<p>Congratulations revolcgirl–Good luck on those finals!</p>
<p>Never mind… Kyle already covered this better then I did…</p>
<p>Good choice revolcgirl.</p>
<p>Debt is treated by so many these days just like the pile of junk in the corner – to be noticed, then forever ignored. MISTAKE!</p>
<p>IU Honors is every bit as prestigious as any school ranked 20-50 in the country, and at least your honors classmates will be their match intellectually.</p>
<p>Do well in honors, graduate, and you can pick your location to start your career. At that time it could be San Francisco, Los Angeles, heck, even NYC.</p>
<p>Enjoy a fantastic education that won’t leave you in debt. You’ll thank me when you’re 25!</p>
<p>I think you’re doing the right thing by watching the expenses. As to the problem of staying too close to home, ollege is to a large extent what you make of it; if you hang out with people you already know and stay with the familiar and comfortable you get one experience, step out a bit and you get something different. I would urge you to consider a semester abroad while in college. Few people have the luxury of being able to spend 3 mos abroad once they enter the working world, and everyone who goes abroad says it is in the top of their list of their best college experiences.</p>
<p>As for CA, look like you said for internships. You could also try a student exchange. See [National</a> Student Exchange - THE OFFICIAL SITES](<a href=“http://www.nse.org/]National”>http://www.nse.org/), although the only CA school on that list I’d recommend is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. You don’t want a commuter college because they don’t have much of a sense of the college life; its kinda like a mall where people show up and take classes. One other thing you might consider is summer school in CA. During the summer there are no out-of-state fees at the UC campuses. While studying during the summer may not be the most appealing option, it would get you out to CA for a while.</p>
<p>I already didn’t meet the G requirement for the UC’s because my art classes weren’t year-long courses since my school is on a trimester schedule and they only took two trimesters to complete. Like Drawing and Photography I and II (there is no III). The only year-long art courses my school offers are music classes, and I gave up music for writing for my school paper. I e-mailed admissions to see if I was still not qualified, and they suggested that I change my schedule and take a year-long art class or enroll to take an art class at a local college and transfer the credit. I applied anyway without meeting the requirement. (For kyle) I don’t doubt the UC’s , I know they are great schools and if I was a California resident I would definitely go to one. My biggest concern (besides going to a good school, which is a given) is to choose a school that offers good financial aid and I think when others replied they were saying UC’s weren’t good compared to private schools in California in regards to financial aid.
Anyway, since I’m graduating early, I have more than 6 month’s time to waste or do something amazing and as appealing as being lazy for six months sounds, I’d rather do something that I’ll never have the opportunity to do again in my life, because who ever gets six months off from school? I found an internship at a marine life park in Hawaii, and if I get accepted into their program I will be spending 3 months living in Hawaii learning how to train dolphins. !!! The program doesn’t start until May, so I’ll be working full-time till then. I originally decided to do this when I realized how much extra money I would have if I decided to go to IU… I could actually take trips and do exciting things with my life instead of never having bought Starbucks (except once) because I am always trying to save my money, which I will have to do for the rest of my life if I decide to incur a massive debt so that I could go to school near the beach.
I don’t find out if I am accepted to the internship until April, which is when the college letters will be rolling in as well. Assuming that I do get accepted to everything, it would be easier if USC or Pepperdine didn’t offer me a lot of aid because it would make rejecting them easier and make pursuing this once-in-a-lifetime internship a reality.
I think the only thing left I have to do is decide the maximum amount I am willing to take out in loans per year and already have in my mind that I will not go unless the aid they offer covers this. Otherwise when April rolls around, I’ll already be hit with spring fever and do something irrational like go to school in California and put my future kids through what I had to live through growing up, which was not fun. I don’t want them to think of me as the George W Bush of their lives…</p>
<p>To the original poster;</p>
<p>I am in the same boat as you. I live in North Carolina, and have always wanted to move to california. I live in a small rural town in the south, and I don’t fit in at all! However, I was thinking of either Uni of Southern Cal or pepperdine. Pepperdine seems more appealing all the time because it won’t be as big as an adjustment as Uni of Southern Cal would have been due to it’s “isolation”.</p>
<p>At the end of this month i’m going to be taking a tour of Pepperdine, very excited!</p>
<p>Be sure to write a post about your visit and what you thought of it! I don’t want to visit until after April 1 because I don’t want to let myself fall in love with the school and then not be able to go because I was rejected/didn’t receive enough financial aid. I really hope we both get in. I wish they would send their decisions sooner, the wait is making me go crazy. What other schools did you apply to?</p>
<p>revolcgirl,</p>
<p>you remind me of myself. i hated midwest winter and thought california had everything i wanted. so after college, i went to grad school in CA. now i am looking to get out of here. weather is overrated, when you consider all the other negatives here. that said, a lot of people here would never want to relocate simply because of the weather.</p>
<p>revolcgirl, Indiana is an excellent university. If you can attend it for free, as opposed to paying over $100,000 for an education in California, I recommend you go with IU. There isn’t a door IU cannot open that USC or UCLA can. A manageable debt (under $30,000) after graduation is one thing, but spending an extra $100,000-$150,000 to attend a school that is marginally better isn’t worth it. That’s not a knock on USC and UCLA, but rather, due acknowledgement of just how good IU is.</p>
<p>Hey everyone!
Just to clarify, I am definitely aware of the benefits that IU has to offer, and the $10,000/year they are offering me is definitely not something I am overlooking or taking for granted. I was never planning on going into mass debt just for college in Cali, and am figuring out a manageable and realistic amount that I would be able to take out in loans each year, and if the schools’ financial aid offers don’t meet that then I would not go. I’m not interested in UCLA anymore, and I know USC is very good with financial aid so I am just waiting to see the outcome of that. However, unless their fin aid package was amazing (and I am not expecting this), I would not pick USC over IU. That said, my first choice is Pepperdine, and that is for reasons beyond location/weather, though those factors do play a part.</p>
<p>Sam-- I appreciate your perspective because you are obviously giving me this advice with the wisdom and experience of your hindsight as my foresight. However, I’m pretty sure I would fall into the category of the people who would never want to relocate because of the weather. It’s not so much a matter of the weather as it is how the weather controls and affects a lifestyle. Everything that I enjoy doing involves the outdoors, and during winter I basically hate life. But in your opinion, what are all the other negatives?</p>
<p>I will be sure to share a post here about my visit; as well as some pictures if I can get some. We are flying out there March 24th I think.</p>
<p>I’m a junior - so I will be applying to Pepperdine and USC this fall; hopefully getting accepted to both then making a decision. But again, for some reason I could see myself going to DINE more then USC.</p>
<p>I can definitely see myself going to Pep over USC too. Are those the only schools you’re going to apply to? I would still apply to at least one safety early on in the year (especially if it has rolling admissions). IU was mine, and since I’ve known since October that I was accepted and have a nice scholarship in my pocket, it’s really nice to know that I have that security to fall back on. Otherwise this wait till April 1 (Pep admission decisions sent) would seriously be making me go crazy. But I can’t wait to read about your visit, and best of luck to you in your senior year, make sure you relax and have fun.</p>
<p>This is so funny - my D is possibly going to Indiana - accepted in October - and can’t wait to get out of Southern Cal for a while! If I were you revolcgirl, I’d go for graduate school in So Cal if you really want to live here - then you can find a job here. That’s what my D is planning to do no matter where she goes undergrad.</p>
<p>I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. Is IU high on your D’s list? It’s really great in Bloomington, I bet she would absolutely love it. I found out a couple days ago that I was accepted to UCLA, but it was actually more of a bummer than it was exciting because I know I won’t be able to go without some sort of miracle financial aid package. As of right now, it’s IU for me, and I’ve actually (finally) realized how much I would love to go here, despite how badly I want to get out of this town.
But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I landed a dream internship and will be living in Hawaii for three months this summer!
Where else is your D looking? It would be cool if she came to Indiana!</p>
<p>Stay in Indiana for a bachelor’s degree. You’ll have the rest of your life to study or live in California.</p>
<p>revolcgirl - I am in a very similar situation. I have gone to overseas military schools all my life - the last ten years in England - and I have no claim to residency in any state. My dad’s relatives live in California and that’s where I want to go. I, too, am tired of cold and wet weather. My SAT was 2170, ugpa 3.92, wgpa 4.06. I applied to U. of San Francisco (my brother is a freshman there and seems to like it) and they have offered me a scholarship worth nearly $20K/yr. Also been accepted to Santa Clara, but no word on fin. aid yet. Still waiting to hear from Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and U. of San Diego. Why not go to IU for a year and see how you like it. If you don’t, apply to some of the schools I mentioned. However, I’m not sure if fin. aid is available to transfer students - maybe somebody out there knows. Good luck!</p>