Some schools may be worth it. It depends what you intend to do. Opinions on even that vary, and we can debate that back and forth. Some schools just open a lot of doors that others don’t - my view anyway.
There was a time when I thought I was buying the farming borrowing over $125K for law school at Penn. At some point in my career, that amount of money ceased to have near the significance to me it did at the time. Again, that goes to what you will do with your education. I chased the dollar. No apologies.
And no matter the school, if you are going to pursue a career that pays ok or little, then yeah, you really gotta watch that total debt figure.
With all of that said, even if you’re going to chase the dollar, LMU is not, in my opinion, one of those schools that is even arguably worth it. LMU is a fine school. No issues with it.
But it’s not a door opener. As another poster pointed out, it’s a nice regional school with a following like many others. There’s not much difference between LMU and Gonzaga, other than location. Academically they’re comparable.
If we were talking about Harvard or Princeton and their functional equivalents, then it would be an interesting conversation.
LMU? That would be certifiable in my opinion.
This is a horrible idea. I hope your stepdad either wises up or he’s prepared to pay back those loans…because it’s very doubtful that this student can.
Please either go to Elizabethtown or do a gap year and apply to schools that you like and are affordable.
There are at least a half dozen faith based schools on the list I posted that are located in California and still had room as of earlier this week.
I’m sure that there are…probably Dominican and maybe St. Mary’s of California…BUT…would they be just as expensive? Are they still awarding merit and need based aid?
@student@ail.com What are your test scores? What is your ACT? What is the Math + CR score of your SAT?
@MiddleburyDad2, some schools would be worth it if you can afford to pay without borrowing. I don’t even think HYPSM are worth taking out that much debt.
@intparent , you’re being too general.
It depends on what you want to do. If you’re determined to chase the dollar, are not planning on having kids and buying a house right out of school, then it might not matter.
some schools would be worth what if you can afford to pay without borrowing? we’re talking about borrowing here.
I assume it goes without saying that going to Harvard is worth going to Harvard if you can afford to pay for Harvard. Hardly seems worth pointing out.
But I also think Harvard opens doors. I don’t know what you do for a living, so excuse me if this sounds crass, but you need to understand that a couple hundred thousand dollars is not a permanent ball and chain for everybody. It’s just not.
I’ve been through this. It’s not an academic discussion for me. And though the cost of tuition relative to real income has changed dramatically since I was in school, the fact of the matter is that I was crapping my pants at the notion of owing over $100K back in the early 90s.
I would look back and kick myself now if I’d turned down Penn. It hasn’t been a big deal. But, again, I chased the $$.
If I’d wanted to teach or join the peace corps or been a line engineer at Boeing, different story.
I don’t think MiddleburyDad2 and the other posters are necessarily disagreeing. I know people will be amazed that I’d say this given my preference for certain schools but I would also not agree that it is always worth borrowing to attend Harvard. But sometimes, yes. Always, no. If your plan is to go to Harvard, study English Lit and become a poet, then no. Finance, yes.
But, there is a big difference between MiddleburyDad2’s situation and the OP’s situation. And that difference relates to how student loans have changed. OP, as things stand now, you can never ever discharge those student loans. That means that even if you declare bankruptcy, you will still be stuck with those loans. Sometimes students think they will deal with things later and figure they will be able to ditch them if need be. Nope. As things stand now, you can discharge your credit card debt if you were irresponsible and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt by spending wildly and going on vacations, Big businesses can be irresponsible and, as we’ve all seen, they can declare bankruptcy and essentially start again. But a student can not discharge the student loans …ever. I believe you can take out insurance so that you can be covered if disabled or killed. That’s about it.
If you have concrete plans to enter a field that pays well or if you know you have a wealthy relative who will bail you out, then loans can make sense. But if you only have financially stressed relatives who are willing to co-sign, consider that what I said about you is true for them too. So if you renege or have problems, they can lose whatever they have because they are responsible if you don’t pay.
@lostaccount , agreed. also, the amount one has to borrow relative to real income has changed drastically since I was in school. also, I was paying for law school, not undergrad (though I had loans for that too, but they weren’t a big deal - Stanford paid for most of it).
my only points in this thread were (1) LMU is not a school worth going into heavy or moderate debt to attend, and (2) some schools are worth even heavy debt some of the time. We’re agreed on what those circumstances generally tend to be.
Does an 18 year old really know that they won’t want to do these things? And I work in tech, have a degree from Ross (Michigan) and an MBA. I have “chased the dollar” myself at times in my life. It would have been a lot more challenging to do so, and take the risks and jobs I wanted to take if I had been burdened with big student loans. Plus, a student who wants to ‘chase the dollars’ often wants to get an MBA or law degree, and that is going to be even more debt. This poster wants to study modern languages – i don’t see them having an easy time paying off this debt.
Aside from most people here thinking it’s too much for the school in general, you need to keep in mind where you want to live after you finish. Mom2ck touched on it. You really need to reflect on the cost of living in the LA area specifically and California in general. It’s a beautiful place, but I have friends there and it’s expensive to live there. It might be doable with little to no debt and a college degree, but to owe $100k+ and try to live there sounds like a nightmare to me. Maaaaybe if you were going to rack up that debt and then live in a cheaper place after college, it would be a bit better. But that doesn’t seem to be your goal.
Please reconsider $200,000 in debt.
First…your step dad will need to gain loan approval annually. What happens if he doesn’t qualify for a loan in subsequent years?
What were your SAT or ACT scores…and GPA? Where else did you apply?
Really, $50,000 a year in loans for an undergrad degree anywhere…even Stanford…is too much in loans.
<<< @MiddleburyDad2
If you’re determined to chase the dollar, are not planning on having kids and buying a house right out of school, then it might not matter.
<<<
<<<< @intparent
Does an 18 year old really know that they won’t want to do these things? And I work in tech, have a degree from Ross (Michigan) and an MBA. I have “chased the dollar” myself at times in my life. It would have been a lot more challenging to do so, and take the risks and jobs I wanted to take if I had been burdened with big student loans. Plus, a student who wants to ‘chase the dollars’ often wants to get an MBA or law degree, and that is going to be even more debt. This poster wants to study modern languages – i don’t see them having an easy time paying off this debt.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Intparent is right. It’s too risky for a co-signing loan parent to believe that a 17/18 year old really knows what they want to do. Good heavens, how many HS seniors here insist that they’re going to be doctors…and then 12-24 months later they’re on a totally different career path. Same with those who say that they want to work on Wall Street. How are they supposed to pay back those loans?
Anyway…back to the subject at hand… The OP isn’t on some money-making path. Since s/he wasn’t accepted to LSU during regular admissions, that probably means that s/he had very modest test scores. With a degree in Modern Languages, the likelyhood that s/he would be earning more than $45k per year upon graduation is likely small.
Having half of the gross income going towards debt repayment, there would be little to live on after taxes and health insurance take a chunk as well.
^^ I know it’s LMU (Loyola Marymount)… LSU was a typo.
Elizabethtown College has very good reputation where I live in the Mid-Atlantic. A friend’s daughter is a junior there, she is doing very well and loves the school. LMU is definitely not worth $200K in loans. Go to the school which showed you it wants you by giving you more aid and take full advantage of your opportunities while there.
So your parent will basically be paying another mortgage payment with no house to show for it. A career in modern languages does not have a high starting salary so you won’t be able to help much. Are they comfortable with that? Get behind in paying back and your credit goes down the tubes. No one will rent an apartment to you and you won’t be able to get any car loans or a mortgage. All your credit cards will have high interest rates and you’ll pay more in car insurance than anything else! This selfish idea will have a ripple effect that will affect all areas of your life and the kicker will be you’ll have to leave CA after graduation because you can’t afford to live there!
You also haven’t taken into account tuition raises every year, incidental expenses and cost traveling home when dorms close over the holidays. Ouch.
<<<<
So your parent will basically be paying another mortgage payment with no house to show for it. A career in modern languages does not have a high starting salary so you won’t be able to help much. Are they comfortable with that?
<<<<<
Sounds like a naive step parent hasn’t thought this all thru. May not realize how much the loan payments will later be. May not really realize that he’d be responsible for the debt once the newish grad can’t pay them back.
[QUOTE=""]
Get behind in paying back and your credit goes down the tubes. No one will rent an apartment to you and you won't be able to get any car loans or a mortgage. All your credit cards will have high interest rates and you'll pay more in car insurance than anything else! This selfish idea will have a ripple effect that will affect all areas of your life and the kicker will be you'll have to leave CA after graduation because you can't afford to live there!
[/QUOTE]
yes!!!
@mom2collegekids the schools that are still taking applications indicate whether they will give financial aid. It is very easy to limit OP’s search to California colleges from the list in the link. She can contact the schools she wants and see if they have room and what the cost will be for her. Meanwhile she can proceed with her Northeast/Midatlantic options in case nothing in California works out.
But she already told the other schools she would NOT be attending!
Of that list, the following would be good to pursue, although not sure enough aid would be given that large loans would not still be needed. It sounds like the family isn’t paying much/anything.
Cal Lutheran
Chapman
Dominican
St mary’s Calif
Univ of Redlands
USan Diego
Honestly, how do any of you know what kind of carreer path with what kind of pay I will be choosing with my degree. I may go into immigration law after. Or i may choose to work for an agency.
My ultimate goal is to be happy and doesn’t everyone live in debt?