No decision
There is no decision. There are no circumstances under which you should undertake an enormous amount of debt, with no job security offered, before exploring a cadet scheme tied to an airline.
Your friend who has dropped out of college to pursue Option 1 is immature and has no concept of risk assessment.
That's the harsh line. Look, I recognise that the landscape for aviation nowadays has changed considerably for the worse. I also understand that it's far to easy for those safely ensconced in a comfortable career, with an adequate salary, to say "don't pay for anything". I heeded that advice ten years ago, and had a long old slog to where I am now, whilst friends who took the fledgling SSTR route are now moving to the left seat of orange Airbuses. The financial outlay required of an aspiring pilot nowadays in relation to the salary is frankly financially not viable. Sit down with your folks and go over the finances; be realistic and don't take the best case scenarios, as you're unlikely to achieve them and you need to know you can survive the worst.
Airlines have made aviation an untenable career choice for those looking to join the industry. Yet they can't afford the commercial disadvantage of training their own pilots. It's a case of who'll blink first; the aspirant or the airline.
Airline cadet scheme all the way.