Students looking to go out in the world, and possibly as far away from New York, may find themselves looking at the southern United States. Located in Houston, Texas, Rice University is a private, urban university that accepts just over 15 percent of its applicants. To put it in perspective, from a group of 100 students, you must be better than 85 of them to be accepted here, making this university very selective. It is tied as the 18th best national university and is located in the center of Houston's Museum District. The university has a surprising student faculty ratio of 6:1, almost guaranteeing close-knit connections with professors and more engaging class time. Out of state students who wish to stay on campus, disregarding scholarships, must be able to spend over 65,000 dollars, a pretty large sum. however, the university provides many grants and scholarships. With almost 100% of students being fully supported for their respective needs.

A different and definitely fun option for someone who is ambitious and adventurous. Located in the Museum District in the biggest United State, this is surely a university to look into.

What is FAFSA?

A multitude of students intend to apply to studious colleges. Surely there are back up colleges, and some colleges that are such insurances that it is expected that students will get a full ride if they attend that college. This is reasonable because most of the students applying to big colleges have the grades and activities to support their admissions, and if they apply to colleges like Kingsborough Community College, they will definitely get a full ride.

Now, lets say students are applying to the big league colleges like Ivy leagues, MIT, Stanford, or even NYU. Many students cant afford the cost of the tuition and other expenses, and rely on financial aid.

Grants vs. Loans

Grants

When applying to colleges, the big decision for financial aid is to either take out loans, or apply for grants. So, what is the difference?

Grants is free money given to you through sponsorship. You wont have to pay any money back. Similar to how a parent can give an allowance, companies can give money to students, as long as they keep up their studious effort. Normally, students are insignificant to companies and organizations, so they wont be offered any money. However, the federal government does offer grants through FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid). 

Families can apply for FAFSA if they meet the requirements, which generally revolves around proving that your family income falls below a certain amount. Once applied, the government can offer grants.

Loans

Loans are the other option. This is money given to you by companies and organizations, but it must be payed back. To summarize the process, the company gives you X amount of money (lots of money), and you must pay back an amount, Y , of that money given. For simplicity sake, you'd have to pay Y amount of money for a certain amount of years.

HOWEVER, nothing is simple and for the companies to make money, they make you pay slightly extra. Companies enforce interest, which means that the Y amount of money increases annually. So you'd have to pay, in the end, more than X amount of money. 

It is easy to find companies because they scavenge students to take their money by advertising huge amounts of loans. However, this is highly dangerous, as you will be in a lot of debt and undergo the historic event of the great depression because you'll be in so much debt and you'll get more loans to pay off those debts, and then those debts snowball, and then you end up consuming your own life.

Fortunately, through FAFSA, the government offers loans with no interest rate. This means you simply pay back the same amount. These loans are called federal loans.

So, to simplify, when applying to colleges, first seek grants. They are similar to scholarships and you can only get them if you qualify and there is nothing more you can do except be a better student. Then, seek loans, and preferably federal loans. Stay away from loans with high interest, or loans that offer more money than you need, because those big numbers means you'll have to pay them back in even more bigger numbers. Think about it, lets say you'll have to pay 150% back to someone who gave you money. If they give you $1, then you pay $1.50. thats not bad, you only lose 50 cents. However, if they give you $50, now you must pay back 75$, which also is not too bad, but $25 vs. 50 cents. Now ultimately, if you are given $5,000 you must pay back $7,500! So you went from cents to $25, to $2500. the more they give you, the more extra money you  must pay back.

 

A great university for local Midwood students is the State University of New York at Binghamton. Regarded as one of the best SUNYs, Binghamton is located in upstate New York in Vestol, and is located in a suburban area. It admits 42% of its applicants and has a campus size of 930 acres. In state tuitions is 9,000 while out of state tuition is 22,000, providing a great and relatively cheap college experience for New York students. It is  ranked as the 89th best national university. Binghamton undergraduates live on campus and get to do their laundry for free. FREE LAUNDRY! It is also the destination of many top student athletes, as it plays in the NCAA Division 1 in the East Conference. Binghamton has a student teacher ratio of 20:1, providing closer relationships between students and teachers which can greatly improve class time and information given.
     The top five majors pursued at this SUNY school are:

Business Administration and Management, General	13%
Psychology, General	12%
Engineering, General	10%
Biology/Biological Sciences, General	8%
English Language and Literature, General	7%

but many more majors are offered. With a  total undergraduate enrollment of 13,412, this school is great for students who want a large and diverse university without getting lost or never finding that friend you made after class. Just under 50% of all students receive financial aid and rooming and board fees are just over 13,000$. Go out and visit the campus and see if this school is right for you!