Dream school or no debt

[NYCHoosier]

Just wanted to clarify my earlier comment that big name schools can open doors (since Flynn brought that up again!)...

I think that grad programs may realize that a degree from Harvard isn't necessarily made of gold - hence state school vs. private elite may not make a difference on grad admissions. BUT.....in the employment world -and the "patient" world, it is embarrassing how much those names mean. You may get a job interview because Mr. Smith read the name "Harvard" instead of "U of X". A patient may prefer to see you because in your online resume they say "Johns Hopkins" and not "Omaha State". That is still an unfortunate reality that we've encountered OUT of the academic world. What the dollar value is on that type of stereotype, I don't know. :huh:

Obviously, there are state schools that have the same name cache. I'm thinking we should move to one of those SOON!

Of course, if you are getting two degrees, you only really need one that's a good *brand*, whether it's undergrad or grad school. The big name shows the person at the table that you can thrive at [Harvard, Berkley, Duke, whatever], so when the other is something smaller or public, it looks like you could have done otherwise, but you chose to [save money/be close to family/be in smaller classes/whatever].
An acquaintance and I are both applying to law school in a year or so. He went to IU Kelley (extremely good program, but the *brand recognition* isn't that great), and I went to NYU. For law school, he's looking almost exclusively at the top 10 because he wants to improve his brand. I don't feel like I have those limitations.

What do I know, though? People feel free to put me in my place.

[DCJenn]

Well, in my field, no one gives a rats ass where you went. I've never had a problem getting jobs that I wanted and I was accepted for grad school without a problem.

I don't know that brand recognition is all that. I know when hiring people I'm much more interested in their skill set than where they got their letters after their name. All I do is verify that they really attended and graduated. I don't care about GPA, or whether it was public or private school or really even what their major was. MOST people who apply to work in social services have social service related degrees but I've had some career changers who ended up being amazing.

Jenn

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Dream school or no debt

I also vote for casting a wide net to see what you get. I have a friend here whose child got accepted at an expensive private college. With the financial aid package they are paying less than for a state school.

I also think it depends on what she wants to study. I would be less inclined to pay private school tuition for art than ....say...engineering simply because of job options later.

Kris


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[GrayMatterWife]

Go no-debt to undergrad.

[Michele]

I did not read any responses yet.

Debt free for undergrad. ABSOLUTELY. IMO very few undergrad degrees lead to high enough paying jobs to make up for accrued debt. Most of the more guaranteed higher paying careers require grad school which equals debt.

[Sheherezade]

I went to grad school for free on an NSF research fellowship. In science (PhD) that can be done often. So--if she's thinking science (med or physio) there's that to consider.

[SoonerTexan]

I'm going to pop in again--depending on how much you plan to contribute, I feel like a lot of it would depend on how she feels about carrying debt. I would have been a total stressbasket the past 4 years if I knew I had to pay up soon.

My sister is in that situation and it definitely is affecting her

[bokelley]

I say if they can get a scholarship to pay for the whole tuition then go anywhere. But if you have to take on a bunch of debt, I would go to the cheapest school out there. In my degree Meteorology, I went to a state school and it was rated top in the country. DH went to a state school too and graduated as #1, that might have helped him more than if he would have went to a more prestigious school and just graduated. And since DH went to a medical school and has racked up student loan debts, I can tell you student loan debt looms over you!!!

[GrayMatterWife]

I did not read any responses yet.

Debt free for undergrad. ABSOLUTELY. IMO very few undergrad degrees lead to high enough paying jobs to make up for accrued debt. Most of the more guaranteed higher paying careers require grad school which equals debt.

What Michele said.

I went to Big State. DH went to Big State. I went because I had no option--I had no money and no one willing to pay my way. DH went because they offered him a nice financial package--plus, his parents would not help him pay for private.

We turned out fine. I got into law school; DH got into a great med school. And we got out of undergrad debt-free. I don't think we realized until we were done what a major difference this would make to our future. Not being saddled with debt allowed us to pursue our graduate degrees without the burden of accumulating interest.

One word of caution, though: not all public schools have to be Big State. I think some people are not good "fits" for Big State. They get lost easily. Investigate Big State and Small State options.

[houseelf]

If Big State turns out to be the best fiscal option, success can be had by breaking down the larger community into the sought after smaller community. The Honors Program offered classes with 15 students or less. The Honors dorm housed students truly interested in pursuing their dreams. A sorority cut down a huge campus into a swath of a manageable social network. For my hubby, hockey and ROTC served as his anchor and he graduated from an incredibly small rural high school. Big State obviously can't offer the intimacy of small elite liberal arts school, but it definitely can be massaged to create similar opportunities.

Kelly

[DCJenn]

When I was at tiny college I was invited to rush the sororities. I declined first because my room-mate the chubby Jewish girl from Baltimore was NOT invited and that pissed me off and also because really, with 1200 students, did we REALLY need to self-segregate any further? I mean they didn't even have sorority and fraternity housing- they had floors in the dorms. But I digress, back to the topic at hand.

Jenn

PS- I graduated with 10k in student loans in 1988 and I made $3.15/hr working the overnights at a homeless shelter for families. That was fun. and I had a car payment.

[Michele]

I don't know if this helps you but Russ and I both were debt free for undergrad at UF (big state) and we both went there for med/vet school....and now we owe a combine student loan debt of ~225K. Yeah it's consolidated (separately) at less than 3%.....but it's still overwhelming to think about.

[Deebs]

I think it also depends on where you live. I went to University of Illinois. A great school, but also a great bargain if you live in-state. Not all state schools are as good, and not all states have as good of options. My sisters both went to private schools where their first year's tuition cost more than all four of my years combined. One of my sisters is a PT and has always had fabulous jobs, while the other has always struggled to find work and made minimum wage. I can't think of a job interview I went on where it WASN'T brought up that I have a great education.

We were all fortunate (and spoiled). My parents paid every cent for undergrad tuition and housing. We just had to cover books and misc expenses. Grad school was on me, but most of it was paid by my employers. For our kids, I hope to be able to send them to the school that fits them best, but if we're not in that position, I really will encourage them to find the best value in education that they can - that is the best education for the money, no necessarily the cheapest school.

[Laker]

DW and I both went to a big state school. Both of us were fortunate that our parents picked up the tab. After undergrad, I did have an employer pay for my masters degree so I was still debt free. Then I decided that law school was for me and now we have huge combined grad school debt. We often talk about how lucky we are to not have undergrad debt.

I am probably one of the students that would have performed better at a small private school. I joined a fraternity and did very little studying in undergrad and it definitely affected my performance. DW was able to focus at school and she did great in the same environment. Probably good thing we didn't know each other then

I would agree with the others that would go free to undergrad, and then pay for your grad school. The law school that I went to had students that went to brand name undergrads, and then went to law school on a scholarship. In law, it is more important to go to the brand law school, and your undergrad doesn't really matter at all. I am pretty sure that is the same for most fields.

Good Luck!

[Pollyanna]

Wow, thanks everyone for your opinions!! You guys rock, I love that I can always go to iMSN for good counsel. I think at this point our plan will be to let her apply broadly, take all the information into account and then look at where she will be financially at the end of undergrad based on the college she chooses. We have also decided to take the financial discussion a step further and do a sort of "what can you afford" tour. Really show her what things cost and how much she will have left at the end of her paycheck after she pays debts etc. It is an exciting and scary time.