I just finished freshman year and am looking for universities to transfer to due to financial conflicts. I am already 20k in debt and would like to find a college where I will graduate with 50k or less debt. I plan on going to cc for a semester to take some extra classes before transferring. Here are my current stats:
Major: Computer Science (Currently attending top 25 school)
Extracurricular: Part of a single club. Had an on campus job all year long. Have done volunteer work in the past. Nothing too impressive since I was working on getting a high gpa.
What I desire: Strong CS program at a school that offers lots of Financial Aid.
I have a low EFC so I’m hoping that I will have close to full need met at a school that I transfer to. At cc I’m confident I will get close to a 4.0 gpa since I will be taking mostly low level courses as the higher up ones filled up already
Any help? I really want to make a plan now. Preferably I want a school that accepts transfers for the spring semester. Thanks a lot. I don’t have any location preferences or anything- but I live on the East Coast so a school near here would be ideal to cut down travel expenses.
You can try some LACs that are generous with fin aid.
UNC says they will meet full need and isn’t as hard for OOS to transfer in to, but I don’t know if they need full need for only freshmen applicants or transfers as well.
I don’t like Uconn’s CS Program because its requirements include classes like engineering and physics which I am not interested in. I’m more of a math guy than a science guy and would rather avoid those classes. My current school doesn’t require those types of classes. Obviously if its my best financial decision then I’ll transfer there but if I had to choose I’d rather not go there.
Conn college only offers B.A degrees which worries me but I have looked into that college and I will probably apply.
So sorry to learn that you got bad advice about where to go to college the first time around. You couldn’t have taken on all of that 20k in debt unless someone cosigned loans for you - or is some of that debt parent loans that you will be obligated to pay off for your parents?
You should sit down with the Transfer Advisor at the CC that you will be attending, and find out about good transfer strategies. That person will know where students with your major are being admitted and whether or not they got good financial aid. Ask about articulation agreements and guaranteed transfer agreements between that CC and 4-year colleges and universities. You might find out that your best option is to complete your Associates Degree at the CC before transferring. Some colleges and universities do have merit scholarships specifically for people who transfer in with a full AA or AS and a certain GPA.
Also, take another long hard look at the Comp Sci program at UConn. How many of the Comp Sci classes have the engineering and physics classes as pre-requisites? Since you like Math, how about majoring in that and taking as many of the Comp Sci classes as possible? Ultimately, your potential employer will be less interested in the major listed on your diploma than on the specific courses listed on your transcript.
@International95 - 20k in debt is easy to get into if you choose a place that you can’t afford, and you have adults who should know better than to co-sign for loans who are willing to co-sign for the extra loans. Even if a college/university meets full need as it defines need, that doesn’t mean that the place is actually affordable for the student.
No. I’m saying I would rather pick a college I can afford that has better course offerings and better course requirements. Its not just the one course requirement- I looked at the 4 year plan for cs majors. There’s other classes that I’m interested in taking at my current university (Compilers for example) that Uconn doesn’t seem to offer.
Worst case scenario I’ll go to Uconn. But I would prefer elsewhere. Ideally a school that won’t make my gpa drop by forcing me to take a useless physics class that I will not use later on in the workforce.
