Hello! I’m really not sure where’s I want to go to college next year so I decided to make a post. I’m a national merit finalist and it seems as though my final chances are USC Fordham and OU.
OU has given their national merit scholarship and also their global engagement fellowship program which is a 5000$ stipend for study abroad.
USC has given the half-tuition presidential scholarship and enough in financial aid so that the cost is about 19000/year.
Fordham has given full tuition and some loans.
I love the idea of college in LA or NYC but can’t decide if they are worth the higher costs. OU seems boring but their study abroad stuff is very tempting. I am annoyed with their 6000/year in fees though.
Any thoughts?
Some stuff about me:
national merit finalist
4.0 unweighted. 1/550 rank. 42 college credits through PSEO. 8 APs, all 5s. 1550 SAT, 800 math II, 780 chem, 35 act 3 times (36 on each event at least once), 36 essay.
National honor society, tons of volunteering, varsity math team 4 years with several awards, DECA state finalist and district winner and district finalist in two events, FPS state/international winnings since 5th grade, key club, students in action.
Cheer captain, varsity cheer, track and field every year, managed football team 2 years.
Part-time employment, tutor
Asian. And rejected to 4 ivies & duke, waitlisted at Upenn, rice, vandy, and Uchicago. My essays were decent- I think I just got unlucky! Either way I still have several very good options:)
Can you afford Fordham and USC? My Dd received 2 of the exact same offers you listed: OK with NM and Global Engagement and Fordham full-tuition and HC. (She didn’t apply to USCalifornia, but to the other USC, SCarolina.)
Yesterday she received a full disclosure of projected costs per yr from Fordham, and it was still something like $22,000/yr… OK’s $6000-$7000 in fees is cheap compared to Fordham. 
Have you visited OK? I thought campus was nice. They give their NM students the royal treatment. Dd missed trees. :). If she hadn’t gotten an offer that she liked a lot better and was actually more affordable than OK’s, she would have been happy to attend OK. OK has some things they offer that other schools didn’t. They have a Diplomat in Residence. If you are at all interested in foreign service, he has an office right on campus. OK students have immediate access to him. https://careers.state.gov/connect/dir/
My Dd also wants to study abroad at least 1 full yr. She spent quite a bit of time understanding partner and affiliate study abroad programs and the costs associated with the different different schools. OK’s study abroad program is extremely well-organized. The global vision of OK’s David Boren has really made an impact on their campus. https://www.borenawards.org/david-l-boren-delivers-keynote-address Since she is very interested in international careers, it would have been a fabulous option for my Dd, one she would have been happy to accept.
What does this mean? You are annoyed you have to pay something to go to college or to study abroad? Are you entitled to this?
@cherry13 Are you starting school in Fall-2017? Have you visited any of the campuses? What do you want to study in college? How did you get down to just these last 3 colleges?
My D is also a NMF and we received information about all three schools and the scholarship offers. She does not like NYC except to visit for a Broadway show. USC is too far away from home and actually still quite expensive even with a 1/2 tuition scholarship. She ended up applying to just 6 colleges all within a one day drive from Texas. OU was the favorite for her and her parents. I knew nothing about Norman, OK until we did the campus visit, but came away impressed with the campus and the small town feel. Since you are a NMF, you’ll also live in the NMF dormitory with students from all over the country.
Thank you! I’m paying for college completely by myself but I would be able to afford either if I wanted to sacrifice myself to some student debt!
Also I haven’t visited since it’s too costly but I’m really glad your daughter likes it! I’ve been dependent on photos so it’s super difficult to know what the atmosphere is like!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek
No, I was annoyed because their fees are significantly higher than most other schools, almost to tuition level for some schools. Since I’m paying completely for college by myself with no help from family, this really put me off of OU since usually full tuition means only paying a few hundred dollars in fees each year along with room and board.
Either way I don’t think I’m “entitled” to anything so don’t be so presumptuous!
@blueskies2day
@jerzmaster
To be completely honest, it came down to these three because I was waitlisted or rejected to most of my other choices; OU and Fordham were both back ups but I did really want USC as an option! I only applied to schools that are far away from my town, in the Twin Cities, because I really want a completely new environment! Also, I have no clue what I want to study- probably math and something else.
Fordham is still pretty expensive but they did give me some good loans to help, at least. I know loans aren’t as good as grants and such, but Fordham seems to be a pretty great school academically with a good location. They’re also paying for me to come visit so I feel wanted, which is always good! I’m glad I’ll get to visit before choosing.
USC is expensive as well but their financial aid for me really cut down the costs pretty well. Still more expensive than OU, but not so significantly as to put it out of the park. No matter what, I’ll have student debt because I’m paying for everything completely by myself, with no help from my parents, so it just depends how much debt I think I can handle. Either way, what I love about USC is the balance of student life and academics, the large alumni network, a great reputation, and a wonderful location with lots of school pride.
The best parts of OU is the global engagement fellowship, the great study abroad opportunities that are pretty low cost, and that most of my credits will transfer. Since I have a lot of APs and I’ve been taking classes at the University of Minnesota, it’s a LOT of credits- enough to make me like a junior credit-wise. I haven’t visited so that’s my biggest concern! I’m afraid I’ll get there and dislike it, because I like a more bustling location!
If you file the FAFSA you can borrow ~$5500/year. Where’s the rest of the money coming from?
Yeah I filed the FAFSA! The rest would be probably loans through the school or whatever they recommend!
@austinmshauri
The most you can borrow, @cherry13, is the $5500. What’s your FAFSA EFC? Do you qualify for a Pell grant?
It’s it’s around 6000, I don’t qualify. But for example jusy like loans through banks/credit unions and such. @austinmshauri
I thought your parents weren’t helping. Are they willing to cosign loans for you? If you’re borderline Pell eligible, that’s not a good idea, @cherry13.
@austinmshauri They might, I don’t think they really care as long as they only pay $0. So if they think I’ll pay everything back, they’ll be fine. I think my father is thinking of loaning me 5000-10,000 a year if I pay it back with interest later! So it’s not that they’re completely uninvolved, just that ultimately everything comes out of my pocket and not theirs!
Wow your parents want to loan you money with interest? That’s cold.
So at Fordham you would basically need to get loans for housing?
What state do you live in? Can you list your net costs (cost of attendance - grants) for each school?
No, the other schools are not worth taking on the debt. You have a great affordable option at OK. OKC is only a few minutes away from Norman. Students can use the Norman buses for free to get around Norman itself. There is a huge mall area not far from campus. Campus itself is very nice.
It would be far cheaper for you to borrow $$ from your parents for a flight to Norman than borrow $92,000+ ($23,000/yr for 4 yrs) for Fordham or $80,000+ for USC (housing at Fordham and USC off campus will be more expensive whereas at OK, the costs will likely be lower. If costs vary, your debt load will increase.) Visit OK and see what you think. UOk was my dd’s most likely destination until she won a competitive scholarship at another school that made it essentially full ride.
@austinmshauri It sounds like the Fordham offer is exactly what my Dd received. The NY disclosure for estimated costs per yr came a couple of days ago. We threw it out bc Dd has already committed elsewhere. But the amt was $22,xxx (can’t remember exactly.) They offered her $2750 in loans per semester. She was guaranteed housing for 4 yrs, but the full tuition scholarship does not cover fees. So they have to pay fees, room, and board.
@austinmshauri I live in Minnesota in the Twin cities!
OU would be about 13,000/yr, USC about 18,000/yr and Fordham about 20,000/yr.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek thank you so much for the information! The other two schools are only like 6000-8000 more a year which is why I was hesitant! I want to visit but I don’t have time/money to do it easily. I do have some people visiting there though and they promise to send me lots of photos, videos, and tell me as much about what they thought of the school as possible:)