Very Soon Decision: #1 LAC vs. In State

Hello everyone

Decision day is tomorrow and I am still torn between Williams and going to my in state honors college for a much cheaper price. My family is barely upper middle class and this means we got no financial aid from Williams so it will cost around 75k per year. At the same time, my in state school is around 9k per year after scholarships from national merit and they have an honors college. I will probably leave college with around 160k in debt per my rough estimates if I attend Williams and that is where I am leaning towards right now. In some ways, they provide truly unparalleled opportunities and extensive alumni connections which I think will pay off as I’m thinking to go into i-banking/econ at Williams due to the advantages of the alumni network in that field. Moreover, I think that field suits my interests well. I think committing to such an expensive school limits me in that after college, I’ll almost be pressured into finding a high paying job even if it’s not enjoyable to be able to pay off my loans.

This decision making process has really forced me to consider what I deem more important - is it something like being able to experience a really different level of personal growth at a school like Williams or be financially stable and able to start building up income etc right out of college?

Please help me decide, it would be much appreciated

What state are you in? Is your state flagship a target school for IB?

There is not a school worth $75K/year, especially for a family that would incur debt. You will be able to experience personal growth at nearly any school, much is dependent on what you put into your four years at college. You don’t say what state but if the other choice is UmassAmherst CHC, it is a great school and I would highly recommend you put Williams out of your mind. No one will argue that Williams is not one of the very best schools in the country but you can get a good education at a state school too.

@frozenyyogurht The debt you mention is going to be the responsibility of your parents – not you – so their prespective on this decision is critical. I’m a Williams parent and I recognize how hard it would be to turn down Williams’ opportunities, but to me, promising to repay a debt of $160K would be a terrible decision for anyone starting out in a career, even in IB. Whether taking on loans in that amount would be manageable or a disaster for your parents depends on their specific financial circumstances, but for most “barely upper middle class” families the best decision would be to go with your state honors college.

Do you have any other options?

Your personal growth is your own. You can grow beyond your wildest dreams at the state school and you can get stuck at a top ranked LAC. Williams,while wonderful, has no secret formula the ensures growth, discovery, and enlightenment. Choosing a major primarily to help you pay off staggering debt is a great way to limit personal growth.

Have you run repayment calculators to actually learn how huge the burden of $160,000 of debt looks like in real dollars? Have you spent the month of April at financial institions’ websites researching loans? Have you discussed with your parents how much debt they are willing to take on for you to chase a dream?

Do you have any other options between those two? If you will only have $160,000 debt with Williams that would indicate that your family has $140,000 to offer you. (You wrote you are full pay at $75,000 a year). That is an amazing amount of money and will go a long way and hundreds of other top LACs that are a step below the top 10 but will still give you a similar environment. I would absolutely never incur that level of debt for Williams. You will thrive wherever you go. I would head to the state school and dominate or take a gap year and reapply next cycle once you are armed with the level level of practical information that matches your academic credentials. Good luck.

My S had a similar situation. Your payment plan would be roughly $1500 a month. Top entry level IB position, at most is $60K and you need to make close to $110K for that kind of debt. Forget about buying a house, car, or getting married. You’re financial stress after school is not worth it. You’re smart…go in-state.

Another recommendation to choose in-state honors and graduate debt free. There are few unparalleled opportunities at any school, and Williams vs. honors college experience is probably not one of them, especially if we are talking UMass Amherst.

Another vote for no debt. You can shine at your in state honors college. Don’t burden yourself or your parents with that kind of debt.

We just had a similar decision between an LAC in the the high teens vs one ranked in the 60’s. The lower ranked offered my S $32,000 in merit aid the one in the top 20 doesn’t provide merit aid. So we were looking at 4 years at $150,000 versus 4 years at $300,000. My son was impressed but not bowled over by the top 20 school so he decided to go to the $150,000 school. We had $215,000 already saved in 529’s and savings bonds and were of the means to fund the whole thing with no loans. So by taking the lower cost option and with us continuing to contribute to his 529 for the first 3 years of college we conservatively estimate he will have $100,000 in 2023 to cover graduate school or medical school. We just couldn’t get to to a top 20 LAC being worth $150,000 in additional expense.

I’m joining the bandwagon and saying you need to choose your instate option. I thought Williams was a meet full need school but I guess they are not a “no loan” school. I’m sorry you have this decision to make but, once you make it, you can move on full steam ahead and make the most of where you’ll go!

That is more than 10X the average debt at graduation among Williams College students who graduate with debt (per Kiplinger data). It is more than 5X the maximum cumulative federal student loan limit.

“Full need” schools like Williams apparently award some FA even to families earning as much as $200K/year, or more. If your family income is over that amount, with commensurate assets, perhaps there are family resources available that would allow you to avoid so much debt? Or, perhaps you have grounds to appeal the FA decision?

Otherwise, based on what you’ve shared, IMO you simply can’t afford Williams.

Go in state for a year or two, and look at transferring perhaps, but Williams College takes only 0-1 transfer student a year, as its so small so look at larger well known schools for international business. (if the flagship is weak).
Schools like U of Michigan take transfer students. A big public program costs $80K less than Williams College over 4 years, so look at public flagships that are better in IB than your home school, but stay there to save money for 1-2 years.

So your in state is U Mass Amherst? Go there.

Run the ROI. (hint: the answer is obvious.)

I don’t always advocate for going the least expensive route for college, or anything, for that matter. I don’t shy away from the loans either. But YOU can’t afford them. Your parents are not taking them, except as co-signers, likely because they don’t understand that it’s probably a worse deal for them than borrowing through their own venues. They think it’s like signing for a car loan. You likely don’t get the ramifications of what you are doing. These loans are likely to cripple you. Read what the kids who took them and now are repaying them have to say. And read up on the parents who co-signed and are stuck with repayment because things didn’t work out as planned. It’s their loan too.

If this were a one and only solution forca bibe marrow transplant or to escape from a deadly situation, it’s one thing. But we are talking one fine school vs another. Data abound that those accepted to College A but went to Less selective College B do as well as peers at A.

I really like Williams and would have prefer my kids to go there vs State U, but not at the debt you are undertaking.

I should start out by saying that I do love LACs and do see great value in Williams. That said, you simply can’t afford that level of debt. Even if you could take out that amount of debt (or your parents are willing and able to do so on your behalf), graduating with $160,000 or so in student loans would handcuff your life decisions for 20+ years after graduation. The large payments you would have to make to cover the payments of your undergraduate loans would interfere with every adult decision you make – it would mean you probably couldn’t take that amazing job at a start-up for less pay, get that new car, take a nice vacation, get the home you want etc.

And please do not even consider starting Williams unless you have a firm plan in place to cover full cost of all 4 years of your undergraduate education – you cannot assume that money will simply appear.

I would take the affordable option.

@frozenyyogurht

I had to choose between Amherst full pay and state flagship honors with generous merit back in the day. My parents were only willing to pay what the state flagship would cost. So that’s what I did and within a short time I adapted, made friends, had great profs, and was well-prepared for what came next. The honors program was excellent and definitely provided a more intimate intellectual community within the framework of a large state U.

It sounds like the CSS Profile has determined that your parents can afford full pay but they are only willing/able to pay 35K per year. If that is what they can afford comfortably as an established, upper middle class household, how do you propose repaying a debt of 160K as a young adult just starting out? As others have stated above, that debt load will be crushing and could easily take a decade or two to retire. It would limit your life in ways you cannot imagine.

Had you run the NPC? Did your parents say they could afford Williams?
Did you have circumstances that Williams could review to see if they could give you a better package or contact them about aid in any way?
160k in debt is not sustainable. How did you end up with that situation?

If your parents will only pay the $9k it costs for the in state school where’s the $70k/year for Williams coming from?

@bluebayou The ROI? I’ve run a few and I don’t know exactly how to understand it