Is Harvard worth 80k in debt?

BKSquared
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 15:55:00 +0000

If the decision is to be weighted towards financial considerations with a known goal of getting into med school, it would be a relatively easy decision. If the cost of a GT education is $0 and Harvard is $40k/year or $160k after 4 years and assuming you would get into the same med school and earn the same amount of money over your lifetime, the $160k you spend on a Harvard education gets very expensive, especially after we factor in interest and opportunity costs over your entire lifetime. On the other hand, we spend money on “want to have” and “nice to have” things all the time. So, if you were my kid, I’d break it down like this:

How certain are you in pursuing medicine? If close to 100%, compare pre med programs/types of majors at GT and H, and the prospects of getting into med school post graduation. If programs and prospects are similar, is the $160k worth the intangible/impossible to quantify “prestige” and “connection” factors? You may even conclude that being a relatively “big fish in a small pond” program will provide a better opportunity and experience than being a “smaller fish in a big pond”. The $160k sounds awful expensive in this scenario. The GT experience may even be superior with no financial differences involved.

If you are uncertain of medicine, what are the academic opportunities (and their quality) comparing the 2 options. Does going to GT severely limit your options and prospects in areas of likely alternative interests? There is no question if you go to H that you will get a superior education with top notch classmates no matter the major. The $160K is now a lot “cheaper” in the grand scheme of things as the advantages of a Harvard degree may be much greater.

Personal anecdote. My brother went to a honors program at one of the top ranked most prestigious public institutions in the country. He knew he wanted to be a doctor from the time he was 8. From there he went on to a top med school and then one of the top residency programs in his specialty. He is very happy and successful financially and professionally. I know he has no regrets about going to the public school, although I will say he may have 1 friend from undergrad that he still keeps in real contact with. I went to Yale and then to Berkeley law school. I finished my education with a lot less debt than my brother because of the financial package I got from Berkeley even as an OOS student at that time (plus you can make pretty good money over the summers as a summer associate vs. the slave wages of residents). I, on the other hand, had no clue what I was going to study going into undergrad. I considered three different majors until I locked in on one junior year. Law school was almost a default. I will also add that my closest friends in the world are predominantly Yale classmates. About a dozen of us still take annual “boys’ long weekend” vacations together. My Yale friends include successful doctors, lawyers, bankers, engineers, business owners and journalists – I like to think we make each other smarter. For me the extra my family paid for Yale was well worth it.