Stressing out about which college to go to

Paying for College
1

SUNY Binghamton vs. University of Vermont (UVM)

I’ve been accepted to Binghamton and UVM and I can’t seem to decide which college to go to, so I’ll present my case for each one. Keep in mind for both of the following that I am:

  • Chinese-American, First generation, from NYC
  • EFC of 00000000000000000000, my parents can not afford to pay anything involving college
  • Going into Pre-Med for both

Binghamton:
Pros:

  • Closer than UVM
  • Comfort Zone (about 16% Asians)
  • Lower tuition
  • Originally my first choice
  • Best SUNY for me in my opinion

Cons:

  • Haven’t been there yet
  • Not sure how I feel about the town
  • Not a party guy
  • Have been recommended NOT to go here
  • Unsure how much aid I will receive
  • Ugly campus

UVM:
Pros:

  • I stayed in Burlington with a couple of friends and it was pretty much what started this mess
  • Loved the way the campus looks
  • Popular among past high school alumni
  • Mall was kinda cheap
  • Might be most affordable (Past alumni with similar financial status pay less than 2,000 a year)
  • Loved the small-town feel, especially when with friends
  • Public Ivy!!
  • Plenty to do in the town

Cons:

  • 11 hours away by bus
  • Cold
  • Kinda empty
  • lack of diversity (82% Caucasian)

I don’t know which college to choose. I don’t want to regret choosing the wrong college and having to transfer.
Especially with my financial status, I want to avoid going to the wrong school as much as possible.
Perhaps I am bit biased towards UVM in this list because I visited but if there is something that I got wrong
on the Binghamton list, feel free to correct me. I have not been there and have only heard things from friends.

2

From the sounds of it, you probably need to go with your lowest cost option.
Have you gotten any financial aid from either?

3

Nope, neither ;(

4

I know people who have been very happy at both schools. Wait until the aid comes in and see where you stand. If both schools are equally affordable, I would certainly visit SUNY BInghamton before making a decision.

5

Binghamton appears to be the most selective public university in a wide geographical area that includes New England and Pennsylvania:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

In the case of UVM, their low admission yield (13%) seems to indicate that few students truly have the school high on their lists.

The above statistics dispatched, I’d recommend that, after a visit to Binghamton, you choose the school you like and can afford.

6

Which one has the lower total COA, not just tuition? Can you actually afford that if your parents aren’t paying? You are limited to a loan of $5500 as a freshman plus you’ll get a Pell Grant and maybe some SEOG $. Would you qualify for TAP? I don’t think you can use those $ at UVM.

7

From your other threads it looks like you’re a NYC resident with a 1900 SAT, 29 ACT, a ~96 GPA, and are in the top 10% of your class. If your parents have a $0 FAFSA EFC you’ll get a ~$5k Pell grant and a ~$5k NYS TAP (tuition) grant (that can only be used at NYS colleges). You can take the federal student loan (~$5500/year). That’s ~$15k/year. That’s not enough to pay for a SUNY, but @sybbie719 can tell you if that will cover the cost of a CUNY.

Can you work over the summer? You may be able to raise ~$3k that way. Are you majoring in a STEM field? Students who are in the top 10% of their class and majoring in STEM qualify for a STEM tuition grant. It would replace the TAP, but if it covers full tuition (SUNY tuition is currently ~$8k/year) it’s worth investigating.

Did you apply to any CUNY schools? You need a good financial safety in case you don’t get aid from your other schools. Where else did you apply?

8

If you had said that your EFC were $0 then I’d think that your fafsa would have responded with that amount. Since you said that your EFC is $000000000000 I kind of think that you made that up. Did you get an actual figure for the real EFC given by Fafsa, or are you saying that your parents can’t afford to pay anything for college. There is a real difference here. There are parents that can’t afford to pay for college but actually have an EFC of $56521.

9

@reformedman, OP’s other threads indicate that his parents’ income makes him eligible for the full Pell grant and the full NYS tuition grant.

10

The COA at UVM as an OOS is $55,442

http://www.uvm.edu/~stdfinsv/?Page=tuition-fees.html&SM=tuitionsubmenu.html

Where is the money coming from? The only thing that you are guaranteed is $5915 in Pell and a $5500 loan. Thisis not an affordable option for you.

The cost of attendance at Bing is $23,619

https://www.binghamton.edu/admissions/cost.html

Your financial aid package will most likely include the following

TAP (NYS Aid) $5165
PELL $5920
SUNY Tax Credit $1435
Loans $5500

total $18,020 GAP = 5599

Did you get SEOG, or Work Study

Were you admitted through General Admissions or EOP?

In addition apply for the NYS AIMS scholarship through HESC (first come first served). It will be $500/year but it can be book money. Application will open in the spring

https://www.binghamton.edu/admissions/cost.html

When you say that you are in the top 10%, do you know your ranking? Do you know if you will be eligible for an academic excellence scholarship from HESC?

No matter where you attend, you need a summer job (you probably need a job starting now, to help defray some of the cost). If you are in NYC, don’t worry, Bing will probably have an admitted students trip during the week of spring break where they will send buses to NYC to bring kids up.

At the end of the day, you will be attending where your money will take you. Worse case scenario, you have tossed in a CUNY application which will be a financial safety.

11

I’m surprised that OP knows alumni in similar financial circumstances who paid less than $2000 a year to go to UVM. (Are they also out of state?) I just ran the UVM NPC based on the info in this thread and it gives a cost of $30,000 a year, after federal money of about $7K and UVM money of about $14K.

If OP can get the cost of UVM down to at most $10K with scholarships and grants, it could be doable with loans and summer work. But at $30K or even $20K, UVM is not an option.

12
  1. Visit Binghamton
  2. Get the financial aid offers from each school
  3. Make a decision

It doesn’t matter in what order 1. and 2. happen, but they must take place before 3.

Who says this, besides the PR people at UVM??

13

I don’t see how you can possibly make a decision until you get the financial aid offers. Notwithstanding that you know alumni who paid $2K at UVM, I suspect that Bing is going to be cheaper. IMO Bing is a better school, too. But everyone has an opinion. I’ve never heard UVM referred to as a Public Ivy, FWIW.

14

A little Wikipedia history on Public Ivies: the term apparently started in a 1985 book that listed UVM as one of 10 Public Ivies. (Not necessarily Ivy-equivalent in prestige, but in education quality and feel.)

A 2001 book by other authors suggested 30 Public Ivies and didn’t include UVM as one of them. Today UVM is somewhere in the 30s as far as USNWR ranking of public universities (as is Binghamton).

So people don’t think of UVM as a Public Ivy that much anymore, but they do have that 1985 book to point to, as I’m sure their PR department is aware.

15

Ok,

Lets say for kicks and giggles that op get UVM highest scholarship for OOS, which is 18k
Now add his $5920 Pell and his $5500 loan. You are now at $29,400. Tuition is 38160 leaving an $8640 gap in tuition alone. He has no place to sleep and how is he going to eat?

His parents have no $$ to help him. Unless he hits the lotto (it could happen), where is the $$ coming from. We haven’t even gotten into the other incidentals such as health insurance, getting back and forth to Vermont, books, laundry, etc.

16

The question is likely moot. Low income, family can’t pay anything…UVM will not be affordable. An ACT 29 isn’t going to get the top merit awards and the remaining costs after aid will be too much.

Bing is fine, especially for a premed. You don’t want to have ANY debt as an undergrad premed.

Did you run the NPC on both schools’ websites? Do so…and there will be your answer.

17

UVM is not a public ivy.

Did you apply to any other SUNYs? Go to the one that gives the most aid/merit. Doesn’t matter which one for med school. Med schools won’t give a rat’s patootie which one you attend.

Lol…stop “stressing out”…the choice will likely be clear when FA pkgs come, but in the meantime run the NPCs on each school’s website and you’ll likely know the answer today.

18

Op’s test scores is below the threshold for Bing

https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/summary-sheets/honors_programs.pdf

I think OP should toss an application at Geneseo & Brockport (do it on the common app). Perhaps he can get one of their scholarships, which is stackable to the financial aid

https://www.geneseo.edu/scholarships/freshman-scholarships

also consider Brockport (their biggest scholarship is $4500/year

https://www.brockport.edu/admissions_aid/scholarships/extraordinary/scholarship_us.html

19

@srirachaisgood

My free advice. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. At this point, you don’t have financial aid awards from the schools. Until you do, you will not know which one is affordable…and which aren’t.

To be honest, I can’t imagine UVM will be more affordable than a SUNY school considering your TAP and Pell eligibility.

And I sure hope you applied to other NY public universities. They will most likely be your best option.

20

Are you SEEK/EOP/HEOP eligible?

Did you apply to any of your schools through SEEK/EOP/HEOP?

If you get an EOP/HEOP admissions, take it and keep it moving (don’t worry about the school, take the program).

Then graduate from the EOP/HEOP program and take advantage to go to med school through GOP (graduate opportunity program)

http://system.suny.edu/oop/graduate-opportunity-program/