<p>D is soooo struggling between schools…
full academic ride at a great public university vs. expensive four years at notre dame.</p>
<p>Her heart tells her ND is the perfect fit.
Her head tells her a huge accumulation of debt is insane and the public school is top notch.</p>
<p>Personally, I think she would be happy and would flourish at either. But, I want the choice to be hers. This is HER future and HER financial investment (although we will help as we can)</p>
<p>How have you helped your child sort it out? The process is daunting, even for the most mature and insightful eighteen year old.</p>
<p>One parental job is to help them see beyond the fantasy, to consider the realities. If you believe that she would be fine at the free ride great public school, tell her that…maybe that will be enough reassurance for her to make the most practical choice. Good luck!</p>
<p>We showed her what the debt payments would look like for us and for her, in terms of financial independence at the end of the game.</p>
<p>Apartment costs
Utility costs
Food
Entertainment
Car loan</p>
<p>She probably would have live at home after her 4 years to pay off the debt, she did not want that. That was the deciding factor. A loan to them means nothing till they see what that money “could” buy if they had no other debt obligations.</p>
<p>Use one of the [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) calculators - you can plug in the amount of debt, to be paid off over how many years, and at what interest rate, and it will give you the monthly payment, and the theoretical salary needed to pay it off.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, anything more the $20k (30k at the outside) can get pretty dicey.</p>