I am a high school senior trying to make the best commitment decision.
I can attend Vanderbilt for 25k per year. That cost includes a personal/miscellaneous allowance, travel fees, and money for books. The cost may rise to about 45k my senior year, based on whether or not my older brother attends graduate school. I’m a National Merit Finalist, so I can also attend UT Dallas and Texas Tech for free. Both have admitted me to their Honors Program and will pay for me to study abroad a semester.
I’m not sure what I want to major in. My inclination is mathematics but I may switch to actuarial science, computer science, philosophy, psychology, physics, law, government, or economics. I am primarily interested in mathy domains and the humanities. Based on this, I suspect a liberal arts education may be a good fit for me.
If I attend Vanderbilt, I will accumulate about 6k of debt per year, except for this first year, because I have saved enough to pay in full. That debt would climb about 20k my senior year if my older brother doesn’t attend graduate school (and that’s a big if).
I will probably attend graduate school. What university seems best?
I personally like UTD’s honors perks a lot and think, especially for someone undecided, that spending on undergrad doesn’t make as much sense as saving the money for grad school.
UTD has a bunch of reading classes that are small liberal arts seminars, for instance.
How much debt do you expect to have after four years?
I shouldn’t have any debt after this first year at Vandy, but I’ll take on 6k the second and third year each, and either 6k or 26k the fourth year, depending on whether my older brother attends graduate school that year. Therefore, 18k or 38k dollars of debt, minus whatever I work off in the summers between.
So you are saying that your parents are prepared to pay ~$20K/year for you.
The undergrad debt is not that much, relatively. I would vote Vandy bc it is worth it. Your intention to attend grad school is concerning, from a debt perspective. I am very against any debt out of college as it will limit your choices and affect your decisions, but in this case I personally would take on that level of debt for Vandy. Good luck!
Are you speaking about 18k or 38k dollars of debt?
Think about this as an additional cost of $100K to $120K, not an amount of debt. After all that is the amount of money that could be spent on something else (grad school, a house downpayment, etc.) if you attended the less expensive school. Would your parents allow you to save the $20K per year for those purposes?
Why does your senior year costs so much more? Is the increase due to a loss of financial aid when your brother graduates? Ask Vanderbilt if your brother’s going to grad school will keep your financial aid stable for your senior year. Have you run the NPC with this scenario? I’m just wondering where the $20,000 comes from. Paying for your senior year seems to be the problem.
You can take out $27,000 in federal student loans by yourself in the following amounts.
1 year…$5,500
2 year…$6,500
3-4 years…$7,500
Take the freshman loans beginning the first year and save your money. That way you can borrow the $12,000 you need for years 2-3 PLUS you will have $15,000 to help bridge the cost of the senior year. If the senior year costs $26,000 then the remainder ($11,000) will have to be taken in loans by your parents. Have they already co-signed loans for your brother? Are you sure they can/will take out theses loans for you?
I don’t recommend your exceeding $27,000 in your own debt. And that additional $11,000 in loans may be too much for your family.
I’m thinking UT Austin will cost more than Vanderbilt, unfortunately.
@txstella, ???
The OP isn’t considering UT-Austin and UTD is almost a full-ride for him.
And I agree that the delta is $100K+. Money doesn’t just burn up simply because you don’t spend it on college.
Yes, if I don’t spend the 20k per year saved for my undergrad, I can use the money for graduate school or whatever other purpose I want.
My senior year will cost 20k more if my brother isn’t in graduate school because the Vandy calculator considers my parents’ other expenses, including paying for college for my siblings.
Federal student loans aren’t the only loans I can take out. Other loans may have marginally higher interest rates but I think a few hundred dollars extra is miniscule.
How about fit? Would you be equally happy at all three?
So from what you have posted I feel like each school is generally affordable, so I think it comes down to fit. Have you visited each again?
Replying to both nw2this and suzy100, I have visited each school. Vanderbilt is the best, hands down. I liked the campus more than any other I’ve seen, including UCLA, Princeton, and Harvard. The other admitted students I met were all amicable and intelligent. I rank UTD as second for the campus and location, as I couldn’t get into the Lubbock feel when I visited Tech. However, UTD isn’t a traditional college experience in the sense that Tech is, and everyone I know who went to Tech has an extremely positive view of the school. Overall, I have to think about it more but I feel that Vandy fits the best followed by UTD.
@nickbrain456.
Google colleges of the Fortune 100 CEOs.
As many or more went to Texas Tech than Harvard. I think they are tied with Michigan State.
Ahead of Vandy. Does that make Texas tech better than vandy. No.
I am sure the 4 CEOs of the largest global conglomerates think the school was just fine and so do all the vandy grads that work for them.
blanket statements about one school being is better is too broad and inaccurate.
It’s tied to what is most selective. Not measuring effectiveness. Or economic value.
The average smart and effective cost benefit analysis teams would keel over with some of the decisions people make on these threads.
If Vandy is the best fit for you and debt would be 18K (well below the 27k a college graduate can reasonably pay back) then it’s a logical choice.
(Taking your freshman loan and banking it for later may help since you’d still be below the 27k loan limit.)
However, the issue is your last year.
You want to email Vanderbilt and explain your problem: there may be a change in circumstances wrt number of siblings in college and whereas you can afford the current EFC by taking the federal loans, if your financial aid award decreases you’d have to drop out, so while Vanderbilt is your top choice you worry about senior year costs and would like to know how such cases have been handled in the past.
Will Vanderbilt count graduate school as having 2 in college? When I called and asked this question, I did not get a yes or no response. I was told, “It depends, we are a private school and can do whatever we want.” I pressed them for further information and was not given a definitive answer.
You should clarify before committing.
Your family can afford Vanderbilt and it’s worth the cost in many ways compared to second tier state schools.Being frugal is wise but wealth is completely worthless sitting in banks if it can’t buy you advantage and privilege. Elite private education is one of the best investments in life. It keeps giving back on personal, social, financial and professional levels.