johnd9090 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I'm going kind of crazy lately thinking about college, etc. As of right now, i have acquired 2 scholarships from Akron that have come to a total of $8,000, which is about 1/3 of the price of tuition, room/board, etc for me, since i am an out of state student. I am most likely not going to get any grants because my family doesn't make that much, but i made quite a bit this past year myself working, and they count that for some reason. =[ I don't really know what to do, loans are going to be my only option, but it scares me to be in debt.Anyone have any advice, or suggestions, or just comments? =/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyrifle32 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I'm going kind of crazy lately thinking about college, etc. As of right now, i have acquired 2 scholarships from Akron that have come to a total of $8,000, which is about 1/3 of the price of tuition, room/board, etc for me, since i am an out of state student. I am most likely not going to get any grants because my family doesn't make that much, but i made quite a bit this past year myself working, and they count that for some reason. =[ I don't really know what to do, loans are going to be my only option, but it scares me to be in debt.Anyone have any advice, or suggestions, or just comments? =/loans are just something you're going to have to suck up. i feel for you, i've been here 5 years, living off campus in my own place for the last 3 and am still considered by the school out of state. check other websites like fastweb.com for scholarships. some of them may only be $100, but it all adds up eventually. student loans are really the only debt i have ($22,000 and counting!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd9090 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Do you think that student loans are really worth it, in the long run? I'm majoring in computer science so, hopefully i'll be making bank when the time comes to pay them back.=/ But yeah i have looked into scholarships and such, and am still working on some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdt1420 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Depending on your life situation (do you have a gf who wants to get married soon, are you supporting a family, etc)... my suggestion is to spread college out. First off, it's a blast, and who wants to leave that. Second, my friend and I worked part time and did school part time to stretch our last two years into 3 year round. If you take everything out in student loans, you end up paying as much in interest over the life of the loan as the loan itself. $40k in loans is really $80k in payments. I'm not trying to scare or worry you, but just saying that anything you can do now to decrease your loans will help in the long run.With you being in computer science, I think you can get a decent paying co-op/internship. I was making $15/hour at my first engineering co-op and then I took on another one as a "part-time engineer" where they were paying me $23/hour. I worked 30 hours a week for them and took classes in the late afternoon/evening. Doing that, I was able to pay half my school costs every semester out of pocket.If you're really worried about it, that's what I'd recommend. Hopefully you'll graduate in a few years when this downturn has passed with less student loans and more work experience. With a lighter course load, you'll hopefully have better grades, and you'll be much more marketable with all that experience (easier time finding a job, higher starting salary, more professional contacts)At least, that's IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zip37 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Ever consider the military option? The GI bill is terrific, you could go to a Tech School inone of the servicsa if you are smart enough. I did it, set me up with skills that I usedfor 381/2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g-mann17 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 John the other option is to find a job (I know tough in this economy) that offers tuition reimbursement, and ride that as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Why go out of state and pay 3x as much? Not that UA wouldn't love to have you but I'd say do yourself a favor and go to the best public college in your home state. Also, I agree with not being in a big hurry. If you could get an associate degree and land a job, many or most companies offer tuition reimbursement as a benefit. And you could see how you like the work before deciding to complete the bachelors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksu sucks Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I have yet to meet a young college graduate/college student who didn't come out with some sort of debt. I'd listen to a lot of the posters above, like pdt. They bring up a lot of good points about saving money. You're most likely going to be in debt no matter where you go, or what you do, it's really just a matter of how much debt you want that to be.I just said screw it, used loans, and I'll be graduating with my BS in ChemE in the spring of '13 (extra year for co cops). Whatever you decide to do, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I did it, set me up with skills that I used for 381/2 years.381/2=190.5Come clean...are you John R. Buchtel!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 School's expensive, that's just a fact of life.I got lucky and had an athletic scholarship that paid for a good portion of my school (non-DI so it wasnt a full ride.) I grad in May and will have less than 15k in school loans. Which isn't too bad.But like another person said, why go out of state to Akron? Id stay in state or even go local to avoid room and board and get some friends together and get an apartment or something. Room and board is the biggest rip off in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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