<p>Ohio State Honors is in state, and the running total minus living expenses but including room, board, tuition, meal plan, books, etc is $12k per year after scholarships. At VT Honors, my cost is exactly double at $24k per year.</p>
<p>I want to major in chemical engineering. I love VA Tech, it was my favorite school that I got into by far, and up until about two weeks ago it looked like it was perfectly doable financialy. However, recently, my dad was rejected for his latest loan at Georgia Tech for my brother's tuition. He had some negative marks on his credit report from bills that went unpaid because they were sent to his old address. My mom and dad, who are divorced, have agreed to split costs half and half. My mom saved the money required for half, and probably a bit more, but she does not want to pay $24k + expenses in full, or even close to that by herself. My dad did not save, though he is capable of paying off loans if he can get them.</p>
<p>This makes my decision difficult. My dad tells me that even if I have to take the loans because he is rejected, he will help me to make the payments on them. Otherwise, if he can get the loans, he will pay his half of my college costs. </p>
<p>I guess it's tough when you don't know the situation or people involved, but my dad is looking at near $100k in loans between my brother and I. Some of this is subjective based on the situation, predicting whether or not my dad will get loans, etc.</p>
<p>When it comes down to it, my question is this. Assuming I like OSU, which I do, but I like VA Tech a whole lot more and I just felt like everything was exactly what I wanted, is it worth it to put myself at risk for possbily having to take out loans when I would be completely debt free if I went to OSU? Im looking at probably $40k in loans if my dad does not pay a dime. What dollar amount would make it worthwhile to go to VA Tech instead? I know this stuff is all dependant on a lot of subjective and situational things, but I just want to get a feel for if I'm crazy for assuming risk of debt if I go to VA Tech over OSU.</p>
<p>In my view, but not my mom/step dad who tend to be very conservative, I will be capable of handling loans between co-op and the high starting salaries of engineers. Obviously, I am not taking the idea of debt lightly, but I really do want to go to VA Tech if it is possible. I just don't know if it is worth debt over going to Ohio State.</p>
<p>Thanks, sorry the post is kind of disorganized, I've just been sort of stressed out over all of this.</p>