Hello CC, new poster here!
It’s that time of year for seniors to choose where they wish to attend college, and I feel my decision is a difficult one. I have been accepted to the honors college at both The University of Akron and The Ohio State University. One might think the obvious decision would be to go to OSU, but I could care less about school prestige or ‘the college experience.’ I’m taking post-secondary courses full time at UAkron and I enjoy it very much. My main concern is to make the best financial decision possible. My offer from OSU, without loans, is $18,000 (this includes federal grants as well as scholarships) of the $26,000 it would cost to attend . With work-study and federal loans I could afford to attend, but I do not wish to go into any debt. UAkron has offered me $16,000 per year without loans, but I could live at home (campus is 20min. away) and have $5,000 left over for whatever expenses I may have. I believe I could also pocket this money after graduation. I would prefer to stay at home and go to school locally, but I’m worried that job opportunities won’t be as great at UAkron as they would be at OSU. As far as what field I want to go into, I’ve narrowed it down to finance, math/statistics (big data), and possible dental school after graduation (if dental tuition looks a little better in four years). Though, I feel I could fall in love with any other field once I take more intro-level courses.
My question for anyone knowledgeable is what would you do in this situation? Are OSU’s large alumni base and job/internship opportunities worth the $8,000 per year, or would it be a better decision to stay at home, attend UAkron, and have extra money and not have to work while going to school? I appreciate any advice in advance, thank you!
Big data is a computer science topic. It doesn’t matter what school you go to if you’re going into comp sci or engineering. You like Akron, you want to stay at home, and you don’t want to go into debt. UAkron seems like the clear winner here.
Source: comp engineering major. Going to a not-top school. Have had multiple top internships. Companies don’t care if you know your stuff.
You seem to be arguing in UAkron’s favor. I think you’d be fine foregoing OSU for Akron, and have a great time doing so. If you’re really that against debt (I don’t blame you, I’m the same way) then you’ll have a greater peace of mind going to UAkron.
Take the money! Since you prefer UAkron anyway, it really is the best of both worlds.
But I think you’d be making a mistake to forego work study. You can always use the additional savings, and most students enjoy having a break from classes. And once you add in a summer job or internship, you could have quite a nice little nest egg saved away for whatever you decide to do after you get finish your undergrad degree.
Given a choice between “no debt” and “OSU” on your degree, it’s the “no debt” that’s going to give you far more choices after you graduate!
The only one of your three fields that Akron may not do as well in is finance. For big data, comp sci or dental prep Akron would be great. Go with the money.
Akron is a no-brainer, given your circumstances and options, IMO.
It’s true that the high-prestige finance firms may not recruit from Akron, but getting in to them from OSU would be an uphill climb as well.
Thank you for all your advice. I guess my first choice has been to go to UAkron, but so many people have stressed the power of the alumni base of OSU to me. Everyone I’ve asked advice from has told me a story of someone they knew that went to OSU and found their dream job and now makes X amount of dollars. I still feel fairly undecided on my major, so I feel that OSU might be able to offer me opportunities to explore majors/jobs that I haven’t even thought of. Now, I am awaiting notification from several local scholarships that could potentially eliminate the $8,000 gap for OSU. I guess I’ll try to hear from them before I think myself to death.
Please remember @dfranklin97 that is is $8,000 x 4 or a 32,000 gap, not just 8,000 (that only covers you for a single year). Good luck!
Akron is an excellent school for all your possible majors. Also Northeast Ohio is the corporate home of several major banks and corporations, so the internship opportunities are quite good. Case Western’s dental school is just up the road and NEOMED down the road, so there would be the opportunity as an undergrad to do research with professors at both these school as well as with Akron faculty. Since you are doing PSEO/CCP, the distinct possibility exists that you will graduate from Akron in 3-3.5 yrs rather than 4. One caveat: if the extra $5000 is in the form of a refund, please check Akron’s policy on excess funding. Many schools have changed their policies on this matter and no longer give back excess funds.