Why would you stay at a school at which you’re miserable for a full four years? I’d hightail it outta there after 1.5 years MAX.
Finances.
I’d just drop out if I hated my school that much.
That’s easy to say if you haven’t ever actually faced that decision down, though. Consider that dropping out of college can be financially worse than never having attended college in the first place.
Of course, the initial underlying assumption that less expensive=less enjoyable still strikes me as odd, to say the least.
Of course. But RE: staying at a school you hate because of finances. Who’s to say that your parents’ financial situation won’t improve while you’re in college? You may be able to transfer later.
I am in 100% concurrence with you. My fourth choice school turned out to be my most expensive choice, and it had an unsafe surrounding area and a middling retention rate in addition to being incredibly overpriced. I can say without doubt that I would NOT have enjoyed it there, and I would NOT apply there if I had to do it all over again.
This whole question can be avoided by carefully finding an affordable safety that you actually like when making your application list. A school that you will be miserable attending if it is your only affordable choice is not a suitable “safety”.
@ucbalumnus true. I always say that I would go back and apply to an in-state public as a safety.
OP: That’s a false dichotomy.
You should construct your list carefully, so that you have “affordable schools that make you happy”.
If you end up with “cheap but makes you unhappy” plus “unaffordable” schools, you made a very bad list.
There’s a difference between affordable and cheap, too - the best value may not be the cheapest. (There was a student who had a full ride to a local university and full tuition at a flagship: he took the full ride, only to find that the academic offerings were very limited as was the career center, and he’d lost his shot at a full tuition scholarship as a transfer…)
I think students can be happy at any college. Get involved, work hard, and make friends. It’s only four years!
If anything, I would rather have an “okay”’ college experience than be $100,000 in debt. Undergrad is four years, but that debt changes your entire life!