Help! Dream school vs. scholarships

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Short version if you don't want to read the long story: Should I go to Duke, my dream school, and take out student loans for $20,000 a year or go to Furman, my second choice, for $6,000 a year (or nothing, if I get the full scholarship)?</p>

<p>Long version, if you have time:
I was really lucky in the college admissions game. Right now I am torn between my two top choices, Duke and Furman. Duke is my dream school, and obviously much more academically prestigious. I like the campus more, they have a figure skating club (figure skating is my passion), and I like the size more. I like Furman a lot, and was deadset on going there till I found out I got into Duke. </p>

<p>Problem is, the expected family contribution for my family at Duke is $42,000, meaning I personally would have to take out $20,000 in loans a year, and my mom would take out loans for about $5,000 to $10,000 a year and delay retirement for two years to help pay for it. She is deadset on me going there - she knows the opportunities associated with a Duke education. </p>

<p>However, at Furman, I have a half scholarship right now so we would only be paying $16,000 a year. Right now, I think I would rather take out the loans and go to Duke - I think it will pay off in the long run. However, next weekend I am going to Furman to compete for the full tuition scholarship and the full ride scholarship. If I am awarded one of these, I will be completely torn. </p>

<p>So my question is, if you were in my situation, what would you do? Do you think the Duke education will pay off even if it is $40,000 a year compared to Furman's $6,000 (if I get full tuition) or nothing (if I get full ride)? </p>

<p>Duke is flat out my dream school - I love everything about it and would be thrilled to go there. I like Furman a lot too though but there are certainly things about Furman that I dislike (the size, going to every class every day, the Furman "bubble").</p>

<p>Another question - does anyone know someone who has taken out $20,000+ in loans a year to go to college? How long did it take them to pay it off, do they think it was worth it?</p>

<p>Wow that was really long, thanks for reading!</p>

2

<p>This is a decision you have to make yourself, listen to what you want, not what other people say.</p>

<p>But since you ask what I would do, I would go to Duke (though my parents probably wouldn't let me). It's hard to put a price on a dream.</p>

<p>Then again, if you think you can fall in love with Furman once you stop thinking about Duke, and if you think (this is most important) that you would be happy there too, Furman is your better choice.</p>

<p>BTW, what is the Furman bubble?</p>

3

<p>If you plan on repaying the loans in 10 years, the monthly payments on the $80k will be around $850. Payments on $24k would be around $250. This is assuming a 5% interest rate. You'll need to decide if going to Duke is worth $600/mo of your income for 10 years.</p>

<p>Another way to look at it, at 10 years the loans for Furman will total $30k, the loans at Duke will be over $100k</p>

4

<p>"Should I go to Duke, my dream school, and take out student loans for $20,000 a year"</p>

<p>No way! $80 k in college debt will put you in a straitacket you after college so that you will have very limited grad school options and job options.</p>

5

<p>I think it really depends on what you want to do after school. If you're planning on investment banking the $850 per month is a drop in the bucket, buit if you're planning to teach it would be impossible. Myroommate is taking out huge loans to go to Yale. It's worth it to her because she wants to be an investment banker. Her brother did the same and it's worked out for him.</p>

6

<p>We have the same dilemma, different schools. We have the expensive first choice school (CMU) with almost no help, another similar school with 50% aid (Case), or a state school (Pitt) with possibly a full ride for 4 years (competition not over for us, either). There are other schools with various offers as well, but I think this set matches your situation. Unless the first choice school makes some alteration in their financial aid package, it will be off the list. IMO, that is just too much debt for undergrad. Luckily, my son agrees. No sense in having the dream turn into a nightmare! I would go to Furman.</p>

7

<p>i had to make a similar choice two years ago.I had a low EFC, so I had the interest free government loan. But, now that i'm in college, I think if u want to goto a school that bad, i think its worth it to take out outside loans, especially when its between Duke and Furman.</p>

8

<p>"think it really depends on what you want to do after school. If you're planning on investment banking the $850 per month is a drop in the bucket, "</p>

<p>The problem is, however, that most college students change their majors at least once. In addition, one never knows what could happen that might prevent one from pursuing a career that pays a lot of money even if one wants such a career.</p>

9

<p>The Furman bubble is the feelings student have that they live in a bubble - probably because the school is so small and lacks diversity, and Greenville itself is a small town.</p>

<p>I am planning on majoring in business or communications. I would really like to go into marketing or advertising.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help, everyone, it is greatly appreciated!</p>

10

<p>Consider that for $850 per month, you could make two car payments or have most of your apartment rent or home mortgage paid. That is alot of money to me! And at that point could you even afford graduate school tuition?</p>

11

<p>850 is a month is a lot of money, especially for someone in their first job. I also wonder if you could pay for grad school at the point.</p>

12

<p>Remember that if you go to Furman, you always could transfer.</p>

13

<p>Furman and Duke are vastly different in culture. Furman is quintessentially Southern; Duke is a northern school that happens to be plunked down in NC. Furman has a fairly conservative population and is notably un-druggy. Duke's chaplain has been widely published for his condemnation of the anti-intellectual and alcohol-abusing campus climate. Twenty-six percent of Furman students wind up marrying one another; no one even dates at Duke - "hooking up" is allegedly the norm. Clearly, Duke has the bigger name. But Furman is absolutely beloved by its students. It's fabulously beautiful. It's much more close-knit and interpersonal than Duke. The "bubble" reference is about its apparent detachment from the "real world" - that can be good or ba. When we visited there, the students (though homogeneous) were across-the-board happy, polite, helpful, friendly, etc. Greenville has a metro population of 300,000 and has done tremendous downtown revitalization. You might be looking for a slice of New York with warmer weather (Duke), or you may be into more intimate Southern charm. If you could be happy with the latter, you might think about what else you could do with the $80,000 you'd save: Study in Europe in the summers? Make a downpayment on a house for grad school, rent the other rooms to classmates to pay the mortgage, and graduate with both a Masters degree and home equity? My D and I have visited both places - she's concerned about the lack of diversity at Furman and would prefer a student selectivity level more like Duke's. But all things considered, right now Furman's on the short list and Duke's not.</p>

14

<p>Though I have been an occasional visitor to this website, this thread prompted me to register just so I could post a reply. Gadad is right on the money.</p>

<p>I am a Duke graduate and the mother of a high school senior who has just decided to attend Furman next year, and though I always dreamed he would go to my alma mater, I couldn't be happier.</p>

<p>Sure, a Duke pedigree will give you an edge in the marketplace, especially early in your career, but $80K plus interest is a lot to pay for a name whose importance will fade after a few short years; your own job performance is what ultimately matters. Duke is a big, self-important place. I felt positively anonymous there. Classes can be quite large and not infrequently taught by graduate students. Furman is relatively small and infinitely friendlier. As for the surrounding town, when I was at Duke we never ventured into Durham and I understand that hasn't changed. Crime is a problem, near and even on campus. Greenville wins that competition, hands down.</p>

15

<p>It is quite unfortunate that money can stop someone from going to a dream school, I wish it were different :(</p>

<p>I'm going to flip-flop here and agree with most of the previous posters now that I've read gadad's comments which made me change my perception of Furman. If you can see yourself happy there, go there, $850 a month is a LOT of money. That's a little under my rent and I live in New York City. Is it worth being miserable for four years? No, you can't put a price on happiness. But if you can see yourself happy and Furman (which can be hard to do when you're obsessed with Duke but try to forget about Duke and observe it objectively), then save yourself a lot of hardship later in life and go with Furman.</p>

16

<p>iceangeljt, what do you mean that you don't like the idea of "going to class every day" at Furman?</p>

17

<p>if you are likely to go to graduate school, I'd definitely choose Furman, even without the additional aid.</p>

18

<p>Knve - At Furman, you go to every single class you are taking for an hour every day. It seems high school-esque to me, I would much prefer the slightly longer classes that meet three or so times a week.</p>

19

<p>Oh I see, it was that way when I was at Duke; in fact my senior year I arranged it so I had classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Furman's 3-2-3 semester system probably necessitates the daily class schedule.</p>

20

<p>If you are going to take $80k in loans, take it out to enhance the education you are getting at Furman. Going into marketing/advertising? invest in 3 months of intensive Chinese in China one summer; or in French in Paris, and get yourself an internship there. There are many, many other ways to enhance your position in the marketplace than by the name of the school. I'm not kidding - plan on spending some of the saved $80k. And after your first 3 years out, no one is going to care what school you went to anyway - it will be "what is your track record in producing?"</p>