<p>I wouldn’t considering how lucky u are to have gotten in i mean not many people can get in</p>
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<p>It’s disappointing that there are adults that provide such poor guidance to children in these discussions. </p>
<p>There’s a reason the percentage of college graduates from elite schools who go into public service/non-profit/NGO work has significantly declined. The cost of college debt is real, it is high, and it is affecting the initial job decisions the younger generation makes which undoubtedly alters their life paths.</p>
<p>Want to become a teacher? Good luck having that discussion with your future wife/husband with a six-figure debt wrapped around your neck. And keep in mind teaching is one of the few professions that provides a substantial amount of debt forgiveness.</p>
<p>Want to be an entrepreneur? Guess that means you want to go to B-School. Tack on a minimum $120,000 to that $200,000 and don’t forget to add interest. Then ask yourself whether B of A is going to lend you another $150,000 so you can build your own company.</p>
<p>Ask yourself WHEN you think you’re going to want a new car.</p>
<p>WHEN you think you’re going to want to buy a house in a nice community with good schools.</p>
<p>WHEN you think you’re going to have to start saving for your future kid’s college education, the cost of which appears to be doubling every 10-12 years. College education, heck a good private elementary school will run you 15-20K a year!</p>
<p>These are the evaluations/decisions most people make in their mid-to-late 20s around the same time you have to start paying back Uncle Sam.</p>
<p>Someone previously pointed to a statistic indicating that Stanford grads on average earn $112,000/yr while Santa Clara grads are around $105,000. I literally laughed that the statistic was used to support turning down the Santa Clara scholarship. To say nothing of the irrelevancy of statistical averages for exceptional students and individuals, those figures actually lean toward Santa Clara in the context of taking on the Stanford debt. </p>
<p>Just look at our current first family. Remember that Barack Obama didn’t pay off his college debt (Occidental/Columbia undergrad and Harvard Law) until he made to the US Senate and wrote a book, despite the fact that University of Chicago professors with supplemental income from the Illinois State Senate aren’t exactly on welfare. He married a successful corporate lawyer and college/hospital administrator (also jobs with 6-figure salaries), had two kids, a mortgage, and its likely that had he not had the good fortune to run for the Senate in 2004 (which led to the book deal), he still today at the age of 50 would have college debt. Two very successful, very intelligent people both making six-figures (in “the 1%”) still paying off debt accrued at “prestigious” universities in their late 40s/early 50s. Yea. That’s the real world.</p>
<p>You are truly lucky to be in your predicament. But anyone who states that turning down $200,000 for a quality undergraduate education at a good school to pay for Stanford is an easy decision should be ignored. You have a very tough decision to make at a young age. Good luck.</p>
<p>Definitely Santa Clara. I understand that it’s a great accomplishment to get accepted to Stanford, but you really have to think to yourself: Is going to Stanford really worth taking up $200,000+ in debt? Or would you cringe at having to pay all of that back?</p>
<p>You should be able to answer this yourself.</p>
<p>It would be hard to turn down the prestige of Stanford, as it can truly open doors throughout your career, since it brands you as a high achiever. I am one who did turn down Stanford for Santa Clara, because I just couldn’t afford Stanford. Now in my early 50’s, I have been in the C-suite in Silicon Valley for years and have had a very successful career. I don’t think my career would have been any more successful had I attended Stanford. However, there are times I wonder what might have been. If you have the talent to be accepted at Stanford, you will likely be successful regardless of where you go, but having Stanford on your r</p>
<p>Go to Santa Clara. Success is essentially the effect of inherent motivation. If you are motivated to succeed, you’ll go far – and it’ll be worth it, graduating from Santa Clara debt free.</p>
<p>I’m going to Stanford next year, but even I don’t think that Stanford is worth the debt. It’s essentially like paying full price for a Ferrari when you can have a free Jeep – one is more showy, sure, but in the end, a car is a car.</p>