Is Harvard worth 80k in debt?

Paying for College
1

Hello everyone!

After much deliberation, I have narrowed down my college options to two schools. These schools are Harvard University and Georgia Tech. It has always been a goal/dream of mine to attend Harvard, and I still have a letter I wrote in the 4th grade noting these intentions. However, after being offered the Stamp’s President’s Scholarship (Full Ride) at Georgia Tech, my decision has become much more difficult.

Financially, my parents’ income hovered around 180k in 2016, which caused Harvard to give me 32k in aid. Thus, I would still need to pay around 40k a year with around 5k being student contribution (Federal work study etc.) and 35k being parent contribution. However, my parents are only willing to contribute 15k a year to my education, which would leave me with 20k in loans per year, for a total of approximately 80k over four years. My Dad has said that he is willing to cosign on these loans if he must. Also, my Mom received a 20k raise in 2017, so my family’s income is now over 200k. I know this increase will likely decrease my aid in my future years.

Contrastingly, Georgia Tech is offering me a full ride (Covering the entire COA) plus an $1,100 stipend for a laptop, $12,000 enrichment funding (Travel, research, etc.), annual retreats, a two week expedition before freshman year to an international location, priority housing, and annual trips to various domestic and international locations. My Dad is heavily leaning towards this option while my Mom has left my decision entirely for me. Also, if I attend Georgia Tech, my parents have said they will give me $100 a week and I will not have to work, whereas I would at Harvard.

In terms of career goals, I am planning to major in neurosicence with pre-med, where Harvard is ranked #1 in the world while Georgia Tech just began offering this major in Fall 2017. I am about 80% sure that I will continue to medical school, but if not, I will probably head to law school. Thus, I am about 95% sure I will be attending some form of graduate school unless my interests significantly change. My parents have said that if I attend Georgia Tech, they will place the 60k they are willing contribute to my education in an account for me to use for graduate school.

I am also concerned about the grade deflation of Georgia Tech versus the grade inflation of Harvard. Will the easier grading at Harvard significantly bolster my acceptance into a good graduate school?

Overall, I am aware that Georgia Tech is much more viable financially than Harvard. However, is Harvard worth 80k in debt? Will Harvard open doors and offer opportunities that I will regret missing for the rest of my life? Is 80k a measly investment for a Harvard degree? I would hate to look back in 10 years wondering “What if I went to Harvard?” but I would also hate to look back in 10 years wishing I had accepted a full ride because I now have crushing student loan debt.

So I guess this is the real question, is Harvard Worth 160k more than a full ride to Georgia Tech? (With 80k being student loans, 60k being parent contribution, and 20k being student contribution)

2

You have a tough choice to make.

But I’ll add this to the considerations…medical school will be loans, loans, loans, and more loans…regardless of where you go to undergrad school.

3

That’s a tough call… Whether you end up going to a med school or a law school, you have to remember that we’re talking about another, and much larger, loan debt, especially a med school. That’s one thing.

Another thing is that it really doesn’t matter which college you graduate from when applying to med schools as med schools tend to care more about your GPA and MCAT test scores plus your preparatory EC’s. However, I do know that there’s a definite advantage of having graduated from Harvard for Harvard Med School admissions where the largest percentage of admitted students are from their own college. I’m willing to bet that that’s the same for its law school.

About grade deflation/inflation. Yes, it’s true that Harvard has had that reputation, but I wouldn’t go there as a deciding factor. That reputation is from several years ago, and I’m not so sure that that’s really the case today. All I can tell you is that you’d still have to work your butts off at either places.

If you’re absolutely sure that you want to pursue either med or law school and see yourself having a great chance at success with either choices, especially very top law schools, then I’d lean toward Harvard. Even then, you’re most likely looking at spending first 10-15 years of your professional life paying off the debt with disciplined living.

You can be highly successful graduating from GT. With Harvard, you’re buying (or borrowing for) its prestige, network connections, possible use of legacy for your own children, etc.

4

The Stamps at GT is a great opportunity and honor!

At Harvard you would be one of many, and I don’t think it’s worth the debt, especially with possible med school or law school in your future.

5

@GaBassin Tough choice indeed!

You are talking about $100K financial responsibility on your part for undergraduate. BTW, federal student loans over 4 years = 27K roughly. The rest would have to be loans cosigned by your parents, which you say they are somewhat reluctant to do.

Med school is nearly always full pay and will amount in the 100s of 1000s of dollars by the time you are done. There are some limited, highly competitive scholarships for law school. With no funding, you could easily spend 200K at the end of 3 years for a top law school. So the question is, do you want 100K of personal debt before you even begin graduate work?

Run some loan repayment calculators to see how much you would pay over how many years to retire 100K of debt. Then try for 300K or 500K.

As your folks don’t think that the prestige and intangibles of an undergraduate degree from Harvard are worth the upcharge, I would take Georgia Tech, especially given the many perks that are offered. You will be in an elite category and the travel and research opportunities, priority housing, enrichment funding, etc. would be hard to match.

There was a poster several years ago whose daughter was debating a full ride at a LAC (Rhodes, I think, or maybe Centre) and Yale. She aspired to med school. She decided to go to the LAC. Guess where she ended up for med school?

Harvard will still be there when you move on to your post undergraduate studies. Think about it.

6

It is not just the $80k in debt, it is the $80k in debt plus the $60k that your parents would have left for graduate school if you go to GT, plus the $20k student contribution.

“is Harvard Worth 160k more than a full ride to Georgia Tech?”

I think that the answer is no. This is a lot of money.

$80k in debt is going to be a tough way to start medical/law/graduate school. $60k in the bank is going to be a great way to start medical/law/graduate school. GT is a very strong school. It is not as if you are comparing Harvard with your local community college.

Regarding grade inflation: You are likely to be an average student at Harvard. Every student who goes to Harvard was near the top of their class in high school. At GT, there will be many other very strong students, however, it is much more likely that you will be in the top 50% or even top 25% of students there.

Harvard is very appealing. However, I think that the offer that you got from GT is just too good to pass up. I would try to do very well at GT, and consider Harvard and multiple other schools for graduate school.

7

I don’t advocate for more debt…but $60,000 will be fund less than one year of medical or law school…maybe…by the time this student gets there.

Harvard is terrific…but not if you can’t afford it.

8

None of this…I repeat, none of this matters for med school. Why would it??? Do you think med schools give a rat’s patootie about how your major is or isn’t ranked at your undergrad???

You’re going to have a lot of debt for med school. Don’t add more now. Ask your parents if you go to GT, then will they help you with med school. We were able to help our son with med school because he took huge merit for undergrad.

Btw…your undergrad won’t matter at all for med school or for your future career as a physician. Your future residency will matter. Focus on Harvard or JHU or UCSF or similar for your medical residency…that will matter. My son went to Bama for undergrad and UAB for med school, but his residency is at Harvard. That’s what matters.

9

Normally, I urge students to be debt-averse, but Harvard is one of those schools where if you can make it work financially, you should not turn down. If you think there is a possibility that you may switch out of pre-med (many students do this), I would try to make Harvard work.

10

Stamps is much more than financial aid. There is an opportunity cost to giving up that national network, too. Are you familiar with what you would be turning down?

11

Is Harvard worth $80,000 of debt ? Yes, but not in your case. In your situation Georgia Tech is the better choice because Harvard will cost you & your family $180,000 versus Georgia Tech which is offering you the world (full ride COA, laptop & $12,000 in addition to special mentoring & conferences).

The advantages of a Harvard degree are substantial, long term & worldwide.

Nevertheless, while discussion may be interesting & enlightening, the clear choice is Georgia Tech with the Stamps Scholarship as Harvard, MIT & Stanford will always be around for graduate school.

Congratulations !!!

12

If this student wasn’t serious about medicine, that might be the case. However, GT is a top school and absolutely fine for a premed. Would open doors to any med school. No reason for substantial debt…none.

@WildestDream this student is going to get less aid for the following years. Likely debt will be $90k-100k+ for undergrad. Put $300k-400k of med school debt on top, and do you realize how limiting that is? Especially when so not necessary.

13

@mom2collegekids

If you want to go to professional school, I would agree. However, as i noted in my post, many students switch out of pre-med for a variety of reasons. From his post, I can’t really tell whether he/she is “serious about medicine.” Let’s be real, what 18 year old knows for sure whether he’s set on being an MD.

That network and power of a Harvard degree is worth 80K over a lifetime IMO.

14

@GaBassin My daughter is a 4th year at Georgia Tech, we are out of state, two of her roommates are Stamps Scholars, 10 of her friends in Grand Challenges are Stamps Scholars, plus I worked in college admissions and my next door neighbor does UCSD med school admissions so I believe I can add some insight to your question.

No school, whether it is an ivy or a lower-tier is worth that much in loans (especially if you are considering med school or law school (I am a lawyer too). As others have pointed out, you are wrong in your math. Just using your numbers if you still have to come up with $40K after financial aid and your parents are only going to give you $15K then that leaves you $25K a year, the federal work-study limit is around $2700 per year so you will have to take out additional loans not considering the loss of financial aid for your mom’s salary increase or the cost of Harvard increasing each year. You are looking more likely at $100K. Having that amount on top of med school or law school costs will simply be crippling to your life for a very long time so don’t do it.

Now to positive news. One of my DD’s roommates that is a Stamps Scholar is going to med school in the fall. Had a lot of med school interviews and is ending up at a great med school (I don’t want to say to protect her privacy). This roommates did great research at the CDC, study abroad etc. Both Stamps scholar roommates have gotten a 4.0 the entire time at GT so if you are worried about grades, chances are that if you are selected for Stamps you have what it takes to make the grades for med school. Also with good study skills, my DD has gotten much better grades at GT than she ever did in high school so the grade deflation issues at GT you have to take with a grain of salt. Both of my DD’s roommates and her friends who are Stamps say it is an incredible program that you simply should not pass up. I wrote about it last week so search under my name for that post.

Go to Harvard for med school- that is what one of my favorite Stamps Scholar, Maria Diaz Ortiz did (she just finished her 2nd year). You can read more about her here. http://www.ramblinwreck.com/genrel/091614aab.html I also loved that she was also a cheerleader at Georgia Tech at the same time.

Plus to help convince you more, I want to let you know about my DD’s sorority sister who got into 8 med schools (ivies included with scholarships) and was just named a Fulbright Scholar!! Also Calvin Runnels a Stamps Scholar was named a Rhodes Scholar earlier in the year too!

Georgia Tech wants all their students to succeed and they especially want their Stamps Scholars to have as much success as possible. If medical school or law school is your goal, Stamps will help make that goal a bit easier and you will get an awesome, free education!! Trust me, you will not have any regrets and Harvard or any other ivy will be there for you for graduate school ((I know because my husband went to Yale law and his identical twin went to Harvard law).

15

Forgot to mention, Roscoe Stamps is a Georgia Tech grad, he takes especially good care of his GT Stamps Scholars.

16

This is tough because on the one hand, Harvard is going to cost $80k but is a much better academic fit, and it’s where you really would like to go… while Georgia Tech is not very good for academic fit (it’s not particularly known for its humanities or social sciences quality – which would be utilized in a pre-law path – and the neuroscience major is in its infancy. Georgia Tech, like Purdue, is a poorer man’s Caltech.), but would be free.

If you went to Georgia Tech, you could major in a more established area at that school, like Chem or Bio, if Neuro didn’t offer enough.

This is a tough call: fit vs. cost.

One thing to consider is that GPA and research/shadowing experience are very important for med school admissions, and here Harvard likely has an advantage: there is said to be grade inflation and a ton of opportunity to shadow/research.

In sum:

Harvard pros:

  • Where you really want to be
  • Superior academic fit
  • Better med school and law school prep

Harvard con:

  • Cost

GA Tech pro:

  • Cost savings

GA Tech cons:

  • Lack of academic fit
  • Not really where you want to be
  • Inferior med school and law school prep (relative to H)
17

I would chosse Gtech and its a amazing scholarship, your parentes need to pay nothink, ask to they to give you al least 300 at week.

18

@“International Dad”

WHY would this student need $300 a WEEK from his or her parents?

That just makes no sense.

19

Important to note: Harvard will cost OP at least $160,000 of which at least $80,000 will be in the form of loans. Also, aid from Harvard is expected to decrease after year one (due to mother’s pay raise), so total COA for Harvard will exceed $160,000 (probably more like $180,000 due to anticipated decrease in financial aid).

20

@thumper1
“my parents have said they will give me $100 a week and I will not have to work”
To receipt this amazing scholarship, I’m sure he worked very hard,
I would give my son as a reward the same money that would be spent on him if he continued living at home, so that he was completely calm, could save for buy a home, etc.
He did his work very well in HS.
Of course we are from diferent cultures, in my country normally the parents pay for College not the students, the students normally don’t work if not absolutely necessary.