I think I’m going to drive myself insane trying to decide what to do next year. It’s not like when I graduated from high school and my parents were paying for college. Now that I’ve got to make the decision and there is such a large difference in tuition between my two schools, I have no idea what to do.
USC I think has the better program, but I have no desire to live in LA. I don’t even know where to start looking or figuring out how to pay for it. Plus, I’d most definately have to get rid of Layla.
ASU is in a great location and relatively inexpensive, but I don’t know how the program ranks. Will I be marketable after graduating?
I know it’s all about how you sell yourself to companies, but after being rejected all summer, I have very low confidence that I’ll be able to find a job anywhere. I know you’ve all heard this before and you’re tired of having to tell me I can do this. I just want a job, a future, an opportunity that will pay the bills and put some money into savings. Man, no wonder they call this the quarter-life crisis.
Why don’t you check out what resources both schools offer to help graduates find jobs? Do they have strong alumni networks for the program in which you’re interested? Career Placement offices devoted to just your program or is it for the entire school? Where have their past graduates gotten jobs/ where are they currently working? That might help.
If you have the place where you have to live while going to school, you may end up completely hating the school… What is the rest of “student life” like for grad students at each school?