Which college should I go to?

Paying for College
1

<p>So I'm having so much trouble deciding if I should stay in state or go out of state. I am just worried about my debt. So far I am accepted to UC Irvine, UCSD, UCDavis & awaiting UCLA's response this Friday. However, if I went to one of the UCs my debt will accumulate well over 100k over the four years. The reason why I would prefer not to stay in state at UNLV (I live in Nevada), is because I wouldn't meet the same ambitious, driven people at a UC & I wouldn't get the full on college experience. I intend to live with my parents if I stay in state to save money. But if I go out of state I will get that college experience. As for the debt from dental school, I plan on joining the HPSP program so I would have no debt from that. Please give me your input on this!</p>

<p>ALSO, does anyone know when FAFSA tells you how much aid you get? Or how much the colleges are giving you? This will play a major factor in my decision so I'm trying to figure out where to get this information. I submitted my FAFSA well before March 1, so I'm not sure if I was supposed to get this information a few weeks ago.</p>

2

<p>Your choices are taking on a lot of debt by attending an OOC or a small amount of debt by lving at home & commuting to an instate, while making comments about the lack of " real college experience".</p>

<p>Why not consider attending school in state to save money & live at school for the “experience”?</p>

3

<p>No “experience” is worth 4x the max debt you should take out. And you can’t take even close to that debt on your own.</p>

4

<p>dmdtobe -</p>

<p>Despite what you may have been led to believe by all the movies, novels, and stories told by family and friends, living at home and commuting IS the real “college experience” of the majority of undergraduate students in this country. More students do that than go away for their educations. Most students stay home (or at least start there before transferring to Big Cheap State U) because they have financial limitations. It looks like you do too. Embrace your position squarely within the majority. Save your debt for grad school. Remember, there is no guarantee you will be admitted to Dent School, and none that you will qualify for HPSP.</p>

<p>There are slackers and gunners at every college and university in the nation. People in the Pre-Med, Pre-Dent, Pre-Vet track who survive the intro level filter courses are “ambitious” and “driven” everywhere. Don’t worry about being able to find a peer group at UNLV. If you survive as a Pre-Dent, your O Chem lab will be full of people like that.</p>

5

<p>However, if I went to one of the UCs my debt will accumulate well over 100k over the four years</p>

<p>NO. Horrible idea. (besides, would your parents qualify to cosign that much debt? they’d have to requalify each year.)</p>

<p>And joining HPSP would not get rid of that $100k of debt. And by the time you get out of Dental School, that $100k of debt would be much larger and much, much harder to pay off. You won’t be earning enough to pay that off.</p>

<p>My son is starting med school this fall. He was offered full medical school scholarships with large stipends by both the Air Force and the Navy. He declined, but that’s not the point. The point is that while the salaries for doctors/dentists in the military are much better than other officers, it’s not anywhere high enough to pay off large undergrad debt. </p>

<p>If you’re a serious student in a serious major at UN, then you’ll find many other smart classmates. The predental req’ts are tough, and only the brightest do well in those…no matter what school it is.</p>

<p>You can have the “college experience” by joining campus clubs, by staying on campus for much of the day, studying in the library, attending functions, etc. </p>

<p>Did you apply anywhere else besides UCs and UN? If not, then you were poorly advised. </p>

<p>What is your FAFSA EFC?</p>

<p>UCs only give some aid to OOS students. They expect OOS students to pay their EFCs PLUS all the OOS costs. So, if your EFC is $10k, then you’d have to pay at least $30k per year. And there will be full loans in your FA pkg…</p>

<p>HOw much will your parents pay each year?</p>