<p>Actormcfamous, here's my take on the question you posed - and by take, I mean how I would analyze the issues, not what the right answer is. Only you can reach that conclusion.</p>
<p>Attending your "dream school" is a wonderful thing. But think through why it is your dream school. Is it because of the content of the education you will get, it's location or "reputation"? If it is because of "reputation" or as others might label it, "ranking", that is the least legitimate of reasons to to incur substantial debt. The reality is, a year out of school, no one will care where you graduated from. All they will care about is what you bring to auditions and what anyone may know about how it is to work with you. It's really no different than many other professions. When I hire a lawyer for my firm, the least important criteria for me is which law school he or she graduated from. I look for those qualities that will make them an asset to my firm as a working attorney, and the name of the school on the degree is relatively unimportant in reality.</p>
<p>Focusing on educational content and location gives you some things to evaluate and compare between schools that are quantifiable. You can dig into the curricula and contrast what each school has to offer. You can determine if at one school where you would be in an acting program you can supplement with voice and dance so as to get much of what you would get at a MT program. Your earlier comment about the primacy of acting is right on point. A good actor who also has a backround in voice and dance will have many more employment opportunities than someone who is a good singer or dancer but can't act. I would also give a lot of thought about location in comparing the schools because this is where you are going to live for the next 4 years and you need to have a life outside of the classroom/studio to maintain balance and sanity in your life. If you can't see yourself enjoying living in a particular location for the next four years, then it's probably not a good school for you to attend regardless of anything else including finances. So I would compare and contrast the schools' locations to see whether any school stood out for a particular reason.</p>
<p>Then comes what for you is an important and perhaps over-riding consideration - cost. Taking out substantial student loans will undoubtably create additional burdens on you upon graduation at a time when graduates, regardless of major or field of employment, are facing tremendous pressures to afford the costs of housing, health insurance, food and transportation. Being saddled with $100,000 in loans makes it that much more difficult to afford these essentials, let alone saving for a future where your priorities and needs may be different than they are for the first 5 or 6 years after graduation. You need to get a solid handle on the amount of loans you would need for each school and calculate what your monthly repayment obligations would be and when they would kick in. Work out some "what if scenarios" in which you calculate in today's monthly costs for for the essentials of housing, health insurance, food and transportation to get a rough handle on proportionately what kind of impact the loans would have on a monthly budget. Compare that with what you would expect your income to be.</p>
<p>Once you have a clear analysis of the economics, you can do a "cost/benefit" analysis between the various schools. You may conclude that what one school offers stands out so much above the others that the increased financial pressures after graduation are worth it. Or the balance may go in a different direction. But at least then, you are making a decision based on the "facts", as you can best determine them, and can make a well thought out decision. And keep in mind that if your list of schools was a good one for you to begin with, most students find that they have a very gratifying college experience at the school they end up attending. Oftentimes, a school that wasn't your "top choice" ends up becoming your "dream school" because of what you invest of yourself.</p>
<p>McFamous's mom here. Just want to thank you for sharing your thoughts with him. We have been discussing and debating how this will all play out for weeks now. Wish the financial aspect of this wasn't going to be such a strong contributing factor in the final decision, but it is. It good for him (and us) to have some outside perspective. It is very much appreciated!</p>
<p>I guess I'm stating what should be the obvious, but whatever you do, make absolutely sure that you have all the final offers from your schools on the table before you make your decision. Sometimes, more money can show up late in the game. Also, make sure the dream school knows what's going on. No promises, here, but they might sweeten the deal. Two years ago, I had made up my mind to attend one school for financial reasons when another I had pretty much written off hit me with some big money in the eleventh hour.</p>
<p>My D had the same situation, she committed to one school and two times was given additional money by the 2nd school. In the end she made the right decision. We had already made the deposit to one school when she was given a lot more money to the 2nd school. She feels she made the right choice.</p>
<p>Do the schools send out the "additional money" offers before the May 1st deadline? Did the offers come on their own or did you call the fin. aid at the school and ask for some additional funds? We have received acceptances from a few schools with talent scholarships but have yet to receive much fin. aid information.</p>
<p>Can kids actually take out student loans that total $100,000? I know my d wasn't offered anything like that, however, we were with the parent plus loan! My d will have some loans to pay back, but we will bare the brunt of it--ouch.</p>
<p>ajsurfs - In addition to the scholarship offer you will receive the financial package from the school where they calculate your need based on the FAFSA and there may be some additional assistance added to your scholarship. These are usually grants (you don't have to pay them back), sometimes some loans and some work study assistance (i.e. they give your kid a job and deduct his wages from the tuition). Read this carefully as the student will have to pay back the loan(s). I recommend you wait for this package before you make a financial decision. One final point and that is I noticed that some schools send out an estimate of everything (Room and board, meal plan, books, fees, insurance etc.) and some leave certain items off. You want to make sure you have all the expenses layed out for each school prior to making a comparison.</p>
<p>
[quote]
some work study assistance (i.e. they give your kid a job and deduct his wages from the tuition)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Those of you who have workstudy $$ included in your financial aid package should check with each school to inquire as to how it works there. The schools with which we're familiar do not handle workstudy in the way described by MTdad. What happens (in our experience) is that a certain amount of $$ is listed as workstudy. When the student gets to campus in September, it is up to them to search the workstudy list to see what types of jobs are available, to apply and interview for the jobs which interest them, and attempt to find one which will fit their schedule (this is not always easy for theatre kids). Then, after being hired, they work and get paid just as any other part-time job. The amount is not deducted from their tuition. </p>
<p>It's entirely possible that some schools may handle workstudy differently, but I haven't heard of one. Ask your school's F/A office!</p>
<p>Can kids take out 100K? Sure! We have to cosign usually but many banks - at least before the new ' credit crunch'- were offering up to 40K.... In our case, we would have taken out the real loans....and ouch is right!</p>
<p>Too bad we can't boycott all the colleges so we could get them to lower the prices :) I was looking at a college website that lists the tuition prices going back several years and the tuition has gone up 50 percent in the last 5 yrs. I truly do not understand why the cost of living is 3 percent or less but college tuition climbs 8 percent or more every year! Because of this ridiculous inflationary trend I think the government has to reconsider who qualifies for financial aid. If your family income is less than 200k than the cost of college is going to be painful. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>As someone who still holds almost $100k in student loans (I went back for an advanced degree later in life), I can say I have no regrets for the knowledge I bought. But I also have received a return on that investment by being paid more because of the school I attended and that is not the case in every field. </p>
<p>If my daughter wanted to pursue a profession with a stable salary ceiling regardless of which school she graduated from I might encourage her to attend a state school where cost was nil or low. On the other hand because I do value quality education I could be easily persuaded to pay the costs just for her own personal benefit. My D's friend recently faced this choice. She could easily get into an Ivy yet knows she wants to be a web designer. It made more sense to go to a college where she could acquire the skills she needs and graduate debt free. </p>
<p>I've considered this cost-benefit approach with the BFA and frankly I don't have an answer. If the BFA program afforded strong academics along with the performing art skills I might be more persuaded. Unfortunately I found too few of those. Because of the high rate of unemployment in performance this really makes it a very hard choice. This path has always reminded me of athletics and they should give these BFA students large scholarships.</p>