Advice: What advice would you give
Avoid taking out too many college loans
“I have a friend who went to UNH to become a coach and now has over $150,000 worth of loans. Studying to be a coach isn’t necessarily a bad thing and he’s very good at what he does, but if you think about $150,000, that’s a house in today’s market. So he’ll be paying off the equivalent of one house, and if he wants to buy an actual house or make another big purchase, that’s going to be very hard for him to do. Taking out a lot of loans can have serious consequences.”
Be open to new possibilities in college
“College opens your eyes to new possibilities and new interests. Go to college with the idea that you might not know exactly what you want to do. You don’t have to be stuck with what you said you were going to do when you first got there. For me, I ended up changing my major three or for times even after I decided I wanted to move towards a business degree. Keep your mind open, experience new things, and be prepared to change your plans if that’s what you need to do.”
Come up with a plan in college to pay off your student loans
“While you’re still in school, sit down and really think about what do you want to do when you get out. You’re going to have to do something, and there are plenty of online tools that will help you determine what the salary range is going to be for what you want to do. Then, start to really parse out and compare what you expect to make and what the growth potential is for the field that you’re looking to land in after college. By comparing those figures, you can begin to estimate how much debt you can afford to take on.”
— in Think about what you plan to do after school before taking on student loans
