I didn't go to a school that really sent people to the Ivies, so in my mind it was just this exclusive rich people's country club that cost over $200k to attend. I assumed you could basically buy your way in and that low income students were at a disadvantage. My parents could afford to pay $0 for my college education, and I wasn't interested in what I thought would be a $200k loan for that kind of place. Of course, these preconceptions completely changed when I started my college search, but that's the impression I had growing up.

Still, though, I absolutely would not have taken out a $200k loan :) that was like 5x my parents' combined income. No way I could stomach that, and I don't understand how others can. I lucked out in studying CS and graduating during a boom so I'm earning quite a lot more than I ever thought was possible, but it was never my goal to be rich, and my state's flagship school was free for me due to merit scholarships.