<prompt> Human: Im an 18 year old from North Carolina and I was recently accepted into both Duke University and UNC. I am trying to determine which, financially, would be the better choice for me, and I was hoping other users who have dealt with things like college debt can weigh in on the discussion. On the one hand, UNC has offered me 15000 in merit aid off of the total cost which would leave me around 8000 to pay per year. On the other hand, Duke has offered me very little financial aid due to their belief that my father who I have not seen in 5 years should be able to contribute from his large income that is far beyond the cost of Duke. However, legally my father is not required to contribute and frankly he wont do it out of moral. This leaves Duke at a yearly cost of around 67000 which is 4000 more than my mothers AGI, so the majority of the payment would have to be made via loans. My questions is this, would Duke be worth the large loans for the benefits later in life due to having a degree from Duke or would I simply be better off choosing UNC for college to avoid the debt? Thanks for the help. Thanks everyone who has contributed so far for the help! Edit: My majors will be computer science and mathematics or computer systems engineering as well as a possible minor in financial investing. Assistant: Sorry... No. Duke is absolutely not worth it. Youll spend the rest of your life regretting a decision you made when you were just a kid who didnt understand loans. Search these threads for that phrase... Youll see it over and over again. Dont ruin your life because of a college name. Outside of Harvard it wont return the costHuman: Thanks for the input. Currently, I am also sitting on the waitlist for both Harvard and MIT. If I was taken off the wait list and offered admission I imagine the cost situation would be a similar scenario. For these two schools, would the debt be worth It or do you think it still would be too burdening?  <response>: Harvard and MIT both have much better need-based aid. You can see what youd be likely to pay at Harvard with I dont know if this changes with the waitlist. 