The $80K is better spent on graduate/professional school, where you will get a greater return.
There has to be a compromise between zero debt at a school you don’t like and 80k in debt. It’s your job to find that school. It’s hard work and time is running out. So, hurry and ask for help on this website
Rutgers, Fordham and South Carolina are all respectable universities. I’m not very familiar with the others. I would think that among those top three, after all the aid offers are in, you can find a place that you can afford without going overboard on student loans.
If you got into honors at UofSC (you could get that amount on stats and still not get honors - they’ve just started releasing those decisions). The honors program is top public honors and the large university gives you ability to change your mind about your major. D in honors is at Ivy grad school and many of her friends have been successful at finding jobs and getting grad spots at good schools. Final UofSC financial packages don’t come out until March so you might get even more from them.
I would say wait until you get final financial packages from all and spend more time digging into what each school offers. As a parent I would say no to 80k in debt.
^I agree that USC Honors is top-notch!
And in the meanwhile you can throw some app in to private colleges with Jan 15 and Feb1st deadlines.
@whereinnj
Especially if the grants listed in #3 are need-based (not merit awards), then you may be able to get better FA (and lower net costs) than what Ursinus or Fordham have offered. If your family income is below about $140K (with commensurate assets and all the other stars in alignment), then your net cost may be lower than ~$33K at some of these colleges (if you can get in):
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
^Many will have application dates Jan 15 or Feb 1st (many had Jan 1st deadlines) so you must hurry.
I don’t think your major or projected career matters so much when making this decision. Aside from the fact that college students change their major and career plans pretty often, there’s also often the case where things don’t work out exactly as planned after college or even you change your mind or your career after you graduate (majored in engineering but decide to join the Peace Corps; major in computer science and discover you hate it two years in; major in physics and end up at a nonprofit; etc.)
But beyond that, even assuming that you are a hotshot engineer or software developer somewhere making $60-70K…you still have to repay that loan, and less debt means more money in your pocket. I make a very nice salary and can more than afford my student loans, but I would of course much rather have that $400/month in my pocket! That’s money you can invest, put in your 401(K), save, get a better apartment, maybe not have a roommate, put towards a wedding or house, whatever.
So if I’m looking at this right here’s what you have leftover to pay at each place, and I’m assuming that you’d be borrowing that entire amount:
Rutgers: $28,000/year, maybe less
Fordham: $68,000/year, maybe less
Ursinus: $7,000/year, $28,000 total
USC: $3,000/year, $12,000 total
NJIT: $8,000/year, $32,000 total
Hofstra: $9,000 a year, $36,000 total
Iona: $2,000/year, $8,000 total
Pace: $14,000/year, $56,000
The tl;dr for this is my recommendation is USC, because of the best balance of price and quality. Read on for my reasoning.
Rutgers and Fordham are both in the “not realistic” bucket for now. At Fordham, you are unlikely to get a big enough grant to bring that down to less than some of the other good choices you have. At Rutgers, you may or you may not, but right now without that info taking on that amount of debt at either place (or really, anywhere) is insane.
Then for the rest. $56,000 is too much debt and Pace is not even the kind of school that I’d say even consider going into that much debt for, so cut it. Hofstra and NJIT’s debt both are not that bad, but considering that you’d probably need at least some private loans to borrow that and you’ve got cheaper options, I’d cut them too. Ursinus is realistic for total amount, but given that you can’t borrow the amount you need in federal loans only until your junior year, I’d let it go as well.
That leaves is with USC and Iona. USC is a better university overall. Honestly, even out of the realistic options is the best university on your list anyway IMO, and it also seems like it’s eminently affordable. There are lots of majors for you to choose from there.
I was wondering if you were offered entry into the NJIT Honors program with your SAT score and GPA? If so, how much merit/ other aid came with that?
I agree with @Juillet about USC.
For a top student in CS, you will benefit greatly in the long run if you attend the most rigorous program which, in this group, I suspect is USC. If you can excel in a top CS program, the amount of debt you take on will not matter. It will probably not be a very fun program, but the future opportunities will be amazing. There are many top CS grads who are only 21 or 22 year old with $200k plus in income right out of school. You could pay back a loan in the first year. The priority is finding a rigorous school where you can be successful.
i thought OP listed the COA after the grants were applied. there is no way USC is only $23K for OOS before grants are applied – more like $43K
but the numbers just don’t add up. the cheapest option NJIT is listed at $18K per year, that’s $64K total, well over $20K debt.
OP can you clarify your calculations? what are the yearly COA amounts after grants are applied?
Stay out of debt as much as possible for undergrad. I think USC is a great choice.
Hi Juliet, where did you get $2,000 for Iona? According to their website, it says avg cost per year is $52,000
Wien2NC - USC South Carolina gave me in state tuition even though I am OOS.
Below are COA after all the grants applied and that would be my loans over 4 years.
Ofcourse as I go along in those 4 years I will either work and also apply for scholarship.
NJIT 20k
Rutger SAS 28k
Rutger SBS 25k (Honors)
Rutger SAS 33k
Ursinus 33k
Juniata 33k
Wooster 35k
Stevens 46k
Stony Brook 24k
USC South Carolina 23k
I also have admission to Georgia Tech but as a transfer student for next year,
As long as I take 30 credits this coming year and keep 3.3 and above - they will transfer all credits towards my intended major at Georgia Tech. I can also take some credits over the summer if I choose. First year is core classes anyways. But if my parents move there and they might due to their job and possibly to take care of my older grandparents I will qualify for instate tuition. So I might go to NJIT or Rutgers 1st year and then rest at Georgia Tech.
Below are the cost of GT without any grants. I may qualify but I won’t know until next year. I am sure if I keep up with grades I should get something.
Georgia Tech 45K oos
Georgia Tech 24K instate
The following schools I applied only because they gave me a free application waiver.
But I am rejecting them because they are too expensive and not as good the ones mentioned above.
Hofstra 36k
Iona 26k
Pace 38k
Dickinson 47k
Fordham 38k
St. Johns 28k
@briejax I used the information the OP themselves provided on the first page of this thread. It seems, however, that I misunderstood the OP’s original post; they were listing their scholarship amounts and then the cost of attendance to them AFTER those scholarship amounts were applied.
@whereinnj, are you saying that you’d have to borrow the amount listed after each school in order to attend? Are these PER YEAR or TOTAL (over four years)? It’s not 100% clear from your post.
Ignore Georgia Tech right now; that is a future possibility that shouldn’t really have any bearing on your current decision.
If these are TOTAL borrowing amounts over four years, I think South Carolina or Stony Brook are your best options - not just because of the price but also because of the quality of those schools. Rutgers is a good choice, too (the SBS Honors program). Really, at this point it should just be which of thsoe three you like the best.
If these are the amounts that you would have to borrow EVERY YEAR (meaning that your cheapest option would be $92K in debt) then none of the schools are affordable for you.