[Perfectly_Imperfect]

As a senior in high school I have applied to colleges. So far I have been accepted at: St. Michael's College, St. Anselm College, Providence College, Northeastern University, and Boston University. I am very inerested in attending either Northeastern or BU. This seems somewhat impossible seeing as I am from a middle class family. Northeastern cost around $50,000 a year and they only gave me $26,000, of which $7500 is in the form of loans. BU costs around $52,000 a year and I only received $25,500, of which $8,500 is in the form of loans. I just don't understand what they expect me to do. Am I supposed to take the rest out in loans? If I do, that means that I'll be in debt approximately $126,000 (Northeastern) or $140,000 (BU). Isn't that alot to be in debt upon graduation? Does anyone have any ideas?

[deliquesce]

i'm sorry sweetie, i live in australia and dont really understand the workings of your system - other than to know it's very difficult to get by!

just wanted to say congrats for getting accepted into all those unis. i hope you are able to figure this out somehow.

just an idea - but not sure if it's possible - do they let you do uni part time? that way you could get a part time job too, and you could fund yourself through uni.

[serafim_etal]

Apply for every single scholarship you might remotely be eligible for.

[Taonuviel]

I don't remember how this stuff went as a freshman... seems like I had to take out extra loans that I sought out. But now I just accept the ones offered Federally... the difference might be that I'm not living on campus now.
Try to stay in state, and in a public U. Apply for work-study. Oh, here's a really good saver - get your gen eds at a community college! Yeah, it's not as appealing to you now, but it's SO worth it. Commute from home if possible. And my Uni's paper had an article last week - apparently a lot of college students qualify for food stamps, look into it. Though you may be required to purchase a meal plan if living on campus your freshman year. If getting a meal plan, get the minimum. Otherwise you probably won't use it all. Look into cheaper, off-campus housing options - again, it may not be allowed your freshman year; many colleges require you to live on campus or at home your 1st year.

Stay up to date on campus events, many offer free stuff like food, or other things. Shop used and discount. Use public transportation instead of your own car if available.

[equive]

I just wanted to add to what someone above said, and note that I did my first two years at a community college and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I got half of my classes out of the way, and cut the cost of school in half, and you can just tell people where you got a Bachelor's degree from; you don't have to mention you did part of it at a community college. I also got to skip the whole "Freshman have to live in the dorms" thing, and got to go straight to my own apartment.

However - I did notice that I missed out on some stuff because of not starting here. For example, I'm in a psych research lab now, my senior year, but I would have had the opportunity to start doing it my freshman year, or doing more than one, or doing the same one for longer for a stronger letter of recommendation, had I started earlier. Universities offer some cool classes that community colleges just don't offer. A lot of people make a lot of friends their freshman year, because everyone is in the same boat of not knowing anyone, but it was harder when I came here as a junior.

Still, it was definitely the right decision for me. And definitely worth suggesting to other people, even though it might not be the right decision for you.

And congratulations on getting into all those universities! That is a big accomplishment and you should feel really proud.

I agree with serafim of looking for more scholarships, and I also strongly agree with the community college idea because it does significantly decrease the cost of college and from a community college you can basically transfer to whatever college you want.

[whiteNight]

I am in Arizona so the colleges here are not as expensive as the ones in the east coast are.

I am going to Arizona State University at the west campus and my tuition is around 6300 or so a year right now

and i agree with get all the free cash you can get your hands on to and community college is always a great place to start out