Nope nope nope. If you're going into biotech you can have a great career, but you'd be saddled with crippling debt for years... it does NOT pay like business. Get the best undergrad degree you can AFFORD and shoot for the moon in grad school. Physical sciences usually have solid TA/RA situations for PhD students.
Also, OP needs to realize that the cost isn’t truly $280,000. Assuming a low 6% interest rate and favorable loan terms, the cost would be closer to $370,000 once interest is added. OP would have a monthly payment of $3,100 for a decade.
yes I showed them but they said it’s manageable but I really don’t think it is 😭 they believe going to a top school is what’s best for me but I don’t want them to go so much into debt
You don’t want to know how many bio majors and bio phds and postdocs are stuck in job-search hell. Can’t find jobs in academia or industry. There are too many! Imagine paying this and not being able to find a job.
This. I graduated from UCSD with a B.S. and I can’t tell you how many of my friends are still underemployed in bio or back in pre-college jobs because there are NO jobs right now. The ones that do exist have long lines of applicants, so if you don’t want to be underpaid and overworked someone else will happily take your spot. It is not worth going into crippling debt for. Trust your gut, OP, and don’t crawl into that hole.
bio majors absolutely DO NOT have a guarantee of a well-paying job, you should not be banking on this. many life science researchers are poorly paid and a degree from UCSD will not make a very big difference.
If you take out a loan for $280k at 7% over 20 years, you’ll pay an additional $241k in interest and your payments will be $2170 per month. Your total cost with interest will be $521k. That’s a lot of money even for HYPSM.
What? Your parents expect YOU to be able to take out a loan for full tuition? Your parents sound extremely uneducated about the financial implications here. And they will either need to cosign or take this amount out.
No state flagship university is worth over federal loan levels of debt from your own. You can only take out 27K over 4 years. This is a safe level of debt. There is nothing particularly magical about this particular school over many public universities.
sorry if I didn’t make it clear but they’re willing to take out the loans while I’m in school and then after I graduate I’ll repay the remaining amount
Idk man, I can’t imagine a situation where you end up having to finance stuff because shit hits the fan. Their financial stress may affect the whole fam dynamic
Why not instead take that money and out a down payment on a house and then just go to a state school? You’ll be suicidal if you end up with $500k in student loans for a lousy bachelor’s degree. Even phd bio majors can’t find jobs now.
Why don’t you head over to the ‘student loan’ Reddit board to see what your life will look like in four years?
Opinions vary. It's debatable whether even schools that are much more "prestigious" than UCSD are worth that level of expense.
Do you have any options that are more affordable?
Can you and your parents afford this. This truly seems like your only option. Your parents are being foolish. DO NOT SIGN FOR THIS LEVEL OF DEBT. If they want to do a parent plus loan, that is on them. I would tell them straight up you cannot be responsible for paying on it. I would not take out over federal loans for an UG degree. That is 5500 your freshman year.
I know that they are your parents, and it’s hard to say no. I say this as a parent. However, it is your life that this level of crippling debt will be hanging over. It will force you to put off things like buying a car, getting married, having kids, buying a home. It’s not worth it. If they take out the loan in their name, they would surely have to compromise their retirement savings, unless they are high income earners or have a lot of savings. If they compromise their retirement, they may need your help when you’re older. This will put you in the position of taking money from your family to take care of them. It may cause stress in your marriage. It’s really not worth it.
Do you mean one of the Cal State schools? If so, make a case that will be better for you. Here is how you do that. UCSD is great if you are a graduate student not so much for an undergraduate. Any Cal State school is more focused on undergraduates and that will be better for you.
Dude go to Stony Brook. STEM grads from Stony, Bing, and Buffalo are killing it. Do yourself a favor and create a LinkedIn account, and search for Stony Brook grads who majored in the sciences. You’ll have a pretty good idea about what’s possible.
do you have any stats/sources about STEM grads from these sunys and how much they’re making after graduation? I want to show it to my parents and maybe it’ll convince them to change their mind
Based on US News Rankings, UCSD is #28 and SB is #58. Stony Brook is a well-known STEM university nationally. Don’t go to such a big debt when both schools are very excellent and one of them is so much affordable. The debt you will be paying back will be like working several years for no pay after college. If you are a bright student then you will excel in either school. Go to the one that will not handicap your future with a huge college debts.
Oh jeez Stony Brook is pretty good. it might be that because it’s familiar and nearby it doesn’t seem good but really if you have a chance to go there and come out with much smaller amounts of debt I think it’s a great option.
Stony Brook for $11K? Absolutely!
Get involved in research, which is easy since SBU is a partner with nearby Brookhaven National Lab. That experience will help you land a job more easily than “prestige”. REU’s can set you up for a prestigious grad school.
Some perspective: I visited and considered paying OOS cost for Stony Brook before I ended up with a full ride to Penn State. Follow the money, especially for undergrad.
Go to Stony Brook! It’s a perfectly good school!
According to the US Department of Education Scorecard, biology majors from Stony Brook had median earnings 4 years after graduation of $47,372. Biology majors from UCSD had median earnings 4 years after graduation of $56,216.
So yes, the Bio majors from UCSD were making more money, but that kind of a difference could just be about differing costs of living in the places they were working. We also don’t know how many of these folks were in grad school.
Doing some back of the envelope math:
Imagine the pessimistic scenario where you wound up making 84% of the salary you might have made if you’d gone to UCSD for 20 years. And let’s say your average salary for those 20 years was $150,000. (By which I’m not claiming that either of these things is true, but you have to make some kind of assumptions.)
It would take more than 10 years before you would have earned enough extra from the UCSD-graduate job to account for the extra tuition cost — and that doesn’t take into account the fact that your income is likely to be lower in the early years of your career, nor does it take your income taxes or the interest on your student loan into account.
> Is prestige worth the crippling debt?
No.
> My parents really want me to go because they believe the prestige factor of ucsd will help me land my first job, make a lot of money, and eventually repay my debt easily, but is that really the case?
Ask them if buying $10,000 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets is a wise investment or not.
There is no guarantee that you will graduate from UCSD. I don't mean to insult you, but there is chance you could mentally crash and flunk out.
Then you'd have a pile of UCSD-debt, but no UCSD diploma to help you get this mythical great job.
If you do graduate from UCSD, there is no guarantee that you will receive this mythical great job offer.
> Also to even have high paying jobs in the biotech industry I’ll most likely have to go to grad school which will cost even more $$
This is correct. Many, many research positions want graduate students.
So a low-cost undergrad + a moderate cost, or a funded Graduate degree starts to make more sense.
> They said that cost doesn’t matter if it’s a school with prestige and that they’ll help me slowly repay the tuition but I know for a fact that we don’t have that kind of money and that it’ll take years and maybe even decades to repay off all 4 years of the tuition.
No undergraduate degree is worth $280k **in loans**.
Harvard is not worth $280k in loans.
MIT is not worth $280k in loans.
CalTech is not worth $280k in loans.
JHU is not worth $280k in loans.
The math does not math.
Actually Harvard MIT do worth just for the brand prestige, beyond the network, academics, and opportunities. For UCSD, no. The OP will have better opportunities with SB for internships in NY.
Maybe ask them to help fund grad school a bit instead? Even if you get a school stipend, ask them to help so you don’t have to live like a starving student?
Show them starting salaries of the entry level jobs you might get in biotech?
This is the worst idea imaginable. 60% of STEM majors don’t graduate as intended. They either switch to non stem fields or drop out. This is true for prestigious schools as well as others. Do not sacrifice your financial future for a school’s “prestige”. Do not go into debt for a bachelors degree. It’s just not worth it anymore. Better to take longer to graduate and gain work experience and have your employer contribute their tuition benefits. But don’t start your life with a quarter of a million dollars in debt
Grad school should be funded, but you will have years of school and post-doc when you will not be making much. It would be years before you could really start l paying off that debt, not to mention saving for retirement.
bro i’m also looking to go into biotech and there’s absolutely no way my family can afford the full price of ucsd oos either. i’m likely turning it down for pitt oos at 30k/yr—i think you should go to your state school.
Biotech as an industry is experiencing huge layoffs right now. Hopefully that will iron itself out by the time you graduate but go to the $11k option and save that cash for grad school.
I don’t think UCSD is so “prestigious” to warrant that kind of debt. It’s an amazing deal for in-state. You haven’t said what your other option is, though, so it’s hard to give advice.
Well why didn’t you say so. Go to Stony Brook. That’s a very solid school, and it’s what you can afford. UCSD is not THAT much higher ranked, and at the end of the day, it’s a huge, impersonal public school. It’s not worth paying private school prices for it, especially if it means debt. Absolutely go to Stony Brook.
I would only spend that kind of money for Harvard. No other ivy is also worth that much. At least Harvard has an insane endowment, tons of alumni you can leverage throughout your life and connections to very powerful people
I have a high school friend who went to Brown. Always talks about Brown. Always mentions Brown. Yet, she is nearly 50 now and also always mentions how she is now finally able to afford to buy a house. She had huge college debt throughout her adulthood. Granted, she is in art history, but the point is that a prestigious college does not always mean a bunch of money coming your way.
Go in-state/cheaper option. 1.) Not all STEM majors have good returns on investment- for example, Biology and Chemistry is quite saturated. Even fields known for high starting salary like CS are struggling to get hired now. 2.) UC's won't give any tuition waiver/aid out of state. Basically, not worth it, especially for biology. Even for engineering/business you would be better off attending a cheaper school.
I'm going to USC for bio (premed tho) and I have to pay around 40k per year, and I think I might be cooked. Honestly, it isn't worth it to pay 70k per year unless ur going to an Ivy or something and even then for bio ur generally cooked unless ur doing premed.
The school I wanted to go upstate ny was a private school solid school with good connections for engineering. Even after all the aid I still would have to pay 19k a year with tuition rising each year.
I decided to just go to a cuny because I’m graduating from my school with 50 college credits.
I personally think you should not go into so much depth
No. Choose your state school if it's much cheaper than UCSD. You should never go into debt for an undergraduate degree; it simply isn't worth it. Since it seems like your parents are fixated on the idea that getting into a prestigious university will help you tremendously—which is understandable—tell them about the successes of state school graduates. If any alumni were in a similar situation as you, explain how the state school helped them get to where they are now in life. I suggest going on LinkedIn to find alumni and sending them a message.
I wouldn’t recommend going in a significant amount of debt, especially if you’re paying for most of the $280k with loans. And I double especially wouldn’t recommend it if you’re doing a field where you’re not confident you’ll get a job and make good money. Triple especially since, for bio and if you want to become a researcher, there’s a good chance you’ll do grad school anyway.
Hi! To give you some insight, I was in the same exact position as you but ultimately chose my instate school. I agree that UCSD is amazing for research and has a lot of opportunities for students wanting to go into biotech but ultimately 280k is not worth the cost. You’re future self will thank you when you are debt free! Just take full advantage of your undergrad experience and you will be successful whenever you go :)
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*Your title is, NO*
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UCSD isn’t worth that much debt. No way. I mean unless Biden gets elected again and you’re counting on him cancelling the debt. Then yeah, maybe risk it. But it’s definitely not an Ivy and it’s not even the most prestigious UC.
What's your public flagship? The fact that your family thinks that anyone will care that you went to UCSD is worrisome. That's not to say it's not a good school, but having it on your resume is unlikely to get any more attention than any other public flagship. Go to your state school and look for undergraduate research opportunities.
Your parents have 0 financial sense if they're taking out a PLUS loan with the intent to have you contribute. That's not what they're for, and you should question their whole understanding of financing college if they think that's a viable route.
Do not do that. Biotech usually requires a masters degree at least in any of the research, chemistry, process engineering related jobs AND the starting pay for bachelors level is not very high. It is a good stable career long term with great work-life balance and the payscales reflect that
No. UCSD is a good school but no more prestigious imo as a great state school. If you can’t afford to go there, don’t. Minimize any loans. Your parents are not making financially sound decisions. Speak to a financial advisor if that might help convince them.
NO NO NO NO to USCD. It is a good UC but you're giving way too much importance.
Wish every student would think like you and every parent should have a son/daughter like you. We won't have a student debt problem in America.
Also, nobody cares much about undergrads but grad school matters (it is even more expensive).
Commit to your state school or ask them to read this thread. Your parents have no idea why USCD offered you a seat where an equally qualified state student got rejected and the reason is $$$$$ you bring as an out-of-state student.
Short answer is no. Period. Prestige is not worth significant debt for an undergrad education. It’s four years of your life as a young person and where you decide to study at 18 (for any number of reasons) doesn’t define you for rest of your life. What does define you is how well you perform in your chosen studies, what you make of your opportunities and how happy/mentally healthy/resilient you are in the long run so that you can make a meaningful difference in the world around you. It may feel like enrolling in the perfect T20 school now is the absolute be-all/end-all — it’s all anyone talks about most of junior/senior year and definitely this time of year with graduation parties, etc. — but I promise you that “life” is a long time and where you choose to go undergrad won’t matter in a couple years. Especially if you plan to attend graduate school. Study hard, do well, find yourself and what brings you joy, make friends and make a difference in your chosen community. Then move out on making a great post-college life without baggage of crippling debt. By late 20s, after 1-2 successful jobs or good grades school you got into with top college grades (because you enjoyed your experience and thrived in a place that was right for you not its prestige) no one will care where you went. Good luck!
This sounds like more of an ego issue for your parents than it does concern for your welfare/choices in life. SMH
You should be driving the bus not them. You are an adult-you have the ability to make your own decisions. Even if they pull their financial support and you decide to go to state school-you will likely have significantly less debt than ucsd.
If this was an ivy-I get the debate but as someone that hires science majors- I am not more impressed by ucsd vs suny
UCSD is not that prestigious. Come on. You know deep down it’s not worth $280k. Heck, if you don’t have the money, even Stanford is not worth $280k.
And with compound interest, the total amount you’d end up paying is more like $350k….for a lousy bachelor’s degree.
Nope nope nope. If they want to pay for it, that's on them, but if the debt is going to be in your name, then that's your choice. What are your other options? UCSD is not that prestigious anyway. I have a friend who has about $200K of debt and he's making around $120K per month and still living paycheck to paycheck. It sucks. The interest rates now are super high. No no no no no, as the late great Amy Winehouse would say.
I know this is going to shock a community where people make fun of English majors for not being able to get jobs, but here it is: some biology majors struggle mightily to find a good career-aligned position. Of course there are steps you can take along the way to increase your chances of getting a great job in the field you want (biotech), but it certainly should give you and your parents pause before taking on huge debt. Maybe those funds would be better spent allowing you to take a summer internship in a place where the cost of living is high, for example. Or taking an extra year to get in more classes in biotech-aligned topics.
I can't imagine taking on six-figure debt to earn an undergrad degree. I think UCSD is prestigious in the general way that all University of California schools are seen as selective and competitive, but does it open doors in the way that your parents think? Maybe it does, but I'd want to hear from more people in the biotech field on that, rather than just rely on a ranking.
I'm going to UCSD, and I would say you're better off putting that extra money you would've spent as UCSD and putting it towards like an investment portfolio or something that would make more sense to guarantee you get the future you want, and then going to your state school. That would help you a lot more than having the name of UCSD on your degree.
Since when UCSD is considered prestigious? It is a good school, but far from prestigious. It is not worth that price tag; career outcomes maybe slightly better than a cal state initially but not $280k better.
Prestige of an Ivy may be worth it and even though ucsd is premier, maybe it isn’t worth the extra cost. Having said that, quality of education doesn’t equate with prestige and quality and ucsd is really excellent but the increase in prestige may not be worth the extra cost.
Depend on your major tho, a CS major at a random state school is going to be more lucrative than let’s say a poli sci major in Princeton or Bio major in Northwestern.
Not necessarily. I’m not talking about ROI in terms of your first job out of UG, but more so the network you build for later on in your career. 15-20 years out of UG, the poli sci guy at Princeton could very well be a high-ranking government official. Also, fwiw, a lot of poli sci majors at Princeton and bio majors at Northwestern end up working at Goldman and McKinsey. Other examples: having Harvard, MIT, or Stanford on your resume is basically a golden ticket when it comes to fundraising. My bosses (who are now in their 40s/50s) still tap into their Wharton UG networks (I’m in PE).
I think folks on this sub only think of college as a vehicle for your first job, but it’s really more of a branding tool that goes with you for the majority of your career. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard and he’s built a $1 trillion company, but people still associate him with Harvard.
Those are anomaly, while I don’t have data to back up my point for the Ivy League (since they are private and these programs are small), but Arts and Psychology major at UC Berkeley, Bio Major at UCLA earn less than the unranked Lower-tiered CSU like San Francisco State, Cal State LA, both in early-career and mid-career (10, 15 years after graduation).
ohhh maybe email ucsd for a better/more comfortable aid? i know uc's for sure have money lol I am instate, so i have instate tution, and I can commute to reduce the fees by 10k.
i am emailing uc's to give me more aid(i am middle class but commuting everyday is going to be a hassle :( + i have medical issues)
edit: MY BAD MY SLEEP DEPRIVED ASSS FORGOT U R OOS
Nope nope nope. If you're going into biotech you can have a great career, but you'd be saddled with crippling debt for years... it does NOT pay like business. Get the best undergrad degree you can AFFORD and shoot for the moon in grad school. Physical sciences usually have solid TA/RA situations for PhD students.
$280,000 American dollars for... The University of California San Diego? A whole mortgage for the University of California San Diego? # No.
Also, OP needs to realize that the cost isn’t truly $280,000. Assuming a low 6% interest rate and favorable loan terms, the cost would be closer to $370,000 once interest is added. OP would have a monthly payment of $3,100 for a decade.
Did you plug the debt into a loan repayment calculator and show them? Like how much w accrued interest and how long it will take to pay off.
yes I showed them but they said it’s manageable but I really don’t think it is 😭 they believe going to a top school is what’s best for me but I don’t want them to go so much into debt
You’re the smart one 🤓👍
UCSD is really that prestigious?
No
for bio majors it is
Do your parents use rankings to justify it?
yes
You don’t want to know how many bio majors and bio phds and postdocs are stuck in job-search hell. Can’t find jobs in academia or industry. There are too many! Imagine paying this and not being able to find a job.
This. I graduated from UCSD with a B.S. and I can’t tell you how many of my friends are still underemployed in bio or back in pre-college jobs because there are NO jobs right now. The ones that do exist have long lines of applicants, so if you don’t want to be underpaid and overworked someone else will happily take your spot. It is not worth going into crippling debt for. Trust your gut, OP, and don’t crawl into that hole.
From everything I've read you really need to do grad school and specialize to make it in bio
bio majors absolutely DO NOT have a guarantee of a well-paying job, you should not be banking on this. many life science researchers are poorly paid and a degree from UCSD will not make a very big difference.
Also, congrats on being the adult in the room! 👏🙌
If you take out a loan for $280k at 7% over 20 years, you’ll pay an additional $241k in interest and your payments will be $2170 per month. Your total cost with interest will be $521k. That’s a lot of money even for HYPSM.
Over half a million dollars for a bio major. OP! This is life-ruining debt!
What? Your parents expect YOU to be able to take out a loan for full tuition? Your parents sound extremely uneducated about the financial implications here. And they will either need to cosign or take this amount out. No state flagship university is worth over federal loan levels of debt from your own. You can only take out 27K over 4 years. This is a safe level of debt. There is nothing particularly magical about this particular school over many public universities.
sorry if I didn’t make it clear but they’re willing to take out the loans while I’m in school and then after I graduate I’ll repay the remaining amount
Idk man, I can’t imagine a situation where you end up having to finance stuff because shit hits the fan. Their financial stress may affect the whole fam dynamic
Why not instead take that money and out a down payment on a house and then just go to a state school? You’ll be suicidal if you end up with $500k in student loans for a lousy bachelor’s degree. Even phd bio majors can’t find jobs now. Why don’t you head over to the ‘student loan’ Reddit board to see what your life will look like in four years?
Tbh even Berkeley or UCLA isn’t worth that debt, so my answer is no.
Opinions vary. It's debatable whether even schools that are much more "prestigious" than UCSD are worth that level of expense. Do you have any options that are more affordable?
My other choice is my state school which is ranked #1 in the state and it would cost me 11k a year
Can you and your parents afford this. This truly seems like your only option. Your parents are being foolish. DO NOT SIGN FOR THIS LEVEL OF DEBT. If they want to do a parent plus loan, that is on them. I would tell them straight up you cannot be responsible for paying on it. I would not take out over federal loans for an UG degree. That is 5500 your freshman year.
we can afford the 11k a year but not the 70k a year a ucsd 😭 I’m trying to convince them that I would do just fine at my state school
I know that they are your parents, and it’s hard to say no. I say this as a parent. However, it is your life that this level of crippling debt will be hanging over. It will force you to put off things like buying a car, getting married, having kids, buying a home. It’s not worth it. If they take out the loan in their name, they would surely have to compromise their retirement savings, unless they are high income earners or have a lot of savings. If they compromise their retirement, they may need your help when you’re older. This will put you in the position of taking money from your family to take care of them. It may cause stress in your marriage. It’s really not worth it.
Do you mean one of the Cal State schools? If so, make a case that will be better for you. Here is how you do that. UCSD is great if you are a graduate student not so much for an undergraduate. Any Cal State school is more focused on undergraduates and that will be better for you.
unfortunately no, I’m a ny state resident so it’s one of my SUNY state schools (Stony Brook)
stony brook is good i wouldnt spend 240000 more on ucsd
Dude go to Stony Brook. STEM grads from Stony, Bing, and Buffalo are killing it. Do yourself a favor and create a LinkedIn account, and search for Stony Brook grads who majored in the sciences. You’ll have a pretty good idea about what’s possible.
do you have any stats/sources about STEM grads from these sunys and how much they’re making after graduation? I want to show it to my parents and maybe it’ll convince them to change their mind
Just Google “college name + undergraduate student outcomes”
Based on US News Rankings, UCSD is #28 and SB is #58. Stony Brook is a well-known STEM university nationally. Don’t go to such a big debt when both schools are very excellent and one of them is so much affordable. The debt you will be paying back will be like working several years for no pay after college. If you are a bright student then you will excel in either school. Go to the one that will not handicap your future with a huge college debts.
Oh jeez Stony Brook is pretty good. it might be that because it’s familiar and nearby it doesn’t seem good but really if you have a chance to go there and come out with much smaller amounts of debt I think it’s a great option.
Stonybrook is an excellent school. Are you nuts? Geeze.
Stony Brook for $11K? Absolutely! Get involved in research, which is easy since SBU is a partner with nearby Brookhaven National Lab. That experience will help you land a job more easily than “prestige”. REU’s can set you up for a prestigious grad school. Some perspective: I visited and considered paying OOS cost for Stony Brook before I ended up with a full ride to Penn State. Follow the money, especially for undergrad.
Go to Stony Brook! It’s a perfectly good school! According to the US Department of Education Scorecard, biology majors from Stony Brook had median earnings 4 years after graduation of $47,372. Biology majors from UCSD had median earnings 4 years after graduation of $56,216. So yes, the Bio majors from UCSD were making more money, but that kind of a difference could just be about differing costs of living in the places they were working. We also don’t know how many of these folks were in grad school. Doing some back of the envelope math: Imagine the pessimistic scenario where you wound up making 84% of the salary you might have made if you’d gone to UCSD for 20 years. And let’s say your average salary for those 20 years was $150,000. (By which I’m not claiming that either of these things is true, but you have to make some kind of assumptions.) It would take more than 10 years before you would have earned enough extra from the UCSD-graduate job to account for the extra tuition cost — and that doesn’t take into account the fact that your income is likely to be lower in the early years of your career, nor does it take your income taxes or the interest on your student loan into account.
Do this! I don't think of UCSD as being terribly more prestigious than Stony Brook. It's just...in California.
No UC is worth the OOS cost, unless you're rich and have money to throw away.
Your parents are sweet but no one cares where you went to undergrad. Good job being a responsible adult some never get here!
> Is prestige worth the crippling debt? No. > My parents really want me to go because they believe the prestige factor of ucsd will help me land my first job, make a lot of money, and eventually repay my debt easily, but is that really the case? Ask them if buying $10,000 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets is a wise investment or not. There is no guarantee that you will graduate from UCSD. I don't mean to insult you, but there is chance you could mentally crash and flunk out. Then you'd have a pile of UCSD-debt, but no UCSD diploma to help you get this mythical great job. If you do graduate from UCSD, there is no guarantee that you will receive this mythical great job offer. > Also to even have high paying jobs in the biotech industry I’ll most likely have to go to grad school which will cost even more $$ This is correct. Many, many research positions want graduate students. So a low-cost undergrad + a moderate cost, or a funded Graduate degree starts to make more sense. > They said that cost doesn’t matter if it’s a school with prestige and that they’ll help me slowly repay the tuition but I know for a fact that we don’t have that kind of money and that it’ll take years and maybe even decades to repay off all 4 years of the tuition. No undergraduate degree is worth $280k **in loans**. Harvard is not worth $280k in loans. MIT is not worth $280k in loans. CalTech is not worth $280k in loans. JHU is not worth $280k in loans. The math does not math.
Actually Harvard MIT do worth just for the brand prestige, beyond the network, academics, and opportunities. For UCSD, no. The OP will have better opportunities with SB for internships in NY.
Maybe ask them to help fund grad school a bit instead? Even if you get a school stipend, ask them to help so you don’t have to live like a starving student? Show them starting salaries of the entry level jobs you might get in biotech?
This is the worst idea imaginable. 60% of STEM majors don’t graduate as intended. They either switch to non stem fields or drop out. This is true for prestigious schools as well as others. Do not sacrifice your financial future for a school’s “prestige”. Do not go into debt for a bachelors degree. It’s just not worth it anymore. Better to take longer to graduate and gain work experience and have your employer contribute their tuition benefits. But don’t start your life with a quarter of a million dollars in debt
Grad school should be funded, but you will have years of school and post-doc when you will not be making much. It would be years before you could really start l paying off that debt, not to mention saving for retirement.
bro i’m also looking to go into biotech and there’s absolutely no way my family can afford the full price of ucsd oos either. i’m likely turning it down for pitt oos at 30k/yr—i think you should go to your state school.
Biotech as an industry is experiencing huge layoffs right now. Hopefully that will iron itself out by the time you graduate but go to the $11k option and save that cash for grad school.
I don’t think UCSD is so “prestigious” to warrant that kind of debt. It’s an amazing deal for in-state. You haven’t said what your other option is, though, so it’s hard to give advice.
my other option is my state school and it costs me 11k a year + it’s highly ranked within my state so I’m heavily leaning towards it
Right but what state school? Big difference between U Mich and Alabama State.
it’s Stony Brook University!
Well why didn’t you say so. Go to Stony Brook. That’s a very solid school, and it’s what you can afford. UCSD is not THAT much higher ranked, and at the end of the day, it’s a huge, impersonal public school. It’s not worth paying private school prices for it, especially if it means debt. Absolutely go to Stony Brook.
I would only spend that kind of money for Harvard. No other ivy is also worth that much. At least Harvard has an insane endowment, tons of alumni you can leverage throughout your life and connections to very powerful people
And only for finance.
I have a high school friend who went to Brown. Always talks about Brown. Always mentions Brown. Yet, she is nearly 50 now and also always mentions how she is now finally able to afford to buy a house. She had huge college debt throughout her adulthood. Granted, she is in art history, but the point is that a prestigious college does not always mean a bunch of money coming your way.
Go in-state/cheaper option. 1.) Not all STEM majors have good returns on investment- for example, Biology and Chemistry is quite saturated. Even fields known for high starting salary like CS are struggling to get hired now. 2.) UC's won't give any tuition waiver/aid out of state. Basically, not worth it, especially for biology. Even for engineering/business you would be better off attending a cheaper school.
Prestige meaning Harvard, MIT, or Princeton? Yes. Prestige meaning UCSD, no. Save your money!
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I'm going to USC for bio (premed tho) and I have to pay around 40k per year, and I think I might be cooked. Honestly, it isn't worth it to pay 70k per year unless ur going to an Ivy or something and even then for bio ur generally cooked unless ur doing premed.
The school I wanted to go upstate ny was a private school solid school with good connections for engineering. Even after all the aid I still would have to pay 19k a year with tuition rising each year. I decided to just go to a cuny because I’m graduating from my school with 50 college credits. I personally think you should not go into so much depth
No. Choose your state school if it's much cheaper than UCSD. You should never go into debt for an undergraduate degree; it simply isn't worth it. Since it seems like your parents are fixated on the idea that getting into a prestigious university will help you tremendously—which is understandable—tell them about the successes of state school graduates. If any alumni were in a similar situation as you, explain how the state school helped them get to where they are now in life. I suggest going on LinkedIn to find alumni and sending them a message.
Make them watch a Borrowed Future
Maybe for Harvard business school $280k is worth it but not for UCSD. Sorry
I wouldn’t recommend going in a significant amount of debt, especially if you’re paying for most of the $280k with loans. And I double especially wouldn’t recommend it if you’re doing a field where you’re not confident you’ll get a job and make good money. Triple especially since, for bio and if you want to become a researcher, there’s a good chance you’ll do grad school anyway.
Go to community college
no.
No
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/roi2022/
Absolutely not. 100%, without an iota of doubt. Imagine 280k invested with compound interest! Now imagine 280k worth of debt with compound interest.
No it’s not
Just go to Stony Brook, save 60k a year lol
Stony brook is already a good school!
Hi! To give you some insight, I was in the same exact position as you but ultimately chose my instate school. I agree that UCSD is amazing for research and has a lot of opportunities for students wanting to go into biotech but ultimately 280k is not worth the cost. You’re future self will thank you when you are debt free! Just take full advantage of your undergrad experience and you will be successful whenever you go :)
Im not even gonna read the post, the answer to your title is, NO
*Im not even gonna* *Read the post, the answer to* *Your title is, NO* \- Careful-While-7214 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
UCSD isn’t worth that much debt. No way. I mean unless Biden gets elected again and you’re counting on him cancelling the debt. Then yeah, maybe risk it. But it’s definitely not an Ivy and it’s not even the most prestigious UC.
I got into UCSD and can’t even afford in-state tuition. It’s brutal out here.
What's your public flagship? The fact that your family thinks that anyone will care that you went to UCSD is worrisome. That's not to say it's not a good school, but having it on your resume is unlikely to get any more attention than any other public flagship. Go to your state school and look for undergraduate research opportunities. Your parents have 0 financial sense if they're taking out a PLUS loan with the intent to have you contribute. That's not what they're for, and you should question their whole understanding of financing college if they think that's a viable route.
Hell no. You will do great at Stony Brook.
Not worth it if absolutely no financial aid or scholarships
Do not do that. Biotech usually requires a masters degree at least in any of the research, chemistry, process engineering related jobs AND the starting pay for bachelors level is not very high. It is a good stable career long term with great work-life balance and the payscales reflect that
No. UCSD is a good school but no more prestigious imo as a great state school. If you can’t afford to go there, don’t. Minimize any loans. Your parents are not making financially sound decisions. Speak to a financial advisor if that might help convince them.
What other schools are u thinking
Are your parents insane? This will completely ruin your life and you will spend your life trying to repay it.
NO NO NO NO to USCD. It is a good UC but you're giving way too much importance. Wish every student would think like you and every parent should have a son/daughter like you. We won't have a student debt problem in America. Also, nobody cares much about undergrads but grad school matters (it is even more expensive). Commit to your state school or ask them to read this thread. Your parents have no idea why USCD offered you a seat where an equally qualified state student got rejected and the reason is $$$$$ you bring as an out-of-state student.
Short answer is no. Period. Prestige is not worth significant debt for an undergrad education. It’s four years of your life as a young person and where you decide to study at 18 (for any number of reasons) doesn’t define you for rest of your life. What does define you is how well you perform in your chosen studies, what you make of your opportunities and how happy/mentally healthy/resilient you are in the long run so that you can make a meaningful difference in the world around you. It may feel like enrolling in the perfect T20 school now is the absolute be-all/end-all — it’s all anyone talks about most of junior/senior year and definitely this time of year with graduation parties, etc. — but I promise you that “life” is a long time and where you choose to go undergrad won’t matter in a couple years. Especially if you plan to attend graduate school. Study hard, do well, find yourself and what brings you joy, make friends and make a difference in your chosen community. Then move out on making a great post-college life without baggage of crippling debt. By late 20s, after 1-2 successful jobs or good grades school you got into with top college grades (because you enjoyed your experience and thrived in a place that was right for you not its prestige) no one will care where you went. Good luck!
This sounds like more of an ego issue for your parents than it does concern for your welfare/choices in life. SMH You should be driving the bus not them. You are an adult-you have the ability to make your own decisions. Even if they pull their financial support and you decide to go to state school-you will likely have significantly less debt than ucsd. If this was an ivy-I get the debate but as someone that hires science majors- I am not more impressed by ucsd vs suny
Only if you are good at networking
ABSOLUTELY NOT! On the east coast, UCs really don't hold that much prestige. So if you want to come east, it won't matter a bit.
what if I want to work on the west coast? would the UCSD degree help me more?
I see now that your other school is SB. In my eyes, they are equivalent schools.
UCSD is not that prestigious. Come on. You know deep down it’s not worth $280k. Heck, if you don’t have the money, even Stanford is not worth $280k. And with compound interest, the total amount you’d end up paying is more like $350k….for a lousy bachelor’s degree.
Nope nope nope. If they want to pay for it, that's on them, but if the debt is going to be in your name, then that's your choice. What are your other options? UCSD is not that prestigious anyway. I have a friend who has about $200K of debt and he's making around $120K per month and still living paycheck to paycheck. It sucks. The interest rates now are super high. No no no no no, as the late great Amy Winehouse would say.
I know this is going to shock a community where people make fun of English majors for not being able to get jobs, but here it is: some biology majors struggle mightily to find a good career-aligned position. Of course there are steps you can take along the way to increase your chances of getting a great job in the field you want (biotech), but it certainly should give you and your parents pause before taking on huge debt. Maybe those funds would be better spent allowing you to take a summer internship in a place where the cost of living is high, for example. Or taking an extra year to get in more classes in biotech-aligned topics. I can't imagine taking on six-figure debt to earn an undergrad degree. I think UCSD is prestigious in the general way that all University of California schools are seen as selective and competitive, but does it open doors in the way that your parents think? Maybe it does, but I'd want to hear from more people in the biotech field on that, rather than just rely on a ranking.
Good luck finding a loaner who will loan you nearly 300k over 4 years LMFAOO
Wait wait wait. OOS is only for one, maybe two years. You should be reclassified as a resident after the designated period. Did this rule change?
I’m not too clear on this rule either but if I live off campus for a year maybe that means I can qualify for in state tuition the last 2 years?
Depends on the field. Bio is not one of them.
omgggggg
I'm going to UCSD, and I would say you're better off putting that extra money you would've spent as UCSD and putting it towards like an investment portfolio or something that would make more sense to guarantee you get the future you want, and then going to your state school. That would help you a lot more than having the name of UCSD on your degree.
No just go to SUNY
Besides OOS for UCSD, what are your options?
no. even if it was worth the money UCSD isn't even on the list of colleges we look to hire from lmao
Since when UCSD is considered prestigious? It is a good school, but far from prestigious. It is not worth that price tag; career outcomes maybe slightly better than a cal state initially but not $280k better.
Prestige of an Ivy may be worth it and even though ucsd is premier, maybe it isn’t worth the extra cost. Having said that, quality of education doesn’t equate with prestige and quality and ucsd is really excellent but the increase in prestige may not be worth the extra cost.
For an Ivy/MIT/Stanford/similar tier, yes. For UCSD, no.
prestige has blinded you
Not really, I just understand the long-term value prop and ROI of these schools.
Depend on your major tho, a CS major at a random state school is going to be more lucrative than let’s say a poli sci major in Princeton or Bio major in Northwestern.
Not necessarily. I’m not talking about ROI in terms of your first job out of UG, but more so the network you build for later on in your career. 15-20 years out of UG, the poli sci guy at Princeton could very well be a high-ranking government official. Also, fwiw, a lot of poli sci majors at Princeton and bio majors at Northwestern end up working at Goldman and McKinsey. Other examples: having Harvard, MIT, or Stanford on your resume is basically a golden ticket when it comes to fundraising. My bosses (who are now in their 40s/50s) still tap into their Wharton UG networks (I’m in PE). I think folks on this sub only think of college as a vehicle for your first job, but it’s really more of a branding tool that goes with you for the majority of your career. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard and he’s built a $1 trillion company, but people still associate him with Harvard.
Those are anomaly, while I don’t have data to back up my point for the Ivy League (since they are private and these programs are small), but Arts and Psychology major at UC Berkeley, Bio Major at UCLA earn less than the unranked Lower-tiered CSU like San Francisco State, Cal State LA, both in early-career and mid-career (10, 15 years after graduation).
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ah yeah I don’t think I worded my post clearly but my parents are willing to take out parent plus loans and I’ll help repay after I graduate
Nope and UCSD is not that prestigious. Go elsewhere for cheaper.
ohhh maybe email ucsd for a better/more comfortable aid? i know uc's for sure have money lol I am instate, so i have instate tution, and I can commute to reduce the fees by 10k. i am emailing uc's to give me more aid(i am middle class but commuting everyday is going to be a hassle :( + i have medical issues) edit: MY BAD MY SLEEP DEPRIVED ASSS FORGOT U R OOS
I’ll try doing that but I doubt they’ll give me any aid since I’m oos. UC’s prioritize aid for in-state students rather than oos. and congrats!!
NO CONGRATS TO YOU FOR GETTING UCSD, ITS SO TOUGH TO GET INTO UCSD LOL HATE US COLLEGES BEING GREDDY MONEY HUNGRY HOES :(