<p>I was admitted to WashU as a sophomore transfer for fall 2008. I am very unsatisfied with my current university for major academic, social, emotional, and slight financial reasons (I'll have to pay for an apartment next year if I stay).</p>
<p>I've wanted fairly badly to go to WashU for a large amount of time now, and I feel that the school is a good fit for me both academically and socially (I want to be an actuary). But the problem is that unfortunately as a transfer I don't qualify for the no-loans financial aid program. My family is low income (my efc is 0 for my custodial on fafsa) and I only received about 27k in scholarships. This would leave about 20k per year in loans, provided I still don't qualify for the program next year.</p>
<p>Would you recommend for me to still go to one of my dream schools?</p>
<p>Thanks, I'll try to cross-post where relevant.</p>
<p>WashU is my only choice as of now...I can only afford to apply to one more school, but the notification date for the school would be so late in the year that it would place me in a large state of risk if I only depended on it, not to mention I don't feel that the school would be as good of a match for me.</p>
<p>So as of now it's stay at current public university where I'd need to pay for food and apartment/car maintenance/car insurance vs WashU</p>
<p>You wrote, "provided I still don't qualify for the program next year."
Is there a chance you might qualify? A large chance? A small chance? Qualifying for the program would cut your debt load substantially, so you need to make sure that you have a good answer to this question.</p>
<p>You also need to compare apples to apples - how much debt will you take on if you stay at your state school and need to pay for car/apartment/food, compared to the 20k/year in debt you'll be taking on at WashU?</p>
<p>There is a pretty good chance. My parents are sitting at about 50k combined this year. The income could go up or down next year (my father is self-employed so his income varies)--60,000 qualifies for the program. Of course, there is a chance that they could raise or lower the bar for qualifying, so that has to be taken into account.</p>
<p>I would approximate the debt at my current school to be about 10k including all expenses. WashU would be 20k, though I wouldn't need to worry about car expenses (my car is a 1990 and about to die). Both amounts are rounding up...WashU will most likely be closer to 15k and my current school closer to 8-9k.</p>
<p>except that washu has A the potential to be a better experience, very important and B if u qualify for no loans u will take on less debt after the second year u attend... i think its worth it</p>
<p>Are you saying that WashU is going to cost you an extra 7K per year in loans, worst case, and save you the car expense and possible car replacement?</p>
<p>No, the interval for extra cost in loans for WashU is about 7k-12k, depending on how things work out. At WashU I would not need a car, so it would save me the possible car expenses.</p>
<p>There is a chance that I could qualify for more non-loan aid at WashU next year, but that is uncertain and could go either way.</p>
<p>You don't need to go to a dream school to be an actuary. You only need to be able to pass those actuarial exams, and they are very difficult. If you want to be an actuary, I am not sure if you would want to incur that much debt. Until you become an associate, which could take as long as 5 years, you wouldn't be able to make that much money. I was in the actuarial training program for 2 years many years ago. Probability of death just got to me after a while.</p>
<p>Well the problem is that my current school has almost no recruitment for actuaries, and courses are not always offered that correspond with the exams. Plus, with poor quality teaching, I would think that my pass rate would be lower....not to mention I am very unhappy where I am currently.</p>
<p>I would probably be able to pass 2 exams by the time I graduate WashU...</p>
<p>The insurance will actually go up slightly if I do have to bring the car up to my current university next year <em>rolls eyes</em></p>
<p>I've done my research...and my course track can also take me on the route to IB or other analyst type positions if I decide that actuarial work is not for me later down the road. I've maintained a 4.0 in the honors program where I am right now; if I've decent teachers and the motivation I believe I'm fully capable.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I would not really have a home to go to as my dad is struggling to support himself and most likely still will be.</p>
<p>Btw, thanks for all your considerations thus far; they're helping me put more brainstorming into this whole process.</p>
<p>If I'm away, my dad says he'll cover my insurance costs since he'll be using my car. He will need another car if I take it to my current university, but I won't factor that into the process.</p>
<p>My only choices are WashU vs my current university (I won't post the name in case there is flaming, but it's a public university in the south)</p>
<p>From the point of view of your entire family, the immediate need to obtain a second car seems to be a very significant expense, both in cash outlay or borrowing and in additional insurance. If your father does not need to incur those expenses, perhaps he can be of more assistance to you financially.</p>
<p>From your own point of view, going from $2000 to zero in annual car insurance is quite significant. </p>
<p>You also have to consider that your 200k mile car, with you at school, can reasonably be expected to (or, to think actuarially: has a high probability to :)) break down, need significant repairs and/or need to be replaced in the next three years. These are nontrivial expenses and distractions that you will completely avoid if you go to WashU.</p>
<p>You plan to live on campus at WashU? What about the time involved in getting to and from your apartment, in shopping, in cooking, in parking, etc. at CurrentU versus living on campus at WashU? Will there be a significant difference there? If yes, what about the possibility of earning money during the time that you save by being at WashU?</p>
<p>Will you drive to CurrentU and if so, will you have to pay to park there? Is it at all possible to live off campus at CurrentU without a car?</p>
<p>Well, my parents are divorced, so my father is only with himself. He is trying to delay buying a car as much as possible since business has been so slow for him. Indeed, though he will not be of large assistance, hopefully he will be able to help with personal expenses like clothing and the occasional meals.</p>
<p>The 20k in loans at WashU I previously stated includes costs for dorms and meal plans, so that would cover all of those problems. =)</p>
<p>Current university is about four hours from home, so I'd be driving back and forth. The problem with needing a car at current university is rather difficult...in order to get an apartment close by campus and not need a car, I'd basically need to put down my deposit in the next week or so in order to have a remote chance of getting anything. Not to mention it is more expensive to be near campus as far as rent goes. Regardless, next year if I am still here I will probably want a car because I have been severely limited as far as transportation goes, and the bus system is very unreliable.</p>
<p>It is hard to keep comparing the two without bias because I keep realizing extra costs that will be incurred if I choose to stay where I'm at. </p>
<p>Lemme try to make a summary comparing costs--</p>
<p>WashU
~28k-30k in scholarships/work study though this could increase or even decrease
2k perkins loan
4.5k stafford loan subsidized
leaves about 10k in regular loans though I may be overestimating
+flying expenses that hopefully my dad will cover</p>
<p>CurrentU
at least 6k a year for apartment
~2k for food (might be able to half that, though highly unlikely with the monopolizing on campus)
~2.5k insurance/gas
+possible car expenses
I'm on scholarship for full tuition</p>