Should I go to a Community college or Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Paying for College
1

<p>I am a African American from Chicago, IL and there are many community colleges near where I stay. I have a chance to go to Olive Harvey the #1 best community college my cousins graduated from. Like most seniors I have a 3.50 GPA, I have all A’s in my classes and I rank 7 out of 205 students at my school. My top choice was to go to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for 4 years. But then I have experienced a lot of set backs and disappointments. </p>

<p>For starters, I was not selected as a Gates scholar. If I was I could have gotten a full ride to any College or University. So unfortunately I have been thinking about other alternatives to keep me educated and keep my head in the game. So my parents are not fortunate enough to put me in a University but I did how ever receive 15,000 in my award letter to Western. But I will still have to take out loans because the tuition for Western cost 20,000 for a whole year. However, I have heard many bad rumors about taking loans out. </p>

<p>My second choice is to go to Olive Harvey community college for 2 years to obtain my Associates degree. While I attend Olive Harvey I will do many many scholarships then transfer to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. What do you guys think??</p>

2

<p>What is the complete aid package from Western? Can you give us the breakdown of the cost of attendance, grants/scholarships and loans? It might be workable.</p>

<p>Did you take the ACT or the SAT? If so, what are your scores? With a GPA of 3.5 and a good ACT or SAT score there are some places that might offer you an automatic full tuition or even a full ride scholarship. Many of them are mentioned in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Why do you want to study at SIU-Edwardsville? There may be other options that would be affordable if you are willing to take a gap year, and apply for fall 2014. The best scholarships require that you apply as a freshman. If you take any community college classes after graduating from high school, you will lose that status.</p>

<p>My only concern about two years at Olive Harvey before transferring, is that you might still have difficulty paying for the last two years at SIU-Edwardsville.</p>