All my life, I’ve been encouraged that after I graduate high school, I should go to college. It’s always been so out of reach, until my senior year, and worrying about college hit me hard. Though the whole application process and decision-making part of going to college is difficult, the worst part about it all is the cost.

I’m sure we’ve all heard before that college is expensive, but what I didn’t realize until I actually had to apply and look into a school was that you pay for much more than just going to school. After you fill out an application, most schools charge $50+ as an application fee. Then, along with most applications come the requirement of SAT and/or ACT test scores to be sent in. What I didn’t realize was if you don’t send your scores in within a week after you test, then you have to pay $12 to get them sent.

Once I was accepted into my college, I received an informational packet that had steps I needed to complete before I could attend in the fall. Almost every step in the packet was an expense. I have to pay for a housing application, pay to take a math placement test, and pay to confirm my acceptance. All of this cost is before I even attend school. Tuition is obviously a lot of money, considering the price of housing and school, but it’s even more if you’re coming from a different state, as well.

Basically, the price of college is a lot more than it seems. I think that the amount of things schools make you pay for are over the top. It’s prevalent that colleges need money to function and keep their school up and running, but almost every step of the application and decision process is a cost that is too much for some. There are definitely schools out there that offer cheaper options, but sometimes they come at a cost of an individual’s ideal location, intended major, degrees, etc.

Before choosing your college, make sure you look into the cost of tuition and what the school has to offer. If the college is private, tuition will automatically cost more. One great option to save money but still go to your dream school is to attend a community college for two years and then transfer to your preferred school for the next two years. This dramatically cuts the cost of overall tuition, you can get your pre-requisites for certain majors out of the way, and you can still get the college experience when you attend your four year college after.

All in all, college is the most expensive education one can get. Even though the cost seems unnecessary, the expenses won’t outweigh the experience in the end.