Am I being too pessimistic?

Paying for College
1

<p>I've been accepted to both Berkeley and Rice. Berkeley is better for my planned major, biochemistry and/or bioengineering. If I went there, however, I would basically end up with $130,000 in debt, which seems ridiculous to me. Am I overestimating the impact of this amount of debt (perhaps considering the careers to which I earlier alluded) and/or the significance of undergraduate university in these career paths (either bioengineer, doctor, or biochemist -- undecided)?</p>

2

<p>That is a horrible amount of debt. Berkeley is a great school, but not worth what those loans would mean to your life after school, particularly since you’re not likely to be able to pay down the debt while you’re in graduate school. Eek!</p>

<p>Rice is a great school. If you can go there without incurring these kinds of debts, I’d strongly suggest you do it!</p>

3

<p>As a Cal alumni, there’s no way that the difference between UCB and Rice is worth that much debt. All of those careers are going to take further professional or graduate school training, and the name of the school on your UG degree is going to matter much less than how and what you did there (gpa, LORs, ECs, etc.).</p>

4

<p>That amount of debt is crazy. It would ruin your life.</p>

<p>And, if you’re thinking about med school, then you definitely should NOT borrow that much for undergrad. You need to save your borrowing power for med school.</p>

5

<p>Whether you are pre-Ph.D., pre-M.S./M.Eng. or headed into the workplace straight out of college, that kind of debt would be life-wrecking. </p>

<p>Don’t do this. Choose the cheaper school. </p>

<p>If you absolutely must have evidence that you can’t afford that kind of debt (even if you could find someone to loan you that kind of money in the first place) run some of the loan payment calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board)</p>