Is prestige worth the price?

Paying for College
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<p>I guess I will ask the question that a lot of students wonder about…is the prestige of a school really worth the price?</p>

<p>So I was recently accepted into my dream school, the University of Miami (USNWR 47). The school is over $60000 per year, and if I go I will graduate with over 40000 of debt. I was also accepted to the University of Tampa, which is not really all that known or necessarily highly regarded. However, I did receive the highest scholarship available and the financial aid package is big enough that I will graduate with NO college debt (my parents can pay for it so that I will graduate with no loans, debt, etc). So my question is: would is be better to go to a top 50, prestigious, private university and graduate owing thousands of dollars in loans? Or go to a lesser known university and gradate with absolutely no debt? I plan on receiving a bachelors in nursing and then returning to school to receive my masters in nurse anesthesia. I know that nurse anesthesiology programs are extremely selective (less than 5% acceptance rate on average), so will going to a more prestigious schools highly affect my chances of getting into the program? even then would it be worth being thousands of dollars in debt upon graduation? </p>

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<p>Generally for medical/nursing students I’d say go with the cheaper school because school prestige isn’t very important in nursing at least relative to other fields like investment banking. However, going for a Masters may complicate things.</p>

<p>As of right now, I’m thinking the cheaper option. If you do really well in school, participate in extra curriculars, etc. it might be okay provided you do well on any nursing standardized exams, if applicable (not an expert in this process clearly).</p>

<p>I probably just confused you more. Sorry! I’m wondering maybe you could start at Tampa and transfer into Miami a year or two later? It’ll cut debt down a lot. Something to consider…</p>

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<p>You have gotten a wonderful offer for U of Tampa. Im not sure paying a lot more for University of Miami is worth it, </p>

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<p>How can you end up 40000K in debt? Did you mean to type $40,000?</p>

<p>You can’t borrow $40,000 on your own for an undergraduate education. You would need a co-signer for at least part of that. Most parents would say that you shouldn’t owe more than the total federal loan limit of $27,000 when you graduate. </p>

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<p>“debt? I plan on receiving a bachelors in nursing and then returning to school to receive my masters in nurse anesthesia. I know that nurse anesthesiology programs are extremely selective (less than 5% acceptance rate on average), so will going to a more prestigious schools highly affect my chances of getting into the program?”</p>

<p>The acceptance rate to that program won’t have anything to do with undergrad’s name. Nursing is one of those programs where as long as you go to a school with a good RN program you’re fine. The acceptance to those programs has more to do with how you do in your undergrad…your grades, etc. You’re not going to get picked because you went to UM.</p>

<p>You’re going to have debt from that Masters Program so don’t rack up debt for undergrad. </p>

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<p>Did you apply for University of Florida and get accepted? UF does a good job giving out financial need and merit scholarships. </p>

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<p>I just looked up Tampa’s BSN program and they have an excellent program with an outstanding passing rate on the nat’l licensing exam. </p>

<p>Did you apply to any other FL schools?</p>

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<p>@larryle2 yes I was accepted to UF. Still waiting to hear about fin aid, but I’m not sure how I feel about Gainesville since I’m out out of state and I know it’s dead on the weekends </p>

<p>@mom2collegekids I was accepted to FSU nursing program, UF, University of miami, and University of Tampa</p>

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<p>I’m going to give my opinion, and please don’t be offended. University of Miami is no more “prestigious” than the rest of your colleges. It is simply more costly.</p>

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<p>@thumper1 no I’m not offended at all and I completely understand what you’re saying. I’ve also been accepted to some other great schools including Rutgers, northeastern, Villanova, TCNJ and all the schools in florida, but there is something about miami that I really like. I don’t think it’s not worth sending myself into thousands of dollars of debt going there, but I was just curious to see if the name of the school is worth the price or if going to a name school will help make it easier to get into grad school </p>

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<p>If I were you, I wouldn’t hold out for much merit aid from UFlorida. </p>

<p>UTampa, although, lesser known, will do just fine with providing you an education that can prepare you for your maters education. </p>

<p>UMiami is not worth getting into $120,000 worth of debt over. You will be greatly appreciative of reduced undergraduate costs later on in your higher education. </p>

<p>I made the decision to skip over the criping debt just a years ago. Already I have seen the benefits of not choosing UMiami. I don’t say this to discredit UMiami or it’s worth; however, one must consider what they wish to take out of their college experience. </p>

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<p><<<<
I don’t think it’s not worth sending myself into thousands of dollars of debt going there, but I was just curious to see if the name of the school is worth the price or if going to a name school will help make it easier to get into grad schoo
<<<</p>

<p>No…and when you get into grad school, when you see where your classmates went to undergrad (with no debt), you’ll kick yourself in the fanny for thinking that you needed UMiami and lots of debt to get you in.</p>

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<p>Love it…my post above (which posted just fine) was also saved as a draft. So…this is just me verbally deleting my draft.</p>

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<p>For you it’s the $40K question. For some it can be a $160K question or a quarter million dollar question. </p>

<p>There is really no one size fits all answer. For some, the very experience of going to one school over the other is worth it to them. Whether it’s a perception or reality, who knows? An 18 year old often does not know for sure; it’s often emotion driving the answer. </p>

<p>There are families who pay a quarter million dollars for their kids to go to a private school with all the bells and whistles. Several of my friends are doing this. Some can easily afford it, so it’s no big deal. Kid picks the school he wants without regard to cost, and parents pay for it. Sometimes some discussion and splitting of the cost is done with the kids taking out loans, parents taking out loans, kids working summer and school year and everyone scrimping. Sometimes parents or students are willing to pay more for some schools, borrow more for some schools than others. it’s really an individual thing. </p>

<p>We set a dollar amount that we could pay for our son for college. He picked a college that was doable with that contribution. He could have gone pretty much for free and saved ourselves and him a lot of money, or gone to an instate public that would have cost half of what his choice is costing, but he chose to go to a school that maxed out what we contribute and he pays for the rest with summer jobs, a school year job and a small loan which he managed to pay off with his job this year, and by living off campus and saving some money that way. But he, and his brothers all could have chosen less expensive options as well as more expensive ones, and they took something that was doable within our constraints and theirs. Which I feel is fine. When it starts getting into borrowing more than one is willing or should based on finances, that’s when it becomes an issue.</p>

<p>You should discuss all of your choices with your parents when the offers are on the table with bottom line costs without loans, and see what options they and you have in paying for them. It’s really a joint decision, but it’s also nice to keep in mind your parents’ financial situation. If you know they are struggling that way and are putting on some bravado and volunteering to borrow large amount, it may be time for you to step up. But all of this is individual to families and situations.</p>

<p>My son’s best friend is at UTampa on fin aid and scholarship. He turned down UMiami for about the same reason you did. It could have been done, but the loans everyone would have had to take were not worth it. On the other hand, he also turned down staying local and going to school for free. He and his parents are still paying significant amounts to UTampa, but that is within what they felt they could more comfortably manage. We know some kids who are going to UMiami, and how they and their parents are paying for it, I don’t know. They may have the funds ready to afford the school and that’s good for them, if that 's the case. Not so good if they are borrowing at dangerous levels.</p>