Money, Money

Just completed the Tuck FinAid application form, it's due tomorrow. Basically they ask for your entire asset base including cash, 401K, real estate etc. Of course, I deducted the 50 bucks it's going to cost to next-day-express-air the application because I waited till the last day :-)

It was sobering to actually sit down and take stock of the money part of the equation. This whole process has been almost like a game, a lot of fun, without much thought to the costs. While the $120,000 loan numbers are daunting, a friend of mine at b-school said that it's not all that bad. The first year is rough, but the second year is supposed to be workeable. Internships are a good source of cash( he threw out numbers like 20-30K salary for the summer). My roomie at grad school (he was an MBA student) was helping out his professor's consulting work and got paid around 10K every 3 months or so. I also know of people who consult with startups/local industries/their old companies etc during the second year for some decent cash on the side. Schools like Sloan have TA's that pay tons of moolah - upto 67% of tuition I think in cases. Bottom line - the average loan at graduation, around $70K starts to sound like a more plausible number.

Of course, I fully intend to be a stock options millionaire a few years out of school so this should be moot. What ... it's not 1998 you say ? dang !

OK, back up plan - any decent job should be able to afford payments of this amount. right ... oh, i forgot the whole outsourcing thing.

Worst case scenario - I get shipped off to India. Even then it should be OK I think, I know kids 3 years out of engineering school buying $70K houses in bangalore. if they can afford it, yogi abso-f*$*-lutely can. but ... what if I get married off to someone and have to support a wife and 3 kids ..

Absolute Worst (or Best) case scenario - I get into the dowry thing that goes on in India. I hear US-MBA's can pull in upwards of $200k in dowry for some unsuspecting small town belle with super rich parents :)

problem solved, sobering thoughts gone, finAid form signed and sealed. life is good.

{PS : On a more serious note, Absolutely seriously kidding about the dowry thing, i am viscerally opposed to that system. I had a cousin go thru hell with the kind of demands her in-laws made a few years ago and I pretty much showed the door to a couple of dudes who came asking for my sis' hand in marriage and my dad's savings account. But a John-Kerry-type deal might work for me though :-) }