Should I request again for aid?

[Inka dreams]

So my top choice did not provide me funding. I wrote to them some 2 weeks back requesting some sort of aid, but they replied saying aid is usually given along with the acceptance letter and if not you can join and then apply for TAs and stuff.

 

Of course that will be a gamble, considering that the total cost is $110K for 2 years. I do have other offers with aid, but I would love to go to my top choice.

 

My question here is, should I ask them again for possible aid? Does an Ivy League school make sense for an international student to pay $100K+, assuming (Thats a big assumption...) that it may be possible to get a loan?

 

The next ranked school offered me their program at 40K lesser fee! The 3rd ranked program is willing to give me even more aid!

 

 

 

[HKsai]

So my top choice did not provide me funding. I wrote to them some 2 weeks back requesting some sort of aid, but they replied saying aid is usually given along with the acceptance letter and if not you can join and then apply for TAs and stuff.

 

Of course that will be a gamble, considering that the total cost is $110K for 2 years. I do have other offers with aid, but I would love to go to my top choice.

 

My question here is, should I ask them again for possible aid? Does an Ivy League school make sense for an international student to pay $100K+, assuming (Thats a big assumption...) that it may be possible to get a loan?

 

The next ranked school offered me their program at 40K lesser fee! The 3rd ranked program is willing to give me even more aid!

are you considering taking out private loans?

[Inka dreams]

are you considering taking out private loans?

yes... provided its possible.... 

[HKsai]

yes... provided its possible....

I really wanna say yes but the gap between the tuition is so huge that I will have the say no :/ considering you are an international student and you can't take out federal loans and the interest rates are ridiculous for private loans.

PS: it never hurts to ask again though.

Edited April 8, 2014 by HKsai

[Inka dreams]

I really wanna say yes but the gap between the tuition is so huge that I will have the say no :/ considering you are an international student and you can't take out federal loans and the interest rates are ridiculous for private loans.

PS: it never hurts to ask again though.

I did ask and got a reply within a few minutes - an emphatic NO. Terribly sad.

[HKsai]

I did ask and got a reply within a few minutes - an emphatic NO. Terribly sad.

You just have to ask yourself if you can pay off the debt with your degree. It always comes down to your choice. I honestly think Cornell is a great school but UM and UIUC are definitely up there with it. (I battled with the whole prestige and financial thing myself) I chose 40% off tuition for NYU over no money from Northwestern. I honestly think either way you will love the school you pick. We are all just getting caught up with the whole prestige and I got in to that school so I should go there.

[juilletmercredi]

Does an Ivy League school make sense for an international student to pay $100K+, assuming (Thats a big assumption...) that it may be possible to get a loan?

 

Nope.  The only fields where that would make sense are 1) law and 2) business, because those are prestige-focused fields where graduates of the top programs are the ones who get the six-figure jobs with the ability to repay those loans.  In IR, you can't really hope to make $100K+ soon enough to pay off those loans, and since you're international you're not eligible for federal loans with any of the repayment programs that make it easier to repay heavy debt with a low salary.

 

So I would choose the second or third choice.  By $40K less, do you mean total?  $80K is still a lot to go to grad school, although more manageable.  If it's $40K less per year (as inlike $40K for the total program), I'd definitely take that.

[rising_star]

Actually, it doesn't even make sense for law anymore given the unemployment rate for lawyers these days.

 

Go with your second or third choice, or whichever will leave you with the least amount of debt!

[TakeruK]

Agree with everyone else -- no this amount of debt does not make sense! 

 

It is also pretty hard to get a private loan in the US when you are a foreign citizen that has just arrived and have no credit history. We don't qualify for federal student loans and the best interest rate I've seen for private loans is like 9% per year, and you have to start making monthly payments immediately (and interest is computed immediately too). At 10% per year and taking out $110k, repaid over 10 years, you will pay $1453 per month for 10 years, and in total, pay the bank about $175k!!