hi! so to catch up on previous post i’m looking to do ux/ui when i get out of college or be an art director and am majoring in communication design. i’m not considering nyush anymore but now am deciding between northeastern (stuck with the global scholar program), syracuse, and fit. my mother has around 150k saved up for college funds to help pay for schools and i’d prefer to now be surrounded by student debt after i graduate but i’d also want to go somewhere that will set me up career-wise and also hopefully with a decent job after graduation. for scholarship wise i don’t seem to be able to apply to most i find online and was offered 20k annually from syracuse and 2k annually from northeastern. originally northeastern was my number 1 because of the co-op and i still love the program however the price and fact that i will be taking summer classes or have to take 5 years to graduate will suck especially since my whole first year i’m in london and oakland (which was my third choice of campus selections). decision day is may 1st for northeastern and may 15th for syracuse and fit. my parents are appealing most likely to all schools for more money as i received 0 dollars for financial aid at all for all schools and the financial situation has changed and is not the best which makes it difficult to go anywhere debt free. the other issue is what school will be best to get a higher end job or set me up better as i’ll most likely minor or potentially switch to something more business focused. northeastern has design exclusively and no specific major besides that, syracuse has communication design and the program seems to be the direct ally that i’d like to focus on and fit has advertising and digital design which is also more focused on what i’d like to pursue. for dorming i’d live on campus first year for all schools fit however i can move with my grandmother in queens, NY for money reasons and just in general after the first or second year while the other schools i’m stuck wherever the campus is. i’d like to study abroad but that seems pretty impossible with northeastern because of global scholar and at fit its not included in cost which sucks but syracuse includes it into their tuition which would mean i go definitely do it. please let me know what you think i should do but also just looking for any insight in general. NOTE: my mother loves northeastern and is set that it will set me up best and says she rather pay for that than syracuse however it still is very expensive and i’m not sure that i’ll save any money with co-op because i’ll have to do either another year or lots of summer courses.)
also please let me know if i’m missing any information that might be helpful in response.
For anyone trying to help the OP, their previous thread is here:
1st thing: email Northeastern and ask if you can delay your decision till May 15.
How much can your mother afford without debt?
Is any college within budget?
so with the 150k she wants to try to make the first year out of pocket and my mom got a really good job this year so her salary is higher than it was before but most likely 20-40k she could attempt to pay out of pocket for the first semester or two before she would start taking from that savings and she really wants to not touch the account until 2nd or third year so it grows more. northeastern would be hard to pay for as of right now unless we can convince them to give more aid and syracuse i think she could possibly pay first year out of pocket and fit she would 100% be able to pay first year out of pocket and would be able to pay for all of it no problem if i live with grandmother at least 2 of my 4 years.
FWIW I know tons of northeastern grads from early 2000s-to 2020. All took 5 years, all loved it and wouldn’t change a thing.
(I have no affiliation with NE besides having worked with tons of coops and stayed in touch with many)
I think having to be in London/Oakland is a consideration, as is money, but I’d worry less about 5 years/coop stuff personally. You graduate with 3 LONG internships, which really are more like jobs than summer internships IME.
That said, Syracuse is a great school too of course.
Please use capitalization and paragraphs. It is very difficult to dissect your writing.
What does ux/ui mean?
Being set up career wise when you graduate means not having huge student loans to pay back. FIT will get you where you want to go at a fraction of the price of others, so I suggest FIT. Northeastern costs $81,000 a year, and that will surely increase. So your mom has $150K, you can take out a max student loan of $27k, and NEU has offered $2k off per year. You still need to come up with at least $135,000 to pay for NEU. It sounds like you can’t afford that.
Syracuse is more affordable, at $80k a year, minus $20k annually, minus $150k, minus $27k, but you’d still have to come up with $63k to pay for four years there.
FIT is pretty much fully affordable between your mom and you. I personally don’t think it’s worth an extra $63k to go to Syracuse. Especially if you can live with your grandparent and make FIT even more affordable.
@Lindagaf : This is a good ui/ux program in NYS to understand what it is - a mix of psychology, CS, and design.
One concern I have is that FIT is a mostly art school, known for its creative and unconventional students, but the tech component may be missing… I don’t think they have a full ui/ux major so would “design”, suffice and how solid is Ui/ux at FIT?
Thanks for the response.
I assumed that the OP had solid reasons for applying to FIT, as opposed to a CUNY school. Speaking of which, OP, were there any other SUNY or CUNY acceptances?
^ very good question.
Sadly not as I didn’t apply to others as I am out of state and live in CT. FIT was a school of choice because I’m an artistic person but realize that the tech side is more important especially career-wise which is why I lean away from FIT.
I went to different talks with professors at FIT and it seems the course there does cover things about UX/UI and also would potentially lead to Art Director as well. The connections and networking in the city are the main draw to FIT but the major is less focused compared to Syracuse. Northeastern I know has a grad program for UX/UI but I’m also uncertain if they are a good focus for the “Design” major I am admitted to.
Sounds like you don’t have enough to afford these schools. If you have to co-sign loans to pay tuition, you seriously can’t afford it. The most you can take out in direct loans for a bachelors degree is 27k. Even if you could get the financing to pay $100k plus, it would be financial suicide to do it. Do you have any in-state options? If not, then you probably should consider starting at community college.
Ah, I thought you were instate for NY.
If FIT doesn’t offer you the right program, I am going to suggest a couple of things. Take a year off, work or volunteer, and try again for next year, ensuring you have an affordable instate option. Or, there are affordable options in other states near CT that offer tuition exchange agreements. You would most likely have to apply for the next cycle, at this stage. Connecticut | New England Board of Higher Education.
Or, start at community college and transfer. Or, there are still colleges accepting applications, but the question will be if you can afford them. At this late stage, there will be little money for colleges to offer, and it sounds as if you don’t qualify for FA anyway.
I don’t see how your mom can afford to send you to Northeastern at all, even if you can finish the degree in four years. I personally wouldn’t go into debt for Syracuse. You need an affordable college where your mom won’t have to rack up a lot of debt for your education. If you decide FIT isn’t right, I would honestly try again for the next cycle. You are clearly a good student and you might even be able to gain entry to some colleges that will offer big scholarships.
So, basically, FIT is the only college that is remotely affordable and could work somewhat but it doesn’t quite offer what you need.
Did you apply to any public university in Connecticut?
Hopefully there will be possibilities on the NACAC list about to be published - it’s a list of colleges thst miscalculated yield and still have places: with the FAFSA mess I bet there will be lots of good colleges.
Would TC3 be a possibility? It’s a residential community college that has a partnership with Cornell’s contract colleges (see their ui/ux program above), with solid transfer courses, dorms, residential life and sports.
You’d have to combine CS and new media courses, I think (graphic design isn’t eligible for Cornell).
Cost of attendance (tuition fees room&board) is 24k total per year and you’d have to run the NPC on Cornell CALS.
Btw I do think an affordable 4-year college with the program you need would be better.
Who knows when that will be out?!
But, common app shows 721 schools with deadlines on or after Apr 30th that are still taking apps. If any of those schools are of interest I wouldn’t wait to apply, in order to maximize chances for and amount of financial aid.
NACAC said sth like “shortly”, or “very soon”. I’m guessing April 29 could be a date.
Unfortunately I can’t seem to make the colleges still accepting apps appear in commonapp 
but hopefully some of those are located near CT, have iT and iffer FA 
Good intel on the NACAC list.
For colleges still taking apps go to common app, click college search, set filter at deadline on or after Apr 30 (or whatever date you want), and the list of schools still taking apps should be there. OP could filter by state too to narrow things down.
@Mwfan1921 and @MYOS1634 OP said this in the first post. I think it will be hard for OP to get money at this stage.
Some colleges on the NACAC list typically offer financial aid and among those still accepting apps they often do (I know Knox and Hendrix do but they aren’t in the right geographical area nor do they offer OPs major.)
The only solution beside this is a gap year (CityYear??) Unless FIT works.