Ok, so a lot has changed since I last wrote a thread about my college choice.

 

Saturday I received my acceptance letter to West Virginia University, which is where I'd like to go, but there are certain disadvantages to going to WVU (cost, being away from home, etc.)

 

So I've narrowed my selection to two option

 

A) Go to West Virginia University; Spend a lot more money, Have a lot more fun, and get a good, quality education.

 

B)Go to Community College; Spend a lot less money, Not have much of a social life, and then transfer to UF or FSU for my junior and senior years. Like some of you have said before, it's not where you start, it's where you finish.

 

 

 

Obviously, if they were both free I would choose West Virginia University, but WVU is 14 k/year plus 7 for room and board which brings the total to 21 k per year (which is pretty good for an out of state school)

 

If I went there, i'd have to get a student loan and pay it off until who knows when...

 

The question that I'm asking my self is, "Is it worth the extra money?"

 

Obviously there is going to be a lot more to keep me occupied at WVU. A lot more people that i will meet, awesome sports teams, many clubs and organizations, and just a better sense of community.

 

Is all that really worth the extra money? It will certainly be something that I will remember forever...and you can't really put a price tag on memories.

 

The way I see it, you only get to go to college for a short time in your life you might as well make the best of it, right?

 

What do you guys think?

What it boils down to is what you want to do. You have acknowledged that the extra cost is going to be a burden. It depends on if it's really worth that to you or not. Why are you so hellbent on going all the way to WV anyway?

What it boils down to is what you want to do. You have acknowledged that the extra cost is going to be a burden. It depends on if it's really worth that to you or not. Why are you so hellbent on going all the way to WV anyway?

 

 

Well, I did some research a while back on certain schools with major athletic programs and WVU came out to be one of the schools that fits very well with my academics, price range, etc.

 

Then I started following their football and basketball teams and I've gotten hooked.

 

Looked at the pictures and saw that it's a pretty nice campus. All of these factors lead me to believe it would be a nice choice for college.

 

Plus, I've lived in Florida my entire life and I think I'm ready for a change.

You seem to be aware of the situation pretty well. No one else can tell you whether or not it's worth it, that's up to you to decide. All I'm saying is I went the CC route and now go to school across the state and am happy more or less that I went that route. However there are times that I wish I had been up here at JMU all along. It's up to you hoss!

The only thing I'm afraid of is a $90,000 student loan to be paid once I graduate college.

 

My parents said they will try their hardest to help with the payments, but It looks like it's going to be mostly me paying for it.

Do any of you know if it is possible to receive financial aid based on your work in college?

Because I didn't have the grades in high school to qualify for any kinds of scholarships or anything like that.

If I do well in college, will i be able to get some financial backing?

 

I know that a lot of schools give scholarships to their freshman students for good grades in high school, but do any colleges reward their currently enrolled college students with scholarships for doing well in their own university?

Do any of you know if it is possible to receive financial aid based on your work in college?

Because I didn't have the grades in high school to qualify for any kinds of scholarships or anything like that.

If I do well in college, will i be able to get some financial backing?

 

I know that a lot of schools give scholarships to their freshman students for good grades in high school, but do any colleges reward their currently enrolled college students with scholarships for doing well in their own university?

 

Please tell me you filled out the FAFSA on time?

 

 

Every school is different in terms of the scholarships. If you do good the first year, you may qualify for a private scholarship. Depending on your financial situation you may qualify for a Pell grant (4,731), Work Study, insitutional grants, stafford loans, etc...

 

Why dont you fill out that estimator and see what kind of aid they would give you?

Do any of you know if it is possible to receive financial aid based on your work in college?

Because I didn't have the grades in high school to qualify for any kinds of scholarships or anything like that.

If I do well in college, will i be able to get some financial backing?

 

I know that a lot of schools give scholarships to their freshman students for good grades in high school, but do any colleges reward their currently enrolled college students with scholarships for doing well in their own university?

 

Please tell me you filled out the FAFSA on time?

 

 

Every school is different in terms of the scholarships. If you do good the first year, you may qualify for a private scholarship. Depending on your financial situation you may qualify for a Pell grant (4,731), Work Study, insitutional grants, stafford loans, etc...

 

Why dont you fill out that estimator and see what kind of aid they would give you?

He still can fill out FAFSA. Deadline isn't for a while.

Well, I did some research a while back on certain schools with major athletic programs and WVU came out to be one of the schools that fits very well with my academics, price range, etc.

 

Then I started following their football and basketball teams and I've gotten hooked.

 

Looked at the pictures and saw that it's a pretty nice campus. All of these factors lead me to believe it would be a nice choice for college.

 

Plus, I've lived in Florida my entire life and I think I'm ready for a change.

 

Be careful what you wish for there. Have you actually visited Morgantown? One thing is seeing a campus in pictures or on TV, it's another thing once you get there. Plus, there is a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE between living in South Florida and living in West Virginia. Some of the things you take for granted here will be GONE once you're over there. There are certain drawbacks to going to college in a small town (and there is NOTHING near Morgantown, unless you make the drive north to Pittsburgh!). That culture shock happened to me when I went from Miami to South Royalton, VT. If you're a "city person," living in the "country" of WVa will drive you bonkers!

 

Then there is the student loan issue. I don't know what you plan on majoring in, and whether you can get a lucrative job with a Bachelors degree. Nowadays, many careers demand, at minimum, an MA. I went to a state school for free because I knew that graduate school would be in my future. It is dumb to burden yourself with $85K in debt, only to add on to it with another $50K to $150K in graduate school debt depending on what you plan to do. And to do put yourself in such a hole because a campus looks pretty in pictures and the school's sprots teams are good is not wise.

 

You make your own college experiences. You can have the time of your life in any community college in Florida, followed by a Florida college, without the debt of going away. What you can also do is plan on saving money for an undergraduate degree because a graduate degree is where your true long term investment lies. Nothing felt better than going to law school knowing that I had no undergraduate debt that I had to defer or live with. College is only four years of your life, student loans will be with you for THIRTY YEARS after you're gone. And if you have to keep sending those $500+ checks every month for 30-years, in order to say you had a good time for 4-years, is it really worth it? I graduated from law school 10 years ago with $65,000.00 in student loans to pay off. I since consolidated my loans and after ten years, I still have five years (and about $20,000.00) to go! Now, think about your situation this way. Your interest rate is going to be much higher than mine by the time you have to pay those suckers (I'm ticked off my rate went up to 5.65%!). So think about burdening yourself with an $85K loan, at around 7% to 9% for 30-years? Within 10-years of graduation you'll be looking for a mortgage, maybe a car, etc. That's alot of scratch to come up with to justify going to WVa.

 

I'm not trying to sway you, but you really should look at the long term effects of your decision -- basically at least five years after your college graduation date!

 

Hope that helps . . . and doesn't bring you down.

Do any of you know if it is possible to receive financial aid based on your work in college?

Because I didn't have the grades in high school to qualify for any kinds of scholarships or anything like that.

If I do well in college, will i be able to get some financial backing?

 

I know that a lot of schools give scholarships to their freshman students for good grades in high school, but do any colleges reward their currently enrolled college students with scholarships for doing well in their own university?

 

Please tell me you filled out the FAFSA on time?

 

 

Every school is different in terms of the scholarships. If you do good the first year, you may qualify for a private scholarship. Depending on your financial situation you may qualify for a Pell grant (4,731), Work Study, insitutional grants, stafford loans, etc...

 

Why dont you fill out that estimator and see what kind of aid they would give you?

He still can fill out FAFSA. Deadline isn't for a while.

 

The deadline was march 1st for west viriginia and most schools.

 

 

Yes you can fill out the FAFSA year round, however all you will get will be stafford loans if you miss the deadline.

You're right SoFla, but then again, my parents are going in halfway with me...so it won't be that bad. It will be bad, but not THAT bad. And I plan on majoring in Sports Management (AKA Sports Administration), so I will only be going to school for 4 years. I have no plans for graduate school, but If down the road I do end up going, It will be to FAU or something that's not that expensive.

 

And Morgantown isn't exactly a "country" town. Morgantown is your typical college town, just like any other in America. It's the second largest city in the state (If memory serves correct).

 

 

And JetsMania, no i did not fill out my FAFSA, thanks to my dad :confused , I sat down with him and we were gonna fill it out together, but he said he needed to wait until his tax info came in and that he read where the deadline was in June or something. I guess it turns out that was for something else and the deadline for WVU is indeed March 1st, so I guess I'll just have to miss out on that.

You're right SoFla, but then again, my parents are going in halfway with me...so it won't be that bad. It will be bad, but not THAT bad. And I plan on majoring in Sports Management (AKA Sports Administration), so I will only be going to school for 4 years. I have no plans for graduate school, but If down the road I do end up going, It will be to FAU or something that's not that expensive.

 

And Morgantown isn't exactly a "country" town. Morgantown is your typical college town, just like any other in America. It's the second largest city in the state (If memory serves correct).

 

 

And JetsMania, no i did not fill out my FAFSA, thanks to my dad :confused , I sat down with him and we were gonna fill it out together, but he said he needed to wait until his tax info came in and that he read where the deadline was in June or something. I guess it turns out that was for something else and the deadline for WVU is indeed March 1st, so I guess I'll just have to miss out on that.

 

I wrote a long response earlier, but I got IPS error or whatever so I guess it didnt go through.

 

 

If you are getting help from your parents, I would definetly go the WVU route. There is nothing like living on a college campus and the college experience. You wont get that at a communtiy college. At 85k in debt, I would probably pass up on WVU, but if you can get your parents to pay some, you work in the summer to pay some, and a combination of grants and loans it can be manageable. You should either fill out the estimator or actually do your fafsa so you can look at what kind of aid they will give you. Only then should you make your decision.

 

I didnt have any debt coming out of undergrad. However, I decided I wanted to get an MBA and go to school full time, so I went to graduate school right out of undergrad. I moved up to boston and went to Suffolk for two years. I know pay 240 a month to repay what I owe there (about 40,000). 10 times out of 10 I go back in time and do the same move. It was just an awesome experience that you will never forget.

 

As for the FAFSA, you can fill it out year round. Schools set deadlines so that they can send out award packages in a timely fashion. I would advise you to fill out the FAFSA as soon as possble. I would say just use estimated numbers. WVU is going to ask for your taxes anyways, so they will correct any errors. Where I work, we have a feb 1 deadline. However, once the one time filers get packaged, we move onto the late filers. At that point its first come first serve until there is nothing left to give out. If you fill out the form now, you will be ahead of everyone who files later than you.

 

Also, no matter what your package is, write an appeal letter. Not many people write letters of appeal for more aid, so the odds that you get something extra are high. The worst that happens is that they throw your letter away.

 

Even if you dont get the greatest package from them this year (because you are late) as long as you file on time the next three years, the packege will be much better.

 

 

Lastly, check out fastweb.com. It has a bunch of scholarships that are out there.

FSU/UF are much better schools academically then WVU. I would go FSU/UF and get the better degree. Trust me, as an FSU student, you'll get enough partying from those schools if you are there for just 2 years lol.

 

Plus I wouldn't make any decision until you at least visit WVU. Remember - your going to be spending the next 4 years of your life there so you better like the place at least. I personally wouldn't want to go there because of the campus/area, but that is just me. Again, a degree from UF/FSU will prolly get you more respected than WVU

Have you actually visited Morgantown or just looked at pictures? I would definately visit the school before making the decision. Lots of people say that they want to go away to school "x" until they get there. Being in West Virginia may seem like a good idea until you are there, freezing in the winter, thousands of miles away from your family and friends, and adding up how much debt you are in. If you are already concerned about the money, i'd personally go conservative and look for less expensive options.

 

It's your choice and there are plenty of positives to going away to college, but just don't go just to go. Make sure it is the best fit for you academically and financially. College is what you make of it. There are plenty of excellent in-state schools that don't require you paying for them 20-30 years down the road.

No I havn't applied to FSU or UF.

 

I didn't even bother applying, because my academics are merely average (3.3 GPA, 900 SAT) and I had no clubs or sports...which obviously wouldn't be nearly good enough to get me into either UF or FSU.

 

 

Do UF and FSU accept that many 1-year transfers from Community College? I've heard of the 2 year plan, but not the 1 year.

Just had another thought for you PUMA. Have you ever thought of going to Tallahassee Community College or Santa Fe Community College? Obviously TCC is in Tallahassee and Santa Fe is in Gainesville. I can assure you that I know plenty of people right now who go to TCC and def. live the "college life." It seems that if u want the college experience, it is more important that you are living in a college town, not necessarily that you go to the major University. You would be away from home, on your own, living the college life, and still being able to attach yourself athletically to a particular school since u are in the town.

 

Again - if you've never at least visited the school, I don't suggest you go

Just had another thought for you PUMA. Have you ever thought of going to Tallahassee Community College or Santa Fe Community College? Obviously TCC is in Tallahassee and Santa Fe is in Gainesville. I can assure you that I know plenty of people right now who go to TCC and def. live the "college life." It seems that if u want the college experience, it is more important that you are living in a college town, not necessarily that you go to the major University. You would be away from home, on your own, living the college life, and still being able to attach yourself athletically to a particular school since u are in the town.

 

Again - if you've never at least visited the school, I don't suggest you go

 

Thats a pretty good idea. Maybe getting away to one of those CC and then transfering in wouldnt be a bad idea. Plus you figure that a lof of those people are going to transfer into fsu or uf so you will already know people come year two.

 

How easy is it to transfer in?

I can't really see myself going to Tallahassee or Gainesville for Community College.

 

First of all, I'd probably have to rent an apartment, right? I Don't really want to do that.

 

Secondly, There are plenty of students at Palm Beach Community College that transfer to UF and FSU, so I'd know some of them

No I havn't applied to FSU or UF.

 

I didn't even bother applying, because my academics are merely average (3.3 GPA, 900 SAT) and I had no clubs or sports...which obviously wouldn't be nearly good enough to get me into either UF or FSU.

 

 

Do UF and FSU accept that many 1-year transfers from Community College? I've heard of the 2 year plan, but not the 1 year.

I transferred after 2 years, but I was still only sophomore standing. And I didn't have a problem. If you do balls to the wall in year one it should be a real possibility.

No I havn't applied to FSU or UF.

 

I didn't even bother applying, because my academics are merely average (3.3 GPA, 900 SAT) and I had no clubs or sports...which obviously wouldn't be nearly good enough to get me into either UF or FSU.

 

 

Do UF and FSU accept that many 1-year transfers from Community College? I've heard of the 2 year plan, but not the 1 year.

I transferred after 2 years, but I was still only sophomore standing. And I didn't have a problem. If you do balls to the wall in year one it should be a real possibility.

 

Yeah, I plan on working my butt off in CC regardless, so It couldn't hurt if I applied after my 1st year.

Just had another thought for you PUMA. Have you ever thought of going to Tallahassee Community College or Santa Fe Community College? Obviously TCC is in Tallahassee and Santa Fe is in Gainesville. I can assure you that I know plenty of people right now who go to TCC and def. live the "college life." It seems that if u want the college experience, it is more important that you are living in a college town, not necessarily that you go to the major University. You would be away from home, on your own, living the college life, and still being able to attach yourself athletically to a particular school since u are in the town.

 

Again - if you've never at least visited the school, I don't suggest you go

 

Thats a pretty good idea. Maybe getting away to one of those CC and then transfering in wouldnt be a bad idea. Plus you figure that a lof of those people are going to transfer into fsu or uf so you will already know people come year two.

 

How easy is it to transfer in?

 

 

Why would you not want an apartment? You would probably get an apartment in one of the student apartment complexes and know a lot of people from the school.

 

The only reason I suggested those 2 community colleges was because it sounded like you wanted to have the college experience, and i think going to PBCC and still living with your parents probably isn't exactly the college experience.

 

Plus from what I have herard, it is easier to transfer to FSU from TCC than another Community College since they are more familiar with the school

Either way, it's probably the wisest move for you to try to get into a Florida state school.

 

Yeah I agree.

 

Going to West Virginia would just be impractical. Would it be fun? Yeah, maybe. But as many of you have mentioned in this thread, I've never actually visited the campus.I could end up hating my decision and be stuck with 30 year payments after I graduate.

 

Going the Community College route is definitely more conservative and less risky, and in the end, I'll end up with the same degree while saving a lot of money.

 

Thanks for all your help guys, I think i've made up my mind. :thumbup

I think the most important issue here is that you don't make up your mind based on majority consensus from a message board! This is a huge decision, I hope you've been talking with college advisor/parents/friends about it too.

I think the most important issue here is that you don't make up your mind based on majority consensus from a message board! This is a huge decision, I hope you've been talking with college advisor/parents/friends about it too.

 

Yea, of course lol.

 

I just want as many opinions/advice as i can possibly get.

 

It's mixed, but for the most part I think i've come to realize staying in FL and going to CC ---> UF/FSU is the best option

I think the most important issue here is that you don't make up your mind based on majority consensus from a message board! This is a huge decision, I hope you've been talking with college advisor/parents/friends about it too.

 

Yea, of course lol.

 

I just want as many opinions/advice as i can possibly get.

 

It's mixed, but for the most part I think i've come to realize staying in FL and going to CC ---> UF/FSU is the best option

 

:thumbup

 

It's what I'm reattempting, though I'm probably going to end up going BACK to USF once I straighten out my health and academics