I'm lost. I don't know which school to go to?

Question

I'm a senior in St. Louis, MO and I've been considering Physical Therapy as a career.
I applied to Saint Louis University and Maryville University in St. Louis. I got accepted to both.

However, Saint Louis University has been my 1st choice but if I go there I only get $1000 scholarship every year which means I'll end up having to pay about $27,000 per year. I just got a letter from Maryville and they're giving me a scholarship of $5,500 per year. Meaning each year I'll only have to pay $13,000.

I don't want to base my decision on the tuition. But, I come from a really, really poor family!
What would you do?

Answer 1

Unless you have to officially select a school tomorrow, I recommend waiting to see how much money you will receive after completing the FAFSA form. The FAFSA form will qualify you for need based financial aid from need based scholarships, the Pell Grant (if your EFC score is low enough), work study program, and student loans. The form needs to be completed before the school's financial aid deadline to get the best financial aid package, and the form becomes available on January 1. If all things are equal, I recommend going to the school which offers you the least amount in student loans. I will include some other free resources to locate money for college.

First, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships. These are typically the easiest to get compared to national competition ones.

Second, the local public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search engines. You enter a profile, and it will provide you with a list of scholarships that you qualify for based on the profile. There is a scholarship for almost anything including wearing duct tape to the prom.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Hmmmm....a $108,000 bill or $52,000 bill for a 4 year degree.
I suggest you fill out the fafsa and find out if you qualify for grants and how much. (Put both schools, plus a few others, on your fafsa).

If you are getting grants, subtract that from the total amount owed. just be aware a student debt that high would earn you payments of 1,008 or 520 dollars a month respectively.
Personally, I'd find a school you don't have to take out any student loans... just for your first two years... then you can transfer in to your "dream school".
Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi, I was in the same situation as you're in now. I choose the school that gave me more scholarship $and have NEVER regretted it. So many friends have come out of college with tons of student loans, I don't have any. It's a hugh relif. NB: The private student loans that are advertised on TV can NEVER be wiped from your credit history even if you claim bankruptcy. Stay away from them and good luck.

Answer 4

This is very hard, and in life alot of decisions are going to based around money. I am 23 years old, a recent college grad. and I owe 50,000. To me, education is always an investment, but how far do you want to take it? I could have went to a better school, and would have owed 100,000+ easily.

My advice is go to the cheaper school, if you hate in transfer, nothing is permanent. You will make friends, you will be happy, and to me they sound like equally good schools, its not like you are choosing between saint louis and harvard!