<p>Now I know many MITers have full ride offers they can choose from, but I think my situation is still sort of different. I've narrowed my college decision down to two:
MIT - I will have to take out at least $25,000 loans per year.
Emory University - not just some state school, but actually a really good college where I have a full ride plus special treatment, benefits, etc. </p>
<p>I like MIT better, needless to say, but we're not just talking about a few thousand in loans annually. By the time I graduate it'll be around $150,000 which I'll have to start paying back in minimum payments soon after I graduate. In fact, if my parents wont take out the loans for me, can I as a student even get that much loans??</p>
<p>I think I plan to major in mathematics and economics, then probably go into finance, business school (altho im still a science oriented person). So, is all that debt for MIT undergrad worth it? Many say I should just save up for a good grad school, but then I'm afraid I won't get into a good enough job or grad school coming out of Emory rather than MIT, how true is that? And then I've thought of other things, such as, do I want to excel in a good school, or just be average at a prestigious institution? Do I want to work really hard in undergrad to get jobs more easily later on, or have more fun in college and work harder for jobs afterwards? i dont know! i dont know! i don't know.....</p>
<p>which college would you choose if you were me? any advice? thank you ;-(
(sorry to anyone who's already heard me talk about this, i'm so stressed out, less than 2 wks lefts to decide...)</p>
<p>Start buying lottery tickets... fast.</p>
<p>I am a strong proponent for an MIT education, BUT in your case, I would go with Emory. At Emory many people major in economics and such, and with a "LAC" education, you'll be well prepared for grad school. 150K in loans is ridiculous especially if you're planning to go to grad school. Did you at least apply to many scholarships to relieve some of those loans that you'd have to potentially take out? Plus, at Emory you'll be the big person on campus from the way it sounds... It sounds like you're an honor student or w/e Emory calls it, so you'll get all the guidance and perks you want.</p>
<p>my financial situation is complicated. I think that if my appeal goes through and I get close to 10k, I will try to go to MIT. otherwise, emory it seems to be for me =( this makes me sad bc i really really want to go to MIT but dont have the aid, while a few of my friends have more than adequate aid for MIT but have chosen other places instead =/ </p>
<p>anyone else have any thoughts?....</p>
<p>I don't have any great advice, but I'm in the same position as you. And as much as I love MIT, I can't put myself in that kind of loan situation. I'm going to go to Michigan on full scholarship.</p>
<p>TheRestIsSilence, did you go to CPW? If you did, did you talk to the financial aid office. They got everything straightened out for me and I was in a pretty big predicament too.</p>
<p>i had a fin aid appointment at CPW and turned in an appeal. the lady said, "usually i can tell which way the board will go, but this time i really dont know." so im not holding my breath for it....
ahhh this is worse than if i had been flat out rejected from mit in the first place!</p>
<p>I'm curious how you went from 25k/yr to 150k total (since 25x4=100.) Even at 100k, though, I'd go to Emory if they are strong in your areas of interest.</p>
<p>Make sure you call everyday to see whats up. That's what I did for the 2 weeks leading up to CPW.</p>
<p>150k is a total estimate bc i am able to pay more this year due to my college savings plan. next year, if i do not get any aid, i will be short 35k actually.
calling them seems to annoy them so much, it usually takes for a week for appeal to go through. last time i called, the fin aid lady that was assigned to me was rude. at least i didnt get her in person at cpw.</p>
<p>emory's undergrad business school is 18th in nation i hear (grad mba is 10th), tho im more interested in math and that dpt apparently is very small. emory is strongest in premed stuff. while i had planned to be a doctor before, im reconsidering that bc of how long it takes.</p>
<p>heh, so i havent heard anyone tell me that it's worth it to take out the loans and go to MIT....
any current students with a debt as big as mine would be?</p>
<p>oh I'm sure there are plenty. but for those students it's been flat-out MIT MIT all the way for some time. like, they wouldn't pose a question like this, because it's not a question in their minds. the only uncertainty was getting in. yeah, I know a couple of kids just like that.</p>
<p>I'm probably going to MIT next year, and my parents have told me that I have to pay for half. MIT gave me about 12k/year, so I'm probably going to end up paying about 17 or18k a year. I have a friend there, and he says that the money is completely and totally worth it, so that's the only reason why I'm taking out so many loans to go there. But I live in Atl, so I understand the appeal of being and Emory Scholar. I'm glad that I didn't get it, then my decision would be so much harder. Good luck with making it...</p>
<p>I don't think you can afford to comfortably make loan payments on 100K when you're starting around 60K/yr.</p>
<p>Here's a [url=<a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml%5Dcalculator%5B/url">http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml]calculator[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Edited to add: MIT is giving me 19K a year and the 'rents are willing to take on 15. That leaves 12 for me, but I plan to work some so I'm looking at somewhere between 20K and 40K in loans by graduation.</p>
<p>holy shirt according to that calc ill be paying more in interest than i borrowed. </p>
<p>well, my best friend told me that if im sure MIT will make me happier (and i love it so much more than emory), then I should go bc it's a small price to pay for happiness.... </p>
<p>btw, my family is suppose to pay all, but my parents will only take on 10k. so... yea.</p>
<p>We are in the same situation, except we will actually have to pay the full tuition without aid other than loans. My parents CAN afford it but are essentially unwilling to, so I'm going to take half of it in loans just to ease the burden on them. It's probably a bad decision because I might still end up going to med school (instead of medical research which is my current interest), but MIT is MIT and that's all there is to it. </p>
<p>If you KNOW that MIT is the place for you, just do it. You can scrimp and save with some things, but you can't go back in time 10 years from now when you have a lot of money and upgrade your education. MIT won't chase you if you turn them down now. That's my reasoning anyway!</p>
<p>It's okay kcastelle (I know who you are :) ), but will just use your screen name. Either choice you make from your list of schools will be a fine choice. </p>
<p>TheRestIsSilence, do you have a knowledgeable counselor that has been doing this for a while? You might want to talk to him/her because you'll be surprised at what they can tell you from experience.</p>
<p>have you looked into working for investment banking firms after graduation? sakky has repeatedly made remarks about these firms as a possible solution for paying college loans. I hope sakky can chime in here if he has time.</p>
<p>ahh, vu my friend, how kind of you to say that. what did you think of cpw compared to olin's weekend? you can PM me or my username is the same as my AIM s/n if you don't want to post it on here. just wondering what you thought! :p</p>
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have you looked into working for investment banking firms after graduation? sakky has repeatedly made remarks about these firms as a possible solution for paying college loans. I hope sakky can chime in here if he has time.
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<p>No, no, and a third no. </p>
<p>Getting these jobs is extremely difficult and precarious, even for MIT students (why do you think they pay so well??). The competition for these positions is insane, and even those Caltech/Harvard/MIT students who possess superior talent relative to their fellow undergraduates are usually rejected.</p>
<p>As if that weren't enough, the work is demanding, grueling, and doesn't even pay very well in your first few years. Entry salary is about ~$70,000/year at a lot of these places. </p>
<p>It takes a solid decade of hard work recognized as being extremely successful from one's bosses to finally reach the seven figure plateau. </p>
<p>sakky's delusional posts that making lots and lots of money is somehow easy are laughable and unrealistic.</p>
<p>If it was so simple, then everyone that successfully obtained their degree from a top university would be rich and could retire in their mid thirties.</p>
<p>Surprise, surprise, this is hardly the case....</p>
<p>It's definitely not something that a student with a large debt should be banking their hopes on.</p>