Urgent College Decision Advice (Please!)

College Search & Selection
1

*** First off I want to disclaim that this isn’t a brag post but I actually need and going to follow the advice given. I don’t have a good relationship with my family to talk these things out. So I really appreciate CC’s help! Thank you in advance!***

Some backstory: I live in Michigan and moved here in 2014 after being placed in the foster system. I moved up to Michigan, did really well in school. I’m from a very low-income situation and my school support isn’t so good.

So after decisions, I have been extremely blessed to be accepted to U of M Ann Arbor, USC, UCLA, all seven of the UCs besides Berkeley, Williams (full ride), NYU (38,000$ grant + loans). Oakland University (a local state school with a full ride). And the local area schools I’ve applied to. Since I’m in Foster Care but OOS, UCLA slashed my tuition in half but someone has warned me to not be lured into the name/location and risk being in 30,000+ solitary debt. Same with the other big name schools like USC and NYU.

Since I have a full ride to Williams (with no loans), I was wondering if I should realistically take that option especially if the other schools will likely not be so generous. I really “wanted” to be in the big city and am concerned about getting the needed undergrad experience in my field (political science). Wouldn’t NYC or LA be a better “network” opportunity than a smaller (but amazing) liberal arts school?

Additionally, I’m going to have NO familial assistance with college tuition, life, fees, ect (my family in Michigan wants zero to do with me once after 18)… UCLA, and USC has a former foster youth support program that really interested me, UCLA’s program offers priority housing, course selection ect… I’m thinking because I come a unique situation, should consider one of the schools that offer assistance to foster youth above all? The issues that affect foster kids (like feeling alone on campus, and lack of support) have awful consequences and I don’t want to experience that.

Finally, I want to head to law school and possibly get work with humanitarian organizations or international organizations like the UN or amnesty international. I have been placed into my political science major for all the schools above. Will undergrad name matter to law schools, for internships at international organizations and such? Say, I apply for an internship somewhere and they see “USC or NYU or U of M” instead of a less known school will take get a quicker call back?

A reason I was leaning towards NYU was the United Nations is located there. But is a maybe internship really worth 30,000+ NYU would expect me to take on completely by myself?

Since I am going to be by myself, financially and emotional ties wise. What should I do? Thank you guys so much!

2

Well first off, congratulations to you for all those amazing options! You should be extremely proud of yourself. Personally, I would take the full ride. Your college is paid for! Especially since you are going to be on your own. Williams is an amazing school. Do you feel like you would be happy there? Since you want to go to law school it would be great to be debt-free when it comes time to apply. Its not all about the name and like I said, Williams is a GREAT SCHOOL. Applications are way more than the university’s name, its the work you put into it as well.

3

Williams full ride is hands down your best choice. However, read the fine print – if you need like a 3.75 GPA to keep that full ride, and that doesn’t seem realistic to you considering what you want to major in (some majors like science have lower GPAs than others), then look at the next most affordable option to compare requirements for keeping aid.

You can always do your summer internships in the big cities, while getting paid to be there. That is what students do – they travel all over the country (and world) for their summer internships. From that perspective, it doesn’t matter where your college is located. Having a full ride at Williams, the top LAC, will look amazing on your resume, and help you stand out to get those top internship offers. Be aware that many of the best internships are secured in the fall preceding the summer – almost a year in advance. You can search for them online starting in August already.

Law schools care about your LSAT score and your GPA first, because that helps their rankings. Diversity is also desirable and will help your law school admissions. I’m a lawyer and had a partial merit scholarship to Emory Law School, and went to an ordinary undergrad school. Williams is a prestigious undergrad school, and to have a full ride there is a lot more impressive than just being another student paying lots of tuition at one of the other universities you mentioned.

4

What do you mean when you say full ride at Williams? Tuition and fees, room and board, with no loans? Williams is highly rated and my recommendation if truly full ride because it would allow you to be financially independent.

5

Full-ride at Williams? GO! You can do internships in DC or NYC in the summer.

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@TQfromtheU They gave me a total financial aid package of “$69,850”. and the Total cost of attending is “$70,850” which leaves my total Family Cont. to $1,000 but then it says Student 2017 Summer Earnings expected to be 1,000$ (They gave me a work study of 2,250, a 56,000+ grant, a book grant, other grants ect… and it says “Your family contribution and financial aid package combine to cover the full cost of attending Williams.” Plus they emailed and said they would pay for my plane ticket to travel to the campus. So, (blessed) a full ride.

7

@rvalover7 @mommyrocks @harvardandberkeley Thank You all! What you are saying makes complete sense. Williams would be the best choice. I was just battling myself because the idea of going off to UCLA or NYU or USC was “alluring” in itself. NYU’s core program boasts that their students have interned at the United Nations and that excited me. And those schools have the amazing locations on their side.

But I do understand the realities of what you said. Williams is an excellent school, and it seems to have a close knit community that would be great for proff. recommendations in the future. I’ll research what summer opportunities they provide ect…

@mommyrocks i’m going to actually save this entire comment somewhere, you gave excellent advice. And I have heard Law Schools value the LSAT and GPA over everything.

8

I have a friend who attends Williams. Every January students stay on campus but instead of regular classes pursue special opportunities or studies. Each January my friend has worked with local teens via a program the college promotes. These kids have been in the Juvenile Justice system in the Williamstown/ North Adams area. There are opportunities that relate to your interests everywhere, not just in big cities!

9

Were you invited to participate in their summer program before beginning in the fall at Williams? If so, take advantage of that opportunity, also. It will give you a chance to live on campus over the summer, take a course, get to know professors, learn your way around campus (not just the buildings but what it means to study at a school like Williams), and you will get to know fellow students. Even without the summer option, this is far and away your best offer. Take it, run with it, and don’t look back. Congratulations!

10

Williams is not a lesser-known school. In academia, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, and Pomona are held in as high regard as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton. Higher than NYU and UCLA.

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Williams is a very well respected school and you will get an excellent education there…an excellent education that will prepare you well for law school.

There really is something to be said for being able to graduate from college totally debt free. It gives you a lot of financial freedom and will give you more freedom in terms of employment options.

If you have access to a local library, see if you can check out a Dave Ramsey book. Something like his “Total Money Makeover” book. Or Susie Orman’s book titled “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke.” Both are books full of good financial advice that I wish my own parents would have told me about.

Congratulations on all of your hard work. You’ve earned this gift! It’s life changing. I am so excited for you.

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By the way, while you’re prepping to go away to college and while you’re in college, if you need any morale support, head over to the Parents forum and we will be a soft place for you to fall back on in case you ever need it.

13

Congratulations on your outstanding choices. William’s outcomes are incredible. Williams ranked 5th in the country for sending students to top 10 graduate programs (https://hubpages.com/education/Wall-Street-Journal-College-Rankings-The-Full-List-and-Rating-Criteria). Williams had the sixth highest LSAT average of any school in the country, suggesting the undergraduate education prepares students well for law school (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/760585-mean-lsat-scores-at-top-universities-p1.html), and it has a fantastic alumni network. The low-income community at Williams is in particular very tight-knit and cohesive. The students know the challenges they face and work together to make the transition as smooth as possible and to let you dive into all the wonderful opportunities Williams has to offer. Williams has the 10th highest endowment per student of any college or university in the country and ample funding for internships, research opportunities, etc. It has some unique academic highlights like oxford style tutorials and winter study no other school has. Most students get competitive internships during the summers and outstanding jobs post-grad thanks to the Williams name brand in elite circles.

I know it may not be well known where you come from. A few years ago, like you, I was a low income student admitted to a peer school of Williams too, and no one had heard of it in the community I was from. The small size felt worrisome. But after graduating, I’ve come to realize the high quality and depth of personalized attention you get at the liberal art colleges. I never got to know all the 1650 students in my school, and had far more courses I was interested in taking than I could ultimately study. The opportunities the top LACs provide is much higher on a per capita basis than most universities. Furthermore, Williams and other LACs are absolutely acclaimed in top circles. I did research at a top 5 university and visited several top U’s for conferences, and everyone I met there had heard of us. You should absolutely go with Williams if it’s free, no question. It is a peer to the Ivy League schools and offers one of the best undergraduate experiences in the country.

I get the appeal of a big city. I picked the LAC I went to for a big city atmosphere (it is near a huge city). But honestly, most of my experiences were in my home campus. The academics were so rigorous and the social life so interesting with things to do and events hosted on campus that I just didn’t have the time to go out as much as I thought I would. During fall break and spring break, a number of Williams students carpool to places like Boston and NYC for a taste of the big city, but there’s a particular appeal to the rural nature of Williams. It creates a conducive, thriving community. You’ll get the big city experiences with your job and summer internship experiences. You can’t get that serene, naturally beautiful experience at NYU, UCLA, and USC.

14

OMG!
DON’T think twice!
take the full ride at Williams and thank the Gods above for looking out for you!!
you are more lucky than you can possibly imagine!
congratulations!!!
=D> =D> =D>

15

Williams is rated as the #1 LAC in the USA. You get to go for free. Seems like an easy decision, and it’s a lot better that Oakland. What did Michigan offer you?

16

Repeating the excellent advice offered by @tucsonmom. We’re open 24/7.

:-h

17

Yes, run to Williams and come back to CC for support. We’ll be your extra aunties and uncles. What a blessing!

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  1. Williams is an amazing, top ranked liberal arts college.
  2. Williams is virtually free.

^ these have already been said and alone they are reasons to go there.

I’ll just add that as a low income kid, being in LA or NYC can be hard. Other students will be going to clubs and restaurants and living in nicer apartments or dorms when you are trying to save all your work money for expenses. It can feel very lonely. At Williams, where there are definitely a lot of rich kids too, most kids are eating and living together, walking into town, doing primarily school-based activities. It is a lot more comfortable situation, IMO, for a low income student. Just another angel on the choice.

19

Yes, go to Williams. For all the reasons mentioned.