<p>This is really hard for me because I want a good balance. I applied for aeronautical science at ERAU and aeronautical engineering at CSU Long Beach, SDSU, and UMD (awaiting decision). I want a good balance of good education without sacrificing a social life. By this I mean, that I don’t wanna be out there in the middle of nowhere. Because I know people everywhere but Florida. And apparently ERAU is the best. I’m doing ROTC no matter where I go, so I don’t think it’ll make a difference. What I want is value, a good education, and a social life. ERAU has good education but I know no one and its graduates have the highest debt after college. And honestly, I’d rather not be bogged down paying off college loans when I’m trying to raise a family. Long Beach I hear is the best value, allows me to have a social life because I know people there, but I don’t know how their engineering program is. SDSU I think is pretty much the same but maybe just a little more expensive than CSULB. Wanna help me out?</p>
<p>Have you estimated your total out-of-pocket costs for each school?
What is the difference between ERAU and the other 2? </p>
<p>Focus on the trade-offs between cost and quality. Ignore the issue of whether you know anybody at each school. Within a few hours of arriving at any new campus, you’ll know people. If you have friends where you are now, you can make friends wherever you go. Other kids will be in the same situation so be a friend to them.</p>
<p>I don’t know the aerospace field but ERAU sounds awfully good.</p>
<p>So far it’s looking like ERAU is $52k per year with their $3k per year that they’ll help pay off. And the 2 CSU schools are worth $34k, give or take a thousand. I haven’t looked at how much I’ll get through financial aid yet. But even right now, that’s a difference of $18k per year.</p>