<p>I was recently admitted to NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a scholarship of $25,000 as well as $3000 in work study. However, that still leaves me with roughly $34,000 to pay per year in loans; multiply that by four years and I’ll be paying at least $136,000 total excluding interest. </p>
<p>I have two other options: BU or VCU.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Boston University
I was admitted to the College of Communications. They offered me a $31,300 grant as well as $2000 in work study. I will end up having to take out a loan of at least $25,800 per year; multiply that by four and I’ll be paying $103,200 excluding interest. </p></li>
<li><p>Virginia Commonwealth University (in-state, public)
I was admitted to VCUarts, which has been ranked the #1 public arts program in the nation for two consecutive years, as well as the honors college. I was offered the Dean’s Scholarship (which covers half of tuition and fees), a $4000 grant and $2500 in work study. Over the four years, I’d roughly have to pay off a debt of $25,000 total, excluding interest.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Clearly, VCU is the most financially-savvy. However, since I’m pursuing various careers (fashion journalism, fashion photography, and graphic design) in the creative field, I do not think that it is necessary for me to attend graduate school, so would it be worth spending or going into debt by $160,000 (at the very least) to attend NYU since I will head straight for New York City (or Shanghai) for work and NYU will definitely offer me more internship/job opportunities and connections?</p>
<p>No, the cost of NYU and BU are crazy for someone seeking a low paying career. You will be waiting tables nights to pay those loans. VCU is the only doable choice. Your numbers don’t even include yearly tuition raises.</p>
<p>Edited to add: What kind of mojo does NYU have that makes so many people even contemplate taking on this kind of debt, not to mention actually assuming such debt?</p>
<p>@absweetmarie - NYU:
a. is in NYC
b. has aggressive marketing of its own
c. has been featured on Gossip Girl and countless other sophomoric TV shows
d. Tisch
e. has NY in its name, might be good overseas (???)</p>
<p>Tisch is great, you would be able to take classes there via Gallatin. But the economics of this situation nearly dictate you to go to VCU, unless your rich uncle dies and leaves you the secret family fortune that you’ve never known of.</p>
<p>The main reason NYU has been my dream school for the past I don’t even know how many years is because, like jungah says, it’s in New York City (exactly where someone who wants to be involved in the creative/entertainment industry should be situated) and has an excellent art school. I could care less about it having been featured on Gossip Girl. However, NYU has a reputation that could offer more connections and opportunities; it has an extensive study-abroad program (which is personally ideal for me since I don’t plan on limiting myself to working in the US), and the allure of Gallatin is that I can explore and get involved with all the future careers I’m aiming to pursue and have access to classes from all of NYU’s schools. I don’t have to limit myself to one particular focus (for example, journalism)–I could tie business, journalism, photography, east asian studies, etc. together into a single concentration/major.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Most likely the loans are going to be in your parents’ names not yours. How do they feel about contributing the costlier schools?</p></li>
<li><p>How do you figure $62K n total per year at NYU or $59K at BU? I know New York and Boston are pricey but that seems extreme. The amounts that they are offering in grants + work should be almost workable without extreme debt. If you work in the summers you should be able to graduate with under $40-$50K in debt, less if your family can help. This is still a lot of money but not in the $100K+ range. What am I missing here?</p></li>
<li><p>VCU’s fineart department does have an excellent reputation. Not sure about their career placement in fashion though.</p></li>
<li><p>Have you considered taking a gap year and re-applying to FIT or Parsons? If you’re definitely headed for a career in fashion or design these would be better economic choices with the best internship opportunities and industry connections.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>I do not want my parents to take out any loans for me; I would prefer to shoulder the debt for myself and not have to burden them. </p></li>
<li><p>Well, the estimated cost of attendance for NYU for the 2012-2013 school year is $61,907 excluding transportation. If I’m only offered $25,000 in scholarships and $3,000 in work study and subtract those from the total cost of attendance, I’d have to pay $34,000; multiply that by four years and that’s where I got the $136,000 (excluding interest). I used the same process of calculation for BU (the total cost of attendance is $59,100. I subtracted $33,300 from that and got $25,800; after four years that is $103,200).</p></li>
<li><p>I applied to Parsons and was accepted; I was offered two scholarships (combined which equal $21,400) and work study ($3,000) but would still have to pay $34,516 per year in loans. And in four years, that’ll be $138,064 which is almost as much as paying for NYU, so I’d prefer to go to NYU in that case so I don’t have to limit myself to something fashion-centric.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I assume the cost of attendance figures are the college’s estimates. Much higher than I would have thought. Could you break that down for me? </p>
<p>I’m not sure that you can take out loans yourself. An adult will have to co-sign, so even if you accept responsibility the liability will be your parents’. </p>
<p>The brutal truth is that you absolutely should not amass $100K+ for an undergraduate degree. Do you have a state university that you could apply to next year? Can you live at home in New York?</p>
<p>You can borrow the maximum Stafford Loan each year without a co-signer. The amounts are:
$5,500 freshman
$6,500 sophomore
$7,500 junior
$7,500 senior</p>
<p>Anything beyond this requires a loan-worthy co-signer. Or it requires someone else to take a PLUS loan. You say that you don’t want your parents taking on loans for you education. This means that you cannot afford NYU. Period.</p>
<p>Be sad about it for one day, and then get on with your life. If you absolutely do not want to attend VCU, take a gap year andcome up with a better list of affordable options.</p>
<p>I do understand the lure of New York City, iamstrong. But that debt? No way. Even if you could get your parents to co-sign that much debt, you’d never be able to do anything to enjoy the city after graduation even if you got a job there. Have you run the calculations on what your repayment schedule would be? I recommend you do that to see what kind of salary you’d need to make to support the repayment. It’s a lot. Much more than you are likely to earn right out of school, entry level, in any of the areas you are interested in. Much more than you would likely make as an entry-level engineer, for that matter.</p>
<p>Yep, lots of creative people in Manhattan. No argument. But you can parlay your UG degree at VCU into one of those creative careers as well. Maybe you won’t have as many fancy connections to start with, but you’ll find them if you work for it. When you show up in NYC with your outstanding portfolio four years from now, you can use that to open doors!</p>
<p>I also like what happymomof1 said about regrouping and trying again next year if you really don’t want to go to VCU.</p>
<p>Remember that your loans will skyrocket if you default (which you likely will.) You don’t want to live a life burdened with debt. I agree with ucbalumnus and happymom: either go to VCU, or apply to different schools next year.</p>
<p>The comparison isn’t between two ridiculous situations NYU vs Parsons. That’s like saying…I could stab myself with a knife or stab myself with a screwdriver…I still end up with the same pain. No, don’t stab yourself at all.</p>
<p>Since you’ve now been told that YOU can’t borrow that much without your parents being involved (no one lends that much to kids…let’s get real!!), you now have to accept that neither Parsons or NYU would work because you won’t be able to get the loans (thank goodness!!!)</p>
<p>Go to VCU…and I can almost promise this. When you’re paying off those much smaller loans (about $25k total), you’re going to feel a pinch and annoyance at having to write those checks for 10 LONG years, you’re going to think back and be very grateful that you didn’t ruin your life with a much higher debt load.</p>
<p>Agree with all of the posters, way too much debt. Save your money, go to VCU and work in NYC in the summer or even spend time there after graduation interning or working for little at a top design house or whatever in your field. Even that will be eons cheaper than that debt. You then can get the experience and make connections in NYC without having huge loans to pay off.</p>
<p>The kind of debt you are talking about is what some families pay for a house or condo in some parts of the US and take 30 years to pay it off.</p>
<p>And, we know tax rates and interest rates are likely to rise, so paying off debt in the future may be even harder than it is today.</p>