<p>I go to a state school that is located in a small college town. (basically the college IS the town) Because my parents make too much money I cannot get grants or even work study which makes it impossible to find a job. I have literally turned in an application to almost every business in town and have yet to be hired :-(. Everyone either has no openings or only hires work study students. I have given my services as a tutor to various people but it is not in any way enough to make ends meat. (I'm talking I maybe make 60 bucks per month doing this)</p>
<p>With that being said, my parents are kind enough to pay for my tuition, books. and food. However, rent, entertainment, toilettries, gas, and anything else have to be paid for by me. Because of this I have had to take out 5,500 every year of school to be able to pay for all of this. My parents also live out of state now so going home for the summer and working is not really an option. </p>
<p>So my question is should I keep going with school (2 more years left) and graduate wtih 16,500 in debt....or wait until I am 24 to get better financial aid? I am 21 now. Thanks for any input you all give.</p>
<p>Why don’t you tutor high school kids?
Put an ad in Craigslist and do the tutor sessions at the school library.</p>
<p>I’m kind of in the same boat. As far as loans go, check your entry level salary. At the lowest, mine is $35K so by borrowing the $20K ill prolly end up with at graduation, I’ll pay it off in like 5-7 years. Not too bad so, I think you’ll be okay!</p>
<p>It’s a very manageable amount of debt. You can definitely pay it off in about 5 years.</p>
<p>16.5K is well below average. It shouldn’t be difficult to pay off. For reference, I have 50K, albeit from a very expensive school. Most of my friends have 30-40K. One has $100K but he is atypical.</p>
<p>16k isn’t bad at all when compared to the national average of ~20k. I’ll have about that much when I finish.
Don’t postpone school for three years for that.</p>
<p>You can easily pay off $17K in one year if you live frugally (i.e. intelligently) and put your mind to nuking your loans quickly, assuming no prepayment penalty. You’ll also save a ton of money on all the interest that would have accrued had you only payed the minimum each month.</p>
<p>“Easily”? That’s close to $1500/month! You’d have to do a lot more than just be frugal to get that together on a (presumably) entry-level job after graduation if the OP doesn’t plan on getting an advanced degree straight away.</p>
<p>16.5K is about the same amount I’m borrowing for undergrad. It is manageable - if you wait 3 years, that is 3 years that you lose out on a potential post-grad income. And you don’t know for sure that your fin. aid at 24 is going to be substantially better anyways.</p>
<p>
There are a few options you have that might seem unpalatable initially but will leave you better off in the long run. I’m planning on living with my parents for a year after grad school (once I get a “real”, professional position) just so I can put my entire year’s salary into paying off my loans all at once.</p>
<p>Thanks all for your input… I did forget to say that I will have to do a dietetic internship after undergrad which (depending on where I get in…and IF) will be anywhere from 3,500-50,000. Which is the big reason why I wanted to keep my undergrad debt so low. My starting salary as a dietitian should be at least 40-45k but I will need a dietetic internship and perhaps my masters to reach that point…which both cost money. My parents said they will try and help but I feel bad asking them for more and more money for schooling.</p>
<p>^Just don’t make the ONLY minimum payments when you’re done because the interest rates are often time what causes the most trouble.</p>
<p>About the tutoring thing - I’m a HS senior and get paid $20 an hour to tutor a 6th grader. This really depends on your area, but it could be a great way to make some money, especially for SAT tutoring.</p>
<p>^Holy crap.
I’d guess you’d really luck out if you could find someone rich AND dumb.</p>