Dollars and Sense: Goodbye UVM...

These past two weeks have been some of the most stressful I have ever experienced. As you may or may not know, I am headed off to college in just a few short days. And these past weeks have been filled highly stressful financial debates and lectures. 

See for me, college was something I never really wanted (until now). Hence one reason why I took a gap year. At the end of senior year when I told UVM I was coming fall 2013, I felt as though I had just jumped out the way of a moving train. During the whole college process, my heart was never really in it. I couldn't get as excited and passionate about that wonderful chemistry program as such and so university. The only time I ever got excited was hearing about a schools exchange program or available outdoors clubs. Adventure and traveling was all I really wanted. During my gap year, I got just that. 

Then after orientation it slowly started to set in that this was all really going to happen. "I'm going to UVM" weren't just words anymore. They actually meant something. 

About two weeks ago the bill for the first semester came in. As we all knew it was going to. Going into it I knew that the ticket price for UVM out-of-state is $50,000. But throughout the college selection process, as I said, college never seemed like something that would ever become real for me. So neither did the money. However these past two weeks, the reality stuck. Hard. After all grants, scholarships and government loans, there was still a $28,000 gap to pay for freshman year. Just take a second to think about that. It's crazy. And the sort of loans you'd have to take out to bridge that gap are even crazier. 

The idea that my first year would cost that much increased my stress about 100 fold. It raised the stakes. It wasn't just worrying if I didn't like it or if I didn't like my roommate. It was knowing by going there, I was committing myself and my parents for 15 years worth of loan repayment. For ONE year. That idea of course stressed me out even more because it cost too much to worry about small things. 

Anyway, we kicked around the idea of just sucking it up and doing the 14 grand for the first semester (seeing as how I was all signed up) and then transerfing somewhere cheaper later. Which raised problems (and stress) as well. Ohio University, Lewis& Clark, University of Maine, University of Iceland...it was like the college search had started all over again.

To keep a long story of emotional woe short(er), yesterday we finally had a break through with this whole debate.

My dad and I decided to give Green Mountain College a call. A school that I had applied and been accepted to way back when during that whole process. I was always genuinely interested in GMC, but ended up saying yes to UVM because I had to choose something, and hey, they were in Vermont and the school is pretty well known. Anyway, we called them up and explained the situation and by noon they had put together a fantastic financial aid package. And we could actually get someone on the phone. AND they remembered me from when I applied. So throughout the course of Tuesday and Wednesday I accepted the package from GMC and officially withdrew from UVM. I have a campus visit tomorrow! 

Honestly, I feel so incredibly relieved. And not just because I saved my self from a life of paying back $200,000 in student loans (you're welcome post college me), but also because GMC is smaller. I am actually more excited now then I was when I was heading off to UVM. So UVM, thanks for it all, but you're too damn expensive.

This all has been so last minute and insane...but it all worked at so very well. So keep faith my friends. Good things do happen.