<p>i am a senior in wheeling, Illinois, and i have an issue on which school to attend. The three i am deciding between are Illinois State University, Purdue University-West Lafayette and Indiana University Bloomington, my parents are paying only for in-state tuition, 18,000, and if i wish to attend an out of state school i have to cover the difference which would be around 8-10,000 a year. My question is should i attend a less prestigous school and obtain, by some means, a lesser education in ISU but save myself any student debt allowing me to start my career at zero, or attend a superior school, Purdue or Indiana, which would offer me a more solid foundation for my career but burden me with 50,000+ dollars worth of student loans</p>
<p>my question is simply this, do i go to a school thats better for me or do i save myself 50,000+</p>
<p>depends on what you want to major in; go to the school that will best fit your goals in life. there are always student loans, etc. as they say... an education is priceless.</p>
<p>OGRE..... here's my 2-cents as an ISU grad. It's a good school, and big enough to offer you lots of opportunities to excel. It's really easy to get caught up in the frenzy here on CC, and the general drift is that if you don't attend one of the elites, that you're throwing your life away. The numbers between your schools aren't hugely different....stay in-state, and do well. That said, we're in the same discussions w/ our D (we're now in NC), who is hoping for an MIT admit. It's sure hard to walk away from in-state tuition, especially if you're potentially looking at grad school.</p>
<p>Please think about the situation being $50,000 in debt at the end of your undergraduate career will put you in, especially if you plant to go to grad school. Is there really $50,000 worth of difference in "prestiege"? You will get a fine education wherever you go. Unless there is a huge difference with respect to major/career opportunity, the scale should tip toward your own state school unless there are stubstantial other factors which are personally important enough to you (say worth $50,000).</p>
<p>i understand that the smart move on my part would be to stay instate, but i've never desired to go to isu, since my freshman year of high school i've always wanted to attend a big 10 school and never contemplated going to ISU, i've also been in all honors courses and am taking 4 ap classes right now, not to sound cocky or anything but i feel like i'd be letting myself down by not attending a prestigious university..... i know it doesn't matter what others think about you but the kids i assosiate with/have class with are all going to marquette, northwestern, loyola, university of michigan, upenn, schools like that, so i feel obligated to go to the best school i can...</p>
<p>Don't make a decision based on what your high school classmates are doing. Five or ten years from now, you may not even remember all their names but you could still be stuck with a large college debt if you choose to go to a more expensive "name" school just to keep up with the other smart kids. </p>
<p>Only do it if it is absolutely worth it to you. Calculate how much loan debt you would have and what the payments would be after you graduate. That might help you make a realistic informed decision rather than an one based on emotion.</p>
<p>i agree that i should be making descions on facts not emotion, what i ment from that was more of concern, i'm worried that if i stay in-sate i'll save myself 50 grand, but the degree i would recieve would put me at a disadvantage when compared to others that attended prestegious universities, whereas the better option could be having to take the loan and the debt, but obtaining a better degree and thus setting a better foundation for my future.... i kindof am leaning toward the out of state option right now because i was reading up on the comments from ISU alumni and a couple of them commented that the degrees they got didn't set they up for any careers and a couple of the comments said that recuiters/employers would filter out applications that were from isu</p>
<p>please if u disagree with anything i say let me know, give me any input, or any type of feedback, i have about 1 month or so to make a desicion and i want to be content with what i do</p>
<p>Here are my thoughts:
I attended a large state university my freshman year, got a 4.0, and then transfered to a smaller highly prestigeous private university. At the time, my decission was driven by geography and not by any evaluation of educational merit. In retrospect, my conclusion is that a fine education was available at both schools with a prime difference being that at the state school there was a broad scholastic diversity of students but at the private school the students were very skewed towards the more accomplished end of the spectrum. The state school offered, however, physical facility resources that the private school could not. My conclusion was that the top students at the state school who were highly motivated would get as good an education as the students at the private school. The private school had a far greater percentage of highly motivated top achievers but the opportunity was still there for those who attended the state school and were serious students.</p>
<p>Whether your experience would be the same is, of course, highly influenced by the state school in question. Does it offer fine educational facilities and opportunities or is it a "dumping ground" for high school slackers? Don't let "name recognition" unduly influence your decission. In the areas in which you are interested, a graduate degree is a must. Grad schools care more about grades, a solid undergrad curriculum and grad school board scores than mere name of a college. Rather than asking about post college employment, perhaps a more relevent question is which grad schools have graduates of the state school gotten into.</p>
<p>$50,000 in undergrad student loans is not something to be taken lightly, particularly if grad school is going to be a must with additional loans. I have seen people well into their late 30's still paying off the last of their student loans. This can impact materially on future life decissions and lifestyle for years beyond what you initially expected.</p>
<p>If you think it likely that you will go to medical school, you're probably better off going to ISU and saving money for medical school (which will cost a lot), while working your you-know-what off to get the type of grades that medical schools are looking for in applicants. It's doubtful that going to a Big Ten school will put you in any better position for medical school.</p>
<p>If you're thinking of working right after college, then you might want to ask some business people in your town whether graduating from ISU would put you in an undesirable category. It might not actually be the case.</p>
<p>You might also check into whether any other Illinois state schools have rolling admissions and are therefore still taking applications.</p>
<p>OGRE....I'm curious, why did you rule out UIUC? </p>
<p>Re: your major, ISU has had a strong business school and I strongly disagree that there are major employers who discard resumes from someone from ISU. Again, the opportunities are there to excel, and make yourself marketable. </p>
<p>I also agree with some of the posters....if you are considering grad school/medical school, having lots of undergrad debt will not be a good thing.
Save your money and study your butt off to get GREAT grades. People underestimate how many doors can open to you if you excel in what you do as an undergrad.</p>