Stuck between a rock and a hard place

After my final decisions, I seem to be stuck in a bad situation. My family is firmly in the upper-middle class, and thus financial aid was hard to come by (EFC is ~42k I believe, but it’s unlikely we would actually be able to pay that). I was accepted by three schools: Boston College, Virginia Tech, and George Mason (as a CS major). Estimated yearly cost at each: $47,000, $27,000, $24,500. Boston College is my top school and one that I had high hopes of attending but I can’t seem to justify almost $200,000 in debt. On the other hand, even my state school(s) will have me in $100,000 of debt, still a decently large amount. While I think it’s unlikely I’ll attend BC, the fact that even my state schools are ~25k a year has me reconsidering. Is it worth it to go to BC? Or should I go to George Mason?

Can and will your parents pay anything towards your education? Will they co-sign loans? You cannot borrow $100,000 on your own.

If you can get your parents to agree to pay the cost for one of your in-state public schools, then be very thankful that you have two very strong in-state choices and pick one of them.

Yes they will, and they asked me if I wanted them to try and pay for Boston College but I would feel bad asking them to do so.

IMO, BC is not worth it, especially with VT on the table. I would pick VT even if money wasn’t an issue.

I agree the other posters and if you’re not comfortable with the cost the other schools are wonderful schools and very fine options.

Where would I go if they were the same cost? Knowing a bit about Bc and VT. BC and it wouldn’t be close for me except for CS or engineering (which will be new at BC in the next year or so).

In your particular major I think VT would be best. And the savings are just a bonus.

For CS, I would choose VT in a heartbeat. The cost difference between VT and George Mason isn’t big enough to give up VT for. And the difference between BC and VT isn’t worth it, especially for computer science, in which VT actually has the stronger program. It’s understandable that BC appealed to you in other ways, but paying almost double makes no sense, especially for your major and your parents’ financial circumstances. This isn’t even a close call; get thee to an admitted students’ event at VT and get excited about the opportunity. If Boston was really your dream, use some of the money you’ll save to treat yourself to a summer there, when the weather isn’t awful. BC and BU both have open enrollment for their summer sessions, fwiw.

How much can your parents pay per year without borrowing?