<p>Hey guys.
I was recently admitted to MIT, and to attend, I will have to borrow $14000 a year. It feels like I've been waiting to go to college all my life, and I've finally been accepted to my dream school, but now,
I'm scared.
The prospect of being $55,000 in debt upon graduation really scares me.
I know that I'm going to pursue my doctorate immediately upon graduation. I will be studying biology in some form.</p>
<p>I talked to a science PhD at my high school - he basically said $55,000 was nothing compared to what I will be making with a degree from MIT and [insert prestigious grad school]. </p>
<p>I do have other college options, and I am now deciding whether or not I can actually pay this $55,000 amount. </p>
<hr>
<p>If anyone has gone through large amounts of student debt, please post.</p>
<h2>I need some support... I don't know if I'm scared just because I'm young and un-experienced with financial matters, or if I really should be scared...</h2>
<p>You are right to be scared. $55k is a large amount of debt. I would very strongly discourage my own kids from incurring such a large debt. And if you are planning to go to Grad school you will be even more in debt.</p>
<p>Are you planning to pay the interest on the loans as you go along? If not then the loan will accrue interest each month and the interest will be added to the loan and you will be paying interest on the interest. For instance $14,000 a year for 4 years at 7% will have grown to $66000+ at the end of 4 years. And if you are not able to start paying it at the end of 4 years because you are in grad school then the debt will continue to grow even if you are not borrowing anything more for grad school. 7% interest on $66,000 for 1 year is $4620. If you have to take on more loans for grad school then your debt will be even greater.</p>
<p>To get an idea of the payments you would have to make . For instance $66,000 at 7% would be a payment of $766 a month every month for 10 years. You would actually repay over $90,000 by the time you are through. Please make sure you have a realistic idea of what this debt will mean to your life after college.</p>
<p>if you’re looking to go to biology grad school (not med school), you will not need to take out loans to attend-- however you will only be paid ~30k, which doesn’t leave much to pay loans with. Also, even after you get your phd (5-8 years), you will then have to postdoc, where you are still not paid that well (~40k). I would think about your other options</p>
<p>I think you are making some questionable assumptions about your future options.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do not assume that an undergraduate degree from MIT will get you a place in a prestigious graduate program. Half of the undergrads at MIT will be in the bottom half of the class. They will not likely be getting the kind of letters/recs from professors that will be essential for admission to even a half-way decent program.</p></li>
<li><p>Do not overestimate the number of good positions available for biology PhDs–including those from top programs.</p></li>
<li><p>Graduate student stipends don’t pay well. If you are married at that point to someone with an income, you might be able to start paying off the undergrad. loans, but otherwise it will be tough.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t know what your other college choices are. If they are good schools with credible Honors programs, with accessible professors with active research programs who are known to welcome undergraduates into their labs, then you should consider them. </p>
<p>I’ll admit to being a debt-averse person at this point in life. It took me a while to pay back some student loans, and my debt load was much smaller than the one you are contemplating. You won’t do much fun stuff like traveling, you may have to postpone purchasing a house, etc. Debt is really quite limiting, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Happydad is a Ph.D. biochemist with a small bio-tech firm. He was in grad school for 7 years, and then an underpaid research institute staffer and post-doc for 10 years. We wouldn’t have been able to pay off anything like this kind of debt until he finally went to work outside of academia, and even then it would have been crippling.</p>
<p>My good friend is a Ph.D. biochemist who after 8 years of grad school and 8 years of post-docs, spent a year completely unemployed, followed by a one-year adjunct position at a community college, and now is an assistant editor for a biochem journal. This person’s annual salary is nowhere near 55k even now.</p>
<p>Not everyone who gets through a biology degree and wants a Ph.D., gets a Ph.D. And the Ph.D. is no guarantee of remunerative employment.</p>
<p>There are so many biology PhD students and graduates in US and few jobs available as the Goverment cuts research funding and Pham. compay merges. My wife makes $45K after got her PhD 10 years ago.</p>
<p>No where did the original OP refer to majoring in biology and MIT has many other majors including electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineering. I do think that you need to think through the cost a bit more, but any one who gets into MIT should be able to make a statistical analysis that can prove or disprove the income potential vs. the loan/interest costs. Two things I would strongly recommend. Do a search for a video called “Did You Know 2.0”. Very thought provoking regarding the future of the world. Also, read the book the Right Brain by Daniel Pink. If what you are going to school for can be accomplished by off-shoring to India or China, think very carefully before you spend any money.</p>
<p>Unsoccermom, The OP did cite biology:
“I know that I’m going to pursue my doctorate immediately upon graduation. I will be studying biology in some form.”
I agree with the majority of the contributors - think carefully about incurring that much debt.</p>
<p>^^^I noticed it because my doctorates are in biochem and molecular bio. I have a friend who makes a ton of money as a research exec. for a private pharma firm, but most of us are a dime a dozen. (The successful friend did not attend an elite institution for any of his degrees, BTW.)</p>
<p>All the parents here have a valid point…but on the other hand the school is MIT. The platform MIT provides to launch your career is promising. More important is how well you do at MIT. If you do well, you will be recruited to a good doctoral program and paid to earn your degree. If you go to work immediately, you will command a “MIT” premium.</p>
<p>While debt is never something to be taken lightly, its burden on you has to evaluated by its benefits to you. Only you can decide.</p>
<p>go for it, phds in biochemistry, biophysics, bio-engineering, etc. make a ton of money in the private sector… also, consider the caliber of alumni associations you’ll have after graduating from the ivy leagues… go, now…</p>
<p>you’ll regret not taking this opportunity for the rest of your life if you don’t… 100k in debt is chump change compared to the opportunity you have in front of you.</p>
<p>“If you do well, you will be recruited to a good doctoral program and paid to earn your degree.”</p>
<p>Getting paid to earn your Ph.D. is the norm in the biological sciences. Any student who isn’t good enough to receive full funding for his/her Ph.D. in a scientific or technological field isn’t good enough to be pursuing that field of study. And, again it doesn’t matter very much where you have earned your first degree. Grades, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and (if you have them) research experience and publications do.</p>
<p>lol… I’m sorry, but it’s painfully obvious that everybody in here making career projections for biology majors (particularly biochem, biophys, pharmacology) have never looked at the bureau of labor statistics occupational outlook:</p>
<p>Mean Salary
Scientific Research and Development Services $89,810
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing $92,460
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools $48,520
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals $85,180
Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries Merchant Wholesalers $86,900</p>
<p>Offices of Physicians $100,930
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing $92,460
Scientific Research and Development Services $89,810
Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries Merchant Wholesalers $86,900
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories $86,410</p>
<p>Happydad is in biotech. 5 years of undergrad. 7 years of grad school. 10 years of low-paid post-doc and research assistant positions. Maximum salary during those years was 30k. Most years the salaries were in the 20s. Starting salary in biotech with a Ph.D. and those 10 years of post-Ph.D. work was 60k. In eight years with the same company, he’s worked his way up to 90k, and the title of Senior Scientist. He works in the lab. I understand that management pays better.</p>
<p>bedizzy, do you have any experience 1.) with paying off $55K or more of debt; and/or 2.) working in biology?</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>OP, whether you plan to continue your education past a bachelor’s or not, $55K is a LOT of debt to carry for an undergrad degree, much more than I would advise my son to carry.</p>
<p>hey - so I know the OP posted about MIT, but do your opinions hold true for the following option: UGA Honors (free tuition, R&B - pd by parents), Vandy $13K/yr loans.
student will likely go on to grad school. also, option @ UGA honors to get masters in 4 yrs by coming in with lots of AP credit. any thoughts?</p>