<p>Ok. Im just looking at a possibility here, so please dont start critcizing. According to my calculations and financial situation, if i attend UC Berkeley, at the end of four years i will have $100,000 in student loans. On a bachelors in computer science, how feasible is it to rack up this much loans. Also, how much loans do u guys think is ideal. I do have the option of living with my parents after college. They'd be happy to take me in and after four years it shouldnt be such a bad idea. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Does the $100,000 include the interest that will be racking up while you are in school? If so, you are looking at loan payments of around $1200 a month every month for 10 long years. If not, the accrued interest (assuming you are not paying it while you are in school and that the rate is around 8%) will have caused the debt to balloon to about $122,000 by the time you graduate meaning your payments will be around $1500 a month every month for 10 years.</p>
<p>It will be very hard to make these payments on a starting salary. This is much to much in loans. You will have to have a cosigner of course (your parents) as the max you can borrow on your own through federal direct student loans is $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore year, and $7500 the subsequent years. The cosigner is equally responsible for the loans.</p>
<p>You need to look at more affordable options.</p>
<p>Sorry, no offense intended, but that’s just cray-cray. ;)</p>
<p>do have the option of living with my parents after college</p>
<p>Well, you really don’t know that. You don’t know WHERE you’d be employed. If your job offers are a distance from your parents’ home, you’ll need to live elsewhere.</p>
<p>You also don’t know what your “romantic relationship” status will be then. At that point in your life, you may find “living with the 'rents” to be too close for comfort if you have a significant other. </p>
<p>Not only that, but once you’ve lived on your own for 4 years, it can be difficult to move back home for that length of time and have to follow “their rules” when you’ve been living under your own rules for so long.</p>
<p>It’s a bad idea - you shouldn’t rely on a situation where you’d have to live with your parents. </p>
<p>BTW…you also may not realize how hard a single person w/o any deductions is going to get hit with taxes. Your actual take-home pay will not be anywhere close to your salary.</p>
<p>As an Eng’g/CS major, you shouldn’t have more than about $40k in debt at graduation. Less is preferable.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids</p>
<p>Lol cray cray.</p>
<p>@muhamad
Sorry dude but $100,000 is way too much debt. That probably doesn’t even include the interest that your going to gain on those loans. I would go to a different college that would provide more financial stability. UC Berkeley is an amazing school but there are so many amazing schools out there where you can get better financial aid or even better merit aid. Overall, I just don’t think it’s a smart choice, but do what you want to do.</p>
<p>If all the planets in your solar system line up just the right way, and all goes well, yes, with a computer science major, really from just about anywhere, you will be making enough money to pay for a $100K nut, which, as others have mentioned does not stay at $100K. Shame on you, math buff as you must be, not to take into consideration the interest that starts cranking up the instant the funds are released. There are kids these days that are taking close to this out with Perkins, Direct Loans (esp with the sub rates going up as they are), and extra Direct Loans if parents are denied the PLUS. </p>
<p>You basically have bought yourself a house in most parts of the country, only you don’t have the house. Just the payment for it. So you are going to trade living at home with parents for 4 years during college for moving back home when you are 22 for some years? We live in the NYC metro area, and my son got his great job half way across the country. There’s no telling where the offers will come from. </p>
<p>Is this the best you can do? Are you OOS here, or are your parents just unable to pay anything? That’s a big decision for an 18 year old to make, and it’s one with implications for many years thereafter. You may even find yourself at a disadvantage for some jobs with that kind of debt on your credit report. The companies that deal with money and sensitive info all do background checks, including credit history, and they really don’t like to hire someone owing that kind of money when they have other choices.</p>
<p>$100,000 debt is too much for Computer Science. See [How</a> to Pay Student Loans You Can’t Afford - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pay-student-loans-cant-afford-110025789.html]How”>How to Pay Student Loans You Can't Afford)</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys… again, im just looking at an option. My first priority is to get into Cornell, which has much better financial aid.</p>
<p>Muhammad, what is your home state? Also about how much do your parents say they can pay per year for college for you? Since you have run some NPCs, you know about what they and you are expected to pay for your education. Be aware that you are also going to be limited in terms of what you alone can borrow. You are tied to your parents’ finances while you are dependent for aid purposes which is usually until age 24.</p>
<p>As for Berkeley, if you are OOS, acceptance is not only difficult, getting any money out of them is virtually impossible. For Cornell, you need to file PROFILE, but their NPC is pretty spot on as long as there is no family owned business in the picture. That would skew the results.</p>
<p>My home state is Maryland. And how much do u guys think should be the maximum amount of loans i take. Like the amount i could pay off with a CS degree</p>
<p>Muhammad, there is a risk to everything. There is this assumption that if a student is a CS major or STEM major or other pre prof major, the money and jobs will be dropped from the heavens like manna right into your open mouth. It’s not necessarily that way. </p>
<p>You are permitted to borrow up to $27K on your own with Student Direct loans. By the time you get through 4 years, you will likely owe $30K or more on them due to the interest on the unsubsidized parts of these loans. Borrowing ANY more involves getting your parents to apply and get turned down, which means you can get about $18K more ($4K freshman year). Some of the neediest kids might be offered Perkins subsidized loans at $5K a year. So the max the government feels ANY UG should be carrying is about $65K a year, and that’s with the bulk of the loans being subsidized. If you borrow that amount without subsidies, you will be owing close to $90K with accrued interest. The meter is ticking on that interest even as you graduate and start to regroup and look for a job, get a job, relocate for a job, and pay what it costs to get started on a job. Having just gone through this with a kid who has snagged a great job, it does cost money to go through that process. You likely need a car, insurance and he is shocked at what health ins, disabiilty, 401K etc takes out of your check not to mention Soc Sec and taxes. </p>
<p>it is also not a 100% certainty that you will get through a CS curriculum. Many kids do not. They don’t like it, don’t do well, they change majors. Everyone thinks he’s the one to make it until it happens. And the loan amounts stay the same. My friend’s DD graduated with over $90K in debts, and her parents cosigned some of it, and she is broke, doesn’t have a high paying job, parents can’t pay it either. She decided the program she wanted was not for her and that was it. Yeah, she should have transferred, but was doing so well and enjoying the school so much. And people assured her that there would be jobs even in other majors. She now owes more than double what she took out and it’s a real problem for her and her family.</p>
<p>No more than the very likely first year compensation, is a rule, and I would stick to that. $50K unless there is some really good reason to up it. If you can even get that kind of money on your own.</p>
<p>The University of Maryland has a very well-regarded CS program. I hope it is on your list.</p>
<p>You are in-state for UM-CP and UM-BC. If your grades and exam scores are in the range for Cornell, they are in the range to get you a bit of merit money in state. Sit down with your parents and find out how much they are ready, willing, and able to chip in each year. Your least expensive option might be right near home.</p>
<p>Often there’s little reason to need to go OOS for a CS degree. Many/most states will have a good CS program at one or more of their own state’s schools. The CS major isn’t so unique that only a handful of schools can provide a good program.</p>
<p>What is your parents’ likely EFC? How much will they pay each year?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys… again, im just looking at an option. My first priority is to get into Cornell, which has much better financial aid.</p>
<p>That’s good and fine, but what are your 2nd and 3rd choices? And what are your choices that don’t require a lot of debt?</p>
<p>The most debt a CS/Eng’g major should have is probably around $40k max, but preferably less. Again, you don’t know where you’ll get a JOB. And, you don’t know what the cost of living will be in that location. You may find yourself in a location where the COL is high. In my experience, higher Eng/CS salaries often coincide with high COLs.</p>
<p>*I plan on majoring in computer science. Probably double major with math.
Planning to apply to Cornell ED, harvey mudd, georgia tech, university of illinois at urbana champaign, Berkeley, NYU considering others. Also if u have any suggestions then please do
Unweighted GPA: 4.5
My school doesnt rank.
SAT:
Math- 800
CR- 640
Writing- 680</p>
<p>SAT II:
Math II- 800
Physics- 760</p>
<p>EC:
About 6 Model united nation conferences
Won on 3 occasions
Captain of basketball team
Math competitions
Social entreprenuership competition
Took part in schools annual play production</p>
<p>Internship with WWF</p>
<p>State residency: MD
Middle eastern</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated *</p>
<p>Ok…you seem to be on the wrong track if your parents can’t/won’t pay a lot of money for college. You have a LOT of OOS publics and NYU…those are schools that won’t give you much/any help with costs.</p>
<p>You seem to think that it’s necessary to go to some school with a highly ranked CS dept. News Flash…when you’re hired, you’re going to find that your fellow CS new hires from the “good but not CS ranked schools” are getting paid the SAME as you are. A company is not going to bump your salary because you went to Cal, or NYU, or UIUC or GT.</p>
<p>This is an area that I know a lot about. My entire family is employed in the eng’g/CS field. They range from VPs to hiring managers for companies like Boeing, DirecTV, Canon, Northrop, etc. They will pay the Berkeley graduate the SAME as the CSU Long Beach graduate or SLO grad. They’ll pay the GT and Purdue grads the same as those who graduate from UA-Huntsville. </p>
<p>So, how are you going to feel making $500-1000 a month payments for a very long time, while your colleagues from “good but not CS ranked schools” are putting their money towards the mortgages of the nice new homes they’ve just bought???</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
Thanks for the response. This is actually a question ive pondered for quite some time. Does it really matter where i get my undergrad degree from? Will employers actually give me plus points for attending a flashy school or could they just not care less? And consider me at the same level with someone from lets say a state school and someone from MIT.</p>
<p>And i have heavily considered Maryland and probably will end up there but what harm is it for a guy to apply to some nice universities that he likes :rolleyes:
And Berkeley is def not on the top of my list. I dont even know if i will apply or not.</p>
<p>*@mom2collegekids
Thanks for the response. This is actually a question ive pondered for quite some time. Does it really matter where i get my undergrad degree from? Will employers actually give me plus points for attending a flashy school or could they just not care less? And consider me at the same level with someone from lets say a state school and someone from MIT.
*</p>
<p>Many, many, many universities have very good CS programs. (it’s not that hard to have a good CS program…lol) Unless you’re going to attend some unheard of Podunk U, employers really aren’t going to care. It’s very likely that the person who hires you will be a state school grad. </p>
<p>As for MIT grads vs other grads: Employers really care more about the person…what he/she’s done, the classes they took, their grades, how they present themselves, do they have good social skillls. Good employees need to be able to properly do presentations to the Customer or to Directors, etc. They need to have good verbal/communication and hopefully good writing skills. </p>
<p>As mentioned above, you’re not going to get paid more. Therefore, running up big debt would soon become frustrating as you see that your fellow colleagues are earning the same and they went to VT, UM-CP, UDel, Cal State Fullerton, or wherever. </p>
<p>What is your situation? How much will your parents pay? There’s no reason for you to go into much/any debt for undergrad.</p>
<p>First thanks for your interest in Computer Science. Im a comp sci major. The pay is good, and so is the market, because way to few kids are choosing this major. </p>
<p>mom2collegekids is spot on. Our jobs require a 4 year comp sci degree. It doesn’t matter where its from. Find a place you can afford and thrive at. </p>
<p>Could you pay back 100K ? Ive paid off a mortgage that’s much bigger, so Id have to say yes. But would you want to do that given your other options ? Absolutely not. Get your degree cheap then spend your money on your Car/House/Girlfriend/Life.</p>
<p>
Mortgage is very different from the student loan.</p>
<p>I say it’s pretty risky to have such large debt. I chose a school that gave me the least debt and i’m doing engineering and it’s not the school i’m most excitable about going but yeah it’s ranked high on payscale anyway! Like what would happen at graduation you can’t find a job? I know I sound absurd but it can happen if the market crashes. Like it may be the “hottest” thing out there right now but it might go down after you finish school. I’m scared of debt but that’s just me. Not sure about you.</p>