It’s probably too late to change anything. Maybe, maybe not, but probably not. The part where I really messed up was during application season. I didn’t fully understand how need aid and merit aid can work together to keep the net price (and the loans) low.
Thinking that I could only afford a state school with my <$50k family income, I only applied to the UMass schools plus one reach school (Northeastern, which honestly I only applied to cause everyone in my hs was) and Wentworth.
I was rejected from Northeastern and accepted to Wentworth, but the loans for that school were too steep and by the time I got accepted my interest in Engineering had started to decline. With a 3.4 GPA and 1940 SAT, I got accepted to all of the UMasses and chose UMass Lowell because they invited me to their honors college and the loans were pretty low (<$8k per year).
It may sound like I’ve done pretty good for myself, but all I’m feeling is dread. I think with my stats and income that I could’ve gotten away with a more selective, prestigious private school with really good aid, had I applied early enough, and probably could’ve ended up with a similar net price to UMass Lowell. Maybe even BU.
Not only that, but the major I’m interested in now, Economics B.S. is not even offered at UMass Lowell. They only have Economics B.A. I want to pursue the B.S. because I am more interested in the quantitative analysis portion than the sociological part of Economics. I looked up advice for Economics majors at lower ranked schools and read that if you want to be marketable for jobs you’ll need to double major. So now I’m looking at double the workload (+honors college) to be more competitive in a major that’s not even exactly what I want, in a school that’s not even prestigious enough to give a damn. I feel like I’ve screwed myself and ended up at the option with the most work and least reward.
I am posting this for advice, reassurance, anything that will be helpful for me to know in this situation.