<p>The “everybody is doing it” argument simply isn’t persuasive. (I think Collegefreshman’s comment about “who is doing this” was rhetorical.) As we recently saw, “everybody” bought houses they couldn’t afford and we’ve seen where that has left us. Taking on six figures of non-dischargeable debt hoping 1) that you will do well enough to get hired at a high starting salary; 2) can last long enough in that high paying job to discharge your debt; or 3) intend to work in PI with an LRAP program–which every one ele is trying to get as well, is a HUGE financial gamble. For most people, it’s simply not a smart one. The problem is you don’t actually know until the end of your first year whether or not the gamble will pay off. At that point you pretty much know if you are looking at a starting salary of $160k or closer to $60k like the T14 grad in the recent NYT article.</p>