24 Mar 2009 | College search regrets
College applications, check. Preliminary college visits, check. Acceptance letters, check. Financial aid packages — just beginning to trickle in. Now as I near the final stretch of the college selection process, I feel like I've finally gotten the hang of this thing. As May 1st looms ever closer, however, I feel a twinge of regret — like I've missed out on something. Perhaps I should've applied to more schools. Perhaps I should've considered some liberal arts colleges. Perhaps I should've
Nah. I just found the admissions statistics. Harvey Mudd College and Reed College are way too competitive. Plus, they're on the other side of the freakin' continent.
I'm good.
On another note, I was scanning through this book called Paying for College Without Going Broke (2006 edition, with a foreword by Bill Clinton!), and you should've seen this one section. It went something like
We are frequently amazed at how often families with high need choose an out-of-state public university as their safety school. For most families with an EFC of between $5,000 and $15,000, an out-of-state public university is the most expensive option they could possibly choose. Why? First, students from out-of-state are charged a lot more. Second, much of the financial aid at these schools is earmarked for in-state students [...]
Let's just say that a lot of face-palming went on that night.
Edit: Actually, my chances for Reed wouldn't have been too bad. I'm just sure they'd put me on academic probation after receiving the mid-year grade report.
And just for the record, my safety is in-state.
Tags: colleges
Amy says:
I wish I did not apply to a couple of schools that I did…
I don't think it's so bad to apply to state schools outside of your own state (depending on stats, at least). I don't think that in-state residents have much of an advantage when it comes to merit scholarships… The only state school I applied to was my in-state one, but my stats aren't high enough to warrant much money elsewhere.
5:57 pm | Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Jenny-fa says:
Actually, state residency matters a lot for flagship state universities, especially the "public Ivies" like the University of Wisconsin–Madison or the University of Vermont. The vast, vast majority of merit scholarships are awarded to in-state students only, with only a meager handful for out-of-staters. Competition for those out-of-state scholarships is often more intense as a result. And the costs for out-of-state public Ivies are ridiculously high — like those of private universities elsewhere. Out-of-state public Ivies also tend to be extremely stingy with financial aid as well. I applied to two of them, and basically I'd have to take out $18,000 or more in student loans if I wanted to attend. In contrast, the one private school I'm gravitating towards at the moment has offered me a fairly generous financial aid package, with only about $9,000 in loans.
Oooh, care to share which school that is?
And have you listened to BoA yet? o_____O
10:44 pm | Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Luufie Moon says:
I've always thought certain schools out of state was cheaper. I mean like, that's what I was told by those who had came to school out of state/country.
If anything though I'm currently a U.S. citizen from Iowa, and financial aid for me is so far, ****. Nothing but loans. But how else am I going to pay for it? +_+;;
3:11 pm | Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Amy says:
That IS pretty generous. I have heard that private schools give out more aid than public ones, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. :D Yeah, I don't know much about money…
Ah, it's UMaryland-College Park. They're only giving me a few thousand, some of which are in loans, but my parents work for the university, so I'd get free tuition.
I've listened to a few songs. ^_^ Never was a BoA fan before, but I'm trying to listen to more types of music.
3:34 pm | Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Jenny-fa says:
Gaaaaaaaaaaaah you're one of those people. Faculty freeloaders. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
And even worse, it's a public Ivy…
5:30 pm | Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Amy says:
Well, my mom isn't really faculty, and my dad is hoping to switch jobs, so I don't know if I'll be able to take advantage of that anyway. ^^
Haha, I didn't even know it was a public Ivy until you mentioned it and I Wikipedia-ed it. XP It's not one of the big ones like Virginia or Chapel Hill, though…
11:49 pm | Wednesday, March 25, 2009