ramzfan13

This post should provide more insight into the situation of students in cs and whether or not they personally believed it was worth it.

So, how are you all paying for this? : UIUC

What I got from this is that I should go for it! lol

dustinthewind

I'm also trying to figure out how the finances fit into my final decision.. While my parents are capable of paying the entire tuition, it would mean drastic changes in our standard of living, and a much later retirement date than they had planned on.

Not the kind of future i wish on them. Anyone know when aid letters come out? I'm not expecting much.. but a grant covering the OOS portion of tuition would make me SIR on the spot.

Xeroday

the FA is pretty bad... I got 22k in loans....

ramzfan13

dustinthewind:

My financial award letter came out a few days ago and as I expected, I got nothing more than loans. The letters should be coming out within the next week if you filed the FAFSA by the March 15 deadline. As an OOS student, I am in the same situation as you. I just wanna know if the benefits of the uiuc cs program + student debt is worth it!

itsme123

^depends on your alternatives

woo00154

Ah, I finally see some comrade here

Except I'm at a bit worse situation.

Here's my situation:

1. Only got into UIUC (CS major in Engineering)
2. Getting FULL LOAN (Yep. We(or I) didn't save any money for college.)
3. I'm a Korean who moved to CA 5 years ago. --> No connection what-so-ever.
4. My GPA isn't that great. (UW 3.64 and SAT 2040)

And here are my options:

1. go to UIUC
2. go to Community college
3. go to UC Merced

And here are things I considered:

1. Can I learn much at the school? (worth the time/money)
2. Is it going to be fun?
3. Is there a way to minimize the amount of loans? (Probably Scholarships)
4. Is environment okay? (Can I actually focus on my study? not party everyday?)
5. How about internship/job opportunity?
6. Can I form lots of connection with Juniors/Seniors? (to survive school, of course)

And here is my decision

School: UIUC
Why: It satisfied all of the things I considered above, maybe except 4, since it's freezing there. (but I heard their heater works perfectly fine)

Last thing: It is a huge risk you are taking here. BUT REMEMBER!

IT IS YOU WHO CAN CHANGE THE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS. (IT'S NOT LUCK.)
BETTER BE PREPARED TO WORK YOUR ASS OFF. NEVER DREAM ABOUT BEING LAZY.

that's it.


If you happen to decide to go, I hope to see you there.