<p>I'm having the biggest dilemma of my life. I have been accepted to a non-ivy league, but a 1 tier and #1 school at our state. The bad part is the cost of attending. My "safe" school is way not as fansy, however, it offered me a full ride. In fact, it is possible that I will be PAID to go there. Which school should I attend?</p>
<p>I will be majoring in Biology or Microbiology (depends on which school I'll attent), pre-medical or pre-dental. </p>
<p>The reason I'm asking this question here, on Parent Cafe forum, and not else where, is because I'm looking for an opinion of someone who can answer based on their own EXPERIENCE, although I do realize that times have changed and all that. :)</p>
<p>Take the free ride if they have a good science program and good pre-med advisors. You will have to take out enough loans for your med/dental school so if you can get through undergrad with no debt all the better.</p>
<p>If you are pre-med, no brainer. Take the free ride. </p>
<p>You might actually get a better education as well. If you are top of your class at the lower ranked school, you will likely get more research opportunities, more mentoring, better internships, and better recommendations than you would if middle of the pack at the more highly ranked one. </p>
<p>And if your parents have the money, ask them nicely to please save it for med. school.</p>
<p>Goldfish2, my D was in a similar situation and chose the free ride to a lesser known, lower tiered school. She also applied and was accepted into their honors program. </p>
<p>Like you, she intends to continue on to grad school so we will be saving up for that!</p>
<p>How has the safety school done at getting students in to grad schools you’d want to attend (or similar caliber if not the exact same)? If they’ve done reasonably well, I’d head there. If there’s never been someone successful - or rarely - I wouldn’t try to buck the odds. Chances are that the educational level is too low.</p>
<p>Names aren’t everything. What graduates have done along the lines of what my guys want to do speaks more volumes to me.</p>
<p>If pre-med, for sure the cheapest option, then your parents may pay for Med. School and no loans, unless you have unlimited resources, but then you would not post question, correct?
With Med. School, it is practically does not matter where you go for UG. The most important stats are your college GPA + MCAT score. Looks like you might as well nail college 4.0 and MCAT. Then engage in reasonable number of Med. EC’s and you will be on your way debt free too. What I have described is not a fantasy, it is my D’s experience, she is first year Med. student. She has applied only to UG that would give her substantial Merit award.</p>
<p>If you’re pre-med or pre-dental, avoiding undergraduate debt is a very high priority because you will almost certainly have to borrow money for medical or dental school.</p>
<p>So unless the cheaper school is horribly inferior, it’s probably the better choice.</p>
<p>Sometimes, when students choose schools that offer them large merit scholarships for undergrad, their parents are willing to contribute the money they would have paid out for undergrad for professional school later. This varies from family to family. Only you can know whether it’s even possible to bring up this topic with your parents. But if they are willing, that’s an even stronger argument for the less expensive school.</p>
<p>“If you’re pre-med or pre-dental, avoiding undergraduate debt is a very high priority because you will almost certainly have to borrow money for medical or dental school.”</p>
<p>-I heard about statistics that about 25% of Med. Students are debt free at graduation. One way to achieve that is to go to UG for free. So, it is correct that “Sometimes, when students choose schools that offer them large merit scholarships for undergrad, their parents are willing to contribute the money they would have paid out for undergrad for professional school later.”</p>
<p>…It seems to me that a person expecting to go to a top tier school would have better writing skills. And if the OP is really going to get a full ride at UF (or full ride plus), it would make zero sense to pay through the nose to attend elsewhere if they plan to finance an advanced/professional degree. So all in all, it has the “eau de ■■■■■” smell to me.</p>
<p>All that said, my DS was offered a full ride PLUS a 9K/year stipend at UF many years ago, and didn’t take it. Go figure. They no longer offer what he was offered back in the day. He has kicked himself a time or two for turning it down, but at the time he had expected that if he attended grad school it would likely be paid for.</p>
<p>^My D’s experience matched almost exactly this one except that D. is in Med. School, not in PhD program. Yes, she had very rewarding 4 years at her state UG, the place that she still considers pefect for her and ended up with acceptances to few great Med. Schools and her friends pre-meds had the same hard time deciding which Med. School to attend.</p>
<p>The first thread is replete with grammatical errors and has a few typos to boot. I make typos all the time, btw, but try to correct them when I can. The OP sounded like a ■■■■■ thread.</p>
<p>I don’t have the current data, but 10 years ago the state med and dental schools in FL had a very high percentge of accepting in-state students. If a FL student went OOS for UG, it became much harder to be accepted into state schools. Please do the research.</p>
<p>I’ve known several people who went to UF for UG and then stayed there for med school. U Miami seems to favor its own UG, too, even those not in the combined 6 year program.</p>
<p>Lilmom, most grad school programs are funded.</p>
<p>My only reservation is that so many pre-med students change their mind. UF has a very loyal alumni group, but some kids would not be a good fit for such a large school. U Miami is very generous with merit awards based on stats.</p>
<p>Bookworm is correct. States like to keep the best and brightest in state when they can. I knew a lot of the med and dental students at UF when I was in grad school there. Very bright bunch of people.</p>
<p>This same discussion comes up again and again. To be quite frank…it’s a family decision. </p>
<p>If money is not an issue, and both schools are affordable to the family, then the choice could be a very different one than if the family cannot afford the more “prestigious” school.</p>
<p>Personally I think keeping undergrad debt to a minimum is a good idea for everyone. SO…ONLY THIS FAMILY can answer the question about that undergrad debt.</p>
<p>Does that mean I always think the less expensive option should be chosen? No. Actually neither of my kids went to the school that was the lowest bidder…but it did not impact them or us in terms of debt.</p>