Why I’m Going to a School I Kinda Sorta Pretty Much Hate Sometimes
September 6, 2009 by Tellie
Filed under My Inner Kindlings
After my last post, a lot of people have asked the same question: why not transfer? I have thought about transferring plenty of times but never seriously. You see, few students can afford to pay for college without some form of education financing. The average 4-year undergraduate student graduates with $27,803 worth of debt as of 2007-2008 (source). When I was applying to schools , money played a huge factor in my decision making. And since My parents didn’t make enough money for me to qualify for any financial aid, scholarships were all that I could depend on.
My dream school cost about $45,000 a year. And by “dream” I mean it is one of the top 10 schools in the nation. I still hate the fact that I’m not attending this one. But it was still pricey. (To be honest I don’t even know how I got accepted) After talking to them and providing them details about my unique situation the school was willing to give me a $27,000 scholarship. Sounds good, but that still leaves $18,000 dollars a year. Times that by 4 or 5 years you’ve got $72,000-90,000 dollars plus interest.
The next school I was hoping would help me out would be my state’s main school. I had really stellar grades in high school so you’d think I’d get a really good scholarship right? Nope. Not if they lose all your paperwork and have run out of scholarship money before they find it. So this school would cost me about $18,000 as well.
The other schools were pretty much the same. The prices ranged from $13,000 to $30,000 a year.
But then there was this school. It is also a state public school, but definitely not as good as the main one. And this school was willing to pay for everything. Everything. Laptop. Printer. Ink. Books. School supplies. Eh-ver-ee-thing. And on top of that, I would have a guaranteed job upon graduation. At the time the economy wasn’t as shitty as it is now, so I really didn’t know how great having a job after graduation would be. But really a school that is Free-99 definitely will save me some stress in the future.
If I really wanted to I could go to my better state school and take classes up there since the schools are “linked” and it wouldn’t be considered a transfer. If I transfer I will lose my scholarship and probably some of the 3 years worth of credit I have already earned. So, I’ve decided to graduate a year early, and apply for graduate school. Now I’m just hoping and praying that I get into the program that I want. A program that is totally different from my current major.
Wish me luck. I know I’ll need it.
