[xxxjj18]

Hey.

I'm entering my Senior year in high school this year, and have heavily been contemplating which college I would like to go to next year.

I want to major in Computer Science with a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree.

My choice of universities has been narrowed down to Ball State, IU, Purdue, or IUPUI.

The reason for these colleges is because through my scholarship program, 21st Century Scholars, I may attend any college in my home state (Indiana) and they will cover all of the costs except for room and board.

Purdue is my top choice of college; I've wanted to go to Purdue ever since I was in middle school. The problem was, however, that if I attended Purdue, I would have to pay the room and board fees, which --after four years-- could add up to $44,000. I don't want to get out of college with a massive debt to my name.

Therefore, I decided that I may want to go to IUPUI; they offer the same exact courses as both Purdue and IU, yet is cheaper and I could live from home; eliminating the debt from room and board.

IUPUI seemed to be a smarter choice; I would be able to get my degree as well as keeping my college debt to a bare minimum, if any.

My mother also gets a 50% discount off of tuition to IUPUI because she works with IU Health.

So, this seemed to be the smarter choice.

However, last week a friend request was sent to me by "BOP at Purdue" on Facebook. I accepted it but didn't think much of it.

Just yesterday, I received a message from them, and it was Darren Henry; the director of the BOP program; which stands for Business Opportunity Program.

Mr. Henry messaged me saying that he looks for the top students in Indiana, and that he was made aware of me. He asked which universities I was considering as well as what I wanted to major in, and that I would be a great candidate for his program.

After I responded, he told me that he is visiting my school in September (as he graduated there and visits every year), and would have a pass sent to me so that we could speak in further detail.

He told me that he wants me in his program, and that scholarship money will be provided. Through his program, he said, I will be able to receive extended scholarships to Purdue as well as tutoring and much more.

The actual program lasts 8 weeks, the summer before Freshman year at Purdue, and requires 1 credit hours. The program starts in June and all of the credits that I would receive from it count towards graduation. Also, through the program I would attain a Business degree. I would still also be able to continue at Purdue to pursue a degree in Computer Science.

So, my discrepancy is, what should I do?

I know that this is a rare and great opportunity, but I'm not sure if it's what I want.

I wasn't sure from the start whether I wanted to live on campus anyway; I'm not one for parties and I don't drink or smoke; and that's all that anybody says occurs on college campuses.

I also am not sure if I'm ready to go out and take on that much responsibility yet.

Though I'm really leaning on taking this opportunity, I just had a hinge of hesitation.

Does any body have any advice or comments?

This post has been edited by xxxjj18: 02 August 2012 - 10:41 AM

[m_wylie85]

Moving away from home whilst going to uni i my eyes is a good idea as it will develop you as person because you will have to stand on your own two feet. you said 'I also am not sure if I'm ready to go out and take on that much responsibility yet' doing this MIGHT be a good idea as you will get experience in deal with the pressures of the work place

And it’s free

[DarenR]

If you dont go to your "dream" college or at least try to, you will regret it for the rest of your life. As for coming out of college with a large debt--- I don't know anyone who ever came out of college scott free unless the college was paid for by their parents or grandparents.

[xxxjj18]

Thank you for the advice. I'm really leaning towards accepting the offer and going to Purdue.

I just wonder, would a degree from the main Purdue campus look better on paper in terms of being hired as opposed to a degree from IUPUI? That's one big reason that I'd really rather go to Purdue as well.

I've been looking into both options, and both have their benefits. I'm just glad I have the remainder of this year to make my decision lol.

Anyway, thank you both for the feedback

[blankwall]

Do you think soldiers at 17 or 18 are ready to go off and defend this country? You gotta take chances and give it a go. Worst case you move home and go to the safety school.

[Utael]

Really all that piece of paper is just that, it will help het an interview but won't land you a job. Go to the school you want. You aren't going for a degree you are going for learning. If you take only the degree with you from uni then you are no better than the high school grad who went straight to work programming but you've got debt and a piece of paper.

[xxxjj18]

Thank you everybody for the replies. I know its been a while since I posted this topic.

Basically, I went to a meeting with the associate from Purdue, and it went pretty well.

He told me that with my grades, I could get into pretty much any college that I want, easy.

Also, he said that the summer program is free and would count as one semester of college; enabling me to graduate early.

He said that his program has a vast network of alumni and over 1000's of alumni have or currently worked at a fortune 500 company in Corporate America.

He also showed a few multi-millionares that participated in the program.

He is offering $4,000 a semester for me to go to Purdue, and he said that the program in the summer would provide me with a college GPA by the time school started in the Fall; due to this, over half of the incoming Freshmen to Purdue through his program receive business internships in the Fall.

He said that classes last every day from 9am to 12pm on weekdays and after that we do activities or have the rest of the day to ourselves on the campus.

I'm highly positive that I will take the offer

Once again, thank you everybody for your replies; they were much appreciated!

[JackOfAllTrades]

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I don't want to get out of college with a massive debt to my name.

Excellent. Smart thinking on your part!

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He told me that he wants me in his program, and that scholarship money will be provided. Through his program, he said, I will be able to receive extended scholarships to Purdue as well as tutoring and much more.

I want you to keep this in mind: at the heart of it, this guy is a salesman. He's selling you Purdue.

Back to this:

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if I attended Purdue, I would have to pay the room and board fees, which --after four years-- could add up to $44,000.

So that's 11K per year.

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He is offering $4,000 a semester for me to go to Purdue

That's less than half of what you need.

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IUPUI seemed to be a smarter choice; I would be able to get my degree as well as keeping my college debt to a bare minimum, if any.

My mother also gets a 50% discount off of tuition to IUPUI because she works with IU Health.

So, this seemed to be the smarter choice.

It is, and where you should really think about going.

[macosxnerd101]

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He is offering $4,000 a semester for me to go to Purdue

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That's less than half of what you need.

Actually, that comes out to $8,000/year, which leaves only a remaining $3,000/year of debt. So the total debt would be $12,000, down from $44,000.

@xxxjj18: I applied to three schools and got into two. One was in-state, and I wanted to get the hell away from home. The limiting factor was money. The out of state college was on the other side of the country (Texas), and would have left me $80k in debt. This is with my parents helping out. The college I'm at now is in-state and happens to be ~3 hours away from home. It's far enough and I've made lifelong friends here. I love it. On top of that, I'm in the track I want to be in. Each school has their own opportunities. You can get where you want to be if you go to either. Do what makes sense for you at the end of the day.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Oops, reading comprehension/math fail on my part.

$12K for four years isn't too bad a debt to get into actually, so that makes it a little more palatable. If Purdue offers greater opportunity post-degree than IUPUI, then it may be worth this amount.

I applaud you heartily for putting this kind of thought into a VERY important life decision. If only others did the same (Yeah, I think I'll go to Harvard for a degree in art history. That's a fine idea. I can take out loans to cover my costs and expenses. Yeah, that's the ticket! Four years later: "You want fries with that?" and charter membership in Occupy Wall Street).

[xxxjj18]

@macosxnerd101: Thanks for the advice. I'm just not sure if I would have a better chance at a career if I went to Purdue or not; there I would major in Industrial Management and minor in CS. This would mean that I'd have to take extra classes such as Physics and Chemistry. Though this would be harder, it would broaden my flexibility; I could either work in a business setting or as a programmer. However, I'm not sure if I would even want to get into management for a business; it's not exactly my calling.

@JackOfAllTrades: Thanks for the advice as well. My biggest issue with this decision is that I don't know which college would better benefit me. As I said above, Purdue would allow for me to expand my availability in the workforce, yet brings me to the question; do I even need a degree for business? I'd rather focus more of my time in CS and perfecting my understanding of programming and software development than waste my time taking unnecessary classes if they will not benefit me. Though this is a great opportunity, I'm not sure if it is what I want. As for the "college experience"; that isn't even a factor in my decision. College is a tool to get ahead in the workforce; not a social experience -- at least in my opinion. Though I will enjoy my experience in college and it will be something to cherish, work comes before play; my actual degree is more important.

Thanks again for the advice; I'll take it into consideration. I'm just glad I have a lot of time to think about this lol.

Anyway, I'll keep in touch and fill you in on updates.

Thanks!

[macosxnerd101]

Honestly, you'll never know if you'll change majors or not. Leaving college with a degree is important. However, leaving college with a marketable skillset is even more important. The Industrial Systems Engineering degree is quite popular at my school as well. These students are required to take extra physics classes too- statics and dynamics. Since this is the business-geared engineering degree, I doubt most of these people will be using the extra physics regularly. I could be wrong, but it's a possibility. And be open to the fact that you may get into the degree program and find you want to change majors. It happens to most people.

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I'm just not sure if I would have a better chance at a career if I went to Purdue or not

If you work hard and get experience in college (ie., internships, co-ops, etc.), then your career options will improve.

[Irohuro]

quite a bit late to the party, so sorry if this ruffles feathers, but something else to consider is the connections you can make. In this day and age the right connections can really fast-track a career and make you more visible to the right people.

if you can make connections with people in high places, it might be something worth taking into consideration.

[xclite]

For 12k, I'd take the Purdue education and run with it =p

I'm in about 64k at the moment. No aid, in state school, but a good education with a name that gets me through doorways. I'd rather have that same reputation (Purdue has a good rep) for 12k, I'll tell you that right now.

[xxxjj18]

Thank you everybody for the advice

My main problem is that I'm not sure if the degree from Purdue would get me where I want to be as far as a career; sure I would be able to get "higher" positions in a company by majoring in Industrial Management, but I'm not sure if I'd like to focus my skills on business.

The insrtuctor told me that as an IM major and CS minor, my major foucs would be maybe just to enter a company as a Programmer, with the expectation of moving up the ranks.

I am more interested in software and web development and question whether a main focus in business would obstruct my learning of Computer Science.

Even with that said, I'm still leaning towards Purdue seeing as its reputation is amazing and it would "broaden" my career field.

I'm just confused xD