What is the smarter choice for me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I need to pick between APU or UNLV to go to next year and I've got barely any time to do it, so if you can...please read and try to assist me. </p>

<p>I'm an incoming freshman and I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Throughout all my four years of high school I've been dreaming (not exactly focusing) about going off to a good college in California. However, I let my grades slip and I didn't do my best - but I still got into a few decent schools. </p>

<p>I also applied to UNLV, because I'll have the Millennium Scholarship, the Pell Grant and other financial aid which will basically pay for the whole thing - including a single-style dorm room on campus. I have my room and everything set to go at UNLV right now.</p>

<p>I also am enrolled in my second choice, Azusa Pacific University. APU, however is much more expensive. They are offering me $22,000 in grants and loans - but I still need to come up with another $12,000 from third party loans AND pay for my books and other expenses. The upsides of going to Azusa are that I'll be getting the traditional college experience I've always wanted. It'll be a fresh start for me and I can envision it being a lot more fun than UNLV. The class sizes are small, and going to a small school has always been one of my goals. The downsides are that I'm scared of moving out, leaving home and not making friends. I'm scared that I'll go to APU, lose touch with all my friends here in Vegas and then not make any substantial ones there, because I'll have to leave every summer. Plus most of the kids at APU are from California, so they already have their social lives and friends built and I'll be there all alone. Then again, if it DOES work out then it could be a really amazing opportunity.</p>

<p>Then there's UNLV. I'll be 15 minutes from my house, so I can still be independent and live on my own, but I can always go home and see my family. It won't be such a strain on my parents financially which will relieve a lot of the guilt I'm feeling, and I won't be putting them into debt. I know the area extremely well, so I won't be trapped on campus. I'll be able to do what I want whenever I want. Plus I'll have my OWN dorm room which I can decorate however I please and make it look amazing. I'm scared that since UNLV is a commuter school that there won't be much of a campus life though, and that it will be harder to make friends. I guess friends is one of the main things I'm scared about. At least if I'm in Vegas, I can build a new network of friends and not have to worry about leaving, right? Staying in Las Vegas is a lot more stable and within my comfort zone. </p>

<p>I'm worried though, that yes, it's EASIER to stay here - but is it the right thing to do? I don't want to always be wondering "what if" just because I was too scared to take a leap and do something scary and leave home. </p>

<p>Another factor I should probably include is that I WANT to transfer. If I stay at UNLV it will only be for two years, and then I want to transfer to a far better school. I feel the same about APU. I want to graduate from a more well-known school, possibly a UC. So if either way I'm going to transfer, should I just stick with the cheaper choice? </p>

<p>PLEASE help me if you can. I am horrible at making decisions and could really use some insight. I know that was incredibly long.</p>

2

<p>I’d go with UNLV. Focus and work hard…save your money.</p>

<p>What is the total cost in loans for Azusa Pacific per year?<br>
I’d avoid private student loan debt at all costs (much higher interest rates and not nearly as forgiving with repayment like government backed loans).</p>

<p>I’m confused by your post though…have you applied, been accepted and are just now deciding where to go this fall? You say next year, but you barely have any time to choose? :confused:</p>

3

<p>I mean THIS year. Like school starts in 3 weeks. I’m enrolled in both schools right now and need to withdraw from one of them. </p>

<p>I’d be taking $9,500 in loans for APU this year. Put you have to add the $12,000 that’s left over on top of that as well.</p>

4

<p>I go to Azusa and I am from Washington state. There are a lot of kids there from out of state and I have made many friends. I love Azusa and wouldn’t go anywhere else. It is expensive but if you can swing it I think you would be happy. The classes are small, the students friendly, and the sun is shining all the time!</p>

5

<p>“I still need to come up with another $12,000”</p>

<p>Which you DON’T have lined up yet. 12k plus the 9.5k in loans you already have for APU could be 21.5k in loans each year. That is WAY too much. Even 9.5k each year is pushing it.</p>

<p>Whether you are scared to leave Las Vegas or not, is not the point. You simply don’t have the money to do so right now. Go to UNLV for the first two years. Get good grades, and think about where you can transfer to for the last two years for the “small college” experience.</p>

6

<p>Most college kids make at least a small group of friends despite having to move away during the summer. 9 months is a long time to be with people, and 3 months is a pretty short amount of time. Just because kids go to school in-state doesn’t mean their social networks will be built in. I went to an in-state college and I acquired a whole new set of friends when I went to college.</p>

<p>I was going to say this is tough until I read your last paragraph. If you are planning to transfer, then I strongly suggest that you attend UNLV. Transfer students don’t always get the best financial aid, and it doesn’t seem to make sense to pay $24,000 and then transfer to somewhere potentially more expensive, when you can save that $24,000 and put it towards the bestter school. That’s not even including the $9,500 you’d also be taking out in loans at Azusa, only to transfer somewhere else. This is especially if you plan to go to a UC as an out-of-state student!</p>

<p>I think you should go to UNLV, save your money, do really well, and then investigate smaller schools to transfer into that will satisfy you.</p>

7

<p>There is another HUGE difference between UNLV and Azusa Pacific. Azusa Pacific is a hard core Evangelical college – very strict rules, very Christian student body, maybe some racial diversity but very little diversity of beliefs.</p>

<p>I have a niece who is a very committed Christian. She went to Azusa Pacific on a full-ride athletic scholarship, and left after a year. Too hard core for her.</p>

<p>Honestly, I would think this factor would be awfully important in choosing between the two colleges. I’m sure there are plenty of serious Christians at UNLV, but the atmosphere there is hugely different. If being at a Christian college is important to you, Azusa Pacific is and UNLV isn’t. If being at a place where people are really different is important to you, or if you do not want to live in a monocredal community, then Azusa Pacific would be awful.</p>

8

<p>I find it ironic that your niece felt APU was too hardcore. Biola is the prestigious hard core Christian university in southern california, not APU. Over 60% of APU’s students consider themselves secular and, to the view of many evangelical universities, is considered extremely lax and is projected to gradually lose its Christian heritage over the next 25 years. They have even been threatened with suspension from the CCCU in recent years. I don’t think your niece is as hardcore as you think she is.</p>

9

<p>I dunno. This seems pretty hard core to me:</p>

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<p>But then I am most definitely NOT a Christian.</p>

10

<p>Read some of the statements at Notre Dame or the other Jesuit colleges and they are similar. What’s on paper and how things get lived out are two different things. Think of how many now secular, and even highly anti-religious, universities were once founded as religious institutions. </p>

<p>I will admit that APU is still decidedly Christian, but it’s on the same level as, say, Pepperdine, and rapidly falling away from that tradition based on most inside reports that I’ve heard and the distribution of their student body. Many people in Southern California have no idea APU is a “religious” institution.</p>

<p>Finally, if your niece is a hardcore Christian, the notion of waiting until sex before marriage should hardly be shocking or inhibiting to her.</p>