Kid won FULL TUITION at Xavier but also got accepted at ND (where we would have to take out $120k in loans!) She THINKS she wants to do Pre-med but who knows! Our thinking is that she should save her “debt” for med school or some type of other grad school if she changes her mind. Are we crazy to give up an opportunity at Notre Dame???
Well Notre Dame is obviously unaffordable and you would have to cosign the loans for Notre Dame which means you’re on the hook when she finds that repaying $120,000 in debt is nearly impossible for a student just out of college.
Are there any other choices between Notre Dame and Xavier?
$120,000 in debt seems like the crazy decision, especially when medical school would lead to even more debt.
If you didn’t get any need based at at ND and don’t have college savings, then 120k in loans is ruinous. Crazy would be borrowing that. I would tell the student that it is out of the question, don’t show a crack of light on the other side of that door. Also ND is extremely competitive in premed from what I can gage. I know a student in HS, top 1 pct of class in a very rigorous program who only got a C in chem freshman year. That is not promising for med school aspirants.
XU full ride is the way to go! Since lots of majors are “pre-med” pick one that gives her some flexibility if med school is not her ultimate choice.
After reading and posting here for a long time (look, 10,000th posts)! I am convinced that the part of the brain that is still developing in teenagers includes understanding of the concepts of large numbers. It is all funny money to them. Even the smart ones don’t get it 90 pct of the time. The other 10 pct are so afraid of it they don’t use it to help them when needed. Maybe you should make a spreadsheet to show what the payments on that debt and the total interest accruing looks like. And then add med school on. Fact is, unless you yourself are bearing that debt, the student would not be able to afford med school. Phd is different, PhD’s get funding and tuition waivers.
Good point by BrownParent. I also believe that most students this age – even intellectually bright and motivated ones – do not understand the impact of more than a few zeros financially. It is not their fault; it takes life experience, combined with some corresponding analytical connections, to understand the weight of those debt burdens and their corresponding effects fully. And I find some of the enticements of near- / full-pay offers at this point to be untenable and divisive.
I’d be thankful with your daughter about Xavier’s offer and not look back. I don’t think it is crazy at all to pass on ND for that steep price.
Congratulations on breaking 10,000, @BrownParent – now that’s a lot of zeros!
I’m with @BrownParent – translate that $120K into cars, clothes, trips, whatever concrete things matter to your D in terms she can understand. Even if she decides not to go to grad school, that would be an enormous debt. Since med school admission is about GPA and MCAT scores, the ND name is not especially advantageous there. Would it be easier to be at the top of her class at Xavier than at ND?
Thanks, everyone! This is my first post on CC and I guess I was just looking for affirmation that she is making the right decision. SHE actually wants to go to Xavier over ND. It is more her father and I who, as the deadline looms, are second guessing her choice because we are just not convinced that she will stick with pre-med. I think our fear is that, if she doesn’t, she would be better off with the ND degree and all the experiences, contacts and alumnae support that goes with it. Still, I agree: $120,000 in debt for an undergrad degree seems crazy - especially if you are going for any kind of graduate degree - which I think she WILL, even if not pre-med. That is our line of thinking and it sounds like most everyone agrees. Just frustrates me that we are in that donut hole where we make too much to get much need based aid, but not enough to pay for a $65K/yr so-called “elite” education for a kid that has worked so hard!
@anhydrite --“I’d be thankful with your daughter’s offer and not look back.” Thanks! I think that’s what I needed to hear!
$120,000 in debt is a bad idea for undergraduate even without any intention of going to medical or other professional school. Your daughter has the right idea of avoiding that much debt.
You are welcome. I think we live in an age where it is becoming more and more difficult to justify enormous tuitions for schools with “elite” status, which is often accrued over a very long period, and may not accurately reflect the qualitative difference in educational experience. I’m pretty sure if you looked at the faculty at Xavier, most departments would feature professors with PhD’s from reputable institutions – similar, though perhaps not as prominent in their research, as faculty at ND. Sure, there are perks and metrics one can cite for a university such as ND. But it will be difficult for just about anybody to mount a comprehensive argument that a figure like $120,000 extra is worth those perks – even those who have that amount of disposable income as a luxury.
Congratulations on your daughter’s choice~
$120,000 in debt is crazy. Especially for pre-med. But your daughter isn’t fully sure if she wants to do pre-med…Xavier is a solid school with good academics. She won’t lose out by not having that Notre Dame name on her belt.
Feeling much better about this tonight. So easy to get caught up in the emotion of all this. The fact is that there are a lot of ND alums in our family and so it has always kind of been a dream for our daughter. Unfortunately, the cost of that dream (for many) has spiraled out of control and it just doesn’t seem to make sense anymore. Time to re-calibrate the Dream: good education, solid school, and NO DEBT! GO MUSKIES!