Need Some More College Advice

So I am looking for some help to secure my interest in a university. I know I said college in the title, but to me they're all same; college or university, whatever. The university in question is DePaul University here in Chicago, IL.

I'm glad you came to your sense with going to Japan.  At least try going abroad.

$26k isn't terrible.  Just not great. Although transportation is a nice way to save money.  I assume you already have some credentials from your old college so I am assuming you are going to finish up in the next 2 years?  That would be $52k plus your older college debts.  I will assume your older debts add up to $10k which would add up to $62k.  That isn't all that bad, it is normal debt to come out.  If you can buckle down your expenses after college you should be in good shape.

Just be sure you know you can handle 2 hours of travel a day.  I went into New York to go to school and ended up traveling 4 hours a day total. It took the energy out of me.  Plus missing the trains were horrible waiting 15 to 30 minutes which can really ruin your day.  My days would amass 10 to 14 hours of a day between school and the train.

I went through a similar situation, so here is my advice. Don't worry so much about the drive the first semester. An hour isnt too bad as long as you dont get stuck in the morning rush. If you have an early class, get up and get moving on time. Not all your classes will be in the AM, so it may not be a problem. After that first semester you may want to live closer, and the new friends you make may help in finding room mate or information on good affordable living. If you have relatives who live closer to campus, now is the time to start getting on their good side. When I went to college in Detroit, I lived over an hour out of the city, but my God father lived only 15 miles out. Long story short, I stayed there for free the four years I was in college. It saved me a lot of money.
Lets talk about finances. If your parents are helping you pay tuition, that is great. Show up on weekends, help out, be nice to them. But, look for other means such as scholarships...etc. Sit down with the schools financial aid advisor and explore every option. I managed to get roughly 15% of my tuition covered in scholarships and all I did was applied for them. And they were just random, misc scholarships. Just find as many ways to cut down on the final tuition bill, because that is money you will be ownig for a long time to come. Before you start dropping $27k a year, make sure you know the degree you are earning will pay off as a career. There is no magic formula for knowing, but if you went into metal crafts and spent $100k getting that degree, chances are you wont have a great paying job to pay off the student loans. My point is, make sure your degree is flexible enough to get you where you want to go in your career and can earn you a good living. I'm stuck paying off my student loans for eternity, but I was flexible in enough in college to get a job that pays well. Part of the successful formula is taking internships (look for internships asap) and exploring classes outside of your major. By the time I graduated with my illustration degree (about as useful as metal crafts), I had enough knowledge in other areas to get me to where I am now, a CGI artist at a VFX studio. Also, learn what types of job are in demand in your field, and make a point of having a diversified portfolio. If you want to get into animation, great! But don't have a demo reel of just monsters and aliens. That doesn't show a lot of flexability, or creativity as an artist. I see demo reels all the time, and 90% are garbage. Its sad too, because those people wasted all that time and money without ever knowing what to expect after college. You have to know what companies want if you want to be that guy that gets hired out of college. This is why I recomend the internship and learning as much about the career your degree is targeting. Learn about the markets, the trends...etc. Be a freaquent visitor to the college career services department. They will get you hooked up with infomation on internships...etc. Since you are in the chicago area, there should be studios seeking interns. The sooner you get realworld experience, the better you will be when you get out of college.
The study abroad thing sounds cool. Just make sure its worth the time and money as far as your career goes. The last thing you want in college is to waste both.
Good luck.

I go to University of Nevada, Reno.  The cost per semester isn't all that high...I'd say about 6k.  For the studying abroad bit, USAC (I'm not sure what it means/stands for, but a couple of my friends have gone through it) is the mode by which studying out of country is made possible.

" @Godwind: No, if I go to DePaul when I want to (early 2010) then I'll have accrued uhh... let's see... probably 7 or 8 classes. So about two semesters worth of class. Then animation takes a couple years, so I'd say 3 years at DePaul as a minimum. And yes I realize the train can be bothersome and tiring, but I figure it might also be a good place to get some work done? Such as studying Japanese or typing a paper. Although that sounds easier said than done. "

As long as you realize that an AA is relatively worthless. If you do plan to fully commit yourself to a 4 year university after completing general education at a community college, go for it. That alone will save you a boat load of cash.

$26,000 isn't bad. if it's a private college then it will cost a little more. my brother pays $20,000 a semester when he went to college. u can also find cheaper colleges around that have the same program. i go to community college so it only cost me just about $2,000 a semester.