If you haven't yet, I would try disabling the XMPP/DOCP profile to see if that passes a test. This will tell you if the RAM is just dead or if it's degraded a bit and can't hit the same speeds as it did before. If it does pass, then re-enable that profile and try downclocking or loosening the timings a bit to see if that'll work.
Failing that, you could try increasing the voltage slightly (like +0.05V, I wouldn't go above 1.4V), but I'd be careful on this front to not cause anymore damage.
Sucks that this happened right now, but IMO it'd be better to sacrifice a slight hit in performance than to buy RAM by itself at these premiums.
Not at all! I was able to graduate at 22, but I knew plenty of people that graduated much older for various reasons (changing majors multiple times, taking a year or two to work and/or help the family, etc).
If anything, it's more "embarrassing" to not graduate once you've started, but as long as you're able to (at least try to) get a job and contribute to society, who cares?