<p>a) HYPSMC with a 160K in debt (no grants or aid)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>b) any State schools for free (exception of Michigan, UC's, UVa, UNC)</p>
<p>the catch is after you graduate, you will make exactly the same amount of money....say at 40k per year (with a 6% increase in salary for every year after that).</p>
<p>you will be on your own and no one else will support you (no help from parents to help pay off loans or with living expenses)</p>
<p>so the bottom line is: is 160k in debt worth it?</p>
<p>to make it easier...you're not going to grad school.</p>
<p>I would choose state school and make myself stand out among my class because at an Ivy I know I would be shadowed by other, bright students. I guess you could also include UW-Madison on that list too, but if you can stand out over there, I'm sure you can get into an Ivy for grad.</p>
<p>uh... the OP said that the person in this hypothetical situation would NOT being going to grad school. </p>
<p>with that in mind, i would take the state school still, especially if it is for free. it'll be a great feeling to graduate debt free, and if the HYPSMC guy and the state school guy are going to end up making the same amount of $$ in the hypothetical situation anyway, i don't see the point of going to HYPSMC except for prestige. and besides, advancing in that career is determined by YOU and not the school that you went to.</p>
<p>though this is a hypothetical situation....it's not all that unusual...it happens to people all the time. I put 40k slary since it's slightly above or at what the average college grad would make starting out. </p>
<p>you have to remember for many fields, your salary is pretty much fixed. a K-12 teacher with a degree from Stanford or Samford will pretty much make the same.</p>
<p>When I look at your question from a purely monetary point of view, I would hands down pick a state school. The reason is that your catch can be simplified to look like this:</p>
<p>Option A: Accumulate 160k debt and make 40k a year (with a 6% increase in salary for every year after that).
Option B: Have no debt and make 40k a year (with a 6% increase in salary for every year after that).</p>
<p>Not too many people would choose to rack up massive debt at a top school if they had the prior knowledge that they would end up in the same position upon graduation if they had simply gone to a state school for free. I think people often see top schools as places where they will have more opportunities to land higher paying positions, but if they knew that this wouldn't be the case, then from a monetary standpoint, they would pick a state school in a heartbeat. </p>
<p>Also, another reason why I would prefer a state school for free is because of the condition stating that I wouldn't be going to grad school. A huge draw for the top schools you listed is that they have amazing grad school placement. If I know that I'm not going on to grad school and that I'll need to make money to survive after graduating, then it's pretty clear that avoiding 160k of debt would be wise.</p>
<p>The only way I could justify 160k of debt is if I had a good feeling that going to a top school would greatly help me pay off that debt, but that's clearly not the case in your hypothetical situation. </p>
<p>Everything I've said is mostly from a monetary point of view. However, I can see why people might say that they would still choose HYPSMC for the experience and for the great level of education. After all, college is a once and a life time experience.</p>
<p>State school for sure. If you're motivated enough to get into an ivy you're going to be a star at any state school. If you're not receiving any aid from the ivies, though, your family must be rich enough to pay off a lot of the debt.</p>
<p>The ivies may be worth it for certain fields where connections and prestige are needed to get anywhere, but state schools are certainly putting out a lot of CEO's now.</p>
<p>I don't know, I'm in a similar situation. However, my EFC is like $1,500....SOO, I plan on getting some aid for myself. It will still be a lot of loans, but as the only solid public state school in Florida is UF, which I despise, I'd have to go out of state to another state school and apply for residency to reduce my tuition, but there aren't like any great state schools along the east coast except for UVA and UNC - CH which are both very difficult to get into....ugh, I don't know what to do...</p>
<p>Obviously this is loaded to say state school. In this case state school is clearly the better choice, but this is only one situation. You are likely to get very similar starting incomes, but it's a given that a degree from an average state school can't beat one from HYPS in an employer's eye.</p>
<p>In this scenario, I'd choose the state school. But bear in mind:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Virtually no students actually borrow anything close to $160k to attend HYPSMC. Almost everyone gets fin aid or outside scholarships or a family contribution or all three.</p></li>
<li><p>A student admitted by HYPSMC can probably get merit money at private schools that are at least as good as mid-tier state schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So very few people actually face this choice.</p>
<p>I lived that hypothetical. It wasnt an ivy, but a top LAC and a State U. I chose the State U hands down because, well, it was completely free (plus some). And of course, its a respectable school, not really crappy or anything. I think college is what you make of it and anyone who is capable enough to get into an Ivy will succeed no matter where he goes to college. Cream rises to the top. At least, I hope so haha.</p>