Are these schools worth the price given my financial situation?

Paying for College
21

I would check with Yale…but I believe the bold in the above post refers to having confirmed matriculation spots at two places…which is a no no.

When one is taking classes at a community college during a gap year, it is not as a matriculated student. But as such…the student would be laying out of pocket for these courses.

Really…the thing to do IF a gap year is in consideration…pick up the phone and talk to that person at Yale! That person will be able to answer your questions about what you can and can’t do.

I’m not sure I see what a gap year will do. It could give the student some additional income which would be helpful for year one…but then what?

22

Yes definitely talk to Yale about any questions regarding this.

If you have a confirmed spot at Yale, then postponing matriculation is different than going to a school and then applying to Yale as a transfer.

23

Financially, taking a gap year to earn income to attend Yale seems pretty short-sighted to me. So over the kid’s next 5 years you are substituting income earned in Year 1 (during gap year at the rate they will be paid for being a high school graduate…e.g., Subway full time = maybe $20,000/yr?) for income and real corporate experience they could have earned in Year 5 (at the rate they would be paid after graduating from Yale if they had not taken a gap year…I Bank/Corporate Job = prob minimum of $60,000/yr?).

24

If allowed the cost at the CC which the parents should cover is less than at Yale = savings.

If the student works during gap year = savings he can apply to his contribution to Yale costs. Just as if he also works summers.

Additionally, that work experience and perhaps other experiences can help him grow and make his time at Yale even more valuable. Just like MBA students are better with gap work experience after their bachelors.

It is good to creatively explore options and not just think it’s A or B. Sometimes think sideways and you’ll get there too.

25

^Yes, it was suggested that OP take a gap year to take classes at community college to save money.

But we are cautioning OP that it might not be a good idea, or allowed, depending on Yale’s policy.

26

Anecdotally, with respect to law school, I can share the experience of one of my daughter’s friends. She is bright and hardworking and before her graduation from a not particularly competitive state university, she did a mix of home schooling and public high school for her last two years. She took the LSAT twice but I don’t remember her scores. BS degree in biology. She now has substantial merit offers (full tuition or more) at BU, BC, Georgetown, and a couple of others I can’t remember. I can assure you that UIUC is much more highly ranked than where she attended.

Assuming you do well at university, wherever that may be, and on the LSAT, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t have similar opportunities.

As for the money, I’m a random stranger on the internet, but here goes. I see a couple of options for you. 1) go to Illinois, graduate debt free, go to law school 2) go to Yale, graduate with 85K in debt and then A) work for a couple of years in a high-salary field to pay it off and then go to law school B) go to law school immediately and delay payment of loans (assuming your folks are willing to wait; the government will if you are in school continuously).

As already mentioned - 85K of debt will constrain your career choices somewhat. If you want to work in the non-profit sector, for example, your debt obligations wouldn’t permit it. Summer earnings, of course, might mitigate the debt somewhat.

Back in the 1980s, I had a similar choice - state flagship with honors for free or prestigious LAC that would have meant about 35K in personal debt. I chose the flagship. But had the alternative been Princeton or Yale, I might have made a different choice. The flagship offered a perfectly fine education and I had a choice of several fully-funded prestigious options for graduate school. The honors curriculum was challenging and I met interesting people and made lifelong friends. But I wouldn’t say that it was a total heady “life of the mind” experience. If you seek that experience, it might be worth assuming the debt. If you’re seeking a prestigious name on your diploma as a stepping stone to grad or professional school, maybe not.

Also to consider, as your siblings enter college, if there is overlap, your family’s financial profile might change such that you’d be eligible for more aid, perhaps in the form of grants rather than loans.

Lots to think about. But hey, you got into freakin’ Yale! Congrats.

27

I think community college is not a great option in this case. Unless you are taking enough classes to shorten the number of semesters at Yale, I don’t see how you would save money. And in that case you would also be giving up a chunk of the experience you are paying for. It just doesn’t seem like a worthwhile use of time IMO.

I can understand when usually most posters strongly advise a student to avoid huge debts. The student may have trouble getting a cosigner, the interest piles up, there is always the chance that the cosigner (usually a parent) won’t be able to get the loan approved for all four years, when it’s time to begin loan repayment, the student is also struggling with furnishing a new home and new work wardrobe, etc.

None of that applies to this OP. What the parents are essentially saying to this OP is that it’s easy to spend someone else’s money on something very costly,but are you really willing to spend your own money? Is it still just as worth it? Do you love the school as much when you are the one paying for it?

Everyone can give an opinion and all can be right for the person sharing the opinion but the OP needs to decide what is the best option for the OP. It’s much different then the cases of kids (and their families) taking out huge loans from banks and other lending institutions. There is a safety net here and room to breathe that doesn’t exist in those other circumstances. I don’t think it would be a waste of money for the OP to go to Yale and then repay the money if the OP believes Yale (or whichever other place) is going to be the best place to be for the next 4 years.

28

^^ I totally agree with mom2twogirls. This is not the typical loan situation, and only you can decide if Yale is worth $85,000 more than UIUC to you. The community college option sounds like a very bad idea to me. I personally would choose UIUC and no debt, but I’m not very comfortable with debt and also never had any desire to work on Wall Street. I can definitely see Yale being worth the extra money in some circumstances, though.

FWIW, a UIUC degree will not adversely affect your law school prospects - it’s GPA and LSAT that matter most. I went to a school that’s ranked far below UIUC that most have never heard of, got into a top 10 law school and was hired by a top NY law firm. Your undergrad isn’t of major consequence to law schools or the law firms that eventually hire you.

29

If Op is on a gap year, he should not take classes anywhere (not community college, not on line school, no where) or he will most likely be giving up his seat at Yale. If he takes classes somewhere else he is taking a spot at another institution, even if that institution is a community college (especially if you are talking about transferring those credits to Yale).

30

Yes, this is the essence of choosing Yale with high debt. You must chase the money in your early job and career decisions, which may limit the choices you have. Attending Yale may improve the chances for some high paying jobs (Wall Street and management consulting), but not necessarily as much for others.

31

I understand expecting you to take the Stafford loans–that makes perfect sense and Stafford terms are reasonable, especially for a Yale grad. But I don’t understand why they’d want to saddle you with additional debt on top of that, especially when you may want to go to law or grad school. Stafford loans would fit the definition of “skin in the game”; anything beyond that is a little hard to understand.

Did your family not know BEFORE you applied what your EFC would be? If they were expecting a lower number I can see why they’d balk about being full pay. Did Yale’s Net Price Calculator suggest you WOULD be getting aid? If so, I’d go back to Yale and see if you can appeal the FA decision.

If your family legitimately doesn’t qualify for FA at a school like Yale, then they’e in a tax bracket where I suspect they’ll consider forgiving the family loan once you’ve completed your degree. And even if they don’t, at least they’re not charging you interest.

Still, $85,000 is a pretty big debt for an undergraduate degree.

32

How old are your siblings? Will they overlap with you in college? If they do, what does the NPC show then? Have you taken summer and part time work earnings into account? (And also the potential extra cost of health insurance – if your out if network coverage is not strong and Yale isn’t in/near your network, most colleges make you buy their health insurance – I have seen prices ranging from about $1,500 per year to $4,000 per year).

33

Yale. It will be worth it in the end. That’s my vote.

You may be able to get some internships that pay well each summer to help as well.

Your EFC may go down if your siblings go to college while you are at Yale as well.

34

I think that considering the fact that 1° the loan would be from your parents and interest-free 2° you’re interested in various lucrative fields 3° Illinois (the state) is bankrupt, which despite the high academic quality can’t but affect the academic experience at UIUC, I’d go with Yale. It DOES restrict your choice of jobs (not so much of majors because with proper internships/experience you can parlay your Yale degree into many fields), and thus your few years after college won’t be open to “anything” you want to do, be it backpacking accross Europe, saving penguins, opening a yoga/organic farm compound on one of parents’ lands (yeah, all real post-Ivy plans :p), although you could try to get into TFA if you really want something both prestigious and philantropic rather than money-making. So, would you mind 5+ years in a high pressure corporate job? only you know.

35

Congrats on the Yale acceptance and wish you well in your decision. I’ll just another data point regarding the state school degree and law school admission. My sister attended UIUC and graduated with a double major of political science and history. She then attended Harvard Law and lives and works in Chicago.

Reading your post, one of my concerns for you is that the alternative to high post-graduation debt is a school that is one of your “least favorite schools”. I understand that you are worried about east coast finance connections, but I would suggest you reflect on why UIUC is one of your least favorite schools.

I assume you were accepted into the College of Business. You might want to keep an open mind and attend the Business Experience Day on campus this Saturday.

https://business.illinois.edu/undergraduate-affairs/admissions/events-programs/

I’m not trying to persuade you to accept admission to U of I. But if you examine your pre-conceptions and then try to keep an open mind, you will either be pleasantly surprised or it will confirm that the Yale/Notre Dame debt may be worth it to you.

Lastly, I feel compelled to add that as a parent of two current CoB students, that both of my children would say that their experiences so far have exceeded their expectations. Find out what the top students are accomplishing and you may find “a fit”. :slight_smile: Good luck.

36

Agree with @HRSMom. I think you’d kick yourself down the road if you didn’t accept Yale’s offer of admission.

A Yale education is worth taking on $85,000 worth of personal debt.

Other posters may disagree with my opinion.

37

I absolutely do not agree that Yale is worth 85k in debt, but in this case we’re talking federal loans + bank of mom and dad. That’s why I think it’s fine for OP. Since OP 's parents can lend him/her the money, they’re saying 'we want you to be able to go, but make the choice weighting what that amount of money means '. While loans between family members are a bad idea, between parent lending a hand and children who are responsible, it’s totally different from borrowing from a bank.

38

I don’t agree that Yale is worth $85k of debt (and could be more as costs go up), when the alternative is UIUC…and excellent school.

I think the gap year (and working, not going to school) could help a LOT if that meant that this student would have a sibling in school at the same time for 1+ years AND the family income/assets aren’t so high that there would be no aid with 2 in college.

OP…do your parents own a business or take business deductions? Do they own properties? Is their retirement in non-protected accounts? If so, then even with a sibling in school, there may not be aid to be had.

39

If willing to take on a gap year and earn quite a bit to bring down the 85K anticipated debt.

If desiring law school, go inexpensive UG route and be a stellar student, taking advantage of every opportunity your way.

40

Didn’t u just answer your question here?