Sorry for being blunt, but coming from a dirt poor background I've been there and done that. You sound like a really pampered person who cannot imagine living a

Sorry for being blunt, but coming from a dirt poor background I've been there and done that. You sound like a really pampered person who cannot imagine living anywhere but in a two bedroom apartment with a maid and on-premises gym. No, it's not that bad and you can read books equally well in your own apartment or in a public library. You have a couple of valid points about medical debt, which is a crazy American thing and working while studying, which is tough. The rest though shows a complete lack of understanding how being poor works. It is the difference between going to the amazing state school and the local community college. HN is full of anecdotes that professors in the community college are not that much worse. And for the price they are actually AMAZING. Yes, being an Ivy league graduate generally helps. But we're not talking about crazy rich folks here, right? It is the difference between living in a studio apartment, 45 minutes from school in the bad part of town and living in the beautiful two-bedroom top-floor loft in Logan Square. Sorry, I'm not getting this one. Yes, living in a two bedroom loft is somewhat nicer, but what does it have to do with studying or working? It is the difference between a data entry job, and an unpaid research internship with your professors. Data entry job hands down. A month of real job on resume is worth a year of sitting in the lab and adjusting the thermostat. It is the difference between taking the first job you can get, and holding out until you find a better one. Just take the first job you can and keep looking for a better one?