<p>My daughter's boyfriend has had his heart set on CMU since 8th grade. Has already been accepted to CIT and will major in computer and electrical engineering. However, with virtually no aid and his folks paying half, he's probably looking at 100K in debt. He applied to Pitt as a safety and received a full tuition offer (not full ride). CMU has been his dream and he's worked like crazy to get in. Assuming he get very little aid from CMU, what should he do? Ia CMU worth the debt?</p>
<p>ECE is sooooo worth it. For the experience and the employment prospects.</p>
<p>100K vs. strong connections at CMU. 100K is hard to make up. At Pitt, he may be able to take some CMU classes. Is he looking to grad school afterwards or getting a job right out of school? He could go to grad school at CMU as one option - an advanced degree from CMU is even more impressive. Getting a job directly out of school will happen no matter which college he attends but obviosuly a CMU degree in IT is top notch. I think he’s in good shape either way.</p>
<p>I don’t think 100K at CMU is worth it. That’s a pretty huge payment to make month in and month out. Taking a quick look at a loan calculator, it’s around $1,150 a month. That would wind up being his largest monthly expense until he gets a mortgage, most likely (and that could take pretty long repaying a loan that much).</p>
<p>I think if he’s a student motivated enough to do all that work to go to CMU he could certainly excel at Pitt. Also, don’t they have an honors college? Has he looked at becoming part of that?</p>
<p>Finally, has he tried negotiating his offer with CMU? I was able to get a pretty good extra yearly chunk of aid by telling CMU I really wanted to go there, but another school had offered significantly more and there was no way I could afford to attend without extra aid.</p>
<p>Not worth the 100K in debt-with the current job market I can’t imagine having an $1100 monthly debt on graduation. My older 2 have already graduated and while they are both fortunate enough to have jobs, they know many who have not been so lucky. They both have above average starting salaries, but would have a tough time making that payment plus regular living expenses. Plus, if grad school is in the works, there would be even more debt. I would opt for the Pitt with full paid tuition and save loans for possible grad school at a more prestigious grad program.</p>
<p>This question surfaces in several threads about this time of year and will continue through May 1.</p>
<p>The analysis is incorrect-- b/c you are comparing apples and oranges.</p>
<p>Colleges have a price tag and you decide if that price tag is something you want to pay-- either paying as you go -or later (loans). You don’t compare it to a different product with a lower price tag b/c you aren’t looking at college education for $ 0 or $100k. You are looking at buying two different products.
You can buy a Honda for $20k or a BMW for $ 50k-- they both have 4 wheels and are both great cars. They are two different commodities and the long term value differs greatly.</p>
<p>It’s really sad for a kid to have their hopes on a school, gain acceptance and then realize after-the-fact they don’t or cannot afford the school. The CC financial aid thread is filled with these posts-- and families really should tell their S/Ds what is affordable upfront.</p>
<p>Did family do a FAFSA estimator or a CMU early estimate?</p>
<p>Reality-it’s not going to be $100k in debt.
The summer job opportunities from CMU will bring in minimum of $5k from ECE and probably 2-3x that by sophomore and junior years. That is not going to happen from attending Pitt.
The savings in food, travel, car insurance, etc when not the student is not living home are another $3-5k per year.
The CMU COA i $55,000-- of which $15 is discretionary – the tuition is $42k – not $55k. The personal expense budget is very generous-- but neither of my kids spends $2k on personal expenses (and if they wanted to – they would have a job while in school). They also don’t spend $1500 on books (they buy used) and you don’t need a $6000 dining plan (you can get out of the freshman mandatory plan with a bit of creativity – allergies? medical issues, Kosher diet??)
Reality- sounds like you are only (and I say that lightly) short $10-12k a year. So you decide if you feel a CMU education is worth that or not. That is independent of whether you feel attending Pitt for free is worth it or not. Pitt is a fine school-- but it is NOT CMU or even anywhere close in the quality of education or the resume/grad school packing punch to the resume.
Why Pitt and not Penn State as a safety- Penn State for free would be worth a serious consideration=but Pitt- for engineering-- doesn’t even match?
And as another poster indicated-- attempt to bargain with CMU when your package arrives- you may get another $3-5k for trying</p>
<p>Good last post by mom2012. Living costs are going to be the approx the same, if the offer is tuition is free (but not living costs) only at Pitt, you are looking at a difference of 84K, if he pays half, not 100K. Is it worth it? I think so, not everyone does. It could be painful paying it back, but painful not going to your dream school when it’s right next door. Renegotiate the offer, as racinreaver says.</p>
<p>My S at CMU already has interviews set up with Microsoft, Apple and 2 others. Would he get that at Pitt as a sophomore? I doubt it, but I don’t know for sure. Internships can help with the cost of tuition alot.</p>
<p>“his folks paying half, he’s probably looking at 100K in debt.”</p>
<p>So it is actually $200k, not $100k. People do buy BMWs. It is a personal choice!</p>
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<p>Just gonna say that this can really depend on what sort of jobs you have over the summer. I spent my summers doing the grad-school preferred route of research at universities and was earning only around $10 an hour (sometimes with free housing, sometimes without).</p>