<p>So since May 1st is coming up everyone in my school is deciding which college they will be attending in the fall. One of my closest friends (really smart and hardworking) is set on going to University of Southern California and go into 100k+ in debt for a computer science degree. I'm not trying to be a discouraging friend or anything but my brother is currently 60k in debt for engineering from a top UC (out of state) so my parents (who are helping him stay afloat right now) insisted I take the full ride from a local state school. From my experience, my family is in a stretch right now that my parents decided to help my brother manage his finances helping him pay off his loans/rent/living expenses etc. I don't really wanna see any of my friends struggle financially four years later. He also has this assumption that since he's graduating from a top school, he's going to earn 80k+ yearly out of college, which is kinda naive IMO. Should I advice him against this? Is a computer science degree from USC, connections and prestige (or so he says) worth this outrageous amount of private loans? </p>
<p>Also what would you advice on someone intending to become a clinical psychologist (so grad school definitely) and acquiring as much debt just for undergrad?</p>
<p>Of the top 16 computer science schools, ten are state schools, 3 of which are in California. Why go to a pricy private university without substantial aid?</p>
<h1>1 Carnegie Mellon University</h1>
<h1>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology</h1>
<h1>1 Stanford University</h1>
<h1>1 University of California–Berkeley*</h1>
<h1>5 Cornell University</h1>
<h1>5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign*</h1>
<h1>7 University of Washington*</h1>
<h1>8 Princeton University</h1>
<h1>8 University of Texas–Austin*</h1>
<h1>10 Georgia Institute of Technology*</h1>
<h1>11 California Institute of Technology</h1>
<h1>11 University of Wisconsin–Madison*</h1>
<h1>13 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor*</h1>
<h1>14 University of California–Los Angeles*</h1>
<p>However, USC as amazing scholarships, do you know if he qualified for any?</p>
<p>Also, for psych and grad school, your undergrad doesn’t matter as much for grad school as what you do there. Just maintain a high GPA and do plenty of cool things</p>
<p>Happily, it’s not your problem and isn’t really any of your business and how do ‘you’ really know the financial situation (but it’s nice you’re concerned for a friend so don’t get me wrong)? He can’t go $100K in debt by himself - someone else would need to cosign the loans. USC is relatively generous with merit scholarships but OTOH it’s very expensive.</p>
<p>A lot of people pay that much in-state for a CS degree from the UCs - anyone who’s paying full pay and living on-campus. </p>
<p>As far as a job once he gets out - ‘if’ he graduates with a CS degree, i.e. he didn’t decide to switch majors or find out he really couldn’t handle CS since it’s one of the most difficult majors, and ‘if’ he graduates in the top half or so of his class, then I think there’s a very good chance he’ll be able to get a job for $60K-$85K and maybe more depending on where he goes. But $80K isn’t what it used to be! He could be diligent and pay off a $100K debt in a relatively short period of time on the likely salary he’d make (assuming he passes all of the ‘if’ statements I made above) but being diligent means still being willing to live frugally, not buy a new car, etc. for some years after he graduates despite having that big salary hanging in front of him.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if he went to another Uni, including various state Unis, with a good rep in CS, even though it was a lot less expensive, his opportunities will still likely exist - i.e. maybe he’d only owe $30K (or whatever) yet ‘still’ get that $80K (or whatever) job. It all depends on where he goes, what it costs, where he’s willing to work afterwards, whether or not he actually gets a CS degree, etc.</p>
<p>One question to ask is how easy/difficult has it been for USC CS students to get coops and how much do they make on an average. DS went for Comp Sci but not at USC and while we were very fortunate that we didn’t need to take loans, it appeared that students were getting offers. DS only was interested in summer internships that paid far more than we ever imagined, and while there were far fewer coop opportunities, they existed too. So there may be an option for getting a degree with less debt, but more years…</p>
<p>Plus: Even an $80K salary is not as much as it seems if it’s located in an area with a high cost of living. After taxes, and paying $2500/month in rent, and car payments, it would leave precious little for that student loan payment.</p>
<p>As far as CS programs go, USC is not especially known for theirs. Berkeley, Cal Poly SLO, UC Santa Cruz/Davis/Irvine all have reputable (if not fantastic like UCB) CS programs for much less money. And the job offers are plentiful at these state schools, as long as you know your subject. If you have a knack for CS, you can save money, go to a state school, and end up with a good job after graduation. </p>
<p>BTW, addressing the comment made by GladGradDad about the cost of public school - for us, it wasn’t that bad. When my son graduates from Cal next December, we will have paid - full fare, no aid - 58k for all college expenses. He paid for his own room and board since sophomore year, which he could afford to do because 1) they live in cheap apartments and 2) he has high-paying internships, which is a perk of going to a school with a great reputation for CS.</p>
<p>But if you want to convince him, it may not be enough to point out that it is a bad idea. You may have to convince him that some of his less expensive other options with a worthwhile CS major* is a much better idea. Of course, this assumes that he made his application list properly so that it did yield less expensive options with worthwhile CS majors. If not, then it may be that his only realistic choices are to start at community college, or do a gap year and try again for next year with a better application list.</p>
<p>*“Worthwhile CS major” does not necessarily mean “top N”; it just means that it offers sufficient upper level CS courses to prepare the student for either industry jobs or graduate study in CS.</p>
<p>actually USC does have a very good undergrad program for CS, however no degree from any place is worth going into that much debt if you can help it.</p>
<p>$100k or more is a huge debt, especially for an undergrad. I’d also encourage anyone I care about to a kid taking it on or having family take it on. It could be higher as well, if the student takes longer than 4 years to graduate, while interest grows and tuition and rent increases.</p>