<p>I'm torn. </p>
<p>I was accepted to Dartmouth, Duke, Vanderbilt and University of Mississippi.</p>
<p>Obviously, I would love the opportunity to attend Dartmouth and Duke. However, for financial reasons, they are a huge reach.</p>
<p>Ole Miss: Full Ride +4k year stipend (In honors college and 2 other selective programs)
Dartmouth: Will cost about 18k per year
Duke: Will cost about 16K per year
Vandy: Will cost about 14K per year.</p>
<p>I am appealing my aid at Duke and Dart, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I do like my state U, but I kinda feel like I'm missing an opportunity. I do plan on grad school, which is why the debt free part of Ole Miss would be nice. So Free State School, or 40k of debt for awesome school?</p>
<p>Try this calculator. It lets you compare the financial and some of the non-financial aspects of each option: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Advanced Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>What kind of grad school? Law? Medicine? Those two are expensive and usually result in boatloads of debt. M.Eng.? That usually is one year and gets you into a better job quickly. Ph.D.? Frankly, if they don’t offer you full support, then they don’t think you have what it takes to make a career in that field.</p>
<p>The re-payability of debt depends a lot on you. Is your field of study something that is all but guaranteed to get you a job straight out of college? Are you low maintenance and willing to live like an impoverished student for ten years or so after finishing college? If you can’t imagine living on ramen noodles, shopping at thrift stores, and taking the bus instead of owning a car then a lot of college debt is not for you. Usually we cranky parents advise against taking on more debt than the equivalent of the Stafford Loans. That is about 25k. For some people 40k would be manageable. For others it would be too much.</p>
<p>In the past couple of years there have been several threads started by people who chose the “cheap” option. Here is one from last spring. Maybe it will help you decide what choice is best for you: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/905843-top-student-3rd-tier-school-four-years-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/905843-top-student-3rd-tier-school-four-years-later.html</a></p>