It’s nice to hope for the better, but it’s pragmatic to have a contingency plan to deal w the worse.
Graduating in LA, you will have to distinguish yourself to job recruiters from the 10’s of thousands of other college students graduating simultaneously in LA from UCLA USC Claremont Pomona Pitzer Scripps Mudd Caltech Oxy LMarymount Pepperdine, etc. Lots and lots and lots of competition for a major that is dime a dozen.
I think you may be overestimating what you can earn in the early years. That major isn’t that strong for employment. I can’t see that you would be a PR consultant right out of college with no experience. I do understand that you have a preference for USC can you show us the package you got to see if there is any wiggle room.
I think being debt free will give you a lot more flexibility in jobs. You would have the opportunity to go for something low paying that may give a high return later. For instance some people go to work for talent agencies, where there is opportunity to work for an agent and become an agent yourself, which is a high paying career, or others go to work for film production companies in PR, as producers assistance themselves and get into that business. But guess what? They pay $12 per hour. It doesn’t matter if you went to Yale, you are making only that. And it is still difficult to get that position–they can get anyone they want because the payoff is potentially high. So that is just one example, maybe it doesn’t interest you but that is a typical example of a dues paying industry. Since I think the previous posters are right that you will have to be self made in this, I do think it is better to forgo the extra debt. Sure the USC network is worth something though. But no matter where you go you are going to have to hustle and spend summers volunteering or interning for no or low pay. Is your family in a position to help you summers? Or are you Pell grant and will really be on your own?
What field exactly do you plan on going into? You say communications/PR… well, I’m in a mid-level position (ie: one level above entry level) in TV marketing and I make about 49K. I started at 33K working for a non-profit out of college… because I couldn’t get a communications job. I jumped up to 45K when I got this marketing job 4 years ago. I’m 31. You won’t be making bank right out of college, let alone by 25–communications is not as lucrative as you think it is, in part because there are always young, creative people who are desperate for a job, so companies don’t have to pay much. The people who do PR for my TV company entry level make 10-15K less than I do.
You’ll get more or less the same job out of UC Davis that you would out of USC (jobs don’t go “oh, they went to a prestigious school; we should pay them more”)… only you won’t be paying $450 in loans every month, making rent + utilities + loan repayments approximately 75% of your income, leaving only 25% left for food, your car and fun. Also, once you’ve got your first job, it no longer matters where you went to school. And there are things you can do while at UC Davis to bulk up your resume–just like you would at USC.
Again if you want to post your package we can look for wiggle room. Does it include work study or summer earnings? If not then you should be able to contribute 5k per year yourself. Your family can’t pay any of it?
Here are a few terms that you will need to become familiar with if you go to USC:
forbearance
deferral
default
delinquency
Ten years from now we will see you interviewed on the news complaining about how the government has overburdened you with all the debt they “forced” you to undertake.
^^Perhaps, but USC is not FREE for the OP! Seriously? A free ride to UC Davis? There would be an element of foolishness not to accept a free ride to UC Davis. Excellent school, not debt. Just saying that taking on (undergrad) debt adds an element of stress to an already stressful post grad job seeking experience. Why go into debt if you can get an excellent education for free?
Based on the comment that a 40K salary is not much and that OP is saying only 10,000 would have interest, I’m wondering if OP’s parents wouldn’t be footing the bill provided s/he promises to pay them back.
Note that it’s not UCD vs. USC, but UCD vs. Annenberg. If you really have 10K in federal loans and the rest comes from your parents, I’d say Annenberg.
However, be aware that the 40K salary at 25 estimate is pretty accurate. PR jobs do not pay well and you may well start out in unpaid internships so if after 1-2 years you get a paid gig you’d get to 40, 45K.
And if what you’re talking about is 27k in federal loans, and about 10k in Parent PLUS or cosigned loans, then it’s a whole other kettle of fish. Ask your parents: have they saved 40K - how long did it take them? Have they borrowed 40K - how long did it take them to pay that back? It’d likely take you until your mid 30s to pay that amount back if everything goes well, and more likely (as you’ll be living in South California) until your 40’s to pay that back.