Is Chicago actually affordable?

hyeonjlee
Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:54:35 +0000

Some say that it’s a stupid decision to go anywhere expensive as an undergrad, and others say that it’s stupid not to go to the top private because the finances can be managed if you’re careful…





It all depends on what you want to do.

If you were my son, I would do my best to persuade you not to incur $170K debt for undergrad education only to have additional $150+ for the medical school. The debt of $300-350K by the middle/late 20’s is like signing a life time indentured slave contract.

If you were a budding Wall Street investment bank who need the top college diploma to go straight into a top Wall Street job, I would have felt differently. After all, you are not likely to even get an interview at Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan from Colorado anyway, so if it’s your life ambition, well then… Even so, that $170K loan would REALLY make me hesitate, but at least it’s a worthwhile gamble. How do you know you will never change your mind? At the age of 17, no one should be making a decision that puts a near life time constraint on your degree of freedom going forward.

If you were my son, I would persuade you to go to Boulder. Excel. Four years later, if you still want the medical school, now, with more maturity and certainty, you can decide whether you are willing to commit to $150K ++ loan for your dream career. If you realize that your life’s calling is in a different field, no problem. You don’t have a noose around your neck.

Meanwhile, you do realize that going to a top medical school is not predicated on where you went to for undergrad education (unless it’s Podunk Univ.). I heard terrific GPA and MCAT score from any decent state university is good enough. If anything, people are wondering if U Chicago’s grade deflation is hurting the chances for pre med kids.