MBA grads who financed most of the experience through loans, any financial advice? Did you choose private loans over direct PLUS? How much did you take on to cover living expenses? How long will it take you to pay it all off?

Just enrolled in a full time program for next year and though I think my school is worth it, getting a lil nervous about the financial burden. To give some context, I got a small scholarship (25% ish of tuition), have about $60k in savings, and will be living in Evanston

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Got a $60k scholarship at a top 15 with $0 savings and financed 100% of the rest of the cost. Took a private loan, got screwed when my initial lender (CommonBond, stay the hell away from them) canceled my second year loan over the summer without informing me and I only found out when my year 2 tuition never got paid. Took out a shitty last minute loan with Sallie Mae at 9.5%. Graduated with $130k in student debt and additional $40k credit card debt. Paid off the 40k in cc debt + $21k in student loan debt (minimum payments only) in year one post-grad. Just consolidated the student debt and refinanced down to 3.6% 12 year term on the remaining amount once my credit score got back to 760+. Could pay it off in 2-3 years but with that interest rate I'll probably invest instead. Could have refinanced sooner but decided to refinance a mortgage first.

My post-grad salary is 3x higher than pre-MBA. Will break even including opportunity cost between year 4 and 5 post-grad.

Congrats on Kellogg? ☺️ Very similar ballpark to EY1. Total private loans were $125k and most people I knew used a combo of savings and a CC to cover about $30k to $50k for living expenses, misc. during that time.
In terms of payoff I could have done it in 2-3 years had I maintained my pre-MBA COL. However, given mortgage rates and strong investments, I opted to pay just a little above minimum payment for a while and will end up paying off in about six years.

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