<p>I am deciding between a number of universities and colleges, none of which offered me financial aid. </p>
<p>However, I am receiving 15k of merit aid per-year to go to a very highly regarded LAC.</p>
<p>Still, I have a chance to go to a slightly higher ranked and more well-known LAC or an Ivy league university on full-pay.</p>
<p>My parents have assured me that I am able to wherever I want for my undergraduate schools because they have saved up a substantial amount of money and I would not need to go into debt. They want me to decide where I want to go based on fit.</p>
<p>My question...I plan to go to graduate school eventually. I definitely don't plan on going to business or law school, and there is a very slim chance I would end up at veterinary school. My dream grad school is the University of Cambridge, where I would be earning a degree in either biology, astronomy, religion, English...anyway, I plan on getting a PhD. </p>
<p>Should I be saving some of my college funds for grad school? If I go full-pay, I will have no money left. Also, if I plan to teach at the University of Cambridge, will that help lower the cost of grad school?</p>
<p>Just a bit more information–getting a Masters (or equivalent of) at Cambridge would cost around $50,000 per year. A PHD program is between $50,000-70,000 per year depending on if its for the arts or sciences. However, students employed by the uni must only pay about $3,000 per year.</p>
<p><a href=“Funding overview | Postgraduate Study”>Funding overview | Postgraduate Study;
<p>Only you and your parents can answer that question. In our house we gave the choice where D could go to SUNY/Honors college. If she went to a school that only gave need based aid, we would pay, but grad school was on her. She went to the school of her choice (Ivy), graduated debt free and grad school was on her (not exactly because she received some help) but she definitely has taken on some debt.</p>
<p>Any doctoral program worth anything provides tuition remission and assistantship/fellowship funding. Nobody should pay for a Ph.D, period. Some loans might be necessary if the stipend is small or it’s a high cost of living area, but if you’re paying tuition for a doctoral degree, You’re Doing It Wrong.</p>
<p>Polarscribe is correct in terms of most PHD programs. However, at age 18, it is really impossible to predict where and what you will want to do upon graduating college. A lot of what will happen then will be based on what your experiences are during college. Even those who do precisely what they say, are doing so by chance. The stats are truly show that you can end up doing any number of things and to narrowly plan for one at this time is not a good idea. In your short post, you even mention the possibility of veterinary school. You might decide medicine, law, business, any of those things as where you want to go.</p>
<p>So right now focus on your next step, which is undergraduate college. You are fortunate in that your parents can afford to pay where ever you choose. Get the information from them and if they truly are able to to do this, then pick where you fell you can best get the most opportunities and enjoy your 4 years there. You are so lucky to be able to have this type of choice.</p>