<p>I've been admitted to a few pharmacy programs and the main factor deciding where i go is costs.
School 1 (Albany Pharmacy) would give me a debt of 80,000-100,000
School 2 (Northeastern) would give me a debt of 110,000-140,000
I like school 2 much better than 1, but i'm not sure that i could choose to go into more debt for graduating with the same degree just to have a better experience. I would make about 100,000 salary starting out, and if necessary i would be willing to live at home a couple of years to devote my salary to the debt. I'm not sure what choice would be worth it.
Any opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I'd look for another option. This is too much debt, IMO.</p>
<p>Well...I agree with SBlake. But if you insist on taking on $100,000 in debt, I would say that living in Albany will be less expensive than living in Boston while you are attending college. </p>
<p>Still...do you have any options that would leave you with significantly less debt upon graduation? Who will be cosigning your loans?</p>
<p>Well there aren't many other choices accept for MCPHS and URI who will also put me back around 100,000. I'm not really money savvy and not very knowledgeable about loans. My parents will be able to contribute about 30,000 to the total amount 5,000 a year.
I see many med school students going in debt for 150000+ for their education, so i don't really see how 100,000 would be a lot for pharmcy school. I must be pretty naive because i know i won't be able to comprehend that level of debt until i'm actally living with it.</p>
<p>I concur with the others, 100-140 K of debt is way too much
Have you figured out how much per month it will cost you to pay off when you graduate? You may be sacrificing buying your first car or home for many years with that kind of debt and frankly, $100,000 per year is not that much money once you start paying taxes, loans etc</p>
<p>That being said, when looking at NEU, have you factored in what $ you will make while on Co-op? I know one of my son's friends is in his first co-op right now for the Spring term and makeing 33 dollars an hour --that may go a long way toward eliminating some of that debt</p>
<p>Do you have any choices that would not leave you with such horrendous debt? Both are very high. </p>
<p>Finaid.org has a loan calculator that will give you an idea of your monthly payments based on the debt and the interest rate and the salary recommended to support such a debt. Run some numbers through them And remember that while your starting salary sounds good the debt will last a lot more than a couple of years and such debt will restrict your options for several years to come. If those is no cheaper option I would definitely go for the lower of the 2. Think of the 10-20 years after you graduate school and the things you would like to do - houses, cars, nice vacations, family - when you are deciding whether to burden yourself with the extra debt fo the 'experience' (it does sound like you have already realized this).</p>
<p>Here is the calculator
FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator</p>
<p>For a starting debt of $80,000 with 6.8% interest rate and paid over 10 years the monthly payment would be @ $900 and the recommended income to support the payment $110,000. For a starting debt of 140,000 the payments would be $1600 with a recommended income of $193,000.</p>
<p>I have run some numbers (which I realised afterwards I have probably used some incorrect assumptions for - such as 4 years - pharmacy school is maybe longer?) But just to give you some food for thought.</p>
<p>And are you planning to pay the interest each year while you are in college? If you cannot pay the interest each year you will have to capitalize it so your debt will have grown massively by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>For 80,000 at 6.8%
Year 1 borrow 20,000 x 6.8% = interest 1360. if you capitalize it
Year2 borrow another 20,000+1st 20,000 +1360 = 41360 x 6.8% = 2812. If you capitalize it
Year 3 - borrow another 20,000 +41360+2812=64172 x 6.8% =4363. If you capitalize it
Year 4 - borrow another 20,000 + 64172 + 4363 = 88535. x 6.8% = $6020
So your debt at graduation has already grown to 94,555 for which the loan calculator gives a monthly payment of 1088 and a recommended income of $130,000.</p>
<p>At the upper end of your loans of 140,000 so borrowing 35,000 a year
Year 1 borrow 35,000 x 6.8% = interest 2380. if you capitalize it
Year2 borrow another 35,000+1st 35,000 +2380 = 72380 x 6.8% = 4922. If you capitalize it
Year 3 - borrow another 35,000 +72380+4922=112302 x 6.8% =7636. If you capitalize it
Year 4 - borrow another 35,000 + 112302 + 7636 = 154938 x 6.8% = $10536 interest.
So by the time you graduate your debt will be $165474 which the loan calculator gives a monthly payment of $1900 and a recommended income of over $220,000. (or for a 20 year payment - 1251 a month - but you would be in your mid 40s before you pay it off).</p>
<p>Good luck with your choices. Be really realistic when making them.</p>
<p>"I see many med school students going in debt for 150000+ for their education..."</p>
<p>Doctors are different than pharmacists.</p>
<p>Pharmacy</a> Salaries Pharmacist Salary Surveys</p>
<p>You might be making around 70K per year as a pharmacist at first. With interest considerations, this just seems like too much debt for that sort of projected salary.</p>
<p>Yea the pharmacy programs i am going into would be 6 years long, It would probably be a mixture of subsidized federal loans and private loans. I live in albany so if necessary i could live at home and save 6,000 a year for room and board. I was really looking forward to moving away, but i know that the other options are just to unrealistic.
I'm just a bit afraid of albany because they are going through a shakey time, they are probably raising gpa requirements and instating 2nd year interviews and possibly a test. This factor makes it an unknown for being able to continue on in the program. at NEU you are guaranteed a spot as long as you mantain a 3.0.</p>
<p>From this source:
Average</a> Pharmacist Salary. Pharmacist Job, Career Education & Unemployment Help
It states the average salary is 96,000 and it is a more recent survey.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the debt doesn't go away if you change majors or don't complete the program or don't pass the final boards (and it happens much more often than you think).</p>
<p>I would see which school has the higher number that matriculate in 6 years -- how many actually have the doctor of pharmacuticals at the end of 6 yrs.</p>
<p>Also -- the AVERAGE salary of a pharmacist includes those who have been working for 30+ years and those that work as a combined pharmacist/business manager. The average starting salary is closer to $80,000, and may be as low as $60,000 depending on your previous work experience, other education, location and demand.</p>
<p>I was able to run some numbers and talk to their financial department at Albany Pharmacy.
It would put me in debt of about 38,000 if i lived at home all 6 years
and it would put me in a debt of about 83,000 if i stayed on campus all 6 years.
I could basically have anywhere within that range depending on how many years i would want to stay on campus.</p>
<p>So do yall think that a debt in the range of 38,000 - 83,000 is more reasonable?
i'm thinking of leaning towards 3 years on campus so around 60,500...</p>
<p>Yeah- that sounds more reasonable. Still a lot of money, but it's an investment that will show a return pretty quickly after you graduate.</p>
<p>Have you included any money you might make working summers and maybe part-time during the year? Could you get a job as a pharmacy tech? If you worked hard over the summers and just a bit during the year, you could earn about $4000+. If you did that for 6 years, that is $24000.</p>
<p>If you buy books online at a discount -- that can save some money (science class books are VERY expensive!)</p>
<p>I would definitely live at home for the first year, maybe the first two -- then you might look at living off-campus (at that time, you probably wouldn't want to live in a dorm). </p>
<p>Believe me -- the less money you borrow, the happier you will be when you graduate.</p>