Decisions, Decisions (And I'm really scared about it.)

College Search & Lists
1

So, decisions season is coming to an end, and I still haven’t picked a school to attend. I got into 5 of the 6 schools I applied to, and have narrowed it down to two: Ramapo College and Drew University. I’m looking to major in either English or Journalism, but I’m leaning more toward Journalism. And Ramapo has an excellent Journalism program-- something Drew lacks.

The problem? Money.

Drew gave me a huge financial aid package. I’ve gotten a total of $49,000 in scholarships, grants, and federal loans. At the end of the day, my family’s EFC is roughly $12,000. I’m basically paying for room and board.

But I want to go to Ramapo. And they’re not giving me any financial aid at all- I haven’t even gotten federal loans (It’s COA is $31,000- Yes, I’m in state.) And my parents? They aren’t going to help me pay for school. I’m afraid they won’t even agree to cosign on my student loans. So it wouldn’t matter even if I did pick the /slightly/ more cost effective option.

It gets worse.

The only school I applied to that I /really/ liked was NYU. And I knew from the start that was a lost cause. Here I am at the resolution of my Senior year, and I’m regretting all of the choices I made. I tried to make more “practical” ones to please my parents, and those “practical” choices are turning out to be the least generous of all. I’m wondering if I should take a gap year, try to find an internship, and reapply to schools I feel better about. Not that it’d fix my financial aid situation- which is, y’know, a big fat pile of suck.

Any advice would be appreciated. My options are really limited right now, and I hoped applying to a variety of schools would keep this from happening. Guess it didn’t.

2

Drew still has a student newspaper, a photography minor, a film, media, and communication studies minor, and an English major. Just because it doesn’t have exactly what you want doesn’t mean you can’t still construct a solid program that will get you closer to your career goals.

3

“And my parents? They aren’t going to help me pay for school.”

You are correct. You can’t afford Drew.

You need to take a gap year and apply to places that will give you even better aid than Drew offered. Don’t take any classes so that you can keep your freshman applicant status and qualify for the best aid. Start with this thread in the Financial Aid Forum. If loans are going to be included in the aid packages, you need to get your costs down to what you can earn with a part-time job. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest

Do find out from your parents whether or not they will cover any of your costs at all. Will they keep you on their health insurance? Will they let you live at home and feed you free of charge if you study somewhere in commuting distance? Will they pay your car insurance/gas/maintenance? Will they pay for your cell phone? Will they chip anything in toward the cost of your books? If college/university requires it for a scholarship package, will they continue to file the FAFSA every year?