<p>Hey so I need help choosing which school would be better for me to go to. I really, really like both schools, but NYU has always been my dream school even though it is so ridiculously expensive.
*I got into NYU with a $15,000 scholarship and $4,000 work study, with the rest being loans. It costs approx. 54k to go there.
*With Rutgers, I have a $7,500 scholarship and $2,000 work study. I'm also in the honors program there.
I'm planning on majoring in biology and while I'm not entirely sure that I want to go the premed track, I am leaning toward it right now. However, I'm also kind of interested in business.</p>
<p>Would you say since Rutgers is more affordable and since I'm still a bit undecided, I should go there instead of NYU? Or should I go with my dream and hopefully everything will work out with repaying my debt and all that?</p>
<p>Crushing Debt</p>
<p>Full disclosure first. I am a Rutgers grad (class 91).</p>
<p>Even so, n doing the math, I assume you’ll have to finance $35,000 a year for a total of 140k, not counting books and expenses in NYC. Unless you have a source of funds–parents, grandparents–willing to help, that is just way too much debt for anyone to consider. I’m not even sure you can finance that much yourself. And if you’re considering pre-med, the don’t forget the cost of med school on top of that. </p>
<p>I would definitely take another look at RU. IF you can make it through RU pre-med with good grades, there’s no reason you can’t make it into medical school without being shouldered with an unbearable debt. I just went through this myself with my D who wanted to go to Duke for BME. 52k a year was just too much money (and I’m in the high 100s as far as salary). She instead chose UVA which is much much less in cost and has the same program. Don’t let the name blind you, when it comes time for med school your GPA, MCATs and any research you’ve done will be more important than RU vs NYU. BTW, my roommates from school–both econ majors–went on to Harvard biz and the Wharton school for their MBAs.</p>