Hello everyone! I'm a current high school senior in an awkward position with college acceptances / financial aid, and am seeking some advice about my undergraduate education:
I was accepted SCEA to Yale University, my absoulute top choice school that I've been in love with since childhood. Unfortunately, the Yale FA Office believes my family can afford a full tuition each year, which we most certainly cannot as there are two other kids in my family. I have also received a likely letter from the University of Notre Dame, and a full tuition scholarship from the University of Illinois. These three schools right now are the main "options" I am considering. Neither of those schools will be providing FA either.
As for my personal situation. My parents have agreed to cover a specific amount of tuition per year, and will loan me the rest of the money I need, granted I take out a Stafford Loan from the government each year. We then calculated the cost of a Yale education for me. The math has been complicated, but in the end we have determined that I will have to pay back about $30,000 (including interest) for the Stafford loan and about $55,000 (no interest) for my parents' loan. Thus, I will be paying back a TOTAL of $85,000 AFTER INTEREST IS CONSIDERED. My question concerns whether this amount of debt is really worth the experience at Yale. I plan to major in economics and either go into finance or Law School (only if I were to receive a generous scholarship). Of course, both industries have generously paying jobs that I am sure I will secure after attending Yale. Notre Dame is another option but around the same price and, in my opinion, has less connections to the finance industry on the east coast than Yale does.
So what should I do? Attend one of my least favorite schools (U of I) but for a really cheap amount of money? (Bear in mind that career entry and law school would be much harder to lock down with a state school degree). Or should I follow my dream and go to Yale with $85,000 to pay back?
Any thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated, although I do intend to take each with a grain of salt, because in the end I know there are a lot of differing viewpoints on this discussion.
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