<p>Full ride at top 25 public state university vs. education at notre dame with 150k+ debt upon graduation. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>undergrad free - Masters, Notre Dame - problem solved + bankers sad</p>
<p>Notre Dame would be soo worth it, but I could be biased. It all depends on what your major would be and your career path.</p>
<p>If you’re looking at Grad school and then a professional career after college, compare the two undergrad programs. (I bet ND would be better, but it all depends on your state school)</p>
<p>If you’re just looking for an undergrad education, go the cheaper route.</p>
<p>I am lookin at a biology major for undergrad and then med school after that, so the debt from the two combined could be quite staggering</p>
<p>Just make sure you will be happy and challenged at that top state U. Our own student has a close friend that took the free route for undergrad at state U (Val in HS, etc) with plans for med school to be paid for by parents equalling no debt. Now, as graduation is looming in May from undergrad and MCats taken with great scores, not so sure about med school right away. Don’t know all of the details, just a little shocked and surprised plus wondering if student was really happy at that state school.</p>
<p>We are in a similar situation. My guess is that many ND students must pick between a ND education vice free ride or tons of money from another school. We are picking ND. From the moment we recieved our admitted letter you can see the ND network at work. We have been contacted by phone, email and invited to receptions from local ND Alums. I don’t think all schools treat their students that well.</p>
<p>We are also in a very similar situation. My daughter loves ND, but financially it is definitely a stretch, and we are worried the Profile will be tougher on our financial need than the FAFSA due to home equity being considered. She also has some great merit aid offers from other strong academic schools. We are trying to weigh everything, it being her “dream school” the Notre Dame networking, and the value of a Notre Dame undergraduate education in relation to the debt and financial sacrifice it would take to have her attend. With this economy this isn’t an easy decision nor one that can be taken lightly when spending at least an additional $100,000 for a ND undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>We looked at the graduate schools that accepted the state school students to help us make our decision. We also looked at recognized awards to see if the state school had fulbright and goldwater scholars.</p>
<p>Sons friends who graduated last year from state are at many of the Ivys/top schools including Harvard med/law.</p>
<p>a $150K in debt and you want to go to medical school? There is a thread on this forum where a girl who is an ND grad and now in med school in Chicago, she was asked about incurring debt in undergrad and then going to med school. She said no way she would have go to ND if she had incurred a lot of debt , and then take on more debt for med school.</p>
<p>I am not picking on ND here, they have good pre-med program and run a tight ship for kids wanting to go to med school, if you are not making the grades, they advise you to get out. </p>
<p>But no school is worth $150,000 in debt and also I think the stafford loan limit is $220,000 total for undergrd and med school, so you won’t have any money to go to med school.</p>
<p>We know one kid at a top private school who is pre-med, he has taken on too much debt and now the only way he can attend med school is to try to get the military to pay for it. The parents told us this at an Xmas party.</p>
<p>No No No No!, that is unbelievable that you would even consider taking on that much debt!</p>
<p>If you went to UC Berkley, UI, UVa or U of Mi, and majored in one of the hard sciences, got a good GPA and EC’s and did well on the MCAT, you will get into med school. In fact U of Mi is better regarded for the sciences and has a higher USNWR peer ranking, so the profs recommendations carry more weight.</p>
<p>Run the numbers. What would your monthly payments be on a $150K student loan? Then add on the potential medical school debt.
That should answer the question for you. Unless your parents are in a position to help pay a substantial portion of this debt, then you are locking yourself into a decade or more of extremely high loan repayments. And keep in mind that most doctors don’t earn a real professional salary until they are at least 30.
If you were absolutely sure of a career as, say, a cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon, or other highly compensated specialist, then no worries about the debt.<br>
Otherwise, take the free ride and run.</p>
<p>Well…we had the same decision-daughter accepted at State U. (top school) with Presidential Scholarship for about 90% tuition/room and board etc. We chose ND and have never looked back. Keep in mind that ND can and often does raise your financial package as the years go on, so your overall debt may not be as high as you think. </p>
<p>It’s four years you can never get back and there is no place like Notre Dame…</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents~</p>
<p>what is not clear here is how the OP can up with $150K in debt calculation for an ND education. This needs to be explained.</p>
<p>ND will bleed you dry in what they determine a person’s EFC (believe we know this!) and force parents to take on debt (which in our case would have been $50K in loans) and our child to take on about $25K in loans. So we chose not to send our child to ND. </p>
<p>But I don’t understand how this can get to $150K though , the OP’s family must not be supporting his education.</p>
<p>$150k?! That’s pretty much the size of a mortgage for some people.</p>
<p>If you plan on going to med school, it would be absolutely insane to take out that much for undergrad.</p>
<p>Most private universities use the same general formula for determining a family’s EFC, and many families believe that the EFC is too high. I’m not convinced that Notre Dame “will bleed you dry” in comparison with other similar schools. The EFC is supposed to include not only current income, but past income (savings) and future income (loans). Whether that results an excessive debt load is obviously a question that families need to decide for themselves.<br>
Four years at ND will run you $200,000 or so, at today’s tuition level; therefore, a total $150K debt is not out of the question, especially if the OP’s family has a high income but has not saved sufficiently for college.</p>
<p>The only thing you can really do is wait for the financial package from ND. Then make your decision after that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s about what your “advice” is worth. Unless you’re willing to share the burden of the OP’s debt, it’s borderline reckless for you to tell an aspiring MEDICAL SCHOOL student to assume over $150K in debts. It’s one thing for advice to be unintentionally malinformed; it’s quite another for it to be used to serve someone’s own personal agenda.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This could be said for EACH AND EVERY SINGLE American university because each one of them is different from any other. What exactly is your point?</p>
<p>just curious nyccard, have you gone to ND - I don’t want to spark an argument, but just wondering</p>