Why am I even having this dilemma?
I'm so paranoid about being perceived as priveleged, I think. One of the things that made this second degree different for me was that I'm paying for it all myself, and taking out a small loan like a normal person. I saved up $5500, which I've spent most of on tuition and housing, and I called and asked my Dad to cosign on a loan for me for the tuition this fall. When he realized that "all I needed" was 3500, he was just like "I could just loan you the money myself". Which is great, but bothers me at the same time. But no matter how hard you try, you'll never really get away from the fact that you owe so much to your parents (or so little if they were bad).