Duke, Gatech, or UGA Honors?

Colleges & Universities University of Georgia
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<p>Kasmokia: Congrats on the outside scholarship. That will come in handy. Having 2 kids in college for only next year does complicate your situation. I don’t know if Emory would be able to give you a “firm” projection of what your financial aid package would look like for the last 3 years. </p>

<p>I personally don’t consider the Emory package “better” than your UGA package (see below for more details on UGA costs). Emory has given you a lot of aid and I am not knocking that by any means, but at the end of the day between you and your parents you are paying for $16,000/year for the first year (your parents are paying $8,000, $4,000 in loans will have to be paid back, and lastly you will be working for that $4,000 in work study money). And that doesn’t include the eventual interest expense on the student loans.</p>

<p>Another point to consider is the $4,000 work study from Emory. That will translate into a lot of hours. I am not sure exactly how many weeks there are in a semester at Emory, but if you go with 15 weeks at $8.00/hour you’d have to work over 16 hours a week to make that much money. I am not sure how guaranteed you are to even get a work study position, etc. And work study money is money that you receive as you work the hours. It can’t be used to pay the tuition bill in August.</p>

<p>Check out the UGA link for fall semester costs. </p>

<p><a href=“https://busfin1.busfin.uga.edu/bursar/schedule_fee_list.cfm[/url]”>https://busfin1.busfin.uga.edu/bursar/schedule_fee_list.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>By my rough estimation of assuming you’d live in Myers (most expensive dorm) and have the 7 day meal plan, the bottom line would be $11,182. That does not include personal day to day living expenses or books. If you shop wisely for books, you can seriously reduce your costs there from the original sticker price. Once you subtract out your $5,000 scholarship, you are now looking at $6,182 per year.</p>

<p>Graduating debt free is not something to take lightly especially if you are considering medical school.</p>

<p>I think you will thrive wherever you choose to go to school and wish the best for you.</p>