[Debt] 400k in student loans, not sure where to start

[citrusite]

@lilpeoplez I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

I'm all for sound financial decisions being the main reasoning behind big decisions, but I couldn't live my life if I wasn't factoring in things like this into my decision process.

Really comes to personality/priority differences. It should be a factor on the list no matter what IMO, but where you prioritize it relative to everything else is up to the individual.

For me, it was a high enough priority that I knew I'd be going to a very large, state school, with a brand name that everyone would recognize.

I wanted to go to Texas/IU/Mizzou, in that order. Mizzou being instate, and with the availability of state scholarships to keep people in state made tuition 25% of the other ones. The decision was made for me at that point. In the end, it was probably a $10k/year swing to do Mizzou over CC for the first two years, as opposed to going to CC.

$20k for 2-years experience is nothing.

As a side note personally, I can definitely say I wouldn't have the relationships I had that became business partners and friends that have also lead to my professional success today. Not that I wouldn't or couldn't have met other people and found success elsewhere, but I know the factors those had on me personally. $20k is pennies on the dollar to the impact for me.

 

[lilpeoplez]

@citrusite I’m perfectly fine agreeing to disagree. Everyone has different priorities. I guess my thing is just that as long as you’re aware that those are the reasons you’re doing it, that’s fine. I just feel like most high school students don’t understand that that’s the tradeoff. Most don’t understand what they’re actually paying for. And while the enjoyment factor may be a huge factor for you, and some others, I don’t think everyone should take that into account. I think it’s semi dangerous to apply that to every person. I’m not some miser by the way, who doesn’t understand the value of spending money for experiences. I’m not that person at all. I just think people entering college fail to see the forest for the trees most of the time, and a decision based on short term enjoyment can hinder the rest of their lives.

Also, I was born in Missouri, two of my cousins went to Mizzou!

 

[citrusite]

@lilpeoplez I'm on board with this. Totally agree that it's not for everyone. I'm only one of 4 kids in my family to have opted for that route, and it would have been awful for the other 3.

 

[williamstarks]

@lilpeoplez I dated a guy once who had over 90k of student loans from his undergrad degree in education from a public university. He used his loans to get an apartment, a new car, a huge TV and basically live the good life. My cousin did this as well at an absurdly expensive private school. Both had a lot of regret once the loan payments that were more than a mortgage kicked in.

 

[kingdomincreseguy]

@lilpeoplez A $400K vacation isn't an investment in your future though.

 

[s_darby2123]

@kingdomincreseguy Obviously you've never been to Sandals Jamaica with Jan.

 

[waiting_soul]

@kingdomincreseguy

a 400k vacation

Is that what dental school is? I've heard it's grueling, exhausting and masochistic. But I guess that's sort of like being on a Carnival cruise...

 

[kingdomincreseguy]

@waiting_soul I wasn't calling it a vacation...

 

[lilpeoplez]

@kingdomincreseguy This is some of that nonsense your teachers say to you when your 16. A bachelors degree in business with 130k of student loans isn’t an investment in your future either. That degree isn’t getting you a damn thing, just puts you into the pool with every other average person.

 

[kingdomincreseguy]

@lilpeoplez For some people, it is an investment. If somebody has a goal which requires a bachelor's degree, then tuition is an investment toward that goal.

 

[waiting_soul]

@kingdomincreseguy And for some people, Beanie Babies were an investment.

 

[jnat24]

@kingdomincreseguy A large portion of the degrees I see people getting aren't an investment in their future either. Although OPs is, but his loans are excessive, even for a dentist.

 

[won95sr]

@citrusite I agree. Community college is more affordable, but you lose the “college experience.” If you are just trying to get your degree and not really socialize, absolutely makes sense to go to community college first. However its important to take it seriously (a lot of my high school friends stayed in community college for a very long time and in my opinion wasted time they could be using to get a jump start on their career if they graduated on time).

I went to a four year state school in California and I loved it. My student debt and that of my peers was around 25-30k (graduated in 2015). 10/10 recommend going straight to a four year if its within your means.

 

[camillerose]

@citrusite Some schools, like Indiana University, have partnerships with local community colleges. A friend of mine went to Ivy Tech Bloomington for her first two years but lived on the IU Bloomington campus in the dorms and was able to have the best of both worlds.

 

[timerin]

@citrusite Mizzou here too. Definitely worth the experience, especially if you plan on getting involved in something like Greek Life.

 

[citrusite]

@timerin Exactly. And that goes for any university of that size/type. It's an important factor to think about, and while you can go the CC route, you cannot get that type of experience/network elsewhere.

If that stuff doesnt matter to you, or is super low on your priority list, then don't even bother going to a regular 4-year college at all unless your career path requires it, start working/building what you want.

 

[omcfarla21]

@citrusite I'm at Missouri s&t, mizzou's sister school. Can confirm community college is a good way to go for finances but I think the extra money I payed for my first two years helped me grow as a person being on my own and dealing with finances. Most people who go to community college would still be living with parents most likely. A friend who went that route told me after finishing community college it's kind of like being thrown in the deep end being suddenly on their own and taking harder classes.

Edit: garbage wording

 

[citrusite]

@omcfarla21 Those are other factors for me personally as well. Especially based on direct observations of siblings and friends who went that route.

Those aren't applicable to everyone in that situation, which is why I tried to leave those factors out in my reasoning, but I think those are also important elements of that.

And, would you really have the same St. Patrick's day experience if you went to CC first?

 

[omcfarla21]

@citrusite Holy moly St pat's is another experience all together. I remember a few years back seeing a list of the top 10 schools that consume the most alcohol and saw an asterisk the bottom with an honorable for Rolla saying the students drink more during that week than the next 5 put together or something like that. The 3 story beer bong is very difficult and I've only seen like 7 people actually complete it.

 

[moniberd]

@citrusite There's something to be said for the first couple years at a big university. I went to Mizzou as well and the experience there vs when I transferred to a UMSL's Biochem program was like night and day. (LSS: MU was under College of Ag, Food, and Nat Res, UMSL was under CoS and focused on working in Labs and newer technologies. I ended up changing over to Information Systems in my last year).

I wouldn't change what's happened in my life, but I will say I do feel like I missed out on a social things sometimes and large experiences by transferring to (what I consider to be) a commuter school. Commuter schools and community colleges tend to have a less inclusive environment and more of the "single serving friend" variety. I was lucky enough to make 3 good university friends from MU before I swapped to UMSL.