<p>Hey! This is a question of why a student should pick a college.</p>
<p>New York University is my dream school in my favorite city. NYU has been my goal since I first visited the city a decade ago. It so expensive though; I cant go a hundred thousand dollars in debt. Thatll cripple me for a decade. At my other option, a lesser known school in a smaller city, I would graduate debt free. But it is not my dream. How could I turn down attending NYU, the school and life I dreamt about for all these years?</p>
<p>I’m told that I should follow my dreams. Where is the line drawn between being optimistic and being foolish? I have reached the point where I will regret any university I choose; at one, I will regret the debt, the other, the dream lost. I know I can be happy at my other option, but I cant stop comparing it to NYU. Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>So, in conclusion, head vs. heart?</p>
<p>In your case, go with your head. 20-30k of debt is one thing; 100k is quite another.</p>
<p>A hundred thousand dollars in debt would be monthly payments of 1150 for ten, long years. That’s 14k/yr out of your annual paycheck in student loan payments right there. That is completely untenable and impossible. So yes, you can go to your dream school-- if you don’t want to do anything else in your life.</p>
<p>Go to the smaller school, graduate debt free, and consider grad school or living in NYC once you’ve gotten a degree. It’s not a question of maybe 30k v. no debt… it’s one hundred thousand dollars of debt. And by the time you’ve paid it off, it’ll be close to one-fifty.</p>
<p>(xpost with syoung)</p>
<p>Thanks syoung and purpleacorn!</p>
<p>Two more points I would like to bring up:
*NYU has a better academic program than my other option.
*What if I could narrow the amount of debt to $60k? Still too much?</p>
<p>I’m still of the opinion that sixty thousand is way too much. $700/mo, total loan debt of at least 80k.</p>
<p>Some rules of thumb for loan debt are the Stafford limit (22.5k) or your starting salary in your chosen field.</p>
<p>Also, how are you going to get 100k (60k) in private loans? Are your parents willing to cosign them (and do they know what that means)?</p>
<p>Play around with this calculator:
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loan Payment Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>NYU financial aid is known for being difficult and bad… what’s possible is just not possible. Yes, I want a Mercedes and to go on vacation to the Carribean for a month; however, neither of those things are possible, however much we dream for them.</p>
<p>As a person in NYC, I know why people go crazy over it. But the city is still going to be here in the future if you would like to go to a graduate school here. NYU is really expensive, and being 100K in debt is ridiculous. So while I agree with the fact that you should follow your heart, you should also be financially realistic. After undergraduate, there is graduate, which you would probably need a loan for. Is it worth being 150k or more in debt by the time you are 25 to go to a dream school? Not really. I am a heavy believer in if it was meant to be it would happen, and I feel that if you were meant to go to NYU it would have been an easier decision and they would have given you more in the financial package. If you go somewhere else and are able to graduate debt free you would have more money available to travel to NYC and would be able to make a better decision about graduate school.</p>
<p>So while you should’t ignore your heart, your head is what gets you to the places you want to go 
Good Luck</p>
<p><em>Just saw your edit - yes 60K is still a lot in my opinion and while NYU might have a better academic program, is a slightly better academic program worth being 60K in debt plus interest?</em></p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your advice!!!</p>
<p>I’ll probably go to my other option university. Sometimes, I wish NYU just rejected me instead. It would make my decision so much easier. :P</p>
<p>Good decision, and you should put your mind at ease about it since the quality of your undergraduate education is for the most part in your hands. Choose the right courses and research/internships and your debt-free degree will open as many doors as one from NYU. If graduate school is in the plans, you will have access from your school as well as NYU.</p>
<p>Thanks xraymancs! Going to the smaller school will give me a chance to become a “big fish in a little pond”. Not graduating in debt will keep so many more doors open. Also, the stress of finding a job after college will not be as strenuous. Much different than the rest of my debt-ridden generation. Thanks everyone once again!</p>