Alright, first of all I am terribly sorry for posting on this forum so frequently. But the whole paying for US thing has been worrying me. (I should really be preparing for boards. lol. :P)
Okay so I have been accepted by Purdue. And from my previous post I gathered that it is a great university for engineering. I definitely want to go there. But however, I will have to pay full fee for which I will be taking a loan. I have a lot of questions regarding this. (Again I am terribly sorry, but if someone could answer them I’d be eternally grateful. )
a) My family income is 18 lakhs. I will be able to pay for around one and a half years and will be taking a loan for the rest. How risky is this?
b) I know that there are a copious number of Indians at Purdue. Are these students super rich or do they have a background like mine? If yes, are they doing good or are they breaking their necks to pay back the loans?
c) After graduation, I understand that there is a good possibility that I might not get a visa and might have to work in India. What then? Considering this to be the worst-case scenario will I be able to earn enough to pay back the loan in 4 years while getting help from my parent (i.e. with the 18 lakhs/year)?
d) Please do share any information about anyone you happen to know who has been in a similar situation like mine.
e) Lastly, I have a couple of close relatives who are working for huge MNCs in the US. They said that they would be able to get me a job if I opt for Computer Engineering (which is my second option after Aerospace). Can I consider this my “safety” or are there some loopholes that I am missing?
Where are you or your parents getting this loan? The school is not likely to offer you any loans. The banks and progams in the US are not either, so you need to have some place to get the loan. I would recommend getting that loan for your FIRST year and see if you can even get one and then see what you can do when you get to PUrdue if you do this in terms of getting any other funds through work, etc. Save that 1 1/2 years of payments for the last two years and take the loans up front. Otherwise you can end up going to school for a year and a half, use up your family money and have to quit.
I won’t have to quit school after a year and a half but question is…will I be able to pay back the loan in a couple of years along with help from my parents? Do you know anyone who has taken such huge loans to study engineeirng abroad?
Isn’t 18 lakhs equivalent to USD 28k? Purdue’s website estimates cost of attendance for int’l students to be ~USD 44k-- and that includes USD 360/year for transportation. When is the last time you saw a R/T airline ticket from India to USA for USD 360?
2.5 years X $44k/year = $110k
How on earth are you going to repay USD 110k back in 7 years w an Indian income level?
@abcpqrxyz Man if you are confident that you can pay it back, I mean if you do really well in Purdue and become on of the best students, then yes go for the loan. But, if you cannot do that, or are not sure about it, then I would say its a bad idea. Purdue, in Indian money would cost you about 1.1 crore in todays terms. Assuming your parents put up 10 lakhs per year, you would have to pay about 70 lakhs yourself. That my friend is a huge amount. So, if you are sure of doing well and getting a $100k job ( which very few people can be) , then go for it, otherwise I would advise you not to. Though I don’t know your circumstances completely, so you would know better.