<p>my final two choices are barnard and wellesley. i love barnard, it's my absolute dream school (i know how much CC hates that term hah), blah blah blah, but i would have to take out 2 or 3k more in loans each year, most likely. at wellesley i would end up graduating with only 10-15k in debt. should i just stop worrying about barnard and move on to wellesley? wellesley is amazing, but it's just really hard for me to let barnard go because it's been my favorite for so long. i feel like the extra debt wouldn't be worth it and i'm not very comfortable with it, so could someone please confirm that? my mom really doesn't see the problem with more debt so i'd like some other opinions....</p>
<p>Do you have any idea what kind of career you want to go into? Some manage to repay debt much more quickly. </p>
<p>On an academic and a prestige level Barnard and Wellesley are fairly equal, so you’ll basically be paying another 10000 dollars to live in New York city. If you think that experience is worth 10k, then by all means, go for it. </p>
<p>10 or 15k is reasonable. Two time that may be doable if you work summers, then you won’t have time for research and other things. Three times that is a bit painful. That’s 500 a month for 10 years. 500 that will make it hard to live and pay rent and buy a car at first. Then 500 you aren’t putting into your savings. I think it’s time to work the numbers in detail and find out what the totals are and the difference actually is. Be sure to include cost of health insurance each year.</p>
<p>I want to major in econ or comp sci. I know that could change, but as of now, I’m interested in those. </p>
<p>If I went to W, with minimal loans I’d graduate with 10-15k. At Barnard, it’d be at least 19k, and that would be it if I didn’t take any more than what they gave me. Is that a reasonable amount of debt? And is the increase in debt justifiable if I really believe that this school is a much better fit for me?</p>
<p>Pretty sure I have to work summers regardless</p>
<p>Sounds like you want Barnard. Why not call their financial aid department and let them know your situation. Perhaps they can meet or come close to the difference. They may replace some loan dollars with grant dollars. You have nothing to lose. Good luck. You have two terrific choices.</p>
<p>thank you! apparently you can only try to get financial aid reevaluated if there’s been a change in finances; unfortunately you can’t just show them another school’s offer. i think my financial aid is a done deal, sadly </p>
<p>A reasonable amount of debt is the federal limit, ie., $27,000 total for all 4 years. Of course, less than that is better, but 19k would be quite manageable.</p>
<p>I agree, if Barnard is your dream and you can manage it without overwhelming debt, then go for it. </p>
<p>i’m really surprised at these responses, honestly; i thought everyone would tell me the less debt the better and that it’s not worth it</p>
<p>but barnard excites me whereas wellesley scares me so i’d like to think i’m making the right choice! thanks for the reassurance, everyone :)</p>
<p>I read your original post wrong. I thought you were saying Barnard would be 2 or 3 times as much debt and in that case Wellesley would be definitely the right choice. 2 or 3k isn’t much. Sure you want to minimize debt, but 15 vs 19k total isn’t meaningful. You should be able to get a small job at Barnard if you don’t have one already in your package. Some summer internships when you are a sophomore and especially Jr can pay quite well in those fields.</p>
<p>well, it would most likely be closer to 10k vs 19k, but thanks for the additional reassurance!! </p>