Full tuition at Ole Miss v. TC Columbia

[zsmi0820]

I just want to hear some opinions on this. I was accepted at Ohio State as well and I'm waiting for UTEP. However, I'm stuck between going to school for free in Mississippi and going Ivy League at Columbia. My heart says Columbia but my mind says Ole Miss. What do you guys think?

[jmk]

Would you be able to fund some of your tuition and living costs up front, or are you planning to do it all on loans? Personally, $100k tuition + high cost of living on all loans sounds like a financially poor idea versus a free ride and lower cost of living, haha. 

If I were in your shoes, my heart would also be leaning toward Columbia, but I would save my acceptance letter as a token a pride, and go with the choice that won't leave me three figures in debt, haha. 

Could you sit down with a financial advisor (or search around on the Internet depending on your accounting skills), and make a spreadsheet of how long it would take to pay back debt on various starting salaries, as well as discuss your financial goals post grad such as when you would like to purchase a house, and how debt could affect you?  

 

[rising_star]

I would definitely go with Ole Miss. The main thing is attending an accredited program, right?

[jpiccolo]

I think if your main goal is being a clinician then go with the cheaper option. If you have high academic aspirations that would help to have the prestige of an Ivy League then take that into consideration. Overall I don't think a name school will prep you any better to be a solid clinician. I ended up going with a program that was cheapest yet solid in both clinic experience and externship options and I don't regret it at all. I had some very tempting expensive schools to pick from and now a year later I'm so relieved that my debt is a third of what it couldve been. And I don't feel I lost out on any opportunities. That being said I know nothing about either of your programs. But in general anywhere you get a degree will look good to someone hiring an slp. It's not a field where name and rank make a huge deal. Again if you're looking at Ph.D. in the future maybe it would make a difference. I'm not going that route so I'm not sure. 

[eggfish]

If you don't plan on becoming a professor or something, Ole Miss!  Congrats on the full ride!

[slp2bee2016]

Can you look into graduate assistantships, research grants, TA position, or research assistant position at Columbia? Maybe positions that aren't related to CSD, like advising or housing? Some of the assistantships offer a tuition reduction along with a stipend, so that may help, even if it is a private school. I am in a similar position and as much as I want to go to my out-of-state dream school, the amount of money I would have to take out terrifies me.. Good luck with your decision!!

[racoomelon]

Are you definitely not going to get any funding for TC? If you're waiting to hear back about funding, I'd sit it out! They could be pretty generous and I've seen a lot of people mention tuition scholarships the TC awards. There's a big difference between paying the full tuition cost versus getting financial aid that helps out but doesn't cover everything. If they're reducing tuition to more reasonable costs and you think it's a better fit for you, I'd go for it. 

There's some really good advice about funding somewhere on this forum. I think the advice was that you should avoid taking out more in loans than you would expect to make your first year of working (which I'd say is ~52k). The poster laid out how much you can expect to earn by week and how much loan money you'd have to pay (for just a federal loan) in a month. It put things in perspective for me. There are also loan forgiveness options if you're dead set on it.

[SLP560]

I would much rather have the honor of having a Columbia degree hang in my office. You can pay the loans back and some employers even pay all or part of your student loans. Plus think of all the cool people you would meet in NYC. It would be a no brainer to me!

[luckyclover]

If you are planning on living in NYC after you complete your degree and you are interested in working in a school setting, the NYC Board of Education offers a full-tuition scholarship you can apply for. The catch is that you have to work in the NYC public school system as a SLP for a certain amount of year. I know someone who attended Columbia for speech with the NYCBOE scholarship and she did not have to pay a dime for her education. At the end of graduation, she had a guaranteed CFY and job lined up. This is a good option if you know you'd like to work in a school setting. The con might be that they would likely send you to a rough neighborhood since they are looking to serve areas with higher risk/needs.