UMichigan vs Northeastern

@wayneandgarth, I’m guessing that would be less than 1K, assuming two co-ops are not done back to back for the same year. I was just at NEU a few weeks ago and they talked about this.

Sorry, but Michigan is not worth that debt and the education you would get there is not worth $20,000 more than Northeastern.

Make sure your parents know that they will be the ones paying off the loans and they will likely be doing that until they both die. $110,000 is an exorbitant amount of money to take out for school. $90,000 is crazy too. If you need to take out $15,000-$25,000 per year to go to a school, you have no business being there. Think about the return on investment. You’re clearly a very bright student. You will succeed anywhere.

You should use the co-op to pay for some of your tuition and expenses so you don’t have to take out so much debt. I would never cross the $100k mark for undergrad debt. That is way too much debt for a bachelors degree.

@redpoodles - the FICA (Social Security and Medicare) is going to 7.65% or $1836 on $24,000 income alone.

You are probably right that 90K or 110K is too much debt, but if those really are the only options, your calculation neglects the fact that Northeastern is a 5 year program and while he may make some money during co-ops, it’s not nearly as much money as he will make in year 5 of the Michigan program where he will be a working professional with a BS in engineering and earning upwards of $75K per year.

I suggested Michigan because it is actually CHEAPER.

Reading through the thread, I see that Rutgers is also an option (I hadn’t noticed that before). It seems like a good one.

“Sorry, but Michigan is not worth that debt and the education you would get there is not worth $20,000 more than Northeastern.”

Sorry, but it is.

No, it’s not. He might have more fun at Umich but engineering is essentially the same everywhere.

It is worth the extra 20K, since the OP can graduate in four years instread of five, as CRD stated, and begin earning serious money a year sooner. Also, Michigan is strong across all disciplines, in case the OP decides to change majors. Furthermore. what’s wrong with going to a school to have “more fun.” Isn’t that worth anything?

@rjkofnovi He may graduate a year earlier, but he will be making about 30-40 K from his 3 co-ops at NEU. Additionally, at NEU, you can do a four year option with 2 co-ops (so about 20-25K). Lets say he does the five year option anyway. He’ll directly save 20K per year over Umich, so add that to the 30/40K and that’s 50/70K he’ll have. That could easily be a one year salary for a recent Umich engineering grad.

If he does the four year option, your notion of him missing out on a year of pay is irrelevant.
Fun is worth something when the student wouldn’t be putting themselves into over a hundred thousand dollars worth of debt.

Qwerty, you are assuming that he will not earn money at Michigan. Michigan Engineers usually have two internships (in the summer of Sophomore year and in the summer if Junior year). Since Michigan summers begin in April and end in September (18 weeks), students can easily work 3 months each summer and they usually earn approximately $10,000/summer. Add this to the fact that in the OP attends Michigan, he will be working his fifth year, while if he attends NEU, he will have to forego work and remain in school his fifth year, and sinse entry-level engineers usually earn $60,000-$80,000/year (depending on specialization), I think in the end, the financial implications of attending Michigan will be very similar to those of attending NEU.

Fuerthermore, only in CC lalaland are all engineers created equal. It is a myth. While it may be true that engineers that are placed are paid roughly similar salaries regardless of the program they attend (debatable as I have seen several companies pay premium salaries for graduates of top engineering programs), the opportunities avaible to engineering students at a top engineering program like Michigan will be significantly greater than those available to students at lesser engineering programs.

At any rate, I am not suggesting that Michigan, or any university for that matter, is worth $120k of debt. It clearly is not. The OP started a similar thread on the Michigan forum and most of us there advised against Michigan. But to suggest that Northeastern is worth $90k in debt is actually even worse!

I agree with ClassicRockerDad. Rutgers makes the most sense.

@Alexandre well, that’s one thing we agree on! OP, you should pick Rutgers.

Ok I talked with my parents.

In the end, Michigan is a pretty viable investment that I can make. The debt on my parents will come to about 40-50K and the debt on me will come around to 30K. I can help my parents pay after I graduate. I plan on doing graduate school, but I can deal with that after I get a job after graduation.

Does anybody have any statistics on employment of Michigan grads?

I’m visiting Michigan tomorrow. Any recommendations on where to go?

Thanks, everyone, but in the end, I want to take a risk that will hopefully pay off. It’s almost certain that I’ll attend Michigan this fall.

^^^^Bring your questions to the Michigan board located in the CC top universities section.

@rjkofnovi I’ll do that right now. I just have a quick question. Do you think that I’m being too reckless with my college career?

It seems like against all advice you will pick Michigan. That’s fine; it’s your life, not mine. However I encourage you to think deeply once again about your future before you put that deposit down. Think about debt now- don’t push it off to the future. If you spend your whole college experience thinking about the debt you’ll be in versus focusing on your studies and enjoying yourself. You will NOT make more or learn different things as an engineer at Rutgers versus being an engineer at Michigan. Is the name and conceived prestige really worth it to you?

I disagree with Qwerty568. I only recommended Rutgers when I thought that he was responsible for the debt.

If your parents are comfortable with that, then who is anybody else to criticize.

The 30K debt on you is reasonable. I think you are making a good choice.

I’m a full pay parent who has paid in full for 2 kids.

You should definitely let your parents know how much you appreciate them and you should make sure that you work hard enough to shoot for As because it’s going to be difficult but worthwhile.

@ClassicRockerDad you paid full tuition for your 2 kids? Wow. May I know where they studied and what they did?

You can’t have $30,000 in debt or loans… And I don’t quite understand how you would help your parents pay for their debt while you will have your $30,000 to worry about in addition to grad school loans.

I am full pay OOS for two kids also, both at Michigan. One graduates Ross tomorrow and one starts this fall. We are lucky to do so without any debt.

While its better that the parents are assuming most of the debt, this will impact their retirement. But I can respect their choice to do so.

Could be private co-signed loans. If your name is on it, it’s your debt.