<p>Running up expenses that you and your parents cannot readily afford does NOT seem like a good or smart option to me. Please have your parents articulate why they oppose your transferring to lower priced Us, especially since they are basically omly paying 1year at U of M + $10K. </p>
<p>You need to all speak with a trusted adult family member or friend that can help rationally discuss options. If an agreement can’t be reached, consider taking a leave of absence for a year rather than incurring $50K more expenses for 2nd year at UofM.</p>
<p>the reason my parents are not giving me much options is that they prefer me staying close to them. oakland university is close, and wayne state is not in a good area. they are saying canada is not a good option because it’s way too far away. they justify it by saying that it’s a different country etc. they are okay with michigan because it’s prestigious.</p>
<p>thinking about it, i don’t want to get into that much debt. however, i don’t know how to convince them.</p>
<p>Well, tell them that you cannot accept the responsibility of paying them back in full or quickly, so either you need to leave the area to find somewhere cheaper that’s better than OU, or they need to accept not having you pay them back in full (or even near full).</p>
<p>This is what my dad says. His degree is in computer science. He graduated 20 years ago with about $30K in loans. He now owes $95K. He has been paying all these years. He has always been employed and always has worked for well known named companies. He currently earns more than any of the software developers on his team. </p>
<p>His answer to your question, if you give up your entire life, live with your parents, never have a date, and pay 100% to your parents, and assuming you still pay your own bills, you will be doing that for the entire duration of your career, or until your parents die, whichever comes first. IF you get married, or even get a girlfriend, and especially if you ever have a child, you will never ever pay that off. You cannot possibly pay living expenses and that kind of loan for just you, let alone even 1 spouse and 1 child. So, giving up your entire life and future is not worth that kind of money.</p>
<p>What about getting a trusted relative or respected close family friend involved? Do not proceed without an affordable 4-year plan that you all agree to. Especially, do NOT incur further expenses. </p>
<p>Are you Canadian? Why is it bad for you to go back to your country of origin? What other Us are available that have a degree program you want and can transfer into? Have they all been explored? There are over 4000 Us in the US plus more in Canada.</p>
<p>You and your folks have narrowed this down to you continuing to attend UofM that neither you or your folks can afford for another $140K+ in debt to you and $10K more for them OR Oakland, which would be another $56K+ for you and $10K for them UNLESS you get a scholarship to reduce that to a lower amount. UofM is so high, it’s off the table, leaving a choice of one, where you will still graduate with significant debt.</p>
<p>The more I think about your situation, the more I’m grateful that I’m not a young asian woman.</p>
<p>I understand that your parents would like for you to stay close to them and/or attend a prestigious school. Where would YOU like to go?</p>
<p>If I were you and I preferred to go to a good affordable Canadian university, I would apply to several now, perhaps without seeking their consent. I would then spend the fall working, at U Michigan, at Oakland, or studying from books and MOOC’s to prepare for your future courses. After winning admission to some Canadian schools, figuring out financial aid options (ideally independent of your parents’ financial support), seeing what transfer credits you’d receive, and making one or more detailed plans as to how you will meet all the degree requirements in x years there, then I’d bring your plans to your parents.</p>
<p>I’d explain that I love them and respect them, but that I cannot spend the next several years earning a degree of their choosing at a school of their choosing and then spend much of my life paying for that degree. I’ve found a plan that works for me, I hope you’ll listen to it with an open mind.</p>
<p>I know that you want me to stay close. I would also like for us to stay close. So please come back to Canada with me for a few years (mostly kidding there. I doubt they’d tolerate that request.) Without US permanent residency, I cannot afford to attend a school close to you near detroit that will offer me the level of education that we all want me to have. In Canada, it is possible. In fact, these international studies show that this canadian school is more prestigious than U Michigan for computer science, and we can afford it. I’m grateful that you have offered me nearly unlimited interest free loans. I’m afraid that I will not be able to pay it back as quickly as I’d like. You deserve to be able to retire soon and don’t want my slow repayment of your educational loan to delay that.</p>
<p>If they really strongly prefer that you to go to U Michigan over a Canadian school, let them pay for (not loan you) the difference in the cost. </p>
<p>Obviously I’m not an asian woman and have far less filial piety. I agree with others that your parents might hear another older family member better than they can hear you. Find a nice uncle or auntie to confide in.</p>
<p>If you’re <em>very</em> lucky, maybe you’ll find a CS job when you graduate. Although most grads can’t find jobs these days. $300,000 to spend on a degree that has a fairly high probability of unemployment is insane. You’d do much better to just put that into investments or something, and take a cheaper degree. </p>
<p>Maybe if employment was easy to find with a CS degree, numbers like those would be repayable. But the reality is, with firms like Google receiving 1000+ applications for each position they hire, and most businesses hooked on using foreign labour instead of paying the big bucks to domestic talent – its a real uphill battle to assume that you’ll make enough to pay back that much debt. </p>
<p>Don’t be deceived by the folks who claim that $100k is easy to get with a CS degree. Its not.</p>
<p>@Mark77, Where do you live dude? I cannot think of a more employable bachelor degree than CS right now. The field is going to keep expanding. Everybody I know with a CS degree got a good job not only in software but in other industries such as finance… 100k is not hard to get with a CS degree if you graduate from a top institution. The average CS major at stanford makes 90k</p>
That’s what I figured. Staying at Michigan and taking on another $150k in debt is not a good choice. Here’s what I would do: go to Oakland next year. During the year, you can assess your options and decide whether the Oakland degree will give you the career options you desire. If not, apply to transfer to one of the better CSci universities in Ontario. You can likely drive Toronto-Detroit in 5 hours. Border crossing to/from Canada may take time but it is not a big deal since you are a citizen. Explain the advantages to your parents at that time, and offer to pay for more of the degree through your own loans (search for OSAP program). Good luck.</p>
<p>hersheybar11,
A couple of questions. You’ve been at UM for a year. Was the experience good so far? Did you make connections with professors and do you have a possibility of a great internship next year? Did you get a great value from your investment so far?</p>
<p>I have a friend who had an only child who attended Wharton. This middle income family paid full freight and this young man, who is under the age of 30 is now on Wall Street and has paid his parents back. The parents gave the money without strings, but he chose to pay them back. He made those connections while in undergrad and had fabulous internships. (He also works enormous hours…) It was obvious that he would do well at a very young age. Are you that type of young person?</p>
<p>You’ve completed 25% of the undergrad. Only you and your parents can asses if the investment so far has been worth the expense. There are also ways to save some money while at the U of M. (Housing, food and expenses. Our Wharton grad did those things too.)</p>
<p>You MUST discuss this with your parents. I also have nephews who are residents of Michigan who chose not to go to the U of M based on cost alone. They are very successful STEM graduates without the U of M degree, and have kept in contact with peers who attended the U of M. Nephews are so far in a better boat, mostly because they have minimal debt and the same or better jobs as their U of M peers. It’s all up to your work ethic.</p>
<p>I agree that while a CS degree is not a guaranteed job, it is currently one of the most employable degrees going right now. (Maybe not the MOST employable.) Demand for programmers does go through cycles, though.</p>
<p>Those with CS degrees who work in Silicon Valley or Manhattan have a very good chance of making $100K within five years after graduating. Of course, the cost of living will eat much of that up. And it’s unlikely a programming working in Michigan would make that much.</p>
<p>This whole thread seems surreal. I can’t believe parents would saddle their kids with $300K of debt for college. Michigan’s good, but it’s not that good. One of the reasons I went into the military for four years was to get away from overbearing parents like this.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the whole thread, but after the bachelors in CS, why wouldn’t OP work or apply for an assistantship for the masters so that the debt is manageable?</p>
<p>OP, have you considered searching for work and then after being in the work force for maybe 3 years, going back to get your Masters (non-thesis) with your employer paying for your MS?</p>
<p>The trap is: The debtor is a slave to the lender.</p>
<p>In your case, the lender is your parents. What happens if you are unable to pay them back? How will your future spouse feel about having all your income go to your parents? How flexible will your parents be on payback? Will you never hear the end of it?</p>
<p>$300,000 over 8 years is $37,500/yr for principal only. Assuming 5% interest, that adds another $15,000 the first year. So, $50,000 the first year to your parents. When calculating the 8 year payback, did you take into account taxes (which can take a good part of your income).</p>
<p>When I loan money to my kids for college, I consider it a gift, and don’t expect to get paid back.</p>
<p>I see it more as a “You’ve made your bed, and you’ll have to lie in it,” type of situation for the parents. If they want to limit their kid to having to choose been bad and worse, they should have to deal with it when the kid realizes they got completely boned.</p>
<p>This question cannot be answered, and any rough estimates based on interest rates are only that - rough estimate that can vary quickly. What if you have a sudden health concern that puts you out of work? Also, what if you decide you want to marry and have a family? It’s more difficult to live frugally for that many years when you will have other priorities and opportunities come to you. 300k is too much for both undergrad and grad school. Get the CS degree as cheaply as you can in undergrad, work for a few years and pay that debt down, then pursue a graduate degree if you feel it will add value.</p>