March 2009 Archives

So back in February I submitted the FAFSA Online (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and it came back with my EFC (Expected Family Contribution) to be $20,143. For those not familiar with an EFC score it basically determines (based off your tax filings) what you (or your family if you are a dependent) are expected to contribute to a years worth of college. It calculates this based off your gross income and amounts of cash holdings. Long story short, the lower your EFC the more "free" money you receive in grants and scholorships.

Without getting into details, my amount came in rather high (not as high as some people I've seen) but high none-the-less. I stupidly did not do alot of research on what I should have done prior to submitting my numbers because mainly I did not know enough to even know to have done more research.

I finally got all my corporate tax returns back from my account and am going to call the FAFSA people tomorrow to make sure I have submitted the right information.

Its still early in the financial aid process, as Columbia has not downloaded my information yet, so hoping I can still make some adjustments.

So, I have seen mention of Harvard Business School's 2+2 program over the past few months, and after seeing a Twitter posting from @HarvardMBA about a Podcast discussing the program, I thought I'd do some reading about it.

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/podcasts.html

In a nutshell, the 2+2 program is for Juniors in college who want to work in the business world for two years before attending business school. You apply at the end of the Junior year and learn your acceptance at the beginning of your senior year. Once accepted you have to work in a program approved job for two years and then you are guaranteed a spot in the MBA program. Not a bad idea really, and probably my best bet.

Considering my short current academic record and somewhat limited lack of "serious" business experience I realize that I am going to face some strong competition for acceptance. My plan was to to get accepted to an Ivy League school (done) and also to figure out an AMAZING summer job between my Junior and Senior year before the applications for grad school were due. I don't see how else I could be a competitive applicant.

However, now thinking about the 2+2 program, if I attend Columbia (or even Berkeley (not that I've been accepted there though)) and manage to get top marks I think I can write affective essays and acquire a good set of recommendations that would make me a very strong candidate for the 2+2 program.

I think I have an interesting story and a strong background. Given my short amount of time to make a difference, Columbia is starting to look like the paramount choice for me...

So it's been almost a week since I got the call from Columbia informing me of my acceptance. I'm still pretty thrilled. Even if I end up not being able to go there (pretty much entirely for economic reasons) I will have a great sense of pride at being accepted.

However, I am trying to be reasonable about the economic issues at hand and what opportunity costs of attending another institution will bring. I have not received the financial aid letter from Columbia yet so that limits my planning somewhat, but I do know that tuition, fees, and living expenses at Columbia is about $55k/year. Not a small number. Where as all in expenses at the University of CA system are only about $25k/year.

Berkeley and Columbia are about on par with each other in terms of academics, though Columbia is ranked higher. However, Davis and Santa Barbara are not ranked as high. The question that I'm fielding from alot of people is, if I had to choose between Columbia and Davis, would saving $60k in student loans be worth it? I would have to say most likely not.

My plan at attending Harvard is going to weigh heavily on these next two years. And while they do say they do not place a huge amount of emphasis on the undergraduate school you attended, I'd be hard pressed to believe a Columbia degree would hurt me.

Either way, I have not received financial aid info from Columbia nor have I received decisions from any other school. I am just running over all the scenarios in my head trying to come up with atleast some beginnings of a plan...

Eight more weeks.

I AM AMAZED! I have been accepted to Columbia University to finish my degree! The deadline for early application was only March 1st and they called me today, March 4th, to let me know that I have been accepted. Amazing news!

I need to wait to hear about scholarships from them as that will be a big part of my decision as Columbia is by far the most expensive on the list.

Wow. Quick update.

Yay