Grad School Question...

<p>I was talking to a friend about the pros and cons of going to a better, more expensive college (better for me, that is) over a school where i'd get a good scholarship but is not as good a fit for me, and she brought up grad school. I'm pretty sure I want to go to grad school, but I thought that would be even more debt added on to my undergrad debt (if I go to the more expensive undergrad). She said, though, that most grad schools will actually pay you to go there. How true is this? I would be more likely to choose that college that's a better fit for me if I knew that I wouldn't have to be worrying about grad school debt on top of the debt that would build up from the undergrad...
Can anyone explain this to me? Thanks!</p>

<p>Depends what you want to go to grad school in. You have to pay for professional schools such as med school and law school, but the more academic-oriented ones pay for you to go plus stipend.</p>

<p>To clarify, I am interested in biological research, and at the moment I don't see myself going to med school, so I'm just referring to non-professional schools.</p>

<p>If you go into biological research, then you will likely be totally financially supported. THis works because you help profs with their lab work and other research, and often help with teaching undergrads as well. In biology, a lot of grad students spend part of their time being rat-wranglers.</p>

<p>But since you haven't even gone to college and really seen what the field is like yet, don't count your chickens. You might not want to go to grad school when the time comes, you might want med school, or hey, you might end up being an anthropology major. </p>

<p>In short, I wouldn't let the question of grad school affect your college decision. Deal with it when it comes. As a 2003 college grad I can say that very few of my friends are where they thought they'd be 8, 4, or even 2 years ago.</p>

<p>this was a concern for me as well when i was deciding on undergrad. i ultimately decided to go to my state school (University of TX - Austin) for my undergrad b/c it's a great state school, cheap tuition and I knew i wouldn't leave with a debt of 100K. i feel as though when you go to undergrad you are just starting your adult life and you can't assume that what you plan on studying is what you will actually graduate with (not saying that's the case for everyone)...however, when you choose to go to grad school, you are choosing to become specialized in a certain field. at that time, you want to go to the school that best fits your interests and work with professors that you have heard about/read about. graduate school is much more area specific than undergrad. i will now be going to u chicago for grad school and i'm glad that i don't have the 100k debt that i would have had, had i of gone to a private undergrad. funding is out there for grad school, true....
just make sure you go to an undergrad school that you feel as if you will thrive in....go to a school that is the size you are looking for, philosophy that you agree with, atmosphere that you like, etc.... but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to one that costs 32K/year.....it's such a personal decision...weigh the pros/cons and see what works the best for you.</p>