The question is more about whether the experience is worth the money, not the degree itself.
You don't need to spend $200k to get the college experience, *any* 4 year college will give you that college experience. Hell, you'd probably have more fun at a less prestigious school if you are talking about the overall atmosphere/experience.
Partying isn't my reason for wanting to consider a top 4-year college. It's part of the experience, but it's the rest of it that I'm not sure I should be skipping as well. The long hours studying and meeting people, etc. Just being on campus and having fresh experiences daily instead of going to a college like I am now where almost everyone seems indifferent to being social and learning.
Again, these points have nothing to do with price of the institution. Any 4 year college will give you these experiences. You don't have to go to Harvard to have to spend long nights studying.
Sure, a 200k education is worth it if it will get you into a very high paying job in a field you want to be in.
I disagree. A $200k education isn't going to get you that much better of a job than a $100k or $60k education. And actually, I'd say a good school is more important for lib arts than technical or business; an engineering or business degree is pretty much the same in terms of job opportunity when you get out, wherever you went. Sure there are better programs than others, but anyone with an engineering degree from anywhere should be able to land a decent gig.
filmbuff said:
For a film degree though? Don't equate "top" schools with expensive ones. The best film schools in the country do NOT cost 40k per year.
Agreed. Look at program quality, not price. I went to the University of Minnesota which cost about $60k out the door at the time, and it was a top 3 chemical engineering program, with MIT and Berkeley. Depending on year, those three are always the top three, in any order.
If you want a useless liberal arts or English degree, then yes, a high-dollar private university is a waste of money for you.
If you want a quality engineering/business degree or want to end up at a well-ranked profession school (MBA, dental, MD, etc), then the $200k debt is well-worth it. It's all about investing in the future.
Again I disagree. You have much more flexibility in where to go when getting a technical degree, because there's always demand. When going for liberal arts, you should look into top programs because reputation matters a lot more in a liberal arts field.
OP, I have degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry from, as mentioned, a top 3 program. I then went off and taught English in Japan for 3+ years and came home in 2011 when the economy still sucked. Even having been out of school for three years doing something completely unrelated and given the economy, I had a job secured within less than two months.
Another tidbit for thought, I graduated with $25k in loans, and now that is down to $12k and change. I did actually apply to Columbia and UC San Diego for grad school in international affairs for fall of 2010, and I declined to go. Why? Price, plain and simple. $70k for a masters from UCSD, $140k for a masters from Columbia. It's unfortunate that we have to think this way, but price DOES matter. In my case it would've come down to an income based repayment plan, and that was the red flag for me that I was taking too many student loans. So, as much as I would've like to, I didn't go. It was the best decision of my life. My wife and I now have two new cars and are saving for a house, which we would not be able to have or do anytime soon if I was $150k in the hole.
It ain't worth it, not even Ivy League.
. Did you?
