Help me choose between schools?

[AARTH]

I was recently offered amazing scholarships to two schools, Vanderbilt and the University of Illinois. Vanderbilt is offering a 100% tuition scholarship, while U of I is offering 100% tuition and about a $30k total living stipend to cover two years of living expenses. Vanderbilt is an amazing program with a great reputation, and I was accepted to their new Autism specialty track (which I am very interested in). U of I offers better funding, but the school is kind of in the middle of nowhere and the winters are VERY cold. After spending 4 years near Chicago for undergrad, I am really eager to move somewhere warmer.

Is it worth it for me to choose Vanderbilt and take out loans to cover two years of living expenses? Or go with Illinois and have no loans whatsoever? Any thoughts/opinions would be appreciated. ☺️

[MadisonMachelle]

I'd say Vanderbilt because it's such an AMAZING program plus your loans will be pretty minimal since they're covering all of your tuition anyways. The autism track will make you more attractive for jobs since you have a form of specialization. Vanderbilt also is a college town with LOTS (and I mean LOTS) to do there. You'll easily be able to pay back your loans. Go for the quality of life. Plus, IT'S VANDERBILT.

Congratulations man!

[lifeispeachy]

I’m very in favor of taking out no loans, even if it means pushing through two more winters in Illinois. With no student debt holding you down, you can take any job that interests you out of grad school. You can do your CFY specializing in autism in a state where you can soak in the sun everyday — and get paid to be there instead of racking up debt to be there. Vanderbilt is obviously an amazing school, but highly ranked schools don’t really make a difference in where you are employed afterwards when it comes to speech. And you can definitely specialize in autism without going to Vanderbilt. 

 

Just my my two cents, but if I had a free grad school option I’d be jumping all over it! Good luck making your decision?

[futurespeechpath1]

Omg wow congratulations that sounds amazing and those are such great programs!!

Personally I would choose U of I, even though I really do hate the weather here, what they are offering you is really great and you wouldn't be in any debt or have to worry much about living expenses. Downside: The town is sort of in the middle of nowhere

Vanderbilt is amazing and they've also offered you a very generous financial aid package it sounds like! I think the Autism track is very cool, and will definitely give you a leg up when it comes time to apply for jobs since you'll already have taken specialty classes and have had relevant clinical experiences. Downside: Student loans

Maybe make a list of the pros and cons and see which of the cons are more favorable to you?? I was always told not to worry too much about student loans since you'll definitely get a job that'll help pay them off, but then again if you can avoid student loans...

[bibliophile222]

Normally I would say go to whichever school is cheaper, but if the only loans you need are for living expenses I don't think that's too bad. A lot of people work a bit in grad school, and if you budgeted carefully and worked 10 or so hours a week at a flexible job then I don't think the loan balance would be too high. It sounds like Vanderbilt has everything you're looking for and may be worth the relatively small amount of loans you would accrue.

[AARTH]

Just accepted the offer at University of Illinois today! Thanks for all the help!! I ultimately decided that I wanted to choose the most financially-stable option, especially given all the craziness going on in the world right now. Best of luck to everyone else who is waiting/deciding!