$118K Undergrad Debt too much?
Hello All,
I am a current HS Senior with offers from GWU SB and BU Questrom, both finance majors. GWU gave me a 20K scholarship, which makes my debt around 52K, whereas BU gave 0 aid so the debt would be around 118K. BU Questrom has appealed to me in all ways and I think it would be a great experience. My question is, do you think 118K is too much in student debt? It would be heartbreaking to forgo on BU.
And secondly, how does GWU fare against BU? My goal is to get into finance, and Investment Banking is a potential path.
Any help is appreciated. I am in a bind for time and am really stressing about this. I am sorry if I seem like such a noob here, but I really need help.
Thank you
For the love of God choose GWU. I am all for leveraging yourself in order to achieve a better tomorrow, but doubling your debt load in order to go to a marginally better school is not worth it. My suggestion would be to work hard at GWU your freshmen year, try to get a 3.7-4.0 GPA. Get involved in some investment or IB clubs on campus. Then transfer to a top 20 school for your sophomore year. If you are interested in banking there are some firms in DC that you could possible get an internship at if you hustle this summer to learn accounting and finance fundamentals. Also PWM may be a more achievable freshmen year internship. Just remember college is both a personal and business decision, choose the option that will bring you the most enjoyment along with the best return on your investment. Good Luck making your decision.
I am a transfer student myself, so I would be happy to talk to you about that option as well.
Also, this post has some information concerning opportunities at GWU https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/is-transferring-to-a-semi-target…
I graduated with almost $125K in student debt. Minimum payments of $1,300, floating rate at LIBOR + 8.5%.
It weighs you down (and I was earning well). I had to pass on a few opportunities which in another life I would have really enjoyed. Any new position you need to take into account this payment each month. Whether it is:
For me I was happy with my education (relatively) but that decision to take on debt meant that feasible options were cut down a lot.
I am sure others may have had a better experience, may have had bigger bonuses to slash it down quickly etc.
I'd opt for the lower debt burden. If you have the ability/dedication/persistence/relative morals, you'll be fine.
Don't take out $118k, especially for a university outside of the top tier. Most jobs (even in finance) won't let you service those repayments. Taking out six figures is a really bad idea - I can't stress this enough.
If you really don't like GWU, try and transfer. There are still interesting opportunities there though.
I'd strongly lean towards GW. Taking out $118k to attend BU is not wise. Going to BU wont necessarily put you in a better position than going to GW, so the cost isnt really justified. You can go to GW and find ways to make yourself a competitive applicant on paper. Like mentioned above, there are a good amount of finance shops in DC, whether its IB/PWM/ER, so there are opportunities. Additionally, the consulting scene is fairly big at GWU and DC, so if you end up changing your mind about IB, there will be consulting opportunities. You could maybe even do a junior summer internship at a consulting shop and see if you can use that experience to get some ib interviews. Point is, there are a lot of options and paths to follow and I feel like they are all better than graduating with $118k in debt.
Thank you all for your replies. After some discussion with my parents, I discovered it may be possible to pay in installments out of income, which could potentially reduce the loan taken to 98-76K, would it be worth it then? Boston U is absolutely amazing for me, so it's a bit heartbreaking to see the option go away.
Also, my dilemma of GWU is that I have never seen the campus, nor have I even considered it until now, which is a really dumb thing since I have until Monday to commit. I got into UCSB and I thought that would be my backup, so say I choose to not attend BU, what would you monkeys recommend? UCSB or GWU? (UCSB has 0 debt, but also a weird major not in finance)
Absolutely do not go to BU. Can't really comment on GWU vs. UCSB, but would either stay at GWU or go to UCSB and try to transfer I think.
BU isn't even that great of a school even without factoring in all the debt ($76-98k still too much).
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