<p>I have a serious dilema at hand. I've been accepted at Northwestern University, but I've received no financial aid at all. My prospective major is economics and NU is highly ranked in econ. I think I'll benefit from the environment at NU, but is it worth a debt of 80-100K after graduation? In addition, I'm an international student and I know that as an international student, job opportunities in the US are rather scarce or at least more competitive as I must be eligible for a work visa which companies must be willing to sponser. </p>
<p>I've read the 'should you incur the debt' and 'private school vs state school' thread, but still cannot decide. Some say that it's dependent on one's major. It's more advantageous to go to the private university and tackle the debt if one is planning to major in business or affiliated because it's where top companies recruit. On the other hand, I wonder if I want a burden of 80k at the age of 21.</p>
<p>My other option is a very mediocre university here in Canada. Its admission standards are not high and from what I know, students are not very motivated or passionate about learning. If I attend this school, I won't be majoring in business as it does not have a strong business school. However, I will graduate with an approx. 100k surplus if I choose to attend this school as opposed to NU.</p>
<p>I think that the 4 years of undergraduate school is, without a doubt, 4 defining years in one's life. But is the 'undergraduate experience' worth going 80-100k in debt? Advice would be greatly appreciate</p>
<p>juju: do you mind saying how much debt that was?</p>
<p>suze: accepted to 2 schools w/o finaid, waitlisted chicago and rejected harvard.</p>
<p>As for Canadian universities, apparently I'm not "academically qualified" and my 90 average doesn't meet the 'competitive average' of the school I applied to here.</p>
<p>Sure.
65k.
Two years after graduation, I've already paid off most of it--and definitely could've paid off all of it if I hadn't taken a few vacations...
I'd do it again in a second--for me, it was worth every penny.</p>
<p>Would anyone know in general how much/if merit aid Northwestern gives or scholarships in general? Or fin aid for middle income families with more than one kid in college?</p>
<p>"Two years after graduation, I've already paid off most of it--and definitely could've paid off all of it if I hadn't taken a few vacations...
I'd do it again in a second--for me, it was worth every penny"</p>
<p>Would you do it if you had to go 100k in debt?</p>
<p>slipper: can you elaborate? Is it worth the debt even though I'm an international student?</p>
<p>I would probably go to NW but that is a lot of debt to get into.
The job market is very competitive, and I think with the opportunities you will have coming out of a top-tier university it's worth it to go there.</p>
<p>Admission criteria is based only on grades here. I don't know why, but 90 percent isn't enough, supposedly. :P I'd gladly attend those for undergrad and go to the states for grad if I could, but again, 90 isn't good enough for some reason.</p>
<p>Northwestern will give you access to top firms that lesser schools will not. A strong econ major will have access to bigtime consulting and banking jobs. If you can excel at NU, you'll also be competitive for a top MBA program after a couple of years. You'll get opportunities that you just won't get at a lesser school.</p>