<p>For example, if someone is relying on a lot of financial aid and taking out mostly loans to an expensive out of state school, will they be able to pay back the cost of attendance in a timely manner? (Assuming they are going to be an engineering major)</p>
<p>Probably not on average, but it is hard to say without any specifics - it depends on the schools, the major, the individual, etc. Bear in mind that one person might do much better at the expensive OOS school and more than make up the expense over their lifetime, while another person will do much worse at the OOS school and not only lose out on the tuition expense but also see a salary less that they would have gotten coming from the cheaper school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t advise taking on a lot of debt for the expensive OOS undergraduate degree in engineering. Even if you can eat Ramen noodles for the next ten years and pay it off the opportunity cost is too high.</p>
<p>It depends on how much debt. Some suggest to take on no more debt than a new graduate’s yearly pay level, but some suggest a more conservative limit of half of a new graduate’s yearly pay level, or the subsidized Stafford loan limit. (And be realistic about the new graduate’s yearly pay level.)</p>
<p>take a part-time job that’ll help you take out less loans or pay off some of your loans while still an undergrad.
also, what kind of justification do you have for attending an expensive OOS college instead of a lower-cost in-state university? from what i’ve seen so far, an engineering degree at any ABET-accredited college is great stepping stone for a decent job if that’s what you’re aiming for. the brand name university doesn’t give you that much of a jump-start in your engineering career, unless of course you’re in law or banking, then your ivy league or MIT degree matters.</p>
<p>Hey all, as I am considering going back to university (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1355106-28-years-old-want-get-engineering-cs-degree-should-i-point.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1355106-28-years-old-want-get-engineering-cs-degree-should-i-point.html</a>) I am wondering about the debt load I will have. Right now, I have roughly around $30K in student loans. This was a result of when I attended RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) for about two years. In hindsight I was incredibly ignorant then and probably should have considered a cheaper school, so maybe inadverdently I lucked out by having bombed out. </p>
<p>Anyhow, to go back to university, I was looking to University at Buffalo, which has tuition at about $5,000 a year (although that’s just tuition, but still low compared to RIT’s $30K a year tuition). I am not sure about total yearly cost because some websites say “tuition + fees” at U@B cost about $7,000 a year, while one part of their website says it costs about $14,000 a year, but that might be for expenses that I can cut out. So in combination with community college for two years, which would be about $5,000 a year I think, and then two years at university, that would be, assuming $14K year, a total of $38K. If $7K, it’d be a total of $24K (unless I could get some type of financial aid and/or scholarships, which I don’t know).</p>
<p>Added onto my existing debt however, that would make either $54K or $68K upon graduating in total (!!!). Would that still be too high to manage for a fresh graduate in computer engineering, electrical engineering, or computer science (the majors I am considering)? $54K I think I could handle, but $68K sounds like too much I think. I am thinking that, stretching it, I could attend U@B for roughly $7K a year, so I’d have the $54K, and with financial aid or scholarships maybe, get it to even lower then that.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Rule of thumb that I learned is no more than a year’s worth of starting salary in loans. Preferably no more than half a salary, but not always possible.</p>
<p>As i have started getting into the field, I have seen people who went to significantly weaker engineering schools to be in the same position as I am. I am starting to doubt the worth of a high name of an engineering program. At the end of the day if you know your stuff and speak well at the interview you do well no matter what school.
hell got a family mate who went to a school not even in top 100 and hes at a position I would be lucky to ever even touch (essentially they are at what would be a ceiling for my professional life). This is for engineering jobs that is…</p>
<p>If you go to MIT/Stanford/Caltech/Berkeley, you can probably get maybe a 10% salary boost. That’s not really where the benefits of a top school lie though.
Top schools give some amazingly helpful opportunities. If you don’t use them, that’s really your loss.</p>
<p>Yes, I can’t go to a top school though right now, due to $$$ reasons. If I can get financial aid, and can get my total university cost low enough, I could probably get it to around $50,000 or a little lower in total debt, and I think $50K is the starting salary for a computer or electrical engineer. So I’d be at the limit. Then I figure, provided I got employment right upon graduating, that with some scrimping, I could pay off a good chunk of the debt in the first two years.</p>
<p>@neo it aint that i am doin bad. Got an internship at a top company, great work and time. Ain’t complaining at all. Tho I guess i dont goto a mit or stanford. Nevertheless there are ppl here also on internships from much lower ranked schools and some from these mit and stanford lvl schools. We are all at a level playing field now. Point is that there are many smart and motivated kids from “no-name” schools who are now in the same position as more ppl from “prestigious univ” through their demonstration of knowledge.
Every interview I had, the person did not seem to care at all about my school, gpa. They went and probed what I know and my problem solving skills.
When i was choosing univs, the one that gave me the biggest scholarship was the one I choose. No thought, it was automatic. Now I can save my money for a sweet ride or whatever, instead of paying debts.</p>
<p>Case in point: you’re not using the real benefits of a top 4 education. When you go into industry to find a regular job, you’re really not all that more advantageous as a top 4 by default. </p>
<p>It’s the more lucrative opportunities of a major that really benefit from a top school (ex: startups). For more standard positions, two equal students will be in pretty much the same position if they go for a standard job, maybe top 4 will get a slight boost in benefit of the doubt/hard times. </p>
<p>It’s important to know why a top 4 is worth having. In engineering, a salary boost is not a good reason. This is not to say that a top 4 isn’t good, it’s just that you have to know why it’s good.</p>
<p>^Ah I gotcha. you are right. My perspective is from a standard job in industry. .</p>
<p>NeoDymium really hit the nail on the head. If you want a nice comfortable job at a well-known, reputable, innovative firm like, for example, Apple, you might as well get an engineering degree from a top 20 school or a top public school and save yourself the money. If you want to start your own company while in college and sell another company before you turn 30, only then might you actually utilize some of the potential of a school like MIT.</p>
<p>…and if you can’t afford/get accepted to a top 20/top public school?</p>
<p>Between financial aid and merit scholarships, it should be possible.
If you don’t get any, you can always take the community college route, take a few loans, get a job, etc. A public school education debt is quite manageable since it’s not $50k/year.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean top 20 US News rankings. I meant top 20 in the area you want to major in. For example, U. Washington is not in the US News top 20, but it’s in the computer science top 20.</p>
<p>Top 10, even. And hopefully it goes higher! We just stole a bunch of really great people from other universities. <a href=“http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018546054_computerscience28m.html[/url]”>http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018546054_computerscience28m.html</a></p>
<p>Also, you definitely don’t need to go to a top X school to do a startup. It probably helps, but I would think a few years at some well-known leading tech firm would give you some of the connections you need in order to found a startup and get funding.</p>