Hello. i’d first like to start out by saying that i know it is rlly late to be asking these sorts of things but i am someone who feels extremely guilty right now, so i need some help. recently i was accepted into two very different schools for college–Georgia Gwinnett College and SCAD (savannah college of art and design). I decided to commit to SCAD and emailed GGC to tell them I would be committing to SCAD instead. All was well with SCAD until I started thinking about the tuition. You see, my dad is a veteran so for a long time I was under the impression that veterans would cover my tuition 100% but after talking with veterans and SCAD we were told that it wouldn’t be covered in full. Full tuition at veterans is only covered by the post-9/11 bill–my dad was not in 9/11 nor was he discharged after 9/11. So that was the first problem because now, even with grants and the award scholarship that SCAD offered me including the monthly stipend that veterans would send me, it still wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost at SCAD.
It was only when my admissions advisor directed us to take out private loans that I started to have a true bad feeling about SCAD. I don’t wanna attend any college where I’ll be constantly worried about whether I’m going to be able to pay for the next semester/quarter, nor do I wanna attend to a school where I’ll end up drowning in debt afterwards (some SCAD alum who have graduated like 5 years ago have said that they are STILL paying off SCAD loan payments). Of course I’d been hearing some negative reviews about SCAD beforehand–the food, how the school doesn’t give a crap about mental health, the time management, how they essentially work you to the bone, etc–but I was one of those people who thought “I’ll just go and judge it for myself”. Well, no, I won’t and now I’m looking to withdraw from SCAD.
Some keypoints to note here is that I am making this decision AFTER having paid both the enrollment fee and housing fee, and submitted the housing application. This is why I feel guilty. I know I messed up. I feel extremely guilty having to relay this information to my parents, as now they feel like they’ve wasted their money (and they essentially have since the enrollment and housing fees are non-refundable). My mom is insistent on getting her money back but since the enrollment and housing fee is nonrefundable, I’m almost sure she and my dad won’t be able to get any of their money back. This realization has also made me feel extremely guilty.
My next little pickle is with GGC. I don’t know if I’ll be able to re-apply to GGC after having told them I’d commit to SCAD in the past. We are calling the admissions office tomorrow to see if I am able to do so. From their website, it seems like re-admission to GGC is possible but I still want to call and make sure before submitting a brand new freshman application. If re-admission to GGC isn’t possible, I’m absolutely screwed. That means that I’ll have withdrawn from SCAD but am still not able to attend GGC, which means that I have no college future unless it’s community college and that’s a whole other lane of itself.
I am extremely worried now and am wondering if I am making the right choice. I just want to go to a school where I am happy, stable, and know that I am alright financially. At first, SCAD seemed like the school for me, but now I am reconsidering at the worst time ever (it is now May…I know I should’ve made this decision ages ago). I am beating myself up about this so hard. I feel like crying. I feel terrible. I am extremely angry with myself. I wish I’d done a lot more research beforehand, I wish I didn’t have to make my parents waste money on me. I feel like poop.
Any advice right now would be greatly appreciated. I know I need a clear head right now so that I am not unhappy but it’s so hard. Some other keypoints are that luckily I hadn’t enrolled in any classes for SCAD nor had I received my roommate or anything like that for housing yet despite my housing application being submitted. I had to submit something else to SCAD for veterans but luckily that hasn’t been processed yet either.
Tuition wise, I know GGC is the better option. I visited GGC’s campus sometime before the virus blew up here in the states and I loved it a lot. I am a shy person and GGC’s small campus is perfect for me for a number of reasons, but of course, I still made a stupid decision in the end despite knowing all that. I do want to go to college. I am someone who desires to go to college. I wish I was stronger mentally to have that whole “college isn’t for everyone” or “you don’t have to go to college” mindset but I just don’t.
Additional keypoints: I applied to attend in Fall of 2020 and my major was Writing B.F.A (for SCAD). In GGC, when I first submitted my application, I applied for the cinema department where I’d be doing writing for the screen. I just want writing to be apart of my major as writing is something I am very passionate about. I want to do something with writing as a career in the future, whether that’s as an editor, novelist, screenplay writer–anything that involves writing, I want to do it.
I think I’ve given enough information about my situation for anyone to draw proper conclusions/advice, but of course I’m open to any questions. Thank you to anyone who replies. I know this is long, I’m sorry.