Advice for Undergrad

[sharksandrec]

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Hi, I am a senior out of high school and for the last few days I've been super frustrated and completely lost about what to do.

Here's my situation:

I applied and got into my "dream" school (out-of-state public school) and I decided to go there. I knew that it was going to be expensive but I was so enamored with the idea of it that I decided to go ahead with it anyway (this was my first mistake). I filled out the FAFSA and I qualified for enough aid for me to go there. However, a big chunk of that aid (upwards of 30k) was the Parent loan and my parents and I recently decided to reject it because it would have been a huge financial burden for them (because of recent financial hardships). So now, I am struggling to find a way to cover that 30k+ difference in order to pay for my first year of undergrad.

I am just really lost about how to go about this and how the implications of my choices affects my aspiration to go to medical school. I have a couple of options - none of which seem appealing to me:

1. Apply for a private loan that is only in my name (with a cosigner maybe) that allows deferment until after I graduate. This would have to cover the 30k+ that I currently lack.
2. Withdraw from my university and enroll in my local community college for the first 2 years of undergrad and transfer to my state university.
3. Withdraw from my university and take a year off from schooling and then applying to my state university next cycle.

I am tempted to go with option 1 because I've come all this way and I don't want for it to be nothing but I've heard pretty bad things about private student loans so I'm not too sure. I realize that this could have all been avoided had it not been for my naivety but that's where I am now and I need advice on how to proceed. I don't really blame my parents at all because they are, for the most part, oblivious to how college-related things work.

Any advice/response is appreciated. Please help.

(If this isn't the right part of the forum, please move it to the correct place. Thank you!)

 

[efle]

a big chunk of that aid (upwards of 30k) was the Parent loan and my parents and I recently decided to reject it because it would have been a huge financial burden for them

So when you say 30k+ "aid" you mean 30k+ parental contribution?

The big question is: Say you pay for this year. Does anything change for the next three after? Is this a question of 30k or 120k?

I know a lot of people do the CC -> UC route in California. If it will save you a lot over your state uni, you don't want to take a year off, and the transfer program is good (like you can knock out all the prereqs in CC and go straight into upper levels at university) then my pick would be #2.

Certainly don't take on $120,000 of private loans to attend a different state's university.

 

[sharksandrec]

Thanks for the reply, it means a lot.

Since I made this post, I agree that #2 is the best option. So, say I go to CC, will medical schools look down on that? Like, are they going to think less of me even if I have a competent GPA/MCAT?

Also, what classes should I be taking in CC? Should I be taking all of the med school prereqs like bio/chem/phys?

 

[efle]

If I recall, there are a few medical schools that advise against taking many summer and community college classes. But the common advice is that CC -> State is fine, as long as you perform well on the MCAT and on some additional science coursework at the University, as that will be looked at as a better check of your academic abilities than your CC grades.

 

[sharksandrec]

Okay, I'll be attending CC for two years and then transferring to my state school (I'll be practically going to CC for free because of a state scholarship).

One last thing: generally, will prereq courses from CC prepare me enough for the MCAT?

 

[efle]

Your classes are not really what prepares you for the MCAT, your weeks/months of MCAT-specific studying are. This is why everyone studies from dedicated MCAT prep books instead of their old class notes. If you had a particularly intense science class that covered all the same topics your review might be quicker in that area when it's time to prepare 1-2 years later, but you can teach yourself a subject from scratch out of a prep book and be fully ready for the test.