The SL thread reminded me of this--and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this-
How much more do you think you make or is the networking worth the price of going to a school like Northwestern? A friends son is going there this fall and so far the only financial aid information that he's received says that he is guaranteed not to have more than 30K in debt for a year of school. That means by the time he's done, he could be 120K in debt if he finishes in 4 years.
His mom is divorced and doesn't have much money so I'm assuming he might get more aid, but that seems like a lot of money. Plus, for the field he wants, he'd have to go on for further schooling.
I would consider Northwestern worth it. Its #12 in US News, in between Dartmouth and John Hopkins, and ranked higher than Brown and Cornell, both of which are Ivy League.
I guess it depends on what he wants to do. I would say that it is not worth being 120K in debt upon graduation, unless he is pretty sure that after graduation he will be able to get a good job that will pay for his degree, you know? If it were my son, I would probably urge him to look at cheaper options.
Depends on what he wants to do. Finance? Absolutely. Teaching or social work? Not so much.
I dont think going to any school other than a public school is worth it for teaching or social work.
I tend to agree but if this kid can graduate only owing $30-50k at the most, I'd personally think it was worth it for that. It's a fabulous school and he'll most likely have an awesome time there.
I dont think going to any school other than a public school is worth it for teaching or social work.
I tend to agree but if this kid can graduate only owing $30-50k at the most, I'd personally think it was worth it for that. It's a fabulous school and he'll most likely have an awesome time there.
Post by LoveTrains on May 14, 2012 10:21:45 GMT -5
It's hard for me to say if its worth it without knowing exactly what he is going to be paying or what sort of debt burden he will have upon graduation.
But I am of the opinion that most elite/brand name schools ARE worth it. The other thing about many elite schools is that the financial aid is need based (not merit based) so most kids should graduate without a lot of debt, which is something that I think many people don't understand.
Right now my alma mater is still on the "no loans" policy. They started this a few years ago and that means that in their calculations, what they used to calculate as a stafford loan is given to each student as a grant. In practice kids do still take out stafford loans because it lessens the parental contributions, but the "sticker price" of a top school is often much, much more than many people pay.
It says he's guaranteed not to have to take on more than 30k in loans per year, not that he'll have to take out that amount. So he could end up owing 120k (in which case I wouldn't do it unless I knew for sure I wanted to go into a high paying field) but it could also be less. It doesn't sound like he's received a finalized FA package yet.
For undergrad? I think it depends on field of study and the actual amount borrowed, but Northwestern is a good enough school that I think it is worth it in some cases, though certainly not all. I have a good friend who did the seven year combined undergrad and med school program at Northwestern. He accumulated a really massive amount of debt, but now, at 35 and married to another doctor, he is doing very, very well financially.
I would say so. That's were SO went and he had many more internship and networking opportunities than I did (small private college). They have a huge alumni network and it's very well regarded.
That being said, I would take into account what he wants to major in- taking out loans for engineering, health sciences etc. would be fine, but taking out $50-$60K per year for english might not be worth it.
Considering I work with a guy who went to Northwestern while I went to a state school (and I currently make a lot more money than he does, doing the same job), I am going to say no.
I think if you are undecided about what field you want to go into, it's probably not the wisest idea. I'm thankful that I went to a cheap school that my soccer scholarship & parents could pay for. I had no clue I was going to go to med school and I would cry if I had undergrad loans on top of 200k in med school loans.
I would cry if I had 120K in loans too. This is why I decided to go to a public university where I received free tuition.
That being said, I wonder if things would have been different if I went to one of the elite universities I got into. I didn't get any financial aid other than student loans, so I decided not to go. But if I had gone to a better school, would I have been more prepared for law school and/or gotten into a better law school? Would I have stuck with pre-med instead? My undergrad was notorious for not helping us figure out our lives (and screwed around with us), and the networking there was non-existent. Sometimes I think I missed out and/or didn't live up to my potential.
That being said, I had an amazing college experience and I wouldnt have met my H otherwise, so I guess I can't have too many regrets.
The SL thread reminded me of this--and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this-
How much more do you think you make or is the networking worth the price of going to a school like Northwestern? A friends son is going there this fall and so far the only financial aid information that he's received says that he is guaranteed not to have more than 30K in debt for a year of school. That means by the time he's done, he could be 120K in debt if he finishes in 4 years.
His mom is divorced and doesn't have much money so I'm assuming he might get more aid, but that seems like a lot of money. Plus, for the field he wants, he'd have to go on for further schooling.
I am a Northwestern alum, and had a single parent.
For me, it was 110% worth it. I actually left Northwestern with about $5k in loans, which is a fantastic deal. Because their endowment is so large, they can really help out students with financial need. (And there are a lot of people at Northwestern who definitely do NOT need it.) It wound up being cheaper for me to go to Northwestern than any other college I applied to. I had an absolutely fantastic experience there. It's an incredible institution, and I don't regret it one bit.
As far as the name recognition goes, I do find that my degree gets a lot of respect professionally. I don't live in the Chicago area anymore, but when people ask where I went to college and I tell them, I often get a "wow, that's a great school" or similar response. The alumni network is also really great and helped me out some when I was job searching.
This kid does need to call financial aid and get some serious numbers though. Back when I was admitted, I got a statement that very clearly spelled out what I was getting and what my expected contributions would be.
The SL thread reminded me of this--and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this-
How much more do you think you make or is the networking worth the price of going to a school like Northwestern? A friends son is going there this fall and so far the only financial aid information that he's received says that he is guaranteed not to have more than 30K in debt for a year of school. That means by the time he's done, he could be 120K in debt if he finishes in 4 years.
His mom is divorced and doesn't have much money so I'm assuming he might get more aid, but that seems like a lot of money. Plus, for the field he wants, he'd have to go on for further schooling.
I am a Northwestern alum, and had a single parent.
For me, it was 110% worth it. I actually left Northwestern with about $5k in loans, which is a fantastic deal. Because their endowment is so large, they can really help out students with financial need. (And there are a lot of people at Northwestern who definitely do NOT need it.) It wound up being cheaper for me to go to Northwestern than any other college I applied to. I had an absolutely fantastic experience there. It's an incredible institution, and I don't regret it one bit.
As far as the name recognition goes, I do find that my degree gets a lot of respect professionally. I don't live in the Chicago area anymore, but when people ask where I went to college and I tell them, I often get a "wow, that's a great school" or similar response. The alumni network is also really great and helped me out some when I was job searching.
This kid does need to call financial aid and get some serious numbers though. Back when I was admitted, I got a statement that very clearly spelled out what I was getting and what my expected contributions would be.
In my field, people don't care where I went to undergrad. They care where I went to grad school. So in my field, the Northwestern name would've likely not helped enough to warrant ~$120 K in loans (though I hear what Brie's saying about it not necessarily being that expensive...and in that case, of COURSE it would be worth it.)
I do, however, have a HS friend who's a Northwestern alum. She's now at Kellogg: I'm sure her undergrad affiliation probably didn't hurt her chances when she was applying to grad programs (though to her credit, amazingly bright on her own.)
The SL thread reminded me of this--and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this-
How much more do you think you make or is the networking worth the price of going to a school like Northwestern? A friends son is going there this fall and so far the only financial aid information that he's received says that he is guaranteed not to have more than 30K in debt for a year of school. That means by the time he's done, he could be 120K in debt if he finishes in 4 years.
His mom is divorced and doesn't have much money so I'm assuming he might get more aid, but that seems like a lot of money. Plus, for the field he wants, he'd have to go on for further schooling.
I am a Northwestern alum, and had a single parent.
For me, it was 110% worth it. I actually left Northwestern with about $5k in loans, which is a fantastic deal. Because their endowment is so large, they can really help out students with financial need. (And there are a lot of people at Northwestern who definitely do NOT need it.) It wound up being cheaper for me to go to Northwestern than any other college I applied to. I had an absolutely fantastic experience there. It's an incredible institution, and I don't regret it one bit.
As far as the name recognition goes, I do find that my degree gets a lot of respect professionally. I don't live in the Chicago area anymore, but when people ask where I went to college and I tell them, I often get a "wow, that's a great school" or similar response. The alumni network is also really great and helped me out some when I was job searching.
This kid does need to call financial aid and get some serious numbers though. Back when I was admitted, I got a statement that very clearly spelled out what I was getting and what my expected contributions would be.
I think this is probably what would concern me the most--shouldn't he be looking into this right now or by now (the financial aid)? He hasn't done anything besides the info he got about the 30K max when he confirmed that is where he would be going.
I think you'd be surprised. There are a lot of smart rich kids out there who want to save the world. On their parents' dime.
This is the truth!
Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy is pretty tiny. It was always like, "You're in SESP? I don't think I've ever met anyone in SESP before. Huh."
I do have a few friends who got liberal arts degrees from Northwestern and then went on to become teachers by doing masters programs at cheap local schools.
I depends on what he plans to do with that Northwestern degree. I am of the camp that feels top schools help you a ton, especially if you decide not to go to grad school. My experiences have been great post graduation and it has helped me get my foot in the door or stay in the running despite not having an advanced degree.
I thought I was heading to law school while in undergrad but changed my mind after graduation. I can honestly say that the only reason I was able to switch from being a case assistant at a BigLaw firm to being an analyst at an investment bank is because of the name of my school.
I am a political science and history double major so it's not like I was prepared, lol. The people who hired me trusted that I was smart enough to learn finance on the job based on my alma mater since they had nothing else to judge me on. I then went on to portfolio management where almost all of my coworkers had advanced degrees. Again, they hired me because of the name of my school plus my two years of slave work at a small no name investment bank. I know this as fact since they told me. My old firm also recruited from a small number of schools only.
My SLs were totally worth it, even now that I am a SAHM :-)
I am a Northwestern alum, and had a single parent.
For me, it was 110% worth it. I actually left Northwestern with about $5k in loans, which is a fantastic deal. Because their endowment is so large, they can really help out students with financial need. (And there are a lot of people at Northwestern who definitely do NOT need it.) It wound up being cheaper for me to go to Northwestern than any other college I applied to. I had an absolutely fantastic experience there. It's an incredible institution, and I don't regret it one bit.
As far as the name recognition goes, I do find that my degree gets a lot of respect professionally. I don't live in the Chicago area anymore, but when people ask where I went to college and I tell them, I often get a "wow, that's a great school" or similar response. The alumni network is also really great and helped me out some when I was job searching.
This kid does need to call financial aid and get some serious numbers though. Back when I was admitted, I got a statement that very clearly spelled out what I was getting and what my expected contributions would be.
In my field, people don't care where I went to undergrad. They care where I went to grad school. So in my field, the Northwestern name would've likely not helped enough to warrant ~$120 K in loans (though I hear what Brie's saying about it not necessarily being that expensive...and in that case, of COURSE it would be worth it.)
I do, however, have a HS friend who's a Northwestern alum. She's now at Kellogg: I'm sure her undergrad affiliation probably didn't hurt her chances when she was applying to grad programs (though to her credit, amazingly bright on her own.)
Yeah, $120K for Northwestern would give me pause, for sure. I would want to weigh what his other options were as far as schools. If he's from Chicago and has a full ride to Illinois, I would be inclined to tell him to go there.
As far as the grad school thing: I do think that the Northwestern name and reputation comes into play in grad school admissions, which is something to consider. So, even though it's the name on your graduate degree that matters, you might have a better shot at getting a good name there if you have a stronger undergrad. (Probably not worth $120K, but it's a factor.) I am pretty confident that my strong GPA from Northwestern helped me out quite a bit in the law school admissions process. It's a tough curriculum without much grade inflation, and grad schools know that.
But I do think the kid in the OP needs to have a come to Jesus meeting with the financial aid office.
Post by LoveTrains on May 14, 2012 10:59:47 GMT -5
I think the key thing to remember is that the amount of people coming out of elite schools with a high debt burden is actually very, very small. Remember ,these schools have very large endowments and offer millions of dollars of "need based financial aid" every year. The only way someone will come out of an elite school with $100K+ of student loans is because their parents refused to pay the "expected parental contribution".
Or they took out tons of extra money for living expenses or something crazy.
I think the key thing to remember is that the amount of people coming out of elite schools with a high debt burden is actually very, very small. Remember ,these schools have very large endowments and offer millions of dollars of "need based financial aid" every year. The only way someone will come out of an elite school with $100K+ of student loans is because their parents refused to pay the "expected parental contribution".
Or they took out tons of extra money for living expenses or something crazy.
Good point. I know that my alma mater provides a cap on your SL burden based on the family's HHI. If it is less than $100K, you are guaranteed to have a max SL amount of $15K all four years. The amount is $0 SLs if HHI is less than $50K. I am very impressed but I know this is possible only through the massive endowment.