I have been admitted to UCD as a Global Disease Biology major. My decision is now between that and going to community college and then transferring. What do you guys think? I will get some financial help from family but no financial aid, other than getting a job. What do y’all think?
So UCD is not affordable? How much can your family pay?
Can you afford it? Why did you only apply to one school?
I can afford it but I will be in debt. I didn’t apply to one school, I only got into UCD and UCSC and narrowed down my options.
So how much will UCD cost you?
It will be about twice of the transfer route. Around $35,000/year I believe.
How much $$$ can your family contribute? You can take out $27K/4 years in student loans so $5500 Freshman year, $6500 Sophomore year and $7500 Junior and Senior year. How much of a gap you will have after your parents contribute?
Well I will be getting $20,000 from my grandparents, for sure, maybe more. My parents will be able to contribute probably around $5,000 per year. And, by the time I go away, if I do, I will have $10,000 saved up from working.
$20K total from Grandparents for the 4 years?
I believe so, my parents have reason to believe they may give me some each year as well as the $20,000 upfront but I can’t be sure of that.
My son is a 3rd year at UCD and we are full pay. The first and second year costs were around $31K which included tuition/books/dorms/meal plan and transportation. For this year, he moved off campus and apartment/food costs are much lower so his costs this year were around $2000 cheaper. If your parents can only contribute $5k/year with $5K/year from Grandparents ($20K total), $5500K for student and another 3-5K for your job earnings, you will still be short around $10K/year. It would be hard to earn another $10K during the school year without sacrificing your school work. Unless your parents are willing to fund another $10-15K in loans each year, it looks like a CCC might be the affordable option and then TAG to UCD or one of the other 5 UC’s that offer TAG.
$20,000 total ($5,000 per year) or $20,000 per year from grandparents?
If it is $20,000 total from grandparents, then your total budget will be $50,000, plus $27,000 in federal direct loans, plus whatever you can contribute from working part time during school (usually $3,000 to $5,000 per year assumed by colleges, so about $12,000 to $20,000). So total of around $89,000 to $97,000.
That seems to be able to cover about 3 to 3+2/3 years (9 to 11 quarters) at UCD, based on your living situation, according to https://www.ucdavis.edu/admissions/cost/ . You may be able to stretch the budget to cover a full 4 years (12 quarters) if you are very careful with your money and/or earn more than the usual expected amount from work. But it would be a tight fit.
Starting at a community college would be less expensive for the first two years, of course. However, http://www.assist.org indicates that the Math 17A-17B-17C series is not commonly available at community colleges. If you choose the community college route, you may want to ask the UCD department for the major what calculus courses you should take while at community college to minimize the chance that your graduation will be delayed by needing to take the “catch up” math courses after transfer.