Choosing college
Hello, I am currently a senior in high school and need some help deciding college. Cost has played a huge factor in this choice and I would like some thought. I am also trying to go into IB. I am a michigan resident by the way.
Stats - Top 5% of class (3.95 GPA) 32 ACT
Michigan state university- already accepted will probably get direct admit to broad (cheapest option)
University of Michigan - I have no idea if I will get in
Villanova- Very very expensive and I will need to take out a lot of loans for it which I’m very unsure of
Penn state- con cost
Rutgers - con cost
UIUC- con cost
I will most likely get into PSU, Rutgers and UIUC. Villanova and Umich I’m not so sure of.
But back to the main topic, are student loans that bad? I just want a better understanding of what I should do.
100% go to Michigan if you get in. In state tuition will keep the price pretty reasonable. Would definitely not take out major student loans to go to a school like Rutgers over Michigan State. Rutgers is not a bad school but it is not worth the price tag for the opportunities that it will provide.
It's hard to answer whether student loans are that bad without having any more context. Depends on the schools you're choosing from, the difference in cost between those opportunities, what you and your parents can reasonably afford, etc.
See the thing with Michigan is that I’m down for an Econ major (would that be fine, I mean can’t I transfer into Ross if I do really well?) but would Econ major be fine with wanting to work on Wall Street (my cousin is an MD (went to Maryland) and told me it’s not the worse idea but I would like others thoughts too)
Cost- I would have to pay basically 2 1/2 - 3 years of tuition if I went out of state. And those loans would be on me too not my parents. I also don’t qualify for any money from FAFSA.
There's just no reason to be paying up for Villanova, PSU, Rutgers or any other non-target.
Saving the money is bound to pay you back at some point soon. Couple scenarios just off the top of my head:
1. You get good grades freshman year. Then you get transfer offers from top schools. But they're expensive. Good thing you went cheap for a year, now you can stomach paying for those.
2. You don't quite make the cut for IB coming out of school. But you were close, and you want to work in an IB-adjacent role (say corp fin) with the hopes of lateraling into IB after a year. Some of those jobs will offer better experience than others, and having low debt will give you flexibility in choosing. Maybe you even pursue a 1-year masters in that scenario, and again its more doable because you have low debt.
Seems pretty likely that a top Econ student at Michigan can either (i) transfer to Ross, (ii) transfer to some other target school or (iii) just get an IB job coming out of UM Econ. Not sure which of those paths is the most likely, but at least one of them will be viable.
Would do Econ and try transferring into Ross. Will be the best value and reward. Not getting into Ross will hurt but it won't necessarily be the end of the world (have seen non-Ross folks place before). Other option, as pointed out below, is to try transferring after crushing it for a year at a place like MSU.
I’m a current Econ major at Michigan and landed top EB, so it’s definitely doable. If you really want just apply for transferring to Ross after freshman year.
You have a very good shot at UM with those numbers. If you don't get in, go to MSU and crush it. You'll be able to transfer to UM or some other good place, or even get a good job coming out of MSU. No point spending money on a place like Villanova or Penn State that only have marginal name brand value (if any) over MSU. Save money and get good grades, you'll be fine.
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