@cherry13 If you received the NM package from OK, the costs should only be around $7-8000 per yr. Where did you get $13,000?
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I got it directly online from their financing section on my OZone account!
If anyone has any experiences to share on any of these three colleges that would be best! I’m not looking so much for thoughts on the finances since of course it varies from person to person on what they value enough to pay extra for, but mostly just what life is like at these schools!!
Did you receive the NM package? I am not sure what you are seeing unless you are factoring in personal expenses and transportation costs (not directly billed costs) for OK and ignoring them for Fordham and possibly USC. I haven’t seen USC’s wording, so I don’t know whether their estimate is just billed costs or not.
Directly from their website:
You can eat far cheaper than a University meal plan and more than likely can find cheaper housing.
I’m factoring in personal costs for all 3! I appealed for more aid at Fordham so that’s why the cost is lower than the 22,xxx.
I do agree that I can find cheaper room and board options at OU!! It’s definitely a factor! Thank you so much for all the help @Mom2aphysicsgeek
Given the 3 options, I agree with those who say Oklahoma is the only realistic one. Growing up, people tend to try to convince kids to shoot for the stars, everything is possible, etc. College and its costs are many teens’ first real exposure to the cruel realities of adulthood. So this isn’t about what you want or what you’ve always dreamed of. This is about what is realistic and reasonable. Oklahoma is cheaper, closer, and a fine school. College towns can be great! So many high school students dream of the big city, not realizing that most big cities aren’t geared for college students with little cash in their pockets…stuff is expensive in NYC and LA, and a lot of the good stuff requires you to be 21 and have more money than you have. You can have a lot of big-city adventures, just probably not in the next few years.
HOWEVER, you are still on the waitlist at some schools that hand out big-time financial aid. So prepare for Oklahoma, but also prepare for an abrupt shift if one of those waitlist decisions goes your way, and is accompanied by a big financial aid package.
Thank you!! I am definitely hoping to get off one of the waitlists so I am very prepared to abruptly switch college plans completely if by some stroke of luck I am taken off one!!
I agree that it is probably more dreaming that makes me want to go to the other two, but none of my options are very close to home at all (as I wanted). I think what I plan to do is just see if I can get even more aid from either USC or Fordham and see where that lands me! One thing I liked about Fordham was that public transport in NYC is really good; I can’t drive nor can I even afford a car so if I went to OU I’d be very dependent on friends if we ever went out of Norman! @moooop
Here’s a major factor though: I’d have about 81 credits that OU should accept… while USC and Fordham are much less than that.
@cherry13 Sounds like financially, OU is by far the best choice with the scholarship and AP credits. From this parent’s perspective, finances are up near the top of my criteria. However, I told me daughter I would support any decision she made that would cost no more that a public school in Texas. For you, it sounds like any of the 3 schools would have met my criteria on costs so I feel all are reasonable financial options for universities. I would still personally save as much money as possible, but certainly think that you can make any of this work. If you were talking about attending one of the private schools without any merit aid, I would strongly argue against borrowing so much money.
My D had other offers that would have been less expensive than OU, so money was not her number 1 criteria. I’ve only visited OU, so can’t give you feed a on the other two. I also love LA and NYC, so it sounds like a great adventure to me. I do have one comment I heard from the Tulane president when we visited their school. He was trying to make parents less nervous about their kids attending college a short trolley ride away from the French quarter of New Orleans. He told us freshman quickly grow tired of visiting the French quarter and within a month they have had their fill. Do you think that may be what would happen if you lived in LA or NYC? Go see all the sites near Times Square for a month or two and then get into a routine that keeps you on campus or in less touristy/crowded places. Or will you seek out the masses of people and the 24 hour action? I think either answer is fine and is based on your individuality. I personally can only handle LA and NYC in small chunks and then welcome coming back home to small town Texas.
@jerzmaster this is a very well thought out response and I appreciate you taking the time to write it! It definitely brings up good points. I do feel like I would tire of NYC, but not LA, as I absolutely love the ocean and the views in California. I am definitely more of a city person than a small town girl, so I would go out a lot no matter what. The Twin Cities are pretty large but not compared to NYC or LA which is good because I do feel sometimes like the Twin Cities are smaller than what I’d like! I am confident that I can make any of these three work and I’m glad that you think so too!
@jerzmaster Except this student’s parents didn’t tell her that they would match in-state tuition. They have only offered $5-10,000 in loans that have to be paid back in interest. The student’s budget is a max of $15,500 in loans. Unless the parents pay for transportation to and from Missouri, that is another expense that needs to be factored in.
@cherry13 Loans are cost. They do not reduce cost of attendance. Every loan you see in your FA packages needs to be backed out so you are comparing cost to cost. You need to do line by line comparisons: tuition, fees, room (do you have on-campus 4 yr guarantee at Fordham and USC?), board, health insurance if required. Allow at least $800 for books. Do not add in personal expenses and travel costs generated by the school bc they are generalized. Calculate your own travel expenses based on real numbers. You have $5500-$15,500 if your parents loan you $$. Once you have the bottom line, then you know whether or not if have enough.
Fwiw, bringing in credits allows for double majors and greater study abroad freedom and can reduce graduation by a yr or more cutting costs that way, too.
Yes I realized all of that, but thank you. I was counting loans as a cost! @Mom2aphysicsgeek
The # of credits you’d start with at OK are even more of a reason to go there. You could graduate in 3 years, & take a light load each semester, giving u time to work and/or be an RA in a dorm, further decreasing your debt.
@cherry13 We visited Norman recently and I have lived in Minnesota (Univ of Minnesota campus). Norman is a great small university town like University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus. The campus is much bigger. OKC is about 1/2 hour away. The NMS counselor told that the cost of living is 9000/yr in Norman. If you like Minneapolis-St. Paul (Twin Cities) , Norman may be boring for you. There are tornados frequently in Norman but no sub zero temperature (-40 with wind chill). Fordham, we will visit soon. USC, we have no plans to visit yet but it is another option for NMF.
Thanks so much! I do PSEO right now at the university of Minnesota right now and I really don’t like it- I do find it very boring. Although I do like it a lot more in warm weather, so perhaps Oklahoma would be better in that respect.
I’m visiting Fordham on April 21!
If international things interest you, then you will love Fordham – over 37% of NYC residents are foreign born. It will be like studying abroad year-round, and you can still sign up for a study abroad program if you want to. Full tuition at Fordham is awesome. Congratulations!
That’s amazing!! Definitely a factor! Thank you:) @mommyrocks
@cherry13 what did you decide?
I came to this discussion late, but I know that at OU, if you come in with a ton of credits and graduate in 2 years, you can use the rest of the NM scholarship on a Master’s. Not sure if that is true at Fordham and USC.
At USCal, our friend’s S used his Trustee’s full tuition scholarship to get 2 bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in 4 years and a few summers.