Is being $100k in debt for a finance degree at BC worth it?

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>It's $220,000 over 4 years at BC's business school</p>

<p>My dad is willing to pay $120,000 of it</p>

<p>That means I will be $100,000 in debt when I graduate</p>

<p>And that's not even including the interest that I will be paying</p>

<p>So is getting a finance degree at BC's business school worth me being $100k in debt by the time I graduate? In general, is a debt of 100k too high or normal?</p>

<p>Where as if I graduate from Rutgers with zero debt cause my parents can pay it all? (only 20k per year)</p>

2

<p>depends if you want to go to grad or proffessional school, if you are then definately not good to have that much debt </p>

<p>but if you plan on working right out of college, it might be worth it if you think you can make up that difference quickly in terms of getting a better job with a degree from a better business school in boston college</p>

3

<p>Lil<em>Wayne</em>Fan, if you were to go to Wharton, I might.....just might... be pursuaded that it would be worth that much debt. Even then, I probably would have advised you to go to your local state university.</p>

<p>For Boston College, let me be clear: NO WAY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH! Did I make myself clear. You are crazy even considering this! Go to your instate university, and have your dad take the difference between that cost and the $120,000 and place it in an account for you to buy a house.</p>

4

<p>I would feel terrible going to by state university</p>

<p>cause i'm better than that</p>

<p>by the way, what's the normal amount of debt after 4 years of college?</p>

5

<p>Lil_Wayne notes,"I would feel terrible going to by state university
cause i'm better than that"</p>

<p>Response: Frankly, for someone who wants to major in finance, you have an awfully funny attitude about financial matters.</p>

<p>Trust me on this one thing: You will feel even worse having your dad shell out $120,000 that you could have used in buying your first home and paying interest on an additional $100,000! </p>

<p>As for being better than that, I don't know how you were raised,but many of the most famous and succesful folks in this country attended public universities. Many become successful doctors, lawyers, and even Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer Prize winners and famous actors. </p>

<p>My suggestion is to bury your ego, develop some common sense, and go to the local state university. Although BC is a decent school, in my opinion, it isn't worth $220,000 PLUS cost of living increases! It certainly doesn't have the cachet of an IVY or even of a top LAC.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
I would feel terrible going to by state university</p>

<p>cause i'm better than that</p>

<p>by the way, what's the normal amount of debt after 4 years of college?

[/quote]

UMass Amherst is a great school.</p>

<p>And I don't mean to sound like a prick, but if it would cost you $220,000 to attend BC then you're not as good as you think you are. Which is to say, you got little to no merit aid from a school that is good--but not Princeton.</p>

<p>Also, no, BC is not worth $100,000 worth of debt. The business program isn't strong enough to be worth that kind of prospective cost. taxguy said it's not an Ivy or a top LAC. It's also not really a top research university in any field. It's a very good school, but there are like 8 schools better than BC in Massachusetts.</p>

7

<p>UMass Amherst is a great school.</p>

<p>And I don't mean to sound like a prick, but if it would cost you $220,000 to attend BC then you're not as good as you think you are. Which is to say, you got little to no merit aid from a school that is good--but not Princeton.</p>

<h2>Also, no, BC is not worth $100,000 worth of debt. The business program isn't strong enough to be worth that kind of prospective cost. taxguy said it's not an Ivy or a top LAC. It's also not really a top research university in any field. It's a very good school, but there are like 8 schools better than BC in Massachusetts.</h2>

<p>Just to clear something up, I live in New Jersey, so Rutgers is my state school</p>

8

<p>How much debt is too much?</p>

<p>40k?</p>

<p>50k?</p>

<p>60k?</p>

<p>70k?</p>

<p>At what number do you draw the line?</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
Lil<em>Wayne</em>Fan, if you were to go to Wharton, I might.....just might... be pursuaded that it would be worth that much debt. Even then, I probably would have advised you to go to your local state university.

[/quote]

Trust me, Wharton is worth it. You could not imagine its benefits unless you actually graduated and found how great opportunities are easily accessible. Of course, if one totally slacked off, then it's a different story.</p>

<p>Back to the OP, if BC hasn't offered financial aid and you are truly stuck with $100K in loans, then I would seek other options assuming you have some, other than full fare privates vs. state universities.</p>

<p>For an undergrad, I wouldn't borrow anything more than $30K. That's my comfort zone.</p>

10

<p>And I don't mean to sound like a prick, but if it would cost you $220,000 to attend BC then you're not as good as you think you are. Which is to say, you got little to no merit aid from a school that is good--but not Princeton.</p>

<h2>Also, no, BC is not worth $100,000 worth of debt. The business program isn't strong enough to be worth that kind of prospective cost. taxguy said it's not an Ivy or a top LAC. It's also not really a top research university in any field. It's a very good school, but there are like 8 schools better than BC in Massachusetts.</h2>

<p>BC's fin. aid policy is mostly a need-based one - only 15 people qualify for merit scholarship</p>

<p>Are you sure about BC's business school? BW has it ranked in the Top 15. Plus, I will major in finance, which is their strongest department. Finance is what their business school is mostly known for. Their finance program is slightly below that of NYU Stern's, supposedly. Boston has plenty of finance internships also.</p>

<p>Maybe I'm wrong though.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
BC's fin. aid policy is mostly a need-based one - only 15 people qualify for merit scholarship</p>

<p>Are you sure about BC's business school? BW has it ranked in the Top 15. Plus, I will major in finance, which is their strongest department. Finance is what their business school is mostly known for. Their finance program is slightly below that of NYU Stern's, supposedly. Boston has plenty of finance internships also.</p>

<p>Maybe I'm wrong though.

[/quote]

Being in Joisy is tough for state schools.</p>

<p>BusinessWeek rankings are awful, and anyone that uses them is an idiot. I've explained thoroughly in other threads why they are horrible, and the fact that BusinessWeek itself is a third-rate publication even worse than Forbes should play a role in this, but it's not really worth rehashing here.</p>

<p>US News top 15 universities aren't even really worth $100,000 of debt coming out of school. BC certainly isn't worth $100,000, and I don't even know how 4 years at BC would cost 220k. There are plenty of things I can cite in theory, like how that amount of debt would limit what you can and cannot do after college thus limiting future earning potential, but it would be a waste of time. BC isn't worth 100 grand--period. If your dad is putting you in a position where his wealth makes it impossible for you to get aid anywhere then you need to articulate that to him and tell him to man up, otherwise you need to get in contact with BC's aid department--or go to another school.</p>

<p>If you're telling me that you only got accepted to BC and nowhere else then you did a very poor job of applying to colleges, and you either need to take a year off, go to a community college or go to Rutgers for a year.</p>

12

<p>100 grand in debt plus interest at prime +1 would be $138,000 over 10 years, $183,000 over 20 years. Do you really want to spend your 20's and possibly 30's working for the bank instead of yourself so you can go to school for 4 years. I was facing a similar problem with Indiana University which would have caused me to go in 60,000 worth of debt vs. DePaul University which my parents could afford and I will graduate with 0 debt.</p>

13

<p>Being in Joisy is tough for state schools.</p>

<p>BusinessWeek rankings are awful, and anyone that uses them is an idiot. I've explained thoroughly in other threads why they are horrible, and the fact that BusinessWeek itself is a third-rate publication even worse than Forbes should play a role in this, but it's not really worth rehashing here.</p>

<p>US News top 15 universities aren't even really worth $100,000 of debt coming out of school. BC certainly isn't worth $100,000, and I don't even know how 4 years at BC would cost 220k. There are plenty of things I can cite in theory, like how that amount of debt would limit what you can and cannot do after college thus limiting future earning potential, but it would be a waste of time. BC isn't worth 100 grand--period. If your dad is putting you in a position where his wealth makes it impossible for you to get aid anywhere then you need to articulate that to him and tell him to man up, otherwise you need to get in contact with BC's aid department--or go to another school.</p>

<h2>If you're telling me that you only got accepted to BC and nowhere else then you did a very poor job of applying to colleges, and you either need to take a year off, go to a community college or go to Rutgers for a year.</h2>

<p>Lehigh's business school isn't even in the Top 50 for US News. That fact alone shows you how much credibility US News has. Which is zero. </p>

<p>I'm not judging BC's business school solely based on BW. For one, the school itself is very prestigious and so is it's business school. It also has a very strong finance department. the school is in Boston, and Boston has plenty of finance internships. Supposedly many top recruiters are on campus because of its proximity to Harvard/MIT. </p>

<p>BC is 52k this year total, including everything. Every year tuition goes up. Next year 54, year after 56, then 58. It comes about close to 220k for 4 years. It's an estimate.</p>

<p>You may be right, I'm just saying you're underestimating BC's business school because it seems to be top notch, ESPECIALLY for finance.</p>

14

<p>I feel uncomfortable graduating with 15k in debt. You obviously have little to no concept of money if you are asking this question. Rutgers is a fine state university and it can take you were you want to go.</p>

15

<p>If you are dead set on going, get a job. You can EASILY make 10k working part time through the year. Bring that up to 15 in you work full time in the summer. Get an internship, add another 10k for the summer. This can drop that 100k to 50-60k. But your school life will not be the same. It is a sacrifice.</p>

16

<h2>If you are dead set on going, get a job. You can EASILY make 10k working part time through the year. Bring that up to 15 in you work full time in the summer. Get an internship, add another 10k for the summer. This can drop that 100k to 50-60k. But your school life will not be the same. It is a sacrifice.</h2>

<p>that's 25k a year for 4 years</p>

<p>which is 100k</p>

<p>add taxes and that means i'm keeping 70k</p>

<p>doesn't that lower the 100k to like 30k?</p>

<p>maybe i misinterpreted what ur saying or ur math</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
Lehigh's business school isn't even in the Top 50 for US News. That fact alone shows you how much credibility US News has. Which is zero.

[/quote]

Lehigh's business school probably shouldn't be in the top 50, and while I inherently believe that rankings are problematic they are the best possible rankings (coming from the opinions of those within academia). The US News rankings have more credibility than you do.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm not judging BC's business school solely based on BW. For one, the school itself is very prestigious and so is it's business school. It also has a very strong finance department. the school is in Boston, and Boston has plenty of finance internships. Supposedly many top recruiters are on campus because of its proximity to Harvard/MIT.

[/quote]

Let me reiterate this.</p>

<p>BCs business school is not worth $100,000 of debt. Period. This is not a debate. We are not sharing differing views. There's an assumption in society that there are two sides to every argument--but that's wrong, and there isn't to this. In absolutely no situation is BC worth YOU, a young person with little to no assets, taking on $100,000 worth of debt, knowing that YOU will have to pay it off without help and that YOU will be entering the job market at the entry-level.</p>

<p>
[quote]
You may be right, I'm just saying you're underestimating BC's business school because it seems to be top notch, ESPECIALLY for finance.

[/quote]

It's not in the top 10, and it doesn't matter what one area of the school is good at. You have no guarantee but debt, and the potential payoff does not justify the risk. Most questions you have asked in other threads have been so basic (the most recent question about paying tuition to double major) that I have absolutely no idea how you could claim to know how strong BC is or isn't with a straight face. I don't know where your sources of information come from and I don't really care, but if there's one thing I'd hope you know it's that you know very little. It's not an insult because it's not a permanent state, it's just a level of knowledge you don't have yet. Question where information like it being close to Boston = internships comes from, or how a location near Harvard/MIT somehow means you will benefit from their recruitment. It's nonsensical.</p>

<p>I'm only willing to dedicate so much time to you, so I'm going to make one last statement to urge you away from making a tremendously stupid decision before I move on. A school, other than the absolute cream of the crop with a alumni network so strong that a high quality internships are practically guaranteed for students who can keep their heads above water, is not worth $100,000 indebt. Not if you are lacking financially, not if you know you will have to work it off. You will be in a debt hole for easily 15 years, you will not be able to go to graduate school in the next two decades, you are limiting your opportunities. Your understanding of basic financial principles is either deeply flawed or completely lacking, and this will be an incredibly stupid decision that you will regret consistently for the rest of your life.</p>

18

<p>Lil<em>wayne</em>fan, if you really think that any school especially BC is worth spending $120,000 in cash and incurring over $100,000 in debt ( and it is over that amount with inflation increases), do yourself a favor: don't major in finance! You have no financial sense that I can ascertain. If just about everyone on these boards disagrees with you, you should get the message. You don't even get the message after all of us have posted our opinions!</p>

19

<p>what if i can get my dad to add in another 50k</p>

<p>so that would leave me 50k in debt instead of 100k</p>

<p>that's manageable, right?</p>

20

<p>read what i said</p>

<p>10k per year which adds up to 40k over 40 years
Add an additional 5k per year if you work full time in the summer, or 10k if you have an internship during the summer.</p>

<p>So take that 40k, for fresh and soph summer, that is now 50k. Add another 10k for a summer internship. That is now 60k you have made over 4 years which is not bad at all. It is time consuming. But it is also very possible and will give you time to have a social life, but you will not be able to take part in ALL the school activities since you will encounter scheduling confilicts</p>

<p>I am reasonably sure that you can earn 60k after taxes during your college years.</p>