DEBT DEBT DEBT!

Hello All. I have 2 options for OT school: Go into an MOT program at a private school starting at the end of this summer...OR I can wait until summer 2013 and transfer into a 5 year BS/MS program as junior. The only reason I am hesitant to jump into the grad program this year at the private school is COST. After all is said and done I will come out of school with a combined Bachelor's/Master's debt of around 100-120K !! What should I do...should I wait a year and a half and do the state school for combined BS/MS? It would save money. For those of you who went the expensive private school route...how is it working out for you? What ways have you found to finance your way through it or repay the loans?

Last year, a friend of mine had a shot at an expensive masters program versus waiting another year for public school. I was debating whether to apply to a school that started sooner or a better school where I had family I could stay with rent free but would take another year to graduate. We talked it over with mentors, & we each decided to wait. We were so excited about the plan for our future and desperate to start ASAP, but a year in the grand scheme of your career is not much to wait. Consider how long it would take to pay off the added debt, and whether the time spent worrying about paying that debt off will outweigh how anxious you'd be the year you put off school. Also you can use extra time preparing for grad school looking into scholarships and studying ahead of time.

I was so sad when I agreed to take an extra year to apply but it went so fast. I don't know how I could have done it in less time. As a woman of 30 I kept thinking about how old I would be when I graduate, & how I would plan starting a family around graduating and starting a career. But you also have to consider how much the burden of that debt would affect your savings for a family & the future.

Look at other schools too, and see if you can take community college classes to apply for a MOT in your state or in your conference of states at the in-state tuition level. In CA we have only 2 state schools, but in the Western conference of states I can get in-state tuition in New Mexico too. In Ohio you have 3 state schools with MOT, so could you take pre-reque classes at city college and apply to another one of them?

On another thread OTs say $100,000 debt is not worth it for school, takes at least 10 years to pay off. Good luck!

Ladyhightower, that was very nicely said. The only thing i would disagree on: I would say that it would take a typical OT more than 10 years to pay off 100,000 in debt ( especially if you have a family, work in a school/child setting, etc).

When I was putting my loan info (amount, interest rate, etc) into a loan calculator (u can find them online), I learned that if I had 60,000 in grad loans, I would need to make about 67,000 - 70,000 a year in salary if I want to be able to pay off the loan in 10 years and still live comfortably. Of course there are OTs that make more than that, but OTs in certain settings (nonprofit, children) make less than that (also depends on where you live).

I would say waiting a year (maybe even 2) is worth it, especially if u spend that time well.

Good luck, whatever you decide, Gina.