I have a chance to graduate with loan debt
less than 20k at a state school
less than 10k with parent’s help
or
80k or more in debt from a good school
Are you planning on grad school? While your career choice will likely change, you shouldn’t take 80k in loans if you are a classics or modern art major- no offense to those majors; they just typically don’t make as much.
Also, what are the two colleges? Most state schools are fine institutions.
So far I was accepted to
Rutgers no aid package yet so COA 28k
Fordham no aid package yet so COA 68k
Ursinus 26k grant - COA 33k
USC 20k grant - COA 23k USC-South Carolina
NJIT 10k grant - COA 18k
Hofstra 26k grant - COA 35k
Iona 24k grant - COA 26k
Pace 25k grant - COA 39k
What degree are you planning to get and what career would you like to use that degree for?
Economic or Computer Science - undecided at the moment.
I like technology but I also like animation, history and english.
Career in corporate for first 5 year - might persue MBA/Master.
I am a very good student.
I have scored high As grade wise in History and English.
But I have scored low A and high B in science/math.
Then again I have always taken all honor in 9/10th grade.
And all APs 11th and 12th grade.
Heck I even asked for if they had AP for Gym. I would have taken it.
1520 SAT
92/100 GPA
Eagle Scout
I’ve been told with less debt I have freedom to try different things in life instead of getting a job to pay my debt.
if at all possible, you need to graduate with as little debt as you can. it’s just not worth it in my opinion.
None of the colleges on your list are bad colleges, but at the same time none of them are worth paying an additional $80k for either. Especially given that you’re very, very undecided.
milee30 - Well I do want to be employed so I am leaning toward CS degree or engineering.
If that is the case what would be your answer?
I’m not familiar with the NJ colleges, so you’ll need to do a little research. Do local employers value one of those programs more than the others? The answer is likely to be different for engineering (and even within differing engineering fields) than it is for CS. You’ll want to make sure the college you pick is ABET accredited.
The reason you want to know which degree and potential career is that there may be interesting differences in hiring potential. An example - my degree is in accounting. I graduated from a school that the big international accounting firms recruited from; although that school cost me double what the school across town would have cost, if I’d graduated from the school across town I wouldn’t have even received an interview at the high paying firm I was hired by. In some fields, the school makes a difference.
The good news is that you can generally get great jobs with just an undergrad degree in either engineering or CS.
Did you apply for TCNJ?
TCNJ might provide more to satisfy your English and history interests, and you could get some merit.
I’m guessing you’re admitted to USC Honors, and that’s your best value so far. If you get into Rutgers Honors then it becomes a choice between these two, although I’d still pick USC Honors for the OOS experience and the top honors college, but Rutgers will be more familiar, easier to get to, more recognized in the NJ/NY area.
You can’t borow 80k without a cosigner, so unless your parents are crazy enough to commit to that amount of debt, the expensive place is a no-go.
You should keep your debt to no more than the maximum federal student loans. The figure for those is set so as to be reasonable for many students. They would come to a total of 27k for all four years. If you can come in below that figure, even better. Finaid.org has handy repayment calculators. Run those, and rmember that to pay $60 you will need to be earning something like $100 before taxes.
USC Honors would provide the best of those listed. Fordham isn’t worth going into debt for when you have USC Honors and Rutgers as options - both of which are very good schools.
Fordham is not worth $160k more than Rutgers. I would cross that one off the list immediately.
I would recommend to take on as little debt as possible for an undergraduate degree. Starting your professional life (or worse: your graduate student life) with debt makes everything else harder. Saving for marriage, down-payment for a house, buying a new car, going on vacation, etc. 10s of thousands of dollars of debt takes a lot of time and effort to pay off when you’re young. I’ve got 2 students and our goal is for them to get their undergraduate degree w/o any debt at all.
^to be fair, the federal loans aren’t ideal, but if students don’t go over the total they are designed to be what a college graduate can reasonably pay back over 10 years (faster if they have a good salary and live frugally for a couple years);
Cheapest isn’t necessarily the best value - for instance, here the best value is USC Honors, which is a top 5 honors college nationally. You need to consider fit and if there’s an academic mismatch (top honors colleges, especially at flagships, will have top students, excellent resources, and a great residential environment so no worry, but you have to consider all variables.) Obviously this is all things being within budget, one with some debt and the other without. However, going over the federal limit is a a bad idea. So parents and students have to work hard on finding good fits that are within budget, with and without the federal loans. If there’s a good fit without debt, perfect! But that’s rare so don’t make it the holy grail.
Debt matters, especially with the new Tax Cuts Plan just passed. But don’t necessarily go for the “cheapest” option – it might not be the best investment in the end. Evaluate carefully. This is a lot of money. I agree with what other posters have said. Scratch a few off your list that are not good “investments” for you. USC Honors sounds darn good, but as a west coaster, Rutgers is much better known out here. However, if you’re staying home/east coast/south after graduation, then the regionality of a college might not be an issue. Lastly, if you’re planning on making a starting salary of $40k-50k, then heavy debt will be hard to pay for the first few years. If you are certain you will be making $80k (as a software engineer or programmer), then incurring debt might be “payable.” If you don’t know, then don’t assume the debt. Be conservative to avoid later financial problems.
Let’s talk majors and what your strengths are. You said you are stronger in History/English than Science/Math. Computer Science is very hard science. Econ involves a lot of math. Just pointing out that you might want to be at a college that offers flexibility in changing majors. I know kids who started off in Engineering and couldn’t get through a year of pre-req science classes. It’s hard!! Or my son who discovered that college Econ was a heckofa lot different that high school Econ after taking one class. (did not like it at all!) So, if you are undecided on a major, perhaps NJIT might be a risky choice if you don’t do CS or engineering. What if you don’t like science majors? Then you might have to transfer to a school with stronger History or other majors that you are interested in. Think through what offers you the right blend of flexibility and opportunity.
Did you get anything from NJIT Honors college? You have a great SAT score. If you plan on living in or around NJ, it is better to go to local college. Most of the employers would be from local colleges. I feel, if it is not an Ivy League or a few other colleges like Tufts, etc. it does not matter where you go. Get a degree that has jobs listed in Monster and try to get the least amount of debt. Don’t focus on campus, etc. Look at the long term.
I know of a friend who spent $250,000 on his daughter at University of Washington in St. Louis to get an International Business degree. She now works in DC and gets $60,000. She now regrets not going to Rutgers and not saving all that money. It would have bought her a house and a car. Don’t make that mistake.
Get a good employable degree.
Keep the cost to a minimum if it is not an IVY league college.
Get a good GPA in college so it would help in case you want to go to graduate school.
Go to a School where you feel you will excel. More competitive schools also have a lot more smart students and if you end up getting lower grades in the freshman year, a lot of students lose confidence and bail.
Good Luck.
80k is too much debt for an undergraduate. You want to start a career with focus in gaining job experience. If you’re paying high loan payments, it can sabotage an early career. What really matters is the degree and your major.