I’m trying to make a decision about attending a private university in a major city, and I’d have to take out a pretty significant amount in loans to make it work.
After financial aid, I’d still be paying a lot per year, especially once you factor in housing, food, and just general cost of living in an expensive city. Over 2 years, it could easily add up to a pretty large amount of debt.
I guess my main questions are:
Is it ever worth taking on that level of debt for a grad student pursuing a sports masters degree?
How do you decide if the “experience,” networking, and opportunities justify the cost?
For people who did take out large loans—do you regret it or was it worth it in the long run?
Does going to a more expensive private school actually make a big difference career-wise compared to a cheaper state school?
For context, I do care about my future career and opportunities, but I also don’t want to put myself in a bad financial situation for years after graduating. I already have some loans to my name form undergrad but moving to another state in a new city that’s pretty expensive already on its on really worth it.Would really appreciate honest advice or personal experiences.
Is taking on heavy student loans for a private college + living costs actually worth it?
byu/BlackBerry36 inStudentLoans
Posted by BlackBerry36
3 Comments
It’s a game of chance. I would wager you’re more likely to meet the person or encounter the opportunity that changes your life at an expensive private school vs a cheap local one. Is that scratch off ticket worth 250k?
Unless you’re planning to clerk for a supreme court justice or some shit go to the cheaper school for undergrad and when you have a better idea of your aptitude and desires pay money.
wtf is a sports masters degree?
show me one person who got rich off sports *because of* a college degree (i.e. not the people who play for the college team – I promise you they didn’t come for the degree).
Whats your undergrad? Are you competitive for med school? Cuz then you could go med school -> PM&R which is not super duper competitive but great lifestyle and earnings.
Or PT school.
Those are the only sports-related grad degrees I can think of that would be worth it. Otherwise I wouldn’t take out more than ~$40K total for the entire degree start to finish including living expense cost and I’m guessing the numbers you’re talking about are far north of that (because you didn’t disclose them which shows you know already it’s an absurd amount for your ROI).
Source: Med school grad, private school, yes wish I would have prioritized state school apps, my loan numbers would make you cry and the next 10 years of my life will be slave to PSLF. No regrets but again, I worked out my 20-year ROI before I even registered for a pre-req. $300K/year is 6 times what I was making in my previous career so it made sense.
First of all “Sports masters” isn’t a degree – what’s the actual degree name? Sports management?
Second, actual financials are needed, not just “a lot”. To some people, 40k is a lot, to others – they mean 400k.
If it’s sports management – what’s your qualifications outside of the degree? Were you D1? Ever coached/assistant coached before? If it *IS* sports management, people who get that degree either end up long term coaching a D1 team making half a mill + a year, or end up in a local youth league making 15 an hour, there’s very little inbetween.