Sounds about right! There’s a small set of people who are unhappy enough with their outcomes (especially vis-a-vis debt!) to frame themselves as a cautionary tale. But the majority of people are emotionally invested in believing that the choices they made are the right ones.
The positive side of this is that whatever you choose, you’ll most likely end up feeling that it was the right choice!
50K in undergrad debt, with a marketable degree, isn’t above the “OH DEAR GOD DON’T GO THERE” line. People get jobs, make their loan payments, and pay off debt of that magnitude. There’s some risk involved, because you don’t know what circumstances - whether personal to you or affecting the economy and job market more broadly - may affect your ability to make loan payments. But fundamentally, it comes down to an “is the difference worth it” question that only you can answer. And of course, you’re here trying to take a due-diligence approach to doing exactly that. And hearing a range of opinions is useful. But ultimately, nobody else can decide what a given educational experience is worth to you. People have certainly gone out on much bigger financial limbs for much worse reasons than the affinity you feel for GT. OTOH, if you went to GT and ended up switching into a straight-business major (as opposed to ISyE), there’s a decent argument that it would have been a waste to turn down the Kenan-Flagler direct-admit for that. So to me, your ambivalence about engineering comes into play here too, just as it does for the UNC vs. NCSU question.
But looking purely at engineering, NCSU vs. GT… is there assurance that that GT will have greater ROI to an extent that makes a much greater cost that includes significant loans “worth it?” No. Are the intangibles “worth it?” Only you can answer that.
I think NC State is your best bet here, especially if you prefer engineering. Top notch program, and you got some of their elusive merit! (First I have heard who has!!) It’s a great school with awesome opportunities. Obviously UNC is a great choice, too, but sounds like that isn’t what you want to do, so…
You’ve got great options, and if you feel comfortable at your school, you will have a pretty high chance of success at any of them.
So basically, it comes down to the marginal utility of the difference in money between them (ie, what does an extra $50k mean to you in terms of what it would mean for your life - a down payment on a house? an extra $800 a month in disposable income? investment opportunities? etc) and fit. How comfortable would you feel in each of those schools? Do they pass the “vibe check” (my kids assure me that this is a real thing)?
The sort of wild card is your UNC admit into finance program, and that school is really, really good. You say you aren’t really passionate about engineering and want to go into technical sales – going an engineering route isn’t bad for that as @tsbna44 mentioned. Learning engineering is useful for a lot of life paths… but it’s also a grind. Are you sure you’re going to want to spend 12 hours a week studying Statics for a semester while also doing 12 hours a week doing DiffEQ, while also doing 16 hours a week doing Controls, while also doing … etc - plan on spending about 60 hours a week studying very technical rigorous things. It’s definitely doable, and many kids do great at it, but most of them really want to do that kind of work. Will you be able to stay motivated doing that?
For engineering, while Georgia Tech is a wonderful, wonderful school - I’m not sure it’s worth $100k more than NC State, or $200k more than Alabama. At least if $100k represents real money to your parents (meaning, do they have to take a hit on their retirement plans? Will it stress them out trying to make monthly payments? Or does it just mean they will vacation in Florida instead of Fiji for a few years? that kind of thing).
So, these are personal questions… if it were my kid, I’d encourage him to choose between NC State and Alabama. But that’s b/c I’m comfortable spending around $100k for college, but $200k would feel more stressful, and he wants to do engineering and not interested in business at all. I’d encourage him to pick the school he feels most comfortable at between those two. YMMV
Normally I’m in the no debt camp or at least minimal debt. NC State is also a great school for engineering. We visited and was one of my favorites. You can go there and do well.
That said, I always knew that GT was the best fit for S20. I’m not saying it’s for everyone but he graduated ISyE in 3 years. He was on campus longer because of internships and a co-op so he essentially got the 4 year experience.
It wasn’t overly difficult if you have a fair number of AP/DE credits or you’re willing to take a few summer classes at a local CC. One of his HS classmates did the same for CS and did a Master’s his 4 year.
Study abroad also pays in-state tuition rates. Would I recommend $50k of debt over NC State? Probably not but it’s worth a discussion. Good luck.
One additional thought. You aren’t sure about a major. CS has changed lately but GT pretty much has a one major transfer with no questions asked policy.
Scheller is a top business program. Maybe not quite KF but very highly regarded. Especially for international business. S20 transferred from Scheller to ISyE after his first semester. No questions asked.
I don’t think that’s written in-stone. My son had a friend or two that switched later. I think one switched twice. That said, they were in-state so cost wasn’t a big factor. It certainly added a semester or two to graduate.
Look at GT’s AP transfer policy. They also have a nice tool that compares classes to other schools to see equivalents. They took several classes from our local community college.
Finally have an answer to everything, thank you all. I went to Duke’s campus and begged for aid but they didn’t budge on the cost. I put down my deposit for GT and convinced my self (and everyone ) that I was going there, but 30 minutes before the enrollment deadline for NCSU I had a gut feeling and put my card down for State. I am now a proud member of NCSU ‘28! I think I can make up any missed opportunity through networking, so I am going to network like nobody has ever networked before. I still have my enrollment for GT, so I need to go unenroll from that, but I feel I made the right choice, what do yall think?
You made the right choice - because it was in your heart!!
What we think doesn’t matter.
In my first post to you, I wrote this:
“But only you can decide - I’d first figure out, which would you really want to be at? And then go from there - to the - ok I want school X - do mom and day have a way to pay?”
You figured out which school you want to be at - and went with your gut/heart - and that’s fantastic.
