re: College Choices: LSU vs Student Debt

Glad that someone else on an LSU site is pro-study-abroad. Sadly, those programs at LSU aren’t well-promoted, and often, little/no scholarship or extraordinary aid is available to help students have those experiences. If I win the Powerball, I’ll set up a big fat fund to send LSU students all over the damn world, at no cost to the students.

Heck, between oil & gas & petroleum processing and the MS River, we’re at the nexus of global economic webs. But the average undergrad’s concept of LA’s place in the world economy is based on....nothing. No one is encouraging those students to feel connected to the larger world.

Ask for travel money and a passport as a graduation present. And some good waterproof low hiking shoes, and a decent backpack. Get the hell out there and see the world.

agree on LSU. the fancy degree from a more prestigious school will help landing the first job. After you've been out of school a few years in almost any profession, employers and clients care about your work product and ability to perform and your degree is simply on a check list to get hired.

best of luck

Stay away from the debt. LSU is a great school all around. I do not understand why middle class families think that just because they have an acceptance letter from a top tier school that they should attend it. Universities are like any other business, trying to get customers and bragging how great their program is. Of course, VA Tech is a better name for your major; however, who cares at 100 plus thousand in debt! Only exception would be perhaps law school and/or medical school; but even then, when was the last time you asked your doctor where he/she attended college? A wise person once told me that Harvard is for rich kids with influential parents and middle class geniuses who will qualify for 100% tuition. If you are not in one of those categories, go to a good state school. Besides, the elites will always look down on you anyway, even if your degree says "Harvard". I know that your situation is a bit different than that example but same concept considering all of that potential debt. The most important thing for you to accomplish is a great portfolio and network with future business owners/leaders at school. Besides LSU football is the best! Good luck! By the way, my boss is the CFO for a large multinational corporation in Europe. Guess where he went? LSU

I love Virginia Tech. That being said if my choices were free education or 120k in debt I would be yelling geaux Tigers! If I really wanted VT I would consider 2 years at LSU and then transfer to get it on the resume.

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Depends entirely on where you want to be after graduation. If you want to practice in Louisiana, Houston, or Dallas, go LSU. If you want to be anywhere else, go VT.

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Second the above comment. While the student loans are a significant factor, only a few in the thread have mentioned where you will use the degree. VA tech has a significant presence in the DC area, and even has a satellite architecture school in old town Alexandria. If you are looking at an exit from the gulf south this may be the best chance for a young person.

Leaving college with a local network, local work/internship experience, friends, romantic interests, and familiarity can make an already challenging job search (from someone trying to break into a market less familiar with LSU grads) challenging.

Another path for anyone considering an out of state education with significant loans is ROTC. For something like architecture this is more of a limiting path (you won't be getting certs/apprenticeship stuff done while serving) but for a student interested in business or the humanities it can be a great path. No debt + job waiting for + immediate friend group/network + great work experience + funding for a grad degree (if you stay long enough to earn back your GI Bill) = a pretty attractive alternative to student loans or staying home because of costs.

My 2 cents.

*Also forgot the new military retirement system allows for junior officers who leave the service to have some matched retirement contributions and the ability to save significantly at an early age. The current Roth contribution allowed is 18k per year; you can easily scrape together some good retirement savings on an O1-O3's pay.

Is that 35 per year so 140 over 4 years for Georgia tech over LSU? Pretty easy choice, LSU. Go to grad school if you want with the savings

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I don't know anything about Architecture programs, but I would ask why they end up transferring out before I committed to it.


It's very demanding and time consuming and it has a very eccletic blend of students. The ones with any combo of artistic, construction, or mechanical skills will excel above the others. These will also be the people you spend countless hours with. I'm not sure hwo it is now but you spend the first two years going through a Pre-architecture requirements and then a review before you are actually accepted into the school. This also gives the professors a good idea on who can hack it or not and they get a say on the students who enter.

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Thanks; that makes sense. Not that the program has systemic problems, just that it's a lot more than people realize when they apply.