NikaneOkie wrote:How are people feeling about the significance of debt coming out of stanford? what are the rationales for it not being important? I imagine a lot of others who have been admitted to stanford were offered significant, if not full, scholarships to other top schools.
I'm looking at a similar situation (...still waiting on finaid info though) and looking at 200k+ of debt versus full-ride at another school. Obviously, debt-averseness is different for anyone, but I will share what my professor (HLS grad) told me about considering scholarships in the decision-making process.
He was completely in support of investing in the "best" school that I could choose from that I felt comfortable in/liked. Essentially that another 100k of debt could be paid off in a extra couple of years at a big firm, but the law school experience/network/benefits of the "better" school will pay off for the rest of one's life. He is under 40, but went from a V5 firm to an NGO to an Oxford PhD to Treasury to a professor at my UG school since graduating from HLS 15 years ago. He commented that his degree from HLS was a nice boost for
everything to which he applied, not just his first job.
Long story short, you can pay off extra debt in a couple years, but reap all the benefits for the rest of your life (50+years, right?). Hope that helps!