OP has indicated that his job is in Dallas (not NYC) and that OP has paid down his loans with some of his internship money.
@coolguy40: Your post that focuses on median pay for various professions misses the point of this thread. OP secured a position with a top MC firm as a financial consultant, therefore any median pay numbers for financial consultants as a whole are meaningless in the context of your post #135, & should focus only on MBB rates of compensation.
Just think of the difference in using a median for all starting attorneys versus median (or, more appropriately, market rate) for biglaw attorneys. The difference in pay is very substantial whether in NYC, San Francisco, Atlanta or Dallas, Texas. Yet biglaw attorneys in Dallas are compensated much more in line with biglaw attorneys in NYC than they are with respect to median pay for all financial consultants.
Regardless, OP has a contract which specifies his compensation. And SMU released pay stats for recent grads contradict all of your posts on this matterāand those SMU stats are from 2016, so they are a bit low.
I actually read all 10 pages of this thread.
First of all, I think OP will do very well in his career. It is rare for a young 20 year old to be able to stand up to so many older posters and not lose his cool. He consistently came back to articulate his points. Frankly his thinking was probably a lot clearer than some posters here. 
120K is higher than normal loan for UG, but average graduates make around 50-60K out of school (maybe lower). I know many of D1ās friends with engineering degrees who graduated with 60-120K loans and were able to pay them off within 5 years. Most of them started with 80k salary and close to 200K after 5 years.
D1 is in IB and is responsible for the firmās associate and analyst program now (aside from her day job). I was also in the business for 20+ years before I left. Many of those associates and analysts leave after few years because of work/life balance, but they are very well sought after by other employers after few years in IB. The ones who make it, their total package after 5 years could be around 500K. Of course, on a bad year, a lot of bonus could be deferred, but their base is 200-250K (a very livable salary for 20 somethings).
I was in consulting at a big 4 for a very short period of time and my niece was there right out of college for few years. Others may have different experienceā¦but I found the work/life balance was worse than IB and the pay was way below IB. I think for the amount of time one needs to put into it, there are better ways of making a living.
D2 is going to take out a lot of loans for law school. She would never do it if she was worried about possible illness/disability. Like OP, she knows how much she could be making (at a big law) and how fast she will be able to pay it back. After she pays back her loans then should be free to pursue her public interests (or she could marry rich). OP took a very calculated risk and was focused on achieving his goal, not every young adult is like OP. You have to know your kid and your family financial risk tolerant before you could do the same.
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OP and his family took a calculated risk. Heās obviously intelligent, he worked hard, and he ended up in a situation where he should be able to easily handle the debt. I know many people from Wharton who took out loans of similar size and have been able to pay it down without too much stress. Many grads are making $180k or more all-in in IB right away and then significantly more than that each year after. The large loans clearly have risks and are not for everyone, but for certain students in the right programs the risks are much more mitigated.
^ Some will argue OP could have accomplished the same exact outcome at a different school without the debt. Iām sure that is true. I also know from personal experience and that of MANY close friends (both sides of the equation), it is more realistic to achieve the outcome when attending and engaging a school that focuses on that outcome. You can certainly do that from anywhere, but there is a reason the rookie class within high finance, consulting, top ranked FLDP programs are dominated by a group of schools. Go to Goldman Sachs new analyst class of 100 kids and 70 of them will come from top 20 schools with the other 30 spots sprinkled about with one from state UX or Y. Itās just the way it is. These top schools have created an ecosystem that feeds these programs. Itās a viscous cycle (and a good one).
Itās really a bet on oneself. The school has the systems and track record of success. Are you up to the challenge. OP obviously felt he was, and he was!
Well, SMU is a decent school but in no way worth their high cost of attendence. Obviously, if you donāt have acceptances from better colleges or if SMU is offering you significant merit scholarships or enough need based aid money then it makes sense to go there for free or nearly free. However, its not worth $120k debt with interest. OP, come back once youāve paid your debt and tell us about your experience.
I agree that OP has done a great job, but we arenāt really talking about him. Weāre debating how well his advice translates to other students. And letās be honest ā itās not the student whoās doing the betting ā whoeverās co-signing those large loans are the ones taking the gamble.
All the stories of grads who were accepted into competitive programs, made it through without being weeded out or their parents running out of borrowing power, and graduated into well paying jobs are great. What happens to the other students? You know, the ones whose parents take the large loan gamble but they donāt make it into/through the program? Or whoās one of the 9% who doesnāt walk into a job after graduation?
This is a key phrase. Some people who take the ~$120k loan gamble will make it. What happens to the others?
I also think that $120K plus interest has an opportunity cost. It could be going into retirement accounts, down payment on a house, or other investments that would gain value over time. Research in fact shows that a strong student with the right personality traits will be successful even if they donāt go to a top school. Even if the OP pays off their loans, they COULD have done something else with the money that had a higher payoff than attending this particular school that was unaffordable for his family with the savings and income he had at the time of admission.
@Publisher You missed the point entirely. The point Iām trying to make, is that $120k in debt for a bachelors degree is a bad decision. The same offer could have been had from a school like UT or Texas A&M for a small fraction of that cost. If the job offer turns out NOT to be the rainbows and lollipops youāre expecting(happens most the time), then options are very limited with that kind of debt. Thereās a funny little contingency called life that drives us to do illogical things, like get married and have children. It throws expenses at you like a government conspiracy. People find that plans on paper almost never work out the same way in real life. My advice to people who want to do something similar for collegeā¦DONāT! Life has a way of chewing up and spitting out people who have large amounts of debt. Taking a gamble might pay off for a select few. Las Vegas casinos are rich because they know gambling is a game for suckers!
@coolguy40: No I havenāt missed the point. You are just unfamiliar with the type of position obtained by OP.
Also, you are wrong to confuse āgamblingā with taking a well calculated risk. Without business owners taking calculated risks, there would be no jobs.
I donāt know why you are so angry about this thread, but OP is satisfied with the risk & the outcome to date. And if you donāt believe that an excellent education, great work ethic & strong interviewing skills arenāt worth investing in, then we just have to agree to disagree.
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SMU degree isnāt worth more than $12K debt. Only schools worth $100k+ debt are medical schools or certain lucrative majors in top 20 schools.
@CupCakeMuffins: Which schools ? University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business for a Finance degree ?
That makes some sense but I would still think hard before taking this kind of debt as students arenāt eligible for this kind of loans so parent may end up being responsible for the burden. If they are comfortable then its okay.
OP got the same result as a Wharton undergraduate finance major. Could have pursued the more lucrative IB path, but chose MC instead. Commonly done by Wharton & other Ivy grads.
I am not advocating for loans in excess of a reasonably expected first year salary if in a sought after major such as finance or computer science, etc. But OP took a calculated risk that seems to have yielded the results that he wanted.
SMU Cox is a well respected business school in Dallas & elsewhere. May not sell as well on the east coast, but great for Texas.
MODERATORāS NOTE: Since CC is not a debate society, I am closing the thread.