<p>Another question, Fred. Have you already received a preliminary financial aid award from Stanford? Is it off by $25K per year?</p>
<p>If a school as good as Ohio State is your runner-up option, and the only way you can make Stanford happen is $100K in personal loans, then I think you need to consider very carefully the suggestions above about getting a big name MBA following your undergrad. degree from a low-debt school.</p>
<p>If you blew it on your application list and have no backup other than an actual “third tier” school (by which I mean a small non-flagship regional public that has essentially open admissions), then that might be another story. But surely you have not put yourself in that position?</p>
<p>Just some food for thought: the wealthiest man I know (as in net worth of hundreds of millions, possibly a billionaire if I can believe the newspapers) got his undergraduate degree at a small university you have probably never heard of (on scholarship), and an MBA from a very good university. With the MBA and a lot of brains and hard work, he started an investment firm with a different approach than the usual ones, and made it big. Since he had no loans to pay off, he was able to go to work for himself early in his career. That is what I mean by giving yourself options. I know, it is just an anecdote, but I know so many anecdotes. I find debt suffocating; others on cc take a different approach, and may chime in to give their opinion.</p>