<p>I got into NYU's liberal studies program and into Rutgers new brunswick business school and arts and sciences school.
rutgers is roughly 25 grand a year and nyu is 59 grand a year.
nyu is giving 15 grand in scholarship money. and my mother can contribute about 6 grand a year for college and in addition to that she will pay me about 100 dollars a week for general spending. I REALLY want to go to a city and I love internships but I am not sure if coming out of nyu in 140 grand in debt is worth it. HELP!! =/<br>
NYU Financial Aid I am being offered:
Award Description Category Offered Accepted
LSP Scholarship Scholarship 15,000.00 15,000.00
Federal Work Study Work/Study 3,000.00 0.00
Federal Perkins Loan Loan 2,400.00 0.00
Stafford Loan 1 Loan 3,500.00 0.00
Unsubsidized Loan 1 Loan 2,000.00 0.00
Federal PLUS Loan 1 Loan 33,494.00 0.00
Aid Year Totals 59,394.00 15,000.00</p>
<p>I will obviously do the work/study and I think it’s okay to take this many loans because its all federal loans… im not taking any personal loans so its not that bad right?</p>
<p>My son is going to graduate in May from Rutgers - New Brunswick. It is an excellent school and in my opinion a better return on your investment than coming out of NYU loaded with debt. Rutgers Business School is extremely hard to make, so congratulations for that achievement. There is no guarantees of high paying jobs and saddling yourself with $140,000 at graduation is a life altering decision. New Brunswick is a very cool college town and getting better every year. Plus the train to NYC is right there walking distance from the school. Best of luck in your decision, but my advice would be to choose Rutgers.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you if it is worth it emotionally, but consider these numbers to see if the ROI is enough to make NYU worth it.</p>
<p>Since most of the loans you were offered are Plus loans, I’m using a weighted average skewed heavily toward those.</p>
<p>Terms of Plus (taken from their website, I don’t pretend to be an expert, just an interested parent):</p>
<p>3% origination, 7.9% interest, beginning when paid to school.</p>
<p>At a rough estimate, your $160k will turn into $190k by graduation (using 7%, not 7.9%, since I am assuming some of your loans will have lower rates).</p>
<p>In order to pay off $190k in loans (accruing interest at an average of 7.0%) by the time <em>your</em> kids are ready for college (about 25 years after your graduation) you would need to pay $1342 every month beginning the day you graduate. </p>
<p>Now, NYU is a great school, but you really need to ask yourself if it is going to give you an increase in earning power over Rutgers to make up for this gap.</p>
<p>Turned the other way, what would $1342 invested monthly at even a 4% ROI give you after 25 years? Close to $700k.</p>
<p>Again, I can’t tell you what would be the best decision. A lot besides dollars goes into picking a college. I do think too many kids take on burdensome loans which then weigh them down financially for life. At least think about it before proceeding.</p>
<p>ZBBM</p>
<p>ZBBMcFate: Very nice analysis. Thanks. I have a D with the similar situation. A good amount of scholarship in a lower rank (around 50 ) school and the NYU (rank 33) with Plus loan over 50K. I guess it’s not bad to choose the lower rank school in a long run.</p>
<p>I know many people who went to both schools. I grew up near Rutgers and I live/work in the city. I suggest going to Rutgers. You’ll get a great education, you’ll enjoy yourself, you’ll be a 40 minute train ride away from the city for excursions/internships, and you won’t be saddled with debt.</p>
<p>Ahha2k,</p>
<p>Ask your daughter if NYU is worth one trip for 2 for a resort weekend <em>every month</em> for 25 years. Or if would she prefer her own apartment in 4 years versus living at home. That’s the mangitude of debt contemplated here. </p>
<p>Plus, I didn’t mention it, but student loans can’t currently be discharged by bankruptcy (except in some cases of severe hardship). You really can ruin your life with too much student debt. What constitutes “too much” can vary, but I think $160k would be crippling to almost any career. Even the $50k (which would be close to $60k at graduation) in your daughter’s case would be a big burden for most new grads.</p>
<p>I used to hire undergrads in the NY/NJ area and didn’t think NYU grads were better than Rutgers. (frankly, I think NYU is one of the most overrated schools around, but that’s another thread). Both schools will give you back as much as you put in. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t be concerned about internships - Rutgers is a short 30 min train ride into NYC. </p>
<p>Looking beyond the financial side, the 2 campuses are VERY different. The Rutgers biz school is located on the Livingston campus, which is very suburban. NYC is in the middle of NYC. Since the football stadium is close by on the Busch campus, Rutgers will have a strong school spirit vibe in the fall. Don’t think you will get that at NYU. </p>
<p>PS - full disclosure, my MBA is from Rutgers-Newark and my daughter will be a freshman in SEBS next year, so we have a Rutgers bias.</p>
<p>ZBBMcFate: </p>
<p>Thanks again. That’s a excellent way to communicate. I would talk to my D about this carefully about her future regarding education and investment (money). By the way, for her situation, it is actually >59k for the first year. It may end up 240k in 4 years and with a 7.9% interest and 3% fees. She may need to pay up to 490k or more in a 20 years period. Money is everything right now for a parent. Where can I get those??? Thanks posting everybody.</p>
<p>Rutgers…I use to work near NYU and the students did not seem very interested in studying. Partying, poutying and spending Daddy’s money…YES!</p>
<p>hotpinkgurlxoxo, you need to go to Rutgers. You cannot afford NYU.</p>
<p>Ahha2k, there’s a Student Loan Payment Calculator available to estimate payments and the total amount of the loan with interest.</p>
<p><a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
<p>It really is eye-opening.</p>
<p>@Hotpinkgurlxoxo - I hope all the responses are making you see that Rutgers is the most logical choice. The student loan calculator should be the find deciding factor.</p>
<p>rpi’s business school gave me 32 grand a year and the other ten grand in federal loans. rpi costs 52 grand.</p>
<p>NYU is great for grad school in many programs, but it’s not known for its focus on undergrads in terms of its education. Some undergrads who attend there love it, in part because of the city, and maybe they have parents who can afford it. But I don’t think it’s worth all that debt. Re-read ZBBM’s post many times before taking out those loans.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who think $100/week in spending money is crazy? Just put that towards tuition.</p>
<p>hotpinkgurlxoxo -</p>
<p>I may have already posted this on one of your other threads, but you should run all of your aid offers through this calculator: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>Your NYU offer is unaffordable. It looks like your RPI offer is unaffordable as well. You should try to keep your total loan burden as close to the maximum allowable Stafford Loan limits as possible - below is even better.</p>
<p>thanks so much everyone! you made me realize how much debt nyu would put me in. I visited NYU on Wed. and i realized… I am paying for luxuries when I go there like macbooks and great dorms. It’s really not worth it. I was considering RPI… they gave me 32 grand in scholarships and grants a year. and 10 thousand in federal loans a year… so in total i would have to pay 15 grand for rpi a year. and RPI costs about 54 grand a year… thats an amazing deal except that RPI is super boring and is known for having a depressing campus. RPI would cost me less than rutgers would.</p>
<p>I feel that maybe you should take another look at RPI though. I am in a similar boat as you and I did. I have to pay nearly 17K a year to go to RPI and compared to other schools it has more to offer in terms of my future. I am going to visit RPI soon. I tried to weigh the positives against the negatives and that’s the only things I really hear that is bad about the school.</p>