<p>Is it $5,000 extra-- total, or $5,000 extra per year? I’m confused. If it’s $5,000 total, that doesn’t seem to be a big problem. Sounds like, though, that your first choice was an Ivy, which you didn’t get into. Maybe you should just take a gap year, work, and reapply. Or really save yourself some money, go to a CC for a year, and then apply for transfer.</p>
<p>It’s $5000 extra per year. ($32,000 - $12,000 [My parents] - $15,000 [Pre-Prime loan] = $5,000) I guess I could even work this summer and during my freshman year at UNC, if I went there, to get that $5,000, but I’d just be worried that if working took too much of my time, or if I couldn’t get a job I liked, I’d be screwed since I’d need the money immediately for tuition. </p>
<p>What I’m thinking of doing is going to Binghamton or Delaware for a year, working during the year and/or over the summer as necessary to get that $5,000, and then transferring to UNC (assuming I got in again) as a sophomore. Then I’d just stay at UNC for the rest of my time at college. (I know someone who got into Cornell as a guaranteed transfer, so he’s going to Syracuse for a year and then going to Cornell… I’d basically just be doing the same thing for UNC.)</p>
<p>Oh, okay. I understand. So your parents might have been willing to co-sign a bigger loan if you’d gotten into Harvard, you think? Maybe you were kidding. I do think that isn’t much debt, relatively speaking. I expect you could get a job to help pay for it. I always think it’s bad to go into a school, and from the get-go, considering a transfer. I don’t know. You might even be able to get a job this summer where you could save $5,000–and every summer, thereafter, and not have to work during the year. Just an idea. </p>
<p>Good luck whatever you decide.</p>
<p>Okay, I just sent in my deposit to… </p>
<p>(suspense)</p>
<p>Binghamton. </p>
<p>In terms of working, I’m not sure if I’d be able to earn $5000 after tax over the summer, especially because this one would be especially short – my schools gets out at the end of June and classes start at UNC the last week of August. Since I’d have to spend some time going down to North Carolina to set my dorm and everything, I really don’t think I’d be able to earn $5000. So I’d have to work during the school year, which would probably work out alright, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with the possibility of running out of money and not being able to pay tuition, if I couldn’t find a job or something. Maybe that’s unlikely, but still.</p>
<p>So I think I will go to either Bing or Delaware for a year, and work to earn the $5000, and if that works out, I’ll transfer to UNC for sophomore year. Or, since at that point I’ll have about a year of credit history, I might also try to find some place to give me a (probably high interest) student loan, which I’d refinance once I graduated. </p>
<p>And yeah, I don’t particularly like the idea of going into a college expecting to transfer, either. My friend got into Cornell as a Guaranteed Transfer for sophomore year, so he’s going to Syracuse for a year and then transferring afterwards. When I heard he was doing that, I thought that’d be pretty rough, even if it was the best thing for him. However, just like for him, for me this seems to be the best option too. It’s also possible that I might decide that I want to do something other than finance, where the school would have less impact on your ability for success (like law school, where from what I hear on the law forum on CC, 90% of admission is based on your GPA and LSAT), and just stay for four years. So while I’m not particularly happy about this decision, it seems to me like the best course of action.</p>
<p>esquivalience: Well, all the best to you at Binghamton. I’m sure you’ll do well and make the most of your time there-- and you never know-- you might end up loving it!</p>
<p>Thanks, jack</p>