<p>Jolynne: How do you know that UT is top 10 for your son’s field? Not doubting you, just wondering about the rating system. (D is not at all interested in CS so if this is a well-known thing among CS people, I apologize.)</p>
<p>The problem that I see with these loans is – what if the kid does not finish? (I know, I know, of course they will finish! In less than 4 years!) And if they do finish, MOST of these kids will not be popping into good jobs right after graduation. And some will go to graduate school. So… I think that ANY amount of loans over 1K a year is too much. </p>
<p>As a baseline, I would see what your local state university costs and see what their FA, if any, is, and use that as a frame of reference. If your local U’s COA is 20K, and your dreamy LAC is 52K, then be realistic. What is that LAC offering for 32K that the state U does not have?</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be snide, really, but:</p>
<p>But thinking that the advantages of a higher-ranked school in a comp sci field might be worth it (echoing Hanna’s comment) … wonder if anyone else is doing a similar calculation for a kid in a similar type of major/situation? </p>
<p>I ADMIRE YOUR OPTIMISM. What if your son changes his mind and joins a commune or majors in Philosophy, not Computers, or …???</p>
<p>4safrontman, it may well be that the reason the school “across the country” is the one with the best financial aid is because, well, it is across the country. Schools like diversity, regional as well as racial, social, etc. And they know that you may be factoring in travel costs in making your decision.</p>
<p>psych_, I agree with your Dad. In my field, the pedigree of the school is not a factor in new hires. From experience, we have had just as much luck (I dare say, more luck) with grads from NoName U than Harvard.</p>
<p>You may all be very familar with the FinAid! resource online–but it was new to me. I recently recommended it to my grad students who are perhaps not so attentive to some of their accruing debt details relative to potential income…Their “calculators” page seemed really useful Just google “FinAid!”</p>
<p>Is the cost difference one of initial sticker price, merit $ in some less selective colleges’ aid package, the mix of grant-to-loan, or differences in what various colleges consider a reasonable EFC? Particularly if it’s the latter two, but maybe in any case, there’s not much to lose by talking to someone in the FA office about your situation before letting the dream school go. They may not have much flexibility, but who knows?</p>
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<p>Very interesting, and timely, thread. As the parent of a HS junior, we’ve been been going back and forth on the issue of whether D should apply only to public universities and/or private schools that offer merit versus taking her chances with a few “need-based aid-only” top tier private LAC’s and taking loans out, if necessary.</p>
<p>The thing is, D is planning to major in English. For the most part, she’s been leaning toward the more conservative approach of looking at public schools, either in-state, or OOS w/ merit aid and private schools w/ merit. Her career objective is to teach English at the college/university level and hopefully write on the side. (FWIW, she has also considered double majoring, or minoring, in Psychology.) Of course, this will mean that she’ll need to go on to graduate school. She realizes that being an English professor isn’t the most lucrative career path and, with grad. school on the horizon, the last thing she needs is to overextend herself with student loan debt as an undergrad. On the other hand, we’ve looked up, on different (relatively selective) university and college websites, the educational background of various English professors. It does seem like many of the professors had received their Bachelors degrees from highly selective schools. </p>
<p>And this has me pondering a couple of questions: First, for someone who is aspiring to a career in academia, how important is the “prestige” of the undergraduate school that she graduates from? And, <em>if</em> prestige is important, how far should she financially stretch herself(and us), student loan-wise, to attend a top tier undergraduate school? Any thoughts would be appreciated.</p>
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<p>Well if she wants to enter a career in academia then graduate school is much more important than undergrad so you’ve got to keep that in the ‘debt’ calculations too. If she was in science then grad school would generally be free (Federal Government or private foundations pay for almost all science PhDs in the US, even for foreigners) but such funding is very hard to come by for the liberal arts.</p>
<p>As for ‘prestige’ what’s most important is how well she does and how she differentiates herself. So I wouldn’t say you need to totally avoid debt for undergrad, but equally if a liberal arts grad school is in the picture then you certainly don’t want to spend too much there…</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, rocketman08. </p>
<p>Regarding grad. school funding: She recently got together with some friends of her who are now in college, who were suggesting that she should pursue admission to a top tier school even if meant stretching herself with some loans. The reasoning that they gave her was that there’s a good chance that she could fund her graduate education with a fellowship. We’re not sure how likely this is, especially for a doctoral program in the liberal arts. </p>
<p>Any other thoughts on this?</p>
<p>“If she was in science then grad school would generally be free (Federal Government or private foundations pay for almost all science PhDs in the US, even for foreigners) but such funding is very hard to come by for the liberal arts.”</p>
<p>Rocketman08 - could you tell me where this info could be verified? Same boat - trying to decide between UGA Honors (almost free) or Vanderbilt ($12K/yr in loans). Daughter interested in biology or econ. Definitely will pursue graduate school</p>
<p>Just speaking up in favoring of choosing an undergrad school where the loan burden to the student won’t be larger than around $5,000 a year. Our older child and friends are recent college grads lucky to be working in decently paid jobs. But expenses in the kinds of big cities where you’d get such jobs are also high—the tuition repayment on around $20,000 is still a significant budget drain for these recent grads who have loans.</p>
<p>MatildaMae–well, the comp sci undergrad programs aren’t ranked (that I know of) but the grad prgrms are. Here’s a link:
[Search</a> - Computer Science - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/search]Search”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/search)
Grad school does not directly corrolate w/undergrad strength of prgm, but it’s related. Particularly in comp sci, where the opp. to do substantive, interesting research is a big plus for anyone pursuing that major.</p>
<p>There are a couple of threads you can search on CC parents if you do the advanced search function & type in “computer science” etc.</p>
<p>LindaCarmichal–well, that’s true, we don’t know that son might not switch to a history major instead of comp sci. I also don’t know if he’ll apply himself to do well to get internships/jobs/etc. (esp since he’s got senioritis now, and almost missed out on class trip because of sudden grade decline!).</p>
<p>That uncertainty is one of the variables we are factoring in, as we evaluate this whole equation re: schools/programs/financing/future debt. </p>
<p>Somehow, I’m thinking I’d like to bet on son’s success, and not operate from a position of anticipating his failure. However, the question is how much to bet…!</p>
<p>I would not limit my criteria to the prestige of a school in considering borrowing for it, though it might a factor. Sometimes, there is a special program or consideration that can make the match a good one and worth the investment.</p>
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<p>pumpkin, I’m not sure where to send you for official verification, but it is true that most PhD candidates in fields doing on-site university research that is funded externally have tuition and fee waivers and receive stipends (pay) while they are graduate students. Some students will have to work as teaching assistants for their pay, but if you choose your professor well, your dissertation work will be paid work. It is not lucrative, but is sufficient to live the graduate student lifestyle. My field was biochem/molecular biology, my husband’s was economics. Friends in engineering, polymer science, chemistry, microbiology all had waivers and stipends.</p>
<p>However, if the loans are sitting there accruing interest while you are a graduate student, you may end up with a bigger debt than you planned for. Also remember that the sciences will virtually always require a post-doc position or two (bad pay) after the PhD; that is true for those going into industry as well as those going into academia. Engineers and economists generally get to skip the post-doc routine.</p>
<p>Jolynne-If your S should chose Alabama, there is no reason why he couldn’t pursue outside summer internships in his area of interest. It may take a little more work on his part, but is definitely an option and I know several kids who have suceesfully done this.</p>
<p>I know this decision is very tough for your family, so I hate to add to your uncertainty, but perhaps it is time to look at option 3. UT seems to be an unsound financial choice in today’s climate and UA has potential job prospect drawbacks. Is there another acceptance that may be a better overall picture? One that is more financially acceptable with a great CS program in his desired area of interest? A compromise may find the perfect fit that meets all your S’s needs and many of his wants.</p>
<p>Jolynne, my vote would be for UAlabama. It is really an underrated school for what it offers. Very impressive, in my opinion. I would not hesitate an instant if I thought UT was worth the extra to say to go for it and the extra, but I really do not.</p>
<p>I’ve known three kids who are pursuing PhD’s in English Literature. </p>
<p>All were able to get tuition waivers and small stipends while teaching freshman comp sections or working in the school’s undergraduate writing lab. This still wasn’t enough to live on, and none of them found that work particularly gratifying.</p>
<p>Only one of the three was able to get a research assistantship with a professor, who was also her advisor. It didn’t pay any more than the TA position, but at least the work directly related to her area of research. Another was able to get an RA position with a professor in an affiliated department, but the work is a little less closely related to his research.</p>
<p>Summer research fellowships are out there, but the competition is huge.</p>
<p>None of them are finished with the degree yet, and all have been at it at least five years now. Six to eight years seems to be the norm at quite a few schools. One expects to finish next December. Now she’s finishing up her dissertation and beginning to prep for job interviews. </p>
<p>Faculty positions in English are tough to come by. Probably tougher still in the current economic conditions. We noticed that even little known colleges often have English professors with graduate degrees from very prestigious universities. </p>
<p>This just isn’t the major where I’d look to have much, if any, debt by the end of the BA degree.</p>