Which is a more respectable degree?

College Search & Selection
21

Listen, mom2collegekids isn’t criticizing your interests as much as she is criticizing the fact that a job in those fields/with those degrees is likely to pay poorly. 60k in undergrad loans is a lot, and will probably be a heavy burden unless you can get a job that pays very, very well. That’s not too likely in your fields.

And trust me, I’m saying this as a potential art history/comparative literature major, two fields which have even worse prospects than international relations. Doing what you love is great, but avoid debt, or else you’ll be paying for it (literally and figuratively) for years.

There’s a reason you’re only allowed to take out 27k in direct loans over four years. Taking out more than that is going to be hard to pay back.

22

For the difference in price, I’d go with Elizabethtown.

Pace is 11k a year more, and over 4 years, that’s 44k difference.

Elizabeth town is more of a residential campus, while Pace is known to be more of a commuter school.

It might be easier t make friends and be part of a community at E’town.

With a 3.7 and a 29, you could get into lots of schools. But can you afford them? That’s the question.

Lots of students with good grades and test scores go to less prestigious schools because they get merit scholarships to those schools and it’s what they can afford.

My D actually looked into Elizabethtown, briefly, when she thought she might apply to schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Her test scores are also above the average for E’town but we were looking for small colleges where she could get significant merit to bring down costs. A lot of people do that, you would not be the only one.

There are a whole bunch of small LACs and public universities on the East Coast you could apply to, now (if they’re still making apps and merit money is still available) or next fall.

You seem to be very interested in studying abroad and languages. You could apply to Arcadia in Philadelphia, now or next fall.
Also, Goucher College in Baltimore.

You might have good chances at any of the “Colleges that Change Lives” schools. That’s the name of a book. Check it out at the library. Ot look up the website - Colleges That Change Lives.

23

Elizabethtown is a nice little gem of a school. I’d head there and enjoy a great college experience.

24

I know someone who will be going to Etown in the fall. Almost identical stats to yours . He chose the schoo, because he wanted s fully residential school with a stellar instrumental music department. He visited and found it a very warm and welcoming place, as well as generous. Pace is a great school, but it is a commuter school and suffers by comparison to other New York schools, particularly on the area of international relations, because some of the New York schools are among the best in the country. The proximity to those top schools is unfortunate for Pace. But they are both good schools and you can’t go wrong. Just get your finances in order and then find a good attitude toward the school you choose.

25

@zoosermom Pace isn’t a very good school…at all. Pace is academically very weak. High acceptance rate, low retention and graduation rates. Don’t know anything about Elizabethtown, but I would assume that it’s better than Pace.

26

@student@ail.com
Are you just going to keep fishing until someone finally gives you a compelling reason to borrow all that extra money to go to Pace?

27

The point of this whole thread is to decide on a college other than the one your stepfather was going to have to cosign $160k worth of loans for you to attend. The cost of the college is your primary issue because your family can only pay $11k/year.

It looks like you’ve been gapped $24k at Pace ($11k + the $5500 federal student loan + the $8k you want your stepfather to help you borrow), so your net cost is ~$100k. That requires your parents to pay $44k out-pocket, for you to borrow $27k total, and your stepdad to help you borrow $32k. That’s way too much.

What’s your net for Elizabethtown? Is the $6k cost you mentioned in the op before or after the federal loan and your parents’ contribution have been applied? If your net is ~$11.5k (the federal student loan + the $6k you quoted in the op) then that sounds like an affordable option. Your parent contribution could cover the whole thing.

You need to quit worrying about prestige and whether or not you can “do better” and pick a college that won’t leave you with more than the federal student loans ($27k total) and won’t leave your parents in debt at all. Do you have an option like that? If not, check the NACAC list. You’re a NYS resident, right? SUNYs could be paid for with your parents’ contribution + the $5500 federal student loan + summer work earnings. I think there are a few SUNYs on the NACAC list. You may want to take a look at them.

28

It is not clear to me why the OP did not apply to any SUNYs or CUNYs and elected to apply to Pace University, which is a school that operates almost like a (predatory) For-Profit institution. Many students enter, but very few graduate. Most drop out (or transfer elsewhere) after racking up huge student loan debt. Pace is also one of those schools facing severe financial issues. With an 85% acceptance rate, they pretty much mimics an “open enrollment” program.

29

Elizabethtown is the better choice here!

30

Go to Elizabethtown. Especially for your major, Pace is not worth the extra debt.

31

,<<<<<
pleaae stop criticizing my interests over and over again. What did you major in and why? I would hope it’s something you like… Idk why you keep bashing my major choices. I will do great things . I’m not going to go major in engineering or cpu science… Because thats not me.
<<<<<

No one is saying that you should major in eng’g or CS or anything else. The point being made about Int’l Relations/Studies, Media Studies, Languages is that none of those majors will likely lead to a job that would pay well enough to afford to pay back those loans.

Do you understand that if when you graduate and you’re only earning $35k-40k, you will not be able to afford to pay back those loans AND pay for your living expenses? What if your job isn’t anywhere near your parents’ home, so you can’t live cheaply there?

Will your stepdad be furious at you if you can’t make the loan payments and therefore he’ll have to pay them? Will that cause problems between your Stepdad and mom?

<<<
And both tuitions are doable. I’d be taking out an 8,000$ loan for pace with no problem. NOT ASKING ABOUT PRICE IDK WHY I INCLUDED THAT. I want to know which degree of academia would be more respectable to look at from big employers?
<<<<

I’m not sure which “big employers” you’re thinking about, but what do you think your salary will be as a newish employee?

You need to think ahead.

32

Both would be respectable to employers. I would go to Elizabethtown College. It will give you a traditional college experience. But if you are more of a city person then Pace may be better for you.

33

I would choose Elizabethtown. Pace is VERY expensive, over $50k and I’m honestly not sure why. I see on your other thread that you said Pace offered you “close to full ride”. 17k per year isn’t close!

That debt IS a problem if your parents don’t want to be paying every month for 20+ years.

It’s too bad, my school (La Salle) would’ve been a great option for you. It’s a small, urban school in Philly, and you’d get great merit. I’m sure you could’ve found even better options with your stats.

34

I am curious for our own situation, not judging yours… E-Town COA is 55K per year (around 44K tuition). Are they covering 50K for merit and need (-5K that you will pay)? I didnt know many small privates were being that generous these days.

35

I just finished calculating up what my first DDs degree cost and what second DDs degree is costing.

You as a student cannot imagine what a financial burden is lifted when one has minimal or no loans.

The Washington Post writer Danielle Douglas - Gabriel just had an article ‘College loan rates to drop to lowest level in a decade’ - it says undergraduate students can expect to pay 3.76 percent in interest on new Stafford loans (instead of the 4.29 percent). “The rates are only good for loans taken out to pay for the 2016-2017 academic year…Still, rates could top 6 percent on undergraduate loans.” It also says “The interest on undergraduate loans can never go higher than 8.25 percent.”

Honestly, the cost for the degree can be more than what your parents are paying for their home loan, and at a higher interest level.

When you finish school, do you really want to pay several hundreds of dollars per month for many years due to choosing a more expensive college to attend?

Both DDs could have received scholarship to our local university (which has their majors). However due to scholarships at other in-state universities, a college savings plan and a stock account with funds for each of them, they were able to go away to the University that best matched their field, and their room/board costs could be covered.

We also looked at them being able to be employed and be able to support themselves with UG degree. We do suspect they both will complete graduate degrees (one is in a STEM MBA program, so will have MBA one year after finishing UG degree).

I know the advice some of the posters here is sound about their concern for the financial hole you want to place your family and yourself in.

The quality of the student - all the opportunities you take advantage of in any academic setting and how you excel - that will be the product. Not graduating from a particular school, like that in itself is going to open better employment doors and higher pay right out of school. Cream rises to the top.

You don’t say where in NY you are and what kind of lower cost school options you have. If you can commute to local university or CC.

I know a family that has one college student, and he convinced them to pay full price for Berklee School of Music - he is bass guitar musician, but so-so, nothing spectacular. He didn’t apply himself in MS and HS, too much gaming w/o really attending to his education. Wasn’t really preparing himself for college and career. Somehow he thinks that the credential from Berklee is going to take him places. Parents will have ‘invested’ $60k/year. The mom, an educator, was not for it at all. They are cash flowing it or taking loans, IDK. Not a happy situation, and will not have a happy outcome other than the son had a blast for his four years in college. It seems reality may hit him a few years out when he is knocking around at a musician’s life. His father has a retired army pension and is an engineer/CS info networking person who is also being paid quite well. I cannot see the son being happy living a more frugal lifestyle because he has spotty or lower income.

It is like a soccer player/hockey player (you fill in the blank) thinking he is going to be an international soccer star making tons of money.

In many fields, not only having talent/interest/aspiration/aptitude but being able to be a true student in the learning, and being able to translate that into a career where one can support themselves to the level they desire.

A 17/18/19 year old doesn’t have a full perspective - and that is why there is a limit on what a student can borrow w/o a parent signature for a parent plus loan.

36

@Jamrock411 the crazy thing is I have a high school classmate who is transferring from UNC Greensboro to Pace this fall. I’d hate to imagine how much he’s gonna have to pay back in loans.

37

Pace is a prohibitively expensive institution. I would think that Elizabethtown would be cheaper and give you a more traditional college experience.

38

Generally accepted wisdom is that landing jobs in IR has a strong correlation to doing unpaid internships. Anyone headed into a IR field would be very well advised to keep college debt as low as possible.

39

I would suggest you reach out to both schools and ask what is there placement rate for graduates in the same major. Then I would ask what employers come to school to interview candidates. That will give you an idea of how likely you are to find a job at graduation and which type of companies. Also ask how many kids go onto grad school.