<p>I need advice in making one of the most difficult choices of my life !!!!
I got accepted to both University of Michigan and Barnard College (Women's college with Columbia Univ affiliation). UMich offered me a full ride for the first year, no loans... However if I attend Barnard I'm looking at around $4,000-$5,000 per year in loans and I would have to work. Barnard is absolutely my DREAM SCHOOL, but I really do like UMich... I can't decide between the two !!! I feel like Barnard would provide me with more opportunities, but is it worth the student loan debt ? I come from a very low-income family so paying back the loans will fall solely upon me and I am considering grad school. OPINIONS? HELP?</p>
<p>Sincerely,
A confused student :(</p>
<p>OzieBee,</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances! However, I’m sorry this has created a difficult situation for you. While Barnard is a great institution, if money is tight you might also take into account what your daily spending would be like. Manhattan is expensive and it’s my understanding that most Barnard students move into apartments after their first year. Maybe talk to your college counselor about it? It’s ultimately a persona choice, but I would maybe make a fake budget for each campus taking into account potential rents, groceries, cost of travel within the area, restaurants, coffee, etc. While you can certainly be economic while living in Manhattan, it can be tricky to do so when your peers aren’t.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>I agree with englishivy. Manhattan is extremely expensive, on top of your regular college expenses. I spoke to a woman recently whose D was also accepted there, and she estimated the cost to be around $70K per year. (They are full pay and live in CA, so included their travel costs, as well as apartment expenses, in her estimate.) This seems terribly expensive to me, even for a top notch school. If you are sure that your loans would amount to no more than the $4-5K you stated, it might be worth it, but you may end up paying much more.</p>
<p>In this case, I’d take the UMich scholarship (and Michigan is no ordinary school by any means) so that you don’t have to defer your dream of grad school.</p>
<p>i disagree. 4-5k is pretty doable and would not put off grad school. If you won’t be happy at UMich, don’t go</p>
<p>I would choose based upon the size and feel of the school. I attended law school at the University of Michigan after attending a top women’s college and was not very happy at Michigan. It is a huge school, very easy to get lost in, the weather is awful (overcast from December to April due to the lake effect) and I could not imagine why everyone there I knew who went to Michigan as an undergrad loved it except that they did not know any better. If I had the same choice I would choose Barnard in a heartbeat. She will have a better chance of getting into graduate school from Barnard and she can attend grad school at Michigan if she worries about missing out on the football games . . . . (the school spends a fortune on the athletic programs).</p>
<p>Spend lots on athletics.</p>
<p>I definitely don’t think that Barnard will provide you with more opportunities than Michigan. Michigan is an excellent public university, one of the best in the country. Barnard is a great school with great opportunities, too, but they are probably about equal in that regard.</p>
<p>$16-20K in debt isn’t a whole lot, but no debt is better than a little debt.</p>
<p>I completely disagree that you will have a better chance getting into grad school from Barnard (it really depends, honestly. Michigan has an excellent psychology department, for example). I know a lot of Michigan alum and they all loved their experience there. Not being happy as a law student is different from the experience an undergrad will have there; grad students are not as tapped into the community by default (I’m a grad student at Columbia, btw).</p>