It is no secret that college in the U.S. is expensive. Rather than filling this post with a bunch of facts about student debt, I'm going to share my personal story.
In 2019, I applied to 12 colleges. Looking back, 12 colleges was so unnecessary, and there were at least five to six colleges that I could say right now were not worth the time and effort applying to. However, that's a story for another time.
Financing college was always something I knew I'd be doing myself. I never expected my parents to pay for college because it's my education and not theirs. I didn't want them to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars just to send me to school only to find themselves in trouble when they retire. Additionally, I have a younger sister. She is five years younger than me, so we will never be in college at the same time. Thus, our tuition prices won't ever be lowered from the "benefit" of being in college at the same time. It just didn't make sense to me to have my parents contribute to my educational fees when in five years my sister will probably go to college too and they'd have to also contribute there as well. I just could never let myself allow my parents to be in even more debt because of me, so I decided early on that this would be my debt to carry. Even if they insisted on contributing now, which they probably will want to chip in a bit, I know I will pay them back everything and more when I have my own source of income. And if they pay for me, I will pay for my sister.
From the very beginning, my parents let me navigate the college process myself. They were pretty “hands-off” and trusted that I'd do what's right, so I went with the norm for students like me in my town, the norm being applying to elite institutions, which rarely offer merit. Not only were the application fees of the 12 schools already hundreds of dollars, but the tuition fees were all expected to be high, as my family is "stuck in the middle." The phrase "stuck in the middle" refers to the concept where many middle class families don't qualify for good financial aid or any financial aid but also don't make enough money to pay for college. This results in families having to take out egregious loans.
However, I still applied to those schools. Part of me regrets not applying to schools that would have offered more merit, but back then I really didn't even understand that some schools gave more than others.
When I received my college decisions in the spring of 2019, I let tuition be the deciding factor. I didn't get into any schools where I felt that taking out a massive loan was "worth it." And although the schools that I was accepted to were still good schools, I just couldn't see myself taking out huge loans just to attend them. Thus, I chose UMass Amherst, where I pay in-state tuition, receive some merit, and have a scholarship from my MCAS– a Massachusetts standardized exam– scores.
I was admitted to UMass Amherst as a biochemistry and molecular biology major and as a member of the honors college. However, with the exception of knowing UMass is a good state school, there was a lot of knowledge I lacked. When I applied to college, I didn't really know what I wanted in my education or experience. I thought big lectures would be fine, a large campus size wouldn't matter, and essentially focusing all my studies in STEM would make me happy. Thus, I didn't put much thought into choosing UMass besides its good tuition.
The first month of college was great. With late night ping-pong matches, weekly movie sessions with my friends, frequent biology study group meetings, and more I quickly fell into a smooth routine. However, by the time Thanksgiving came around, I realized I wasn't getting what I wanted in my education. I hated big lectures, the campus was too large, and I wanted to take humanities courses with more ease. After a lot of thought, I applied to transfer.
Fast forward to now, I received my decisions only to see horrendous tuition prices again. Yes, I was expecting high tuition, but I still applied to the schools I did because they were schools that offered the particular programs and academic support I desire. I also didn't see the point in applying to transfer to a school less "reputable" than UMass, but maybe that's my ego speaking.
Ultimately, I ended up in the same position as last year. However, this time around, I "understand" how need-based financial aid is determined, and thus how many middle class families like mine are often out of luck. Many families put aside savings for college, or they invest in property or stocks, for example, as a way to make money to finance college. However, doing so is essentially a trap because you can probably say goodbye to any sort of financial aid and whatever you save and invest probably isn't enough to cover the full cost of college. It would be a different story if college in the U.S. weren’t so expensive, but that is not the case. Unfortunately, our capitalist society is only concerned with self profit. "Who cares about the people," says the system.
No education is worth hundreds and thousands of dollars. Education is a fundamental right. Although you can definitely find education that is more affordable in the U.S., more often than not, those educations may not open as many doors for you as another might. This is definitely a very controversial topic, as people have told me that this is not the case. I acknowledge that this isn't always true, but unfortunately, our society is biased. And those expensive colleges have the upper hand when it comes to those biases.
Although I strongly believe that where you go to college does not dictate your future, I will say the playing field is not level when it comes to opportunities depending on where you study. It’s safe to say that it is more than possible to attain your goals because in the end, it is all about mindset– you just might have to work harder depending on your circumstances.
A friend once told me that you have to invest in order to get outcomes, meaning I must understand the heavy investment of going to college. However, I don't think I should have to invest the amount that I'm being asked to. Wrapping my head around that idea was hard because I knew for me that investing would mean student debt until the age of 50, not to mention I want to go to medical school. I'm still extremely torn about it because on one hand, I want to minimize my debt, but on the other, I've been told a better education - going to a more reputable college - will put me in a better position for med schools and the rest of my future.
It took a lot of thinking, ranting, discussing, and even tears, but I eventually decided that I'd only pay the outrageous tuition fees for one (maybe two–still weighing the second option) institution. Articulating this decision in words makes me wonder if I'm being crazy. My biggest fear is that I'll regret it in the future. However, I will apply for countless scholarships and get a job next semester (even if I don't transfer), and little by little, I'll pay off my loans. I guess this is a rite of passage for an average college student in the U.S.– a rite of passage that must be changed.
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