Which school?

College Life
1

<p>I need a little advice on which school to attend. </p>

<p>I started college just after my 17th birthday (last fall was my first semester) at a community college about 15 minutes from my house. My last day was yesterday. I passed all my classes with A's, and received awards for all my classes last night at an awards ceremony. </p>

<p>However, in January, I was accepted to a private university on an 80% scholarship (based off just grades, not sports or anything). It was my first choice. This school is about 50 minutes away, and I will be commuting (not living on campus). </p>

<p>I have friends at the community college, I know which teachers are good and which are not, I wanted to join Student Government and Phi Theta Kappa (and I could do in the fall). </p>

<p>I know at the university I could do all those things, but it's a much bigger school and therefore much harder to get elected (especially when you don't know ANYBODY going there). Plus, with an almost-hour-drive-each-way and a bigger class load, I doubt I will have much time for extra stuff. </p>

<p>I've talked to people at the 4-year school, and they have said that I cannot postpone my scholarship. I must start taking at least 12 credits there in the fall, or my scholarship is gone. </p>

<p>There is another school I was accepted to (not a huge fan at all of the school though). It's about 40 minutes away, WAY bigger than each of the other two schools, and I didn't get a scholarship there, but it's much cheaper (will end up being $5000 cheaper a year than the private school). I could possibly stay at the community college for at least another semester, and transfer to this school. </p>

<p>So, my question is, where do I start in the fall?
Stay at my current school (the community college) with my friends, possibly winning more awards and doing something great at the school for another semester?
Go to the private university on the scholarship (I still have to pay $5000 a semester) and give up things I love at the community college?
Or stay at the community college for one more semester, and then transfer to my least favorite school?</p>

2

<p>In your case, I wouldn’t even consider the community college -> transfer route. You are right not to be enthusiastic; in most cases, a low cost generally correlates to a low value in education. You might shave a few bucks off your costs, but there’s no way that’ll be equivalent of all the opportunities that you’ll waste by spending years at the other school. </p>

<p>The option seems clear; you should take the private university scholarship and run with it. $5000, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t much. A Stafford loan will take care of that and leave you some change for books and other fees. Since you’re commuting, you won’t have that much more in costs, and the money you save might even enable you to live on campus so that you can get the full college experience for the last year or two.</p>

3

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<p>Bedouin’s post has you paying only $5000 a year. Yes…that could be covered by Stafford loans. BUT OP, your quote above says $5000 per SEMESTER…which is $10,000 a year. The question must be asked…can you pay that amount? If you are able to pay the $10K per year…then this school can be considered. If not, you will have to think of other options.</p>

<p>I hope you can figure out a way to make this work for your. It sounds like you have gotten a good scholarship from this school AND you want to go there. Please discuss this with your family…and see how or if they will help you achieve your goal. Good luck to you!!</p>

4

<p>So you two are saying to go to the private school?</p>

<p>Even though it’s an hour away, and at least $5000 a year more than the other two?</p>

5

<p>I just sat down with my parents and crunched some numbers. The private schol is almost $6,000 a semester ($2,000 a month). And with going to Law School after graduation, we think it’ll be too much. </p>

<p>So, I’ll probably end up having to attend my least favorite school.</p>