<p>I am interested in either physics or engineering. I will be able to attend either Purdue or Indiana University with a “full ride” (tuition+room+board+books paid for in full) due to the particularly lucky circumstances I am in. I applied for physics at IU, and engineering at Purdue. </p>
<p>Having said that, I am also a decent candidate for Notre Dame, Yale, Cornell, and, especially, Princeton. However, I would more than likely be at least 35,000 dollars in debt following graduation from any of these schools. </p>
<p>I will be following a Ph.D path in whatever I choose to study.</p>
<p>I’ve already applied to Notre Dame.</p>
<p>My question, then, is whether (A) a private school is worth 35,000+ and (B) if I should even bother applying to the other privates. </p>
<p>Also, is the career opportunities of a physicist with a PhD really as bleak as most make it out to be?</p>
<p>Thanks for all help and guidance, in advanced!</p>
<p>I can’t answer your question about the outlook for physics PhDs, but I would suspect that top physics students from IU get accepted to top-rate physics grad programs. I would check that out before making your decision, but if it’s true, I would never, ever go $35,000 into debt if I had a full ride at an excellent public school like Purdue or IU.</p>
<p>[Is</a> America’s Science Education Gap Caused By Career Planning Fears? - Miller-McCune](<a href=“miller-mccune.com”>miller-mccune.com)</p>
<p>^That article is very relevant to your last question. If you want to go into academia with that PhD, prepare for many years of postdoc work before getting to the juicy bits.</p>
<p>As far as your question on debt, it’s certainly not worth going into $35,000 of debt to attend any college when you have a free ride at a respected university lined up. That said, you don’t have your financial aid offers in hand. Ivies tend to be very generous with financial aid, even for families in moderately high income brackets. You’re also not clear about whether you’d be borrowing that money or whether you have savings/parents’ money to pay for it. Taking on $35,000 of debt for college is a bad idea. Spending $35,000 you actually have is not.</p>
<p>If you do engineering, Purdue is probably as good as or better than all of the others (unless you want to use engineering as a stepping stone to Wall Street or high end consulting that recruits at Ivy League schools); the fact that it is full ride to you makes it even better.</p>
<p>Some of the other schools do have a higher reputation in physics than IU or Purdue, so you can apply, but if the other schools’ financial aid is not sufficient to keep the debt to minimal levels, then going to IU or Purdue with a full ride is hardly a bad choice.</p>
<p>There appears to be a surplus of physics graduates relative to actual physics jobs, although many of the surplus physics graduates find decent jobs in engineering, finance, computer software, etc… If you major in physics, be sure to consider your backup job plans if actual physics jobs do not pan out (taking a few electives in those other fields may be helpful).</p>