<p>Last May I completed my freshman year at Cornell University and I’m about to start my sophomore year in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, after having to pay $10,000+ out of their pocket, my parents have told me that they are unable to continue supporting me financially. That means that I must now take out an additional $10,000+ loan on top of a $5000 federal loan that I already have. Ever since, I’ve been questioning whether continuing my studies at Cornell is a wise decision.</p>
<p>Granted, Cornell has been very generous to me. I recieved a yearly grant of over $32,000, but with tuition rates increasing yearly and other expenses piled on top of that I’ll eventually find myself with a $50,000+ debt as soon as I graduate. AHHH! </p>
<p>I know that I’m telling a story thats been retold by hundreds of people in my same situation, but its a huge concern for me especially since I KNOW that not everyone who graduates with a degree from a school such as Cornell has felt that the debt which they accumulated was worth it.</p>
<p>I’m thinking in terms being able to live a generally comfortable life without the hassles of having to live paycheck by paycheck. I’d like to be able own a house, buy a car, and support a family (if that ever comes up). Am I looking too far ahead? I have no clue but would like to know what others who have been through this think.</p>
<p>As for what I feel that I want:
I would love to stay at Cornell. I love this place and I feel that there is so much more from which I can potentially benefit than there would be at my other choices, University of Florida and University of Miami. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind TOO MUCH going back to Florida. I’d just be afraid that by doing so I’d have made the worst decision of my life. </p>
<p>One last thing. Please read the piece below and let me know if this sounds like a good option that would allow me to stay at Cornell. I already have a great job here, so it doesn’t seem out of the quesion to me.</p>
<p>One, many companies will pay for employees to attend college, books and tuition, and many will give you time off during the workday to take a class or two (granted, you usually have to make up the time). </p>
<p>Two, many companies have co-op or intern programs. We have co-ops that work 20-30 hours a week and go to school full time. We have other co-ops that come and work for a semester, then go back to school for a semester until they graduate. </p>
<p>Can you find a job in the area that will allow you to keep your place at Cornell? Even a campus job can pay pretty well. I would hate to see you give up that FA package, only to find out that state school tuition is similar.</p>
<p>Most major companies, and some smaller ones, have programs for employing students. I work for a major defense contractor. We hire students, get them clearances, pay their tuition in some cases, and hire them as full time employees when they graduate. Many of our students are in engineering, software, mechanical, aero, electrical. Others work in HR, accounting, facilities, etc. Big companies have jobs in almost every field.</p>
<p>Co-ops, at least at our company, can be either semester on/semester off (called alternating co-ops) or simply parttime (called parallel co-ops). Internships usually fall either into summer or post-graduation.</p>
<p>Co-ops here are paid based on school standing. Freshman make less, seniors make almost a full engineers salary. The time spent co-oping is applied when you graduate so that you are hired as a second year experienced engineer instead of a new grad if you co-oped 4 years. Every company is different. The bigger national and multi-national companies usually have programs. Most schools will have contacts with at least a few companies.</p>
<p>I worked 30 hours a week during my college years and it was VERY difficult. But, I graduated w/o debt - which is a horrible burden. My dH took loans and we paid them off when eldest child was in first grade, DH was in his mid 30-s. </p>
<p>The option of 3/4 time work with full time school is hard, impossible with some majors, but it is great to have nothing hanging over your head on graduation day (and even better to be moving up in the company then too).</p>
<p>It depends on your situation. You’ve given a fair amount of detail which is actually kind of scary because on the physics teachers at my high school was in the almost the same situation you were. He dropped out of Cornell because he figured the debt wasn’t worth it and he attended a state uni, worked part-time, and graduated without any debt. I don’t think he was ultimately happy with his choice, but he’s doing fine.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the advice from the article at the end of your post is good --I highly doubt that Cornell does credit by examination. </p>
<p>Bandit_TX’s advice is very good, but to my ears it sounds much easier to find jobs like the one’s he mentioned than it actually is–however coops and internships should be relatively easy to find especially since you go to Cornell.
[By the way, Bandit, can you tell us which city (I’m assuming in Texas) you managed to find such work/ or how you went about landing that job? ]</p>
<p>Your assistance from Cornell is pretty decent. If I were you, I would stick it out at Cornell since you are happy with the place and you wouldn’t be too much in debt upon graduating even if you can’t find another job/internships/etc. and are forced to take out loans.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you intend to major in, but as long as you aren’t a non-mathematics/economics liberal arts major, your starting salary should be enough to pay back your student loans relatively quickly.</p>
<p>If you are frugal (i.e. living like a graduate student), you should be able to pay off 50k in two years assuming a starting salary of 60k. If you intend to have a family straight out of college then it’s going to be hard to do so, but 50k is still manageable. I think being happy and in an environment conducive to learning would be worth it…</p>
<p>Working full-time and going to school part-time (<12 hours) probably isn’t an option for you because (I suspect) you’d lose your grant status. It’s quite difficult to do anyway. I think it’s nigh impossible to work a full-time job which requires you to think and go to school full-time. </p>
<p>infktruth - with such good grant money at Cornell how much money would you actually be saving by going back to Florida? From what I have seen most schools give the most merit money to freshmen rather than transfers so you might find you ar not much better off in Florida. Something to check out before you make a move. Isn’t it too late to transfer this semester anyway - many colleges have already started.</p>
<p>“If you are frugal (i.e. living like a graduate student), you should be able to pay off 50k in two years assuming a starting salary of 60k.”</p>
<p>You have a very unrealistic view of the starting salary that once can expect with an undergraduate degree. Unless one is a graduate of Wharton, Stern, etc., a 60k salary would be highly unusual.</p>
<p>Concerning a different subject… I still want to know</p>
<p>who was the Noble Prize winner and when did she say what you claim she said?</p>
<p>I would still like to know who said this…can you verify this information or is it just an unverified and perhaps untrue rumor you heard some where and decided to pass on……</p>
<p>Tommy, I would still like to know what the heck you are talking about. Email me and refresh my memory if you really have anything to ask.</p>
<p>To the point of the discussion, Dallas has a number of employers with co-op programs. I am familiar primarily with engineering. Start with your college recruiting office. They will know.</p>