<prompt> Human: Im 19 years old and in a month or so I will be heading back to school out of state for my sophomore year. School is costing me roughly 15,000 a semester and I will likely end up with 120,000 in student loan debt. That number scares me... A lot.Now at my university I am in the business school so I am eligible for any business major not really sure what I am most interested in, or what the best path to take is and have until the end of sophomore year to declare a major. My current financial situation: I have around 7,000 in savings and a paid summerwinter internship my second year guaranteed for 3 years that will turn into a job after the three years. This job is outside of my field and not really relevant for what I am doing in school. If I look for internships through my school for jobs related to my major I feel as though it will help me make more money in the long run getting a job that I am going to school to have, but I dont know if I will be able to go back to my current job if nothing I try for works out. Ultimately I dont know what I should do, continue to intern, find a new internship, what to major in for best job placementincome, what to do with the money I currently have, how to prepare for this impending debt...Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone. Assistant: I think people in this thread are forgetting what its like to be a recently graduated HS student about to enter college. Its fun. Its exciting. Its scary. And it feels like a done deal. uDillbill spent all of his year applying to schools, writing essays, taking SATs, keeping up his grades, and then comparing acceptances, all while his parents were saying Go wherever you want! Hes sent in his registration check. Probably is already registered for classes. It feels like hes going to UMD.All that said, however, unless your parents are helping you significantly, this would not be a sound financial decision. I feel your pain, I really do, but I remember when I went to school, I was facing 80,000 of debt upon graduation. I knew it was a number that was high, but it didnt really mean anything to me. It means something to me now. It is a huge amount of money that comes out of my monthly expenses. Its simply impossible to explain the impact of having to pay over 1,000 a month in minimums to loans. One thing I learned is that no education is worth more than that. You can get an equally good education at.. shudders Rutgers. Its a big school, probably a ton of fun, now in the Big10, and so, so much cheaper. Its probably not where you want to go, but college is what you make of it. You will find friends there and you will have a great time. Same can be said for several other schools in NJ. Take a second and really think about what youre committing to. Do you know that youre going to have an amazing, high paying job right out of school particularly when you dont know what you want to major in? Do you know that you will even like business? Maybe youll want to change majors, like half of all college students, and find that your passion is really in sociology. You certainly cant pursue that with a 120,000 bill coming. Its really not too late to explore other options. I know that you dont want to change schools, but its much easier to realize what youre in for now, and correct it, then to graduate with debt that is almost insurmountable. Talk to your parents, ask for their help. You dont have to do this alone. Explain to them that youre uncomfortable with taking out what amounts to a mortgage at a higher interest rate, and how you want to see what other options you have. If they cant help you, ask your HS guidance counselor. If they cant help you, Ill pitch in and help. Just try to think about if you really want to go down this path and later regret it. You can 100 get as quality an education and as fun college experience at cheaper school. Human: Thank you for the constructive response and I agree with all that youre saying. I know its dumb and I realize this but in my mind I always saw me coming out of school and being successful and having a high paying job off the bat. I know its possible but not realistic and I dont want to have to gamble. I think shuddering still Rutgers is more than likely my best option, cheapest and best comparative education for my major, but its too late to apply for this fall. Most people are suggesting taking a semester off but of all the things Ive learned at school thus far one of the main things was how it would look to an employer to have a discrepancy in your attendance, even a transfer will look bad to a person reviewing your resume and can make the difference of whether you get called for an interview or not. I think Im willing to take the transfer but Im just not sure if a year off is the right decision.  <response>: Glad to hear that youre considering your options. Most people are suggesting taking a semester off but of all the things Ive learned at school thus far one of the main things was how it would look to an employer to have a discrepancy in your attendance, even a transfer will look bad to a person reviewing your resume and can make the difference of whether you get called for an interview or not.I dont know where youre getting this information from, but its simply not true. You wouldnt even put that information on a resume. Why would a transfer look bad? What does it imply to an employer? Nothing. I mean, President Obama even transferred schools while in college. Honestly, my resume in senior year of college simply listed my college with an expected graduation date and a GPA. You wouldnt need to list where you started if you didnt want to - its not relevant on a resume and a waste of space.I can see that it might be difficult to get into Rutgers at this point, but it is worth a call to see if they can do anything for you. Side note - I only shudder because its difficult for me to say good things about Rutgers; I went to Penn State. If you cant get in this semester, you can definitely target the spring semester. Do your first semester at a community college, which actually has great value, or take the semester off and work. Again, an employer is not going to look at, or care, when you started school. That will not impact you at all. I definitely understand wanting to start school in the fall - so do your best to find out what your options are. I am sure there is a way to enroll somewhere.Also - I just read this from the Rutgers website: Students may apply after due dates have passed. However, students who apply after the due dates or whose files remain incomplete after due dates for credentials submission have passed will be withdrawn from admissions consideration if their schools of application meet enrollment goals before University Undergraduate Admissions reviews their applications. That means that if the individual school didnt hit their target number of acceptances, they would have a place for you. I suggest getting on the phone and calling the School of Business. They might haven gotten a lot more nos. They could have had several students withdrawal, etc. 