<p>A student can go to a community college for one year and transfer, which is probably more common than actually getting an associate’s degree.</p>
<p>Which Comp Sci coursework is in the first year at UCONN? Even one year at a CC to take care of most of the Gen Eds would result in significant savings for this student.</p>
<p>Object Oriented Design and Programming. Off to the races. Pumping Iron. Spring term Freshman year. The OP might be able to get a respectable, well paying, summer job with just this course.
<a href=“https://sites.google.com/site/jeffscourses/cse1102/lectures[/url]”>https://sites.google.com/site/jeffscourses/cse1102/lectures</a></p>
<p>Go find a class this comprehensive at a Connecticut CC, (again good luck - it’s not going to happen ). After a slow course in Java (I know it’s slow because they offer the 2nd half sophomore year), you get Visual Basic. Give me a break.</p>
<p>Who said anything about a PhD for this student? I think you are putting your own expectations on this far too heavily… </p>
<p>And who says the parents will be able to take out loans that extensive for all four years? What if this kid gets two years in at U Conn and the parents are denied loans that year? They are waaayyy more screwed than if the kid goes to CC for a year or two, then transfers.</p>
<p>This kid doesn’t even program yet per their own posting. They may very well not stay on the CS track regardless of where they go to college. CRD, I think you are projecting your OWN skills and ambitions onto a student who may or may not be able to carry them out. Unless you want to put your own pocketbook on the line for them, I think you are giving reckless advice.</p>
<p>sz–I certainly understand your hesitation to bail on UConn and change to somewhere else so close to the start of college. However, you only have these first two years to attend the Community College. If for some reason the Plus loans are not approved for your junior and senior years, you can’t at that point decide to go to a CC–you’ll have already completed your core requirements. You’ll have nearly $30K in debt that you’ll have to start repaying if you don’t enroll in college, but you’ll have no degree. </p>
<p>If some of the posters seem overly negative to you about your choice to go to UConn and the loan repayment plan you’ve laid out, it’s because many of us adults have experienced making plans, even carefully with great odds of working out, and having something unexpected happen to derail them. We are also aware of how very, very hard it is to pay off debt, even with a good salary. </p>
<p>You and your parents have to make your own decision about this, but because you seem so sincere about wanting to pay this money back for them, please think hard about how many things might get in the way of that and what you could do to reduce the risk of not being able to pay it all off. I can tell you really don’t want to see them get stuck with it.</p>
<p>Lets say I go to 2 years of CC how much will I save?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No I am not. You don’t know how good you can be at something until you try it. You don’t know that you CAN rise the occasion, learn from people smarter than yourself, and grow beyond your wildest dreams. </p>
<p>I love the slides for the first lecture I pointed out.
<a href=“https://sites.google.com/site/jeffsc...e1102/lectures[/url]”>https://sites.google.com/site/jeffsc...e1102/lectures</a></p>
<p>“But… but… but…
What about all this
work?
A social life?
Hockey?
Football?
Tennis?
Chess club?
My girlfriend/boyfriend
My fraternity/sorority?
World of Warcraft?”</p>
<p>"Yes, it’s true.
Your friends won’t seem to do half as much
work as you do.
They’ll play beer pong and Xbox while you try to
study.</p>
<p>The peer pressure will be unbearable.
It really doesn’t seem fair."</p>
<p>“Remember
You are an engineer.
You will design things and build things.
You will shape the future.
You will invent the future.”</p>
<p>"Remember
You will have a huge reward for all the work you will put in. (4+ years from now)
They will ask “Do you want fries with that?”
“Can I borrow $10?” “Is your company hiring?”
“Can I live with you?”</p>
<p>“THE JOBS TOTALLY ROCK”</p>
<p>No I don’t think I’m giving reckless advice at all. CC is bush league. Go for the majors.</p>
<p>Not agreeing that the OP should risk the loans but a quick comparison of the first two years of Three Rivers CS Tech reveals it is a bad mismatch with the UConn requirements. I think you would spend an additional semester or two at UConn. The cost of that extra time is probably about 100k - tuition and living expenses plus one year of lost salary.</p>
<p>OP, I think you are skipping through some posts, please reread them. It’s important to understanding, being able to analyze and make a considered decision.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal and I will be frank. Apologies if I start doing heavy parent-speak :
CRD would like to see you stretch and go to UConn. In itself, that’s fine and encouraging. But he doesn’t know you and you have held back on some critical details. </p>
<p>That leads me to think maybe you aren’t as prepped for CS, that it may be a sincere desire, but you have yet to test yourself. </p>
<p>You haven’t told us if you have the math-sci strengths. Or related activities in hs. No programming. What most of us here are considering is that you could go in and get swamped. Maybe not, but:</p>
<p>Your family doesn’t have the finances to take a big risk, initially. We only know what you write here- that this needs a big Plus loan and it’s enough of a hardship for your parents to pay back that you want to take it over. (If there is another reason, we don’t know it.)</p>
<p>So, what some of us are seeing is you trying to cobble this together. That’s good, that’s nice, but it’s only one part of what is needed. It is a narrow focus. </p>
<p>*Lets say I go to 2 years of CC how much will I save? *
CS and engineering require a certain mindset. If you ask how much you could save by going to cc, I wonder how you are at tackling certain analytical questions. Assuming you can work 100 hours in summer is pie-in-the-sky. If you don’t follow the calculators and see how interest accumulates and what the impact of deferring, is… </p>
<p>So, honey, maybe you are right for this program and will love it and do well and come out and make a zillion dollars. But, the proper way to look at this is to ask yourself: I am making these decisions-
based on what?</p>
<p>If you were here telling us abut high math-sci strengths, some programming you had done, outside work, what you had built, competitions, or more detail, I think more here would see this differently. if there is a different backstory, you have not shared it.</p>
<p>If you want to TRY CS, why not put your foot in the water and “try” it? At cc. And then go to UConn.</p>
<p>OP, I don’t know a thing about your planned major and I’m not taking sides here, but I suggest that instead of chatting with the people at your CC, you get in touch with the departmental office at UConn and make an appointment to come in and discuss with the departmental advisor how starting at a CC, whether for one year or two, would work with their program. It’s really that expertise and counsel you need here, not the CC’s. They’ll know for certain whether you can finish at UConn without any extra semesters, how well prepared you’ll be for upper level classes, etc. They know, this is what they do. Call today, get yourself over there as soon as they’ll see you (even if it’s a long ride) for an in-person conversation, which is always more valuable than a phone call and will demonstrate your seriousness, producing a more serious and well-considered response. Then, and only then, will you have data you need for this decision.</p>
<p>^ that’s coming up with an effective idea. That’s good advice. That’s looking for a higher level of info. Green dot.</p>
<p>Ok guys Hopefully I can transfer to their regional campuses, thats half an hour away from my house, they provide the same courses and I have to only worry about 10 grand tuition. I can transfer over next year.</p>
<p>My D had no programming skills and took honors computer science freshman year and aced it. Her school used a language that nobody knew so that everybody could unlearn their bad habits. </p>
<p>UCONN starts with a programing for engineers class using MATLAB. It’s a very easy language and new to most people. After one semester, she will have programming experience before embarking on the Object Oriented Design class. </p>
<p>Programming skills are not that hard. Learning to use abstraction to manage complexity is hard for everyone, even for many with programming skills.</p>
<p>Being afraid to fail without even trying is no way to go through life.</p>
<p>Go ahead and see if they can point you to someone who graduated UCONN in CS after 4 years after spending 2 at a CC. They will be able to tell you what to do. If they find someone, see if what they do interests you. Ask how much they were paid during the summer after their freshman, sophomore, and junior year.</p>
<p>That’s your D. Maybe she has the mindset, analytical and math strengths and doggedness to breeze through that. Maybe her class was cooperative and nicely paced. Maybe few of the other kids had experiences that raised the bar.</p>
<p>Or maybe the UConn folks will say, hey, no problem, we design courses for novices. That still leaves the financial issues.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad, at no point in your discussion have I seen you address the issue of OP’s parents’ possibly not getting approval for Parent Plus loans in years 2-4 and the catastrophic consequences that would ensue. Please address this.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Make sure they offer the same caliber of CSE1102 in the spring. I couldn’t tell for sure. I assume you’re talking about Avery Point. Make sure they go as far as the one at UCONN (Linked lists and hash tables). They only have two CS professors, so you can ask them personally. </p>
<p>This approach if it works, doesn’t sound as bad as the CC, but I don’t think you really save that much in the scheme of things, and I’d worry about the rigor of CSE1102 at the regional campus relative to Storrs. But go ahead and investigate this option. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe it’s been addressed by other posters, but I looked on the following site
[PLUS</a> Loans | Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/plus]PLUS”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/plus)</p>
<p>“If a parent borrower is unable to secure a PLUS loan, the undergraduate dependent student may be eligible for additional unsubsidized loans to help pay for his or her education. The dependent student should contact the school’s financial aid office for more information.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s what they’ll say. Not many HS’s have serious AP Computer Science.</p>
<p>MommaJ - great advice.</p>
<p>One thing that is often overlooked is the effect that debt has on mobility. If you have large debt, you might not be able to accept that great starter job that just happens to be located in a high cost of living area across the country/world. Starting a company with 100K of existing debt would be difficult. That low paying internship that could jump start your career, not likely affordable. Doing research with a professor over the summer instead of a paying job will be off the table. You might need to work for 10 years at a well paying job you hate instead of one you love. To be fair, you might also find a job you love and make millions.</p>
<p>Bottom line. CRD feels that UCONN would build a better foundation for future success but there is also opportunity cost. In an ideal world, getting the best education regardless of cost is the best choice. However, in the real world there is a balancing act. Only you can decide if the rewards (which as CRD points out can be great) are worth the price/risks (which other point out are real).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, we all know this–the question is whether the additional loan amount would
be enough to cover the Parent Plus shortfall each year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Neither of these potentially wonderful options are off the table. Payments on PLUS loans can be deferred until you graduate. </p>
<p>Young People in Silicon Valley, NYC and Boston usually have roommates. Nothing is really off the table. So you live in a house with 6 people instead of an apartment with 2. We’re getting way ahead of ourselves here.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is the risk. I don’t know where to find the underwriting guidelines for PLUS loans, does anybody know?</p>
<p>After two years it’s not a disaster anyway, because the student is employable at a pretty good salary while she saves for tuition. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a catastrophe.</p>
<p>CRD, the loans might be deferrable but the debt grows at 7% plus. Also, the student might need the earnings to live on. Doing an unpaid internship/research will end up increasing her debt load. At some point, cost has to be factored in.</p>
<p>You are making valid points and the OP has to do her homework to see how it impacts her. However, the OP needs to be 100% positive that the money will be available to pay for it and that she is comfortable with the resulting debt and the ramifications to her career and life until the debt is paid. They are many pros to your arguments but there are also valid cons that must be considered.</p>