<p>^this</p>
<p>but take a class or two in the summer while you work full time if possible</p>
<p>BB, don’t forget to take into account internships and Co-ops. My entering engineering DD is signing on for her unsubsidized loans, and plans to intern her soph and junior years, then apply that money directly to the student loans early. She should come out with less than 10K.</p>
<p>And the internships make you much more desirable to employers after graduation.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>Depending on the opportunity, I don’t think 40-50K in debt is too much for an engineer. </p>
<p>OminousRun has some good numbers. Some student loan interest is tax-deductable.</p>
<p>However, even if you had $50,000 at $580/mo at 7% for 10 years, that’s about $7K/year. </p>
<p>That’s would be about 12% of your expected income and would certainly impact your lifestyle a bit. But taking the $7000 per year of loan payments off the top still puts you ahead of the non-engineer. I think you’ll still be living pretty decently. However, if you’re good, you’ll be getting raises, etc. It will not be a life sentence into poverty as it might be for an unemployable humanities major. </p>
<p>You really have to look at your options. If it’s either borrow $50K or not get a name brand engineering degree, it’s probably worth borrowing the money. </p>
<p>I think it’s worth investing in yourself if you’re a good investment.</p>
<p>40-50k seems like allot. Can you not go to your state school? Go to a community college for a year. Use co-ops/internships to help pay. I would never want to come out with more than 10-20k.</p>
<p>Depending on the internship, you can probably make between $10-20k in a summer…so definitely do internships.</p>
<p>Live off campus. Maybe this only works for girls, since I know guy eat more, but the dorms with full meal plan was waaaaayyyy more expensive than getting an apartment off campus and cooking for ourselves. You do end up paying rent over the summer, but you have a place to store your stuff year round, you can take classes over the summer, you can get a summer job either on campus or in town and you have final say on who you room with. </p>
<p>Alternatively if you just love the dorms, you can be an RA. Look into all job options.</p>