<p>TL;DR – I need to find a school soon. I’m sorry that post is so lengthy, but I thought it was necessary to elaborate on my personal situation to provide a foundation for your thoughts/opinions/advice. Don’t hesitate to ask me for additional information!</p>
<p>To start off, I’m a TASPer. I hope that this title alone is a testament to my nature as an individual and as a student. I don’t find it necessary to post my academic credentials or personal accomplishments on here, for the sake of time and relevance. I never thought that I would be in this position. Over the past six years, I’ve devoted myself to my education, as well as philosophy, science, engineering, and invention. I’ve been through so much—we all have. Most posters on CC have one commonality: a competitive spirit and dedication take themselves further than the majority of the world’s population is capable. We are fortunate to have so many opportunities.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I’ve backed myself into a corner which socioeconomics has predetermined for me well before my birth. I live in Florida, and I’m a Caucasian male. I cannot attend any out-of-state institutions because I am poor. My parents are separated, and my mother is disabled. In FAFSA terms, my EFC is 0. </p>
<p>Among the schools that I wanted to attend out-of-state were Georgia Tech, UIUC, and UMich (for electrical engineering/nanobiotechnology). Each financial aid letter was a joke, and the advisers at each school were equally infuriating. This makes sense, because they are the schools’ first tier of loss prevention. Education is a business in the 21st century, which is a fact that my idealist mind refused to acknowledge.</p>
<p>So, low and behold, I must attend school in-state because we have admirable aid (Florida Student Assistance Grant/Bright Futures), thanks to the momentary greed of individuals who decide to purchase lottery tickets while standing in line at the gas station. I didn’t bother to apply to the University of Florida before the Nov. 1st deadline because of my lofty, out-of-state ambitions (which crashed and burned). Since then, I’ve had to consider two options: UCF (Burnett Honors) or NCF (New College of Florida).</p>
<p>Now, I like New College—a lot. Its academic philosophy reminds me of TASP, which is excellent, because I am an advocate of the idea of learning for learning’s sake. I like the narrative evaluation in lieu of grades and GPA. Its student body and graduate school statistics impress me, and I feel that it possesses an environment in which I could focus and flourish. The only problem is that they don’t have an engineering curriculum; however, they have just recently acquired nanotechnology resources and have a physics program which contains many of the same classes that engineers take. In addition, many natural science undergrads at NCF have continued their studies elsewhere in engineering. I want to go to grad school.</p>
<p>UCF is a different story. I got into the school two days after applying. This is intrinsically problematic. It’s the typical state party school which everyone (and their brother) attends. I feel that attending this school, regardless of my potential academic success, would consign me to failure when I inevitably desire to transfer, apply to graduate school, or find a job. Now, this may be an extremely bigoted and pessimistic judgment of the individuals who go there as well as my own situation, but please do not criticize me for it, because most of my peers are attending HYPSM.</p>
<p>What’s your opinion? Are there, perhaps, any other schools which I should be aware of? Any help in this crunch time is greatly appreciated.</p>