Dealing with Debt

[kmv787]

Hello, I am currently an undergrad at KU, getting a B.A. in both Psychology and Cinema Studies. I really want to go to grad school for film (either Production or producing), however I just can't get over the costs at this point.

My undergrad degree will have roughly cost me $110,000 in loan debt by the time I graduate. If I go to grad school that will surely double. My parents make little money so I must carry the financial burden all my own.

I am just wondering how any of you are or plan on dealing with the substantial monthly repayments not to mention LA/NYC rent in post-graduate life?

I have no desire to have a family and am willing to make serious sacrifices to make a career in film viable. I am just seriously concerned that between Loans, Rent/living expenses that no matter what sacrifices I make, I will end up in the red. Thanks for your time and consideration.

 

[Jayimess]

It's easy to adjust your payments to what you're able to pay, but that elongates your repayment period.

It's a hard choice, and the road to repayment is one that I'm embarking upon in May when I finish at USC. I'm already structuring my repayment so that I pay the most expensive loans off first, but I need to start making serious cheese before I'll really put a dent in.

My entire undergraduate film class (ten of us) is out here now, and only four of us went the graduate film school (AFI, Chapman, USC) route...everyone else is working, and paying off their undergrad loans.

Maybe come out and work for a year if you can, and see if the debt is an investment you're willing to make in yourself. It's a tough decision, I know.