Alright, I have to make a college decision and I am seriously struggling. I plan to study biology in undergrad, and I am ultimately interested in a career either in biotech or as a physician (If I go the physician route, I plan to go to med school through the military and serve afterward). I have four options- Umass Amherst Honors College, Boston College, Holy Cross (Worcester), and Villanova. I would have to take out significant loans to attend BC, HC, or Nova. Each of these schools offered me generous financial aid for my freshman year, but I have to assume this will be taken away once two of my siblings graduate from college next year. Then, loans will be my only option. For any of these three private schools, my loans would be >100k by graduation if this is true. My parents have encouraged me to keep considering and promised to help with the loans (they’d start paying back the 10 yr loans while I was still an undergrad) but I am still reluctant to inflict a burden like that on myself and my parents.
I understand that Umass is the smartest choice based on numbers alone, but I am not in love with the school. For example, I feel much more comfortable at BC, and I feel like I worked hard for my admission there. I guess my questions are…Would I regret turning down my offer to Boston College for financial reasons? What does a school like BC have to offer that UMass can’t? How much debt do you think would be manageable?
I think that U.Mass Amherst is very strong for premed. If you attend there, you will discover that the premed classes are very challenging, and that there are many other very strong students in your premed classes.
When you graduate in just over four years from now, you will be very happy to have no debt or very little debt. Debt of $100,000 for a bachelor’s degree would be a huge burden for many years, if not many decades.
I work in a different field (a part of high tech). However, I work with many graduates from U.Mass Amherst and the best of them are as strong as the best MIT and Stanford graduates that I also work with. The main difference that I have seen is that the average age of the MIT and Stanford graduates is older – as the price of private universities keeps increasing it seems that more and more very strong students are choosing to attend very good in-state public universities such as U.Mass.
I think that this is an easy decision. Minimize or avoid the debt, and attend U.Mass.
However, you are operating on a major and possibly erronous assumption. Why not ask the schools what your fin aid would be without a sibling in college?
Not as much as regretting choosing BC and ending up with $100k in debt. Especially if you graduate with a biology degree and do not get into any medical school (most frosh pre-meds do not eventually get into any medical school).
@caitlincc I’ve read of students regretting making expensive decisions for college and ending up in debt. I have also heard students say they were sorry they couldn’t afford the schools of their dreams. The latter group has regrets and some thoughts of what “might have been”. The former group has a millstone of debt that they drag with them every step of the way through their 20s and often into their 30s. Will you regret not going to your top schools? Maybe. Will you regret taking on huge student debt - almost certainly.
That said, I would follow up with the schools and ask how much aid will be taken away when you are the only child in college. They should be able to give you an idea of how your aid will change if you express that it’s a critical part of your decision-making process.
Just so you know - lots of kids who worked hard to get into exclusive private schools decide to enroll instead at less expensive institutions. I would definitely not frame that decision as “I worked for it and I deserve a better school”. Money doesn’t work like that. Getting yourself into deep debt isn’t something you “deserve”. There’s a trade off to be made - fit of school vs expense/debt. You and your folks are the only ones who can truly say which option tips the scales.
I agree that you should contact FA for each school and ask how the aid would change after your sibs left college. Also discuss any other aspects of the financial situation of your parents that might not have been obvious or apparent on the forms-such as any medical expenses, or problems in the past that may still impact on the family’s financial situation.