<p>^Agree. Wasting your mind could end up being the same as it is for many with large student loans-second jobs waiting tables to pay them off.</p>
<p>Wow, entitled much? A state school is “a waste of your mind”? How insulting. </p>
<p>I suggest you do some research into how the FA process works so you don’t risk wasting your mind. </p>
<p>Wow</p>
<p>
I agree. But I cannot make any real decisions until April 1st, when my colleges release their admission decisions. Until then, I’ll just keep it in the back of my mind. </p>
<p>And a question for those advocates of state schools. How many of the successful people that you see today attended a community/state college? And by successful (in my terms), I mean millionaires, billionaires, members of Congress, federal judges, professors at top-tier universities etc.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>a better question would be what percentage of people who graduated from those elite schools became “millionaires, billionaires, members of Congress, federal judges, professors at top-tier universities”?</p>
<p>There will be no guarantees that you become rich and certainly not right away after school. It is really in your best interest to figure out the monthly payment amount before you commit to the loan.</p>
<p>P.S. Steve Jobs did not even graduate from college. Last I checked he left pretty good inheritance to his heirs.</p>
<p>Okay, that question is really too silly to even address, but here goes.</p>
<p>First some info on members of Congress. (Taken from: [Where</a> Did Congress Go To College? [Infographic] - Careers Articles](<a href=“AOL - Finance News & Latest Business Headlines - AOL.com”>AOL - Finance News & Latest Business Headlines - AOL.com))
The chart lists the top 15 colleges attended by members of the Senate and House, respectively. Note that for the Senate, U. Arkansas, U Miss, Ohio State, U Georgia, U Hawaii, U Pitt and Brooklyn College are on the list. The House version includes U California, U Texas, Cal State, U North Carolina, U Illinois, U FLA, UMD.</p>
<p>As for billionaires, this Forbes article discusses the Forbes 400 billionaires who either dropped out of college or never attended college at all: [Forbes</a> 400: The Self-Made Billionaire Entrepreneurs Who Said No To College - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2011/09/23/forbes-400-the-self-made-billionaire-entrepreneurs-who-said-no-to-college/]Forbes”>Forbes 400: The Self-Made Billionaire Entrepreneurs Who Said No To College) Imagine that! Not even a degree from some lowly state college! </p>
<p>Note that you will never be able to figure out which of your “successful people” started at community colleges, since their degrees only show the four-year schools they ultimately graduated from. In any case, if your mind is really that special, I’m sure you’d fly through Penn State at the top of your class and skyrocket straight to being a billionaire federal judge in no time at all.</p>
<p>MommaJ,</p>
<p>OP should keep in mind, that the only way a federal judge can be a billionaire if he became one prior to becoming federal judge or if he takes (huge) bribes (and is excellent at covering his tracks).</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I’m not understanding a word you guys just said. Don’t people take out loans to pay for school? Are you saying the most I can get for any loan is $5,500?</p>
<p>I’ll speak slowly.
Stafford loan for freshmen is $5,500.
Some private schools may offer you a Perkins loan.
Other than that ( or if your parents do not qualify for Plus), you will need a cosigner for additional debt.
Some students do take out additional loans for school with cosigners.
Some students also admit that after taking out private loans for three years in order to afford the school they thought they had to attend, their parents no longer qualify for any additional loans & they are having to drop out of school/transfer to an instate public university that is more affordable in order to graduate.
Of course they still have large private loans which will need to be paid off.</p>
<p>@MommaJ</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown are the Top 3 for the Senate, and the only reason University of California is first for the House is because the state of California has the most representatives out of any state. Harvard is still 3rd for that list. And why would I want to attend a school that doesn’t challenge me?</p>
<p>I think this point is lost on OP: Even if your parents are willing to cosign for you, it doesn’t mean they can cosign all they want. Let’s say if the total debt for all four years is $50,000 and their credit worthiness is $40,000. What would you do in that fourth year of college where you need the last $10K?</p>
<p>About the challenging environment… I wouldn’t worry too much. You will be challenged in plenty places. Your stats are strong, but you’re not an out-liner:</p>
<p>-Unweighted GPA (4-point scale): 3.56</p>
<p>-Weighted GPA (5-point scale): 3.95</p>
<p>-SAT I Superscore: CR - 690, M - 790, W - 740 (2220/2400, 1480/1600)</p>
<p>-Highest Single Score: CR - 690, M - 680, W - 740 (2110/2400, 1370/1600)</p>
<p>-SAT II scores: Literature - 660, Math II - 740, US History - 720</p>
<p>
Just about everyone wants to attend the best school they can get admitted to. But that doesn’t mean they should make unwise financial decisions to do so.</p>
<p>Looking at your stats, I can assure you there will be many at Penn State who outshine you in academic achievement and that you will be significantly challenged by your classes. You aren’t some Harvard shoo-in who’s being told to consider West Podunk Technical College, but a well-credentialed student who’s being told to consider a state school that’s ranked 45th among national universities. And surely you realize that attending a top tier school does not guarantee success in life (however you may define that), and attending a state school does not preclude it.</p>
<p>Those stats are misleading. You should have posted that I’ve maintained a 4.0 since junior year with 8 AP classes between these last two years. My GPA is low because of personal issues I had to deal with freshman/sophomore year that I finally managed to get over during the summer before 11th grade. I’m not a 3.6 student. Anyways, I’m digressing. </p>
<p>As I stated before, I can’t make any decisions until April 1st, so I think it’s best to drop the topic until then. I received a valid answer to my original concern, and that is good enough for me…</p>
<p>
“You are what your record says you are”</p>
<p>Bill Parcells</p>
<p>Colleges don’t only look at your GPA cumulatively. They notice trends in it as well. I imagine a student such as myself looks much more appealing with a ~3.3 GPA freshman/sophomore year and a 4.0 junior/senior year than a student with a 3.6 across the board.</p>
<p>I don’t know about that. There’s alot to be said about consistency. Going from a 3.3 to a 4.0 might raise some red flags… After all, colleges are going to wonder what happened for the first two years. If you have a solid explanation, like sicknesses, family issues etc. then I think its fairly easy to overcome but the kid who has done it right all along is going to fair very well too.</p>
<p>Transition from middle to high school can be difficult depending on preparation. Not all middle schools in a district are good for all students anymore than all high schools are.</p>
<p>Emeraldkity4,</p>
<p>while I agree with you (my son is a perfect example), this kind of thing should be caught early in quarter 1 of freshman year and adjustments need to be made (class changes or study habit changes). 2 years of this kind of performance are indicative of some kind of systematic problem (regardless of who is at fault).</p>