>

10

<p>The way I always thought SREB worked was that you had to apply to a program it lists. When I put in your state and Meteorology, it came up with University of South Alabama and Western Kentucky. </p>

<p>Here’s the link to the program: </p>

<p>[Southern</a> Regional Education Board](<a href=“http://home.sreb.org/acm/choosestate.aspx]Southern”>Southern Regional Education Board)</p>

11

<p>With regard to EFC, that is the amount your family is expected to contribute each year. If you family won’t pay that then they put you in a bad position. The rest of the tuition is paid for through any Federal Financing you qualify for, Federal Loans, Merit Grants, scholarships from the schools and private loans (last and to avoid if you can.) Each school will give you a financial offer package with you acceptance. </p>

<p>Make a list of each school, note the tuition. Sorry I am not familiar with schools in your area. UT-Austin and College Park are very good schools, but you may be priced out. Did you consider Tulane? They give good merit if your stats are inrange. I think you apply to UGA GT to leave you options open since there is serious financial consideration. At all schools, you will find your type of people if you stick it out a year. Get summer research/internships OOS. Study abroad a semester or year if that is offered. Even to graduate with $25 if tough in this environment.</p>

12

<p>if finances are an issue why are you applying to OOS publics? yes the sticker price of tuition might be cheaper than privates but if you get into a good private school that has a large endowment they’ll give you a ton of grant money. financially, i was in a worse position than you and i applied to in-state publics and then privates (both in and out of state). it worked out for me pretty well.</p>

13

<p>You seem to be pretty unsure as to your career goals, so a school large, public school would probably give you the most flexibility in terms of coursework. Personally, I think Georgia Tech, South Carolina, NC State, and Clemson are your best bets in terms of combining engineering and accounting. NC State, Georgia Tech, and Clemson get the edge in engineering, while South Carolina has the edge in accounting and actuarial science.</p>

<p>Something that most college prospects rarely consider, but that will ultimately determine your life post-grad, is location. Top accounting firms will draw from schools within two or three hours at most from their offices. Based on your list (and my additions), you would probably end up in the following cities.</p>

<p>FSU- Orlando
Auburn, Bama- Birmingham
NC State- Raleigh, Charlotte
Drake- Des Moines
Maryland- DC, Baltimore
Miami- Miami
LSU- Baton Rouge, New Orleans
Texas- Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio
Georgia Tech, Georgia State- Atlanta
South Carolina- Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston, Greenville
Clemson- Charlotte, Atlanta, Greenville</p>

<p>You might also specifically ask the accounting departments about their recruitment and which firms actively recruit the students on-campus. The rule of thumb is if the all four of the Big 4 recruit there, it is a respected accounting program.</p>

14

<p>if you can get a 1350 on the SAT or a 31 on the ACT and a top 10% ranking (which you currently have), you may be able to get a scholarship at Clemson which gives you in-state tuition. Those are the minimum stats that you need (it may be higher depending on how many students have test scores above 1350/31 or top 10%) so if you can improve your test scores and keep your class ranking in the top 10%, you may get in-state tuition which is still expensive though so I don’t know if you can even afford in-state tuition (estimated cost here: [Cost</a> of Attendance](<a href=“Office of Student Financial Aid | Clemson University”>Office of Student Financial Aid | Clemson University))</p>

<p>The rule of thumb is that you should never have more debt than what you think you will be earning per year after college.</p>

<p>Other than that, Clemson would be a great match for you. We have a fantastic golf course on campus, we’re on lake hartwell and about an hour from the mountains so there’s tons of opportunities for outdoor activities, and our engineering/science/business programs are excellent.</p>

<p>But don’t come here if you can’t afford it.</p>