YACollegeT: Go to Madison or stay in town? Follow my dreams or save money?

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
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I'm 17, a senior in high school right now, but my junior and senior year I have taken all my classes at the community college through the state's Post Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) program. When I graduate from highschool this spring I'll have my (free) 2-year degree. This is good because now I only have to pay for my final 2 (maybe 2.5) years of college. It sucks because unlike everyone else I will have to go into a major right away.

Two years ago I thought I knew that I was going to major in something with computers: MIS or a just a general IT program. About 9 months ago I got burnt out 'working' on computers and I've decided that I definately don't want to get a degree that will land me a job fixing other people's computer problems for 8 hours a day.

About the same time I burnt out on computers, I got my first dSLR. Since then, I've seriously gotten into photography. There is nothing I enjoy more than shooting sporting events. I go to all the games I can get to (my class schedule at the community college has made it tricky, that will change when next semester starts) and take pictures for My Website where parents can buy prints of their kids. Most of my spending money from working for the past 6 months or so, plus the $1000 I won on ebay, has gone to buying equipment; I'm up to about $2500 worth.I'm going to sports that I wouldn't have considered going to before (girls soccer, volleyball) so that I can take pictures. I love everything about photography, I can see myself shooting sports for the rest of my life and not getting tired of it.

College registration season is upon me; this is where the problems arise. I got a 29 on my ACT, my GPA is 3.25. When I graduate this spring I will have about $6500 in my savings. My dad has agreed to pay for $6000 for tuition, so I'll have $12500 to pay for college....I think you can guess where this is going.

My dad wants me to stay at home and go through the business administration program that the community college I currently take classes is offering. This would take 2 years to complete and would cost about $12000 total. He says that a degree is a degree and that it isn't worth it to go to a big expensive school. If I stay here I'll be able to work for him and not have to take out a loan. By the time I graduate I'll have enough money saved up for a decent car and I can then go do whatever I want. My problem with this plan is that I'm afraid that if I don't get out of town now then I never will. There are no opportunities here: the town (Austin, MN) is basically here because Hormel has a plant and corporate offices here. There are no opportunities in town, and there is very little growth.

I've narrowed down my colleges to just a few, either way I will be majoring in Marketing so that I have a good foundation for a lot of potential jobs:

1. UW Madison - This is where I really want to go. It's a great school in a great city. A couple of my classmates have already decided on it so I will have a roommate and a ride home when necessary. The biggest draw is that The Badger Herald, the independent student-run paper there, is one of the top college papers in the nation. I emailed one of the photographers currently working on the paper and he said it's an amazing job. I would get to shoot D1 sports at, according to ESPN, the best college sports town in the country. It just seems to me like the opportunities I would gain from shooting at the paper would be invaluable. I would get the chance to shoot football games next to guys from SI and the Associated Press as well as all the big Wisconsin papers. I think the contacts I'd make would alone be worth the extra money it costs to go to Madison.

It costs about $17,500 a year between Tuition/Books/Room&Food/ plus transportation money and 2 grand for miscallaneous expenses. I figure that if I get a part time job at $7 an hour and I put in 10 hours a week I can make close to $3000 in the 9 months of the year that I am in school. This means that I would still be looking at a $17,500-$20,000 student loan to pay for college. My dad is extremely opposed to taking out a loan and going into debt.

2. UW River Falls or La Crosse - These are smaller schools that are closer to home. Both of their newspapers are near non-existant but I would save about $4000 a year over going to Madison. River Falls is only 30 minutes from the minneapolis/st paul area so I would have access to the benefits of the city and suburbs as far as future job opportunities go. La Crosse is a decent-sized city at just over 50,000 people and almost 100,000 in the metro area. My education wouldn't be quite as good but I'm sure the classes would be easier. Going to either of these would cut my loan size in half.


Cliffs

1. Im graduating highschool this spring with my 2 year degree. I need to go to college in the fall. I love photography but I'll be going for Marketing because I dig it and it's a good general degree.

2. I have $12500 to pay for college

3. Dad wants me to stay in town and get a degree at the community college, I'll live at home and won't have any debt but I don't think I'll ever have any opportunities.

4. I want to go to Madison where I could shoot for one of the best student papers in the nation and go to an awesome school/city but I would end up with $20,000 in student loans

5. I could go to a smaller UW school and cut the student loan in half but I wouldn't get to work for a great paper or live in Madison.

6. Help :) ?


Should I forget about photography and listen to my dad? Should I go to Madison and go into $20,000 of debt? Save some money and go to one of the smaller schools?

I'm sure many of you have been through college, any advice? Did you take out a student loan or do you recommend it? Do you regret the choice of school that you made?

Thanks in advance for your help, and thanks especially to those who took the time to read the whole post, I sincerely appreciate it.
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
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My dads a pro photographer, its hard to get your niche in the business is what he told me. He figured out to take pictures of wine grapes, and now he makes bank. ;)

Check out his website Gallery
 

sandman018

Member
Mar 13, 2005
170
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Damn...I don't remember the expenses being that much for my sister @ Madtown.

Lax is a pretty good school, it's a big party school this year (from my own experiences there). But Lax is a large science oriented school, and I'm not sure how many arts/photography classes they offer there.

River falls? All I know is that it's the only UW campus more boring than GB (where I'm attending)
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
1,805
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Originally posted by: sandman018
Damn...I don't remember the expenses being that much for my sister @ Madtown.

Lax is a pretty good school, it's a big party school this year (from my own experiences there). But Lax is a large science oriented school, and I'm not sure how many arts/photography classes they offer there.

River falls? All I know is that it's the only UW campus more boring than GB (where I'm attending)

I won't be taking art/photo classes, I'm likely going to get a marketing degree from a UW school just so that I have a lot of options for the future. I'm not interested in going to school for photography or art because that would limit my options in the future and won't let me get my foot in the door to places that marketing will. Thats my thinking on it anyway.
 

Syringer

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
19,333
2
71
$20k in loans isn't that much. At what is a pretty low interest rate..though that may be changing..it's a tremendous deal still.
 

Zolty

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2005
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Minimum wage in madison is 6.50, if you are decent with computers its not hard to get 8-10 around campus part time. It also doesnt cost 17.5k/yr to got to school here. My roomates spend 12.5k /yr on average, if you dont care about your apartment it gets cheaper. You might consider a 2 year transfer degree from one of the 2 year colleges in WI, then transfering here. Also I think your dad is flat out wrong on his "a degree is a degree" employers deffinatly look at where you went to school. I have lived in madison for 3 years now, its a great place to live.


Edit nm
I just noticed you live in MN, I am fairly sure you don?t get reciprocity, so you will pay a lot more than most people. You might consider moving here for a year and establishing residency and saving money, it will be cheaper in the long run and you still can do photography.
 

sandman018

Member
Mar 13, 2005
170
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You might want to point out your intended major a bit better in the OP.

most campuses in the uw system have a decent marketing program imho
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
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Originally posted by: Zolty
Minimum wage in madison is 6.50, if you are decent with computers its not hard to get 8-10 around campus part time. It also doesnt cost 17.5k/yr to got to school here. My roomates spend 12.5k /yr on average, if you dont care about your apartment it gets cheaper. You might consider a 2 year transfer degree from one of the 2 year colleges in WI, then transfering here. Also I think your dad is flat out wrong on his "a degree is a degree" employers deffinatly look at where you went to school. I have lived in madison for 3 years now, its a great place to live.

I'll already have my associates degree when I graduate from highschool this spring, so I will be transfering directly to whichever I choose and going straight into my major. I pulled the cost info from here but if I can actually get by for less that would be awesome.

I definately agree that a degree from Madison will mean a lot more to a potential employer than a degree from Riverland Community College...
 

Playmaker

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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Go to Madison and have a great time, this is a no-brainer. I definitely wouldn't consider it near the greatest college sports town, but you could definitely make an argument for greatest college town in general, though.

I took in-state tuition plus scholarships at a state school (a different Big 10, actually), but had the opportunity at multiple top 10 schools, a couple Ivies and a couple "Ivy-level." As a senior, I regret it immensely. Don't get me wrong, going to a large state school has been great for a variety of reasons, but the prestige (as it would affect jobs, specifically finance jobs in my case, but this would definitely apply to journalism as well) from my other options would more than make up for my loans in the long run (I'm mostly self-financed).

Bottom line, go to the BEST school you can get into, low-interest loans are always an option. I heard that countless times, but made the wrong decision based on $$$. Don't do the same.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
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Yeah, the student paper here is excellent.

One of my roommates is Taylor Hughes, the web director for the Herald.
He's basically in charge of the whole website from what I understand.
http://www.badgerherald.com/

He works a lot of hours over there. I'm not sure how much work it would be as a photographer, but I know Taylor is over there right now getting the stories ready for tomorrow and it's 2:22am.
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
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76
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, the student paper here is excellent.

One of my roommates is Taylor Hughes, the web director for the Herald.
He's basically in charge of the whole website from what I understand.
http://www.badgerherald.com/

He works a lot of hours over there. I'm not sure how much work it would be as a photographer, but I know Taylor is over there right now getting the stories ready for tomorrow and it's 2:22am.

I think I talked to Derek Montgomery (lost all my old emails a few weeks ago :() and he made it sound like the amount of time you put in is proportionate to how far you'll advance at the paper, which sounds good to me. Being a Photo Editor I think that besides getting my own shots in, I would be post-processing every picture before it gets printed. After sports games I usually end up processing 40-60 images from start to finish before uploading them to my site. I freaking love photoshop :D
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
91
Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, the student paper here is excellent.

One of my roommates is Taylor Hughes, the web director for the Herald.
He's basically in charge of the whole website from what I understand.
http://www.badgerherald.com/

He works a lot of hours over there. I'm not sure how much work it would be as a photographer, but I know Taylor is over there right now getting the stories ready for tomorrow and it's 2:22am.

I think I talked to Derek Montgomery (lost all my old emails a few weeks ago :() and he made it sound like the amount of time you put in is proportionate to how far you'll advance at the paper, which sounds good to me. Being a Photo Editor I think that besides getting my own shots in, I would be post-processing every picture before it gets printed. After sports games I usually end up processing 40-60 images from start to finish before uploading them to my site. I freaking love photoshop :D

They have some nice Dell 2405s up at the office waiting for you ;)
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
1,805
0
76
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, the student paper here is excellent.

One of my roommates is Taylor Hughes, the web director for the Herald.
He's basically in charge of the whole website from what I understand.
http://www.badgerherald.com/

He works a lot of hours over there. I'm not sure how much work it would be as a photographer, but I know Taylor is over there right now getting the stories ready for tomorrow and it's 2:22am.

I think I talked to Derek Montgomery (lost all my old emails a few weeks ago :() and he made it sound like the amount of time you put in is proportionate to how far you'll advance at the paper, which sounds good to me. Being a Photo Editor I think that besides getting my own shots in, I would be post-processing every picture before it gets printed. After sports games I usually end up processing 40-60 images from start to finish before uploading them to my site. I freaking love photoshop :D

They have some nice Dell 2405s up at the office waiting for you ;)

That finalizes my decision ;)

Actually he mentioned that they had just gotten a ton of new G5 powermacs with big cinema displays :thumbsup:
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
91
Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, the student paper here is excellent.

One of my roommates is Taylor Hughes, the web director for the Herald.
He's basically in charge of the whole website from what I understand.
http://www.badgerherald.com/

He works a lot of hours over there. I'm not sure how much work it would be as a photographer, but I know Taylor is over there right now getting the stories ready for tomorrow and it's 2:22am.

I think I talked to Derek Montgomery (lost all my old emails a few weeks ago :() and he made it sound like the amount of time you put in is proportionate to how far you'll advance at the paper, which sounds good to me. Being a Photo Editor I think that besides getting my own shots in, I would be post-processing every picture before it gets printed. After sports games I usually end up processing 40-60 images from start to finish before uploading them to my site. I freaking love photoshop :D

They have some nice Dell 2405s up at the office waiting for you ;)

That finalizes my decision ;)

Actually he mentioned that they had just gotten a ton of new G5 powermacs with big cinema displays :thumbsup:

Yeah, that too.

I think they just won another national award last week or the week before that. It's really a top notch paper they're putting out.
 

gotsmack

Diamond Member
Mar 4, 2001
5,768
0
71
No brainer. Go to Madison. If you don't get your experience now at the school paper, you might not ever get any. Plus you'll get exposure to whatever and a chance to build up your porfolio. Take some photography classes while you're there.

part of the amount of financial aid you get depends on how much your school costs. Fill out those FAFSAs!
 

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
13
81
Take out the loans and spend the money, you won't regret it. Also, I wouldn't count on the part time job money coming in. Counting on it puts too much pressure on you to work and supply that money while still doing good in school.
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
1,805
0
76
Originally posted by: gotsmack
No brainer. Go to Madison. If you don't get your experience now at the school paper, you might not ever get any. Plus you'll get exposure to whatever and a chance to build up your porfolio. Take some photography classes while you're there.

part of the amount of financial aid you get depends on how much your school costs. Fill out those FAFSAs!

I will be sending in my FAFSA on January 1st, but I'm not counting on getting any aid because it's not that my family really couldn't afford to pay for my education, it's just that they aren't going to :eek:
 

gotsmack

Diamond Member
Mar 4, 2001
5,768
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Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: gotsmack
No brainer. Go to Madison. If you don't get your experience now at the school paper, you might not ever get any. Plus you'll get exposure to whatever and a chance to build up your porfolio. Take some photography classes while you're there.

part of the amount of financial aid you get depends on how much your school costs. Fill out those FAFSAs!

I will be sending in my FAFSA on January 1st, but I'm not counting on getting any aid because it's not that my family really couldn't afford to pay for my education, it's just that they aren't going to :eek:


how much money your family has only counts something like 35% of the total amount you get. Don't keep too much money in your bank account, you'll get more grant or atleast subsidized loan money.
 

imported_Snagle

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2004
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Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Taylor just came home.

I warned him about you ;)

no need for warnings, just show him my most recent soccer gallery and let him know to pencil me in for fall :p
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
91
Originally posted by: Snagle
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Taylor just came home.

I warned him about you ;)

no need for warnings, just show him my most recent soccer gallery and let him know to pencil me in for fall :p

:laugh: He went straight to bed.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
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Fact: A degree from a community college is nearly worthless.
Fact: Consider how much you will be making per year and then look at the $20k in loans.

Okay that wasn't a fact.
 

Poulsonator

Golden Member
Aug 19, 2002
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Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Fact: A degree from a community college is nearly worthless.

Unless you're wanting guaranteed admittance into a 4-year college. Plus, he saved himself a TON of money with that 2-year CC degree, so it's pretty unfactual to say that his CC degree is worthless.