r/UPenn•
marybellsa

Is UPenn worth 30k/year (over free UF)?

Academic/Career

Hello!

I was admitted to UPenn RD and UF (University of Florida) ED (no honors or research), and am debating where I should go. I plan on attending the admitted students day for UF, but I can’t visit Penn due to the financial burden of traveling there as I do live in Florida.

The main difference for the schools for me is my major. I would like to do Cognitive Science at UPenn but that major doesn’t exist anywhere in my state including UF. I applied to UF as a Digital Arts & Sciences major and would probably end up double majoring with psychology.

My family can’t pay for UPenn out of pocket, and I would do everything through loans. I would work throughout the year and also contribute to my education as much as possible. At least for the first year, my parents had saved money for me for college and though it was intended for attending a state school, we would probably just take it out and use it for UPenn. That would cover about half of the first year.

Whether I decide to pursue post-grad education depends on my undergrad honestly. I’m hoping to learn about lesser known careers while in college and see what would best fit me. The most I would do would probably be a PhD for cogsci research or PhD for clinical psychology.

What unique advantages does UPenn have? Is it worth paying the $30k/year for UPenn and turn down financial freedom at UF?

Thank you!

Posted Apr 5, 2026, 2:52 AM UTC

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