<p>Think quality of life- yours and your child's. Why should you have a miserable future because you spent all of your money on your child? Will the combined quality of life exceed yours or your child's if you give up your future? I like the scenario of iflyjets (#10)- a win/win situation. Even if the debt load is the child's, will their future be determined by the needs of paying off loans, or the freedom to exercise options without regard to only monetary concerns? All dreams meet reality someday- today's high priced dream school may eliminate tomorrow's dream life. Delayed gratification may yield more, and the substitute may be an excellent four years.</p>
<p>I'm glad taxguy resurrected this. It is one of the issues that can have longstanding impact.</p>
<p>For those with a child entering an arts related major, I'd suggest taking a peek here as well <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/460187-how-many-music-voice-performance-majors-find-jobs.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/460187-how-many-music-voice-performance-majors-find-jobs.html</a></p>
<p>Some insights, experiences, and thoughts from many having been or engaged in performance directed majors.</p>
<p>what would you say for people who are attending these high cost universities, but for high paying majors/careers?</p>
<p>for example, i would like to attend USC next year for business, however, the 50,000 dollar cost per year is a big turn off. but, the way i see it, incurring that kind of debt wouldnt be such a big deal if i graduate with a business major from USC.</p>
<p>I'm with edad: "Kids are really expensive." </p>
<p>Bless their hearts. :D</p>
<p>Ohno - what salary expectation do you have graduating with a buness degree and how much debt are you anticipating?</p>
<p>I expect to incur at most 60k in debt at WashU for a mathematics and buiness degree...looking to go into actuarial work or some sort of career in the financial sector. Do you think I'm making the wrong decision? I may be able to start with a salary of 60k, which would be the most debt I would incur.</p>
<p>Taxguy, your point is well taken, and one I am grappling with. I'm a CPA, so I want to know the return on this college education. My son wants to major in Physics, infact his goal to get a PhD in the field. He has gotten into U of Florida, U of Miami, FSU, U of Maryland, RPI. U of Florida, our wonderful state school, which is actually hard to get into would be a free ride, as would FSU. He received basically a free ride at U of Miami too. RPI offered $16,000. No $ from U of Maryland yet. We are waiting to see if he gets into Princeton, Cornell, CMU, and Brandeis. What I keep wondering is since he is going to grad school does it matter where this first degree is from? I've heard in his field grad schools are a free ride, very few Physics majors go on. Aren't we better off getting a free education, save the bucks to help buy him a house?</p>
<p>cartera45 -</p>
<p>i would incur a debt of about 100k at USC.</p>
<p>as for what i would make afterwards, i really dont know. i always imagined myself being fairly wealthy, and i expect to make a couple hundred thousand annually, but i dont know how to calculate that depending on which school i go to.</p>
<p>Ohno, I can't imagine you'd be cracking 70k out of college, and that's with a pretty good job.</p>
<p>littlemimie, I think there's actually a pretty decent number of physics undergrads that go on at more competitive universities since they might be a bit more motivated and want to get the terminal degree. Also, while it doesn't matter a whole ton where he does his undergrad once he gets his PhD, doing well in a strong undergrad program and the professors he should be able to meet and develop relationships with there could be worth the extra bit of money if the loans don't become cumbersome. I graduated from CMU with around $15k in debt and have no questions in my mind that it was worth the price. I'm also currently in grad school making money (a whopping $25k a year) where I'll be for at least the next four years. All of my loans are deferred (minus the $5k unsubsidized one I paid off after working post-graduation for nine months), so by the time I actually have to start paying them back, inflation should be helping me out quite a bit.</p>
<p>You should talk to RPI about the offers he got from the other schools. CMU had offered me about half of the aid as RPI, but after going back and forth a few times I was able to almost get them to match RPI's offer.</p>
<p>This is an excellent post. I am a CPA - and when it came time for #1 to make his choices, I laid it out for him much like you did - ie what is the real cost of a loan. He was pretty surprised when he saw the amortization tables - and how much a loan can really cost. </p>
<p>As a single parent, I am hesitant to take on huge amounts of debt beyond my normal mortgage debt. Although I have LT disability insurance, does that REALLY cover me ? What happens then to the debt I have incurred on behalf of my children? Although I have no imminent diseases or illnesses, anything can happen. Even if I stay healthy and working - do I really want to be struggling financially for the next 20 years to pay for their education? Do I want to jeopardize my retirement? Do my kids want to start their lives so heavily in debt?</p>
<p>These are things we all need to address - whether you are single or married. Not saying its the wrong thing to do - but please make sure that you are very well informed before you go there!</p>
<p>Ohno, that's a lot of debt and I'm afraid it could take a long time for you to make the money you hope for. You may feel it necessary to go to graduate school and, in that case, I say go to the cheapest undergrad, do really well, and save the money for graduate school.</p>
<p>^^But will choosing the cheap undergrad school (which is ranked really low in my case) limit my opportunity for law school. I would like to attend a prestigious law school so that I can get a job working for the UN. But will a top law school be willing to accept a student from a no name college in Georgia (Georgia State)?</p>
<p>ohno are you planning on going to grad school? I applied to usc and got into Marshall for business. The 50 k is a major turnoff. I am thinking about going to SDSU or maybe berkeley and try HAAS (if i even get in). I am equally confused.</p>
<p>call me muddle-headed and stupid, but I still think it's important to make decisions with your head AND your heart</p>
<p>"But will a top law school be willing to accept a student from a no name college in Georgia (Georgia State)?"</p>
<p>Law school admissions are chiefly a matter of GPA and LSAT scores. Where you earned your GPA isn't much of a factor.</p>
<p>"Law school admissions are chiefly a matter of GPA and LSAT scores. Where you earned your GPA isn't much of a factor."</p>
<p>At the top law schools, this simply isn't true. Keep in mind that the selectivity of top law schools put many elite colleges to shame. For example, Yale's acceptance rate is under 7%. Rigorousness, prestige, reputation of your undergrad are all factors they'll use to make a decision. Yale Law might take someone from GA State every decade or so, but they take dozens of people from Harvard, Yale, Stanford every year.</p>
<p>threedaysgrace: Check admissions sites for the law schools that interest you. I think you will find that where you earn your undergraduate degree is of little consequence.</p>
<p>soymilk - </p>
<p>yeah, i am planning on goin to grad school. i havent gotten into SC yet, but i think i have a pretty strong shot, just awaiting the letter.</p>
<p>but i think i have the same philosophy as you, 50k is a huge turnoff. I got accepted to cal poly SLO, UCSB, and UCI. i think im just gonna go to SLO and get a kick ass gpa so i can afford a great grad school.</p>
<p>what are your stats? gpa, sat, etc.</p>
<p>FINANCE</a> - Leery Lenders Demand More From Borrowers - Top News - Comcast.net</p>
<p>Student loans:</p>
<p>Credit</a> crunch might stall student loans | argusleader.com | Argus Leader</p>
<p>Lenders are tightening their standards for borrowing so before you do make a decision on where to go to school please go to your lender and find out if you will be able to get a loan.</p>
<p>Son chose full ride option over many other top school offers and so far this has worked out great for us. He has had research and internships along with some excellent profs. and has found a great peer group.</p>
<p>I think it is important to apply to the schools you are interested in, and then WAIT FOR THE FINANCIAL AID Packages. It does no good to speculate what the FA packages will be, until you see them.</p>