<p>Isn’t it obvious that we will only know the outcome of whatever path we choose, not every path you could choose from? If the OP attends WM he may have a fabulous career ahead and if he attends another school he may also have a fabulous career ahead of him. Or, he could end up miserable at either choice. These are unknowns and to say that one’s life is as great as it is because of their choice of UG is foolish, because you don’t know if your life would be that great or not at another school. Basing a decision on unknowns is poor planning in my mind. Base it on known facts and if you know you will have to take out a lot of loans to attend a particular school verses attending another one then don’t do it, because you don’t know what the final outcome regarding opportunities will be.</p>
<p>In addition, one can’t assume that if another person had particular opportunities at one school then they will also have the same opportunities. There are so many different factors to consider that basing a major life decision on that is like predicting the future with a crystal ball.</p>
<p>"So switch out W&M with HYPS and would people still tell the OP it’s a waist of 80K? "</p>
<p>I would, and I’m a Harvard grad.</p>
<p>I know a student – D of an Ivy professor – who about a decade before Harvard’s financial aid policies became as generous as they are now – turned down Harvard for a full ride and guaranteed international opportunities at a school ranked about 25-50. </p>
<p>The student had FABULOUS undergrad experiences and never regretted turning down Harvard. I think she also got a Rhodes Scholarship.</p>
<p>Consider yourself lucky that your parents can afford to pay $30K for you.
My family doesn’t have a lot of spare money, but FAFSA seems to think we do, so I have to pay for my tuition all by myself. Yay…!
And my dream school will put me $200K in debt. Haha, good luck with everything! :]</p>
<p>“Thou shalt listen to thy elders
Do not take thy debt with open arms
Consider thy future and plan
For many times a loaf of bread is as good
as a five course meal
Do not let thy jewels misdirect you
Live a simple life
Because all things in life that are best
Are free
Do not take out loans or shall Gods will curse you for two decades
For years and years you will be haunted
And thou shall be plagued with buyers remorse
Those who encourage you to spend
Are tricksters and flatterers
Who do not think for themselves
And if ye vote for Obama
The country shall perish
The end.”</p>
<p>Politics aside, you must assume that you will be paying off your loans on time and without any help. Be honest about your new graduate salary potential. Only borrow money that you know you can pay back and still maintain an acceptable lifestyle. For some, this means an apartment and a car, while living at home with mom and dad might be okay for others. Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?</p>
<p>Did you notice that the posters who are in favor of a more conservative approach have mostly lived through college and various debts in their lives, while those who advocate a more hedonistic approach are in the same position as the OP? Live and learn!</p>
<p>And to rbgg: reread that poem sometime, as others have suggested. There is a valuable message, but not the one you thought.</p>
<p>lkf725 - wonderful observation; paying back loans is guaranteed to be an enjoyable ‘college experience’ for many a frivolous student, especially in this economy.</p>
<p>lkf725: I have gone back and read many interpretations of the poem including Robert Frost’s and the so called tricky words, “sigh” and “difference,” etc.</p>
<p>there is not only one valuable message, as you assert.</p>
<p>At any rate, even if you interpret the message to be, standing at a crossroads, you don’t know what you’re gonna get depending on which path you take, the character picks by his own admission, “the one less traveled”…(whether or not they both seem about the same at the beginning)…he comes to the conclusion that there is indeed one less traveled…he picks it…
and it has made the difference. Yes, I agree at the time, he doesn’t know if the difference is good or bad, but there’s no disputing in his mind he chose the one less traveled by.</p>
<p>I think there’s something to be said for our parents’ old admonition, if all your friends are jumping off the cliff, are you going to do in turn?</p>
<p>too many are stating you can get the same result (courses/education) etc. from the cheaper college, but can you really? What about the quality of professors who might be paid more, what about being with students who may be a better calibre or more motivated; what about the idea that you’ll study more if you love the environment you are in? And what value do you place on studying in the place that makes you feel most comfortable or even glad to be alive? It’s priceless.</p>
<p>I know many feel strongly that you can get an equivalent or better education, including the same or better networking at a cheaper institution. I’d argue although possible, not probable. Didn’t anyone else question the assertion made by some London list recently that UMA was just as good as MIT? (CBS news last night). I know I did.</p>
<p>I’m not for overwhelming debt, but I’d actively look for ways to see if the debt is manageable before going down the path everyone else is taking just because its cheaper, or jumping on that bus to Podunk U.</p>
<p>“too many are stating you can get the same result (courses/education) etc. from the cheaper college,”</p>
<p>It may be possible for the OP to get the same result by going to a cheaper college that is equally ranked as is W&M. W&M is a good college, but it is not ranked among the nation’s top 25, for instance. </p>
<p>There are many high stat people that go to colleges below top 25 ones for undergrad and then go to top 25 colleges for grad school, an option the OP may not have if the OP has big undergraduate debt.</p>
<p>W&M doesn’t have the same name recognition and prestige as do, for instance, HPYS. Once one leaves the NE, most people have never heard of it. Even in the NE, there are many colleges that are much more highly respected. There certainly are many colleges that have English departments (the OP’s prospective major) that are highly rated, and these include colleges cheaper than is W&M.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the OP still hasn’t said what their attraction is to W&M except that they liked the students and felt comfortable there. Those aren’t reasons to go deeply in debt.</p>
<p>redbluegoldgreen–No one said the choices were between W&M & Podunk U. There are many many other fine schools that may be equally good for the OP, and cost less and/or give scholarships.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve enjoyed the debate. It was fun. I think I made some points and lost some. I think I’m more in agreement with those who are thrifty than opposed, but hey, someone needs to take an opposing side to bring out the best arguments.</p>
<p>In the end, I hope all you applicants will make a careful analysis and choose the best option for yourself. My college years were studious and lonely, because I overcorrected and studied way more than I really needed to, sacrificing a lot of social time. On the contrary, my four years of med school were the four best years of my life, fulfilling hopes and dreams, making friendships lasting a life time, challenging myself to be my best self etc. My best advice whichever path you choose, is to take time to smell the roses. </p>
<p>And I wish all our students applying for college admission this Fall, that you all have many options to choose from.</p>
<p>This thread makes me realize something. It is sad and scary and perverse that young people have to even make this kind of decision! </p>
<p>For the most part they are young people who have never lived anything resembling an adult life. They haven’t lived on their own, maybe never worked, never paid a bill or attempted to pay off a loan. They have no sense of what a particular job they’ll have, whether they will even have a job, what a good salary will be, what compound interest looks like, or how much of one’s paycheck disappears into a million obligations from taxes to utilities to food on the table. </p>
<p>Yet many are implicitly encouraged by media, marketing, USNWR and the general ‘college frenzy’ culture to actually consider taking on massive debt into much of their as-of-yet unknown adult life …for what? An imaginary teenage ‘dream’. They really have very very little real information about the actual purchase here. Almost no sense of what their purchased college experience will be like, what the alternatives would be like, or what else that money could be used for later on. The marketing has paid off handsomely for the schools- they are each selling a unique brand, identity and supposed “experience” that may or may not be remotely unique or even necessarily accurate. </p>
<p>Not a criticism of the OP, I just have a lot of sympathy.</p>
<p>I’m from Northern Virginia, and every student that I know who has gone to W&M absolutely regrets their choice and is unhappy. This could be purely anecdotal, but it is the reputation that it garners from a school that sends about ten students there each year.</p>
<p>I’m with you, Starbright! I grew up in a time and at a place where very few gave a thought to going out of state to an expensive college. I am happy to see that today’s youth has a bigger vision than I did, but am also very concerned that they would consider taking out so much debt. It works for some, but has turned out to be a disaster for many others.</p>
<p>In this case, I would apply to W&M with the idea of seeing what the full financial package will be (both from the school and from your parents). If you get accepted and can’t make it work, then you will have tried your best and you must move on with your life.</p>
<p>If you can find a suitable school for cheaper, than go for it. But honestly, i say that going to the school of your dreams will put you in a position that will subsequently help you not only payy off the debt in due time, and leave you where you probably would be financially otherwise, but would also give you a time of happiness. That’s just what I think, but im not much of a conservative.</p>