<p>I've applied to Chicago, penn, northwestern. I did not apply fin aid for any of them as it'll affect my chances, and my stats are not fantastic. </p>
<p>Are any of the schools worth taking out a full loan to attend? My family is not rich, and the costs of attendance (ard 60k per year) will take up more than half of our annual income.</p>
<p>That means your annual family income is 120k. Wow. Believe me man that is a lot. (I am speaking from a third world country perspective and my family makes something like $10k a year)</p>
<p>Penn(Wharton) should be worth it if you get into a career like IB.
I mean it’s easier to get into IB from Penn W > Penn > Chi > NU – but if you do really well you can get in from any of these.</p>
<p>Now comes the point of what career do you want? If you can get into something like IB then take out that loan(you can def pay it off – but getting a job as an International is really difficult because of the H1B system) but if you are thinking United Nations – don’t.</p>
<p>You will be in debt for a long long time.</p>
<p>IB=Investment Banking.</p>
<p>I know Northwestern is a “need blind” school, so applying for financial aid is not supposed to impact your chances. They are also notoriously generous for their need-based aid.</p>
<p>These are all fantastic schools. I’m not hesitating in taking out a loan to pay off the ~15k I need to make up for on my Northwestern tuition this year. Depending on what you want to go into it could be extremely worth it, though without any financial aid you are looking at finding a way to pay for 200k in school fees.</p>
<p>This is the International Students forum, ergo, any information pertaining to US students is irrelevant and counterproductive.</p>
<p>200k USD is a lot of money and EVEN IF you’re making a ****load of money out of college as an IBanker, it’s still incredibly hard to pay off that burden.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware that the financial aid office looked differently at international students to such a huge degree. I was under the impression that NU gave at least some aid to their international students. I apologize if that’s not the case? =/ Though I would not say any information pertaining to the schools the poster is interested in is “counterproductive”.</p>
<p>I was also not suggesting that it was a good idea to take out almost a quarter of a million in loans, just that if you feel you will have the situation to pay a loan back, taking out a reasonable one is potentially very beneficial.</p>
<p>Maybe NU gives some FA to international students. But NU is nowhere near need-blind for international applicants and it’s counterproductive to tell such a student otherwise. A somewhat analogous situation would be telling an OOS student to apply for financial aid at UIllinois.</p>
<p>I think it’s wise of you to take out 15k in student loans, especially if they’re interest-deferred/subsidized. The OP wants to take out 200k in private loans, which um… Well, he can’t be dissuaded. I know many other international students who say ‘[their] family isn’t rich’ and then pay full freight.</p>
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<p>200k in U.S. dollars? That’s pretty intense. Do you have some kind of job lined up for right after school, or can you count on some kind of support from your family? Paying that off is going to be rough if you don’t pull down a decent salary before the grace period expires.</p>
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<p>That’s true, but it’s unlikely to be as generous as you would need if you were planning on taking out a quarter of a million dollars in loans.</p>
<p>Just exactly where do you think you and your family are going to find a bank that will loan you that kind of money?</p>
<p>And</p>
<p>Just exactly how do you think you and your family will get those with loans paid off?</p>
<p>Not to mention that while you may be admitted without aid, if you can’t demonstrate that you can pay for your studies, you won’t get your student visa.</p>
<p>Some people think that spending half of the family income on the cost of attendance at fill-in-name-of-school-here is justifiable. I sure don’t. I think you need to line up some other options for yourself.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>I think U Chicago and UPenn will be worth it</p>
<p>Nope, my family definitely don’t earn 120k a yr. Calculating in my home currency, a year’s tuition will go to ard $89000, while my family earnings, give or take is $100,000, which means tuition will take up 89% of income. Hence there is no way i can pay in full upfront. My parents have some savings, but they hv health problems and i dun want to touch these retirement savings. After more calculations i estimate to take 300k loans.</p>
<p>Jahaba, what is considered a “decent salary”? </p>
<p>Are the interest on these loans very intense? I’m studying econ, so i dun think i can get into IB easily. Have pretty unclear career prospects, but i’m sure that i want to study in US.</p>
<p>I was adviced to stay in my country for my first degree b4 going to the states for my masters, but i really want to go the abovementioned schools now!</p>
<p>Is there any way of paying for tuition other than loans, FA (of which deadline i’ve alrdy passed), or merit scholarships (which i dun think i can qualify, since competition amongst internationals are so intense)</p>
<p>In today’s ultra competitive job market, many students stay in college and get their masters degree after completing their bachelor’s. If loans are taken out for the full-fare price of college, a student might graduate with more than $300,000 in college loans – effectively having a mortgage on their brain upon graduation. I personally don’t believe a college education (be it at any of the schools you mentioned, or even HYPS) is worth that kind of price. Chicago, Penn, and Northwestern are all need blind, which means they supposedly do not consider your ability to pay when they evaluate your application. My suggestion would be to call each school, and tell them you forgot to check the “yes, I’m applying for financial aid” box.</p>
<p>^ Agree. Although you have all the money, let’s say, I won’t never think of spending them for an education when you can get a good one in your country (where are you from?) or European countries, for example, at a lower price.</p>
<p>Nope, it is not worth the massive loans that you have to take out - not even at Harvard. You are going to be much better off going to NUS, doing very well, and getting a Masters degree overseas.</p>
<p>yea NUS seems very probable now. still hv my fingers crossed for a scholarship (: are u paying on your own for ur studies?</p>