<p>So finaid sets me at about 28k to go to GT this year, but my mom is getting a job so I'll probably lose my pell grant (efc this year for me is $0.00). Im expecting the next 3 years to be about 30k each. So with loans I'm graduating with about 120k debt. Is the engineering degree/GT experience worth it? What can I do to offset the costs, aside from getting a job? How much can co-op do to help?</p>
<p>Also my mom is a single mother, divorced father will only pay up to $5,000 a year on living expenses. Mum promises to pay for half, using whatever it takes ie: loans or retirement funds. She's thinking of getting a home equity loan or something with a interest rate of like 3% compared to federal loan's rate of 6.8%. (my sister goes to nyu too, some if the loaned money is going to her last two years of undergrad there) I'll be taking the unsubsidised loan, or whichever one doesn't incure interest till after graduation too. So I assume that MY debt is about 60k. I hate to make my mom pay for so much; can I get some opinions? Is it worth it, or should I go to my state school, university of Tennessee, for free?</p>
<p>Btw: My dad teaches at UT, but since I've been a kid my mom's been painting a disgraceful, shameful appearance of my state school. She's a pseudo-tiger mom btw. Hence I don't really wanna go to UT, but I also have really wanted to go to GT since I started my college search. Is the name worth it? If I graduated with so much debt, should I immediatley go into the job market to instantly pay off debt, then if I decided to, return and get masters?</p>
<p>Ooh, I had to make the same decision between UT and Tech. My dad actually teaches there too:) I guess the biggest thing is Tech is a Top 5 engineering school and I think UT is like 65th according to US News, so getting co-ops is harder and there’s less research opportunities. I also just didn’t like the vibe on campus. </p>
<p>Sorry I don’t have a whole lot of advice on financial aid.</p>
<p>It really depends on what your other options are. If you can go someplace cheaper and you can see yourself being relatively happy there, I would strongly consider it. Rankings are somewhat important, but they aren’t everything. Have you figured out how much you will need to pay each month when you graduate? Do you want to go to grad school which will require more loans? Is there another option besides UT That would be cheaper? 65th is not bad given all the schools out there. My son’s first choice was Johns Hopkins, but I strongly advised him against taking 80K in debt, which would have been necessary for him to go there. I would consider GT more for grad school.</p>
<p>I would consider going straight into the job market after GT, if I was to have so much debt. I could come back to school after a while if I still wanted my masters, right?</p>
<p>In terms of ranking, GT is definitely prestigiously ranked. But to me, I take those rankings with a grain of salt because they are most probably a bit biased one way or another and not based entirely on the strength of the programs a university offers. Do you have any other school choices besides Tech and UT?</p>
<p>You could probably make around $25000 cooping, but realize that it’ll take you longer to graduate. You can save money by becoming a Peer Leader or RA, since doing that means you get free housing. </p>
<p>I do think going to GT for grad school is a good idea though. I think one thing most people don’t know is that most engineering graduate students don’t pay for their degree like med students do. At least here at Tech, if you’re doing research that’s funded, your tuition is waived, and you get a stipend (not much, but probably covers living expenses). Therefore, grad school doesn’t really cost you anything except for time and probably interest on your loans.</p>
<p>Also…please don’t let your mom get a heloc (especialy if her house is underwater or she’s planning to move within the next couple of years) or withdraw money from her retirement account. It just sounds extraordinarily painful, and it’s much easier for us kids to recover financially especially when we graduate and make $60,000, have time on our hands, and don’t have kids or other things that depend on us.</p>
<p>And sorry, if the last part is a bit grouchy. It’s 2 AM, lol.</p>