<p>So right now I'm a senior in Michigan who is looking too apply to Middlebury College. However, my parents are quite apprehensive about this and seem to be upset that I'm looking at a school that is so expensive.</p>
<p>The problem is that I live 30 minutes away from the University of Michigan which is a great school and much cheaper. When I visited Umich I thought it was much too large and I just didn't like the idea of being so close to home. Does it seem selfish for me to ask my parents to pay more money for a private school? Should I just suck it up and go to UofM?</p>
<p>How much is the difference in price, net of financial aid grants (use the net price calculator on each school to get financial aid estimates)?</p>
<p>Unless you live at home and commute, or have helicopter parents who will make frequent unannounced visits, University of Michigan being 30 minutes away won’t feel like home.</p>
<p>There are other smaller-than-University-of-Michigan schools that are lower cost than Middlebury’s list price, such as several other state universities in Michigan (UM - Flint, UM - Dearborn, Michigan Tech, etc.), University of Minnesota - Morris, Truman State, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, SUNY - Geneseo, UNC - Asheville, etc…</p>
<p>College is a huge amount of money. The full cost is more than a brand new car every year. It may not be a matter of selfishness, but possibility. You need to sit down with them and find out what they can pay towards college every year (and what they will be comfortable paying), and also look into what the colleges will expect them to pay.</p>
<p>I agree with udbalumnus - living 30 minutes from home doesn’t mean that they’ll be hanging out eating popcorn and drinking illegal beer with you. </p>
<p>Figure out what these schools would cost. Search out ones where you could potentially get good merit aid. And have that conversation with your parents about what they can afford.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go to a smaller school, but there are plenty of options that won’t break the bank for your parents.</p>
<p>You can always apply and see if you get any aid. If you are attracted to LACs, you can also consider applying to some where you are in the 75% range or so of the stats and might get merit aid. It all boils down to what your family can comfortably afford. I certainly understand the allure of a great LAC, but if it means tons of debt for your and your family it may not be the best answer. You need to have an honest talk with your parents and understand what makes sense.</p>
<p>I can’t say anything about the size of UM not feeling right to you, but I wouldn’t worry so much about UM being so close to your home. My S went to a university 20 minutes from our house, lived on campus, and had a full college experience. We talked before he chose that school and all agreed to treat the college like he was hours away rather than minutes away and we stuck to that. He really didn’t come home other than school breaks and we never called to say we were in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by. It was certainly easy for getting home for breaks and for one or two unexpected things (ex. when his laptop broke I drove down with an old laptop he could use until his was fixed) – and then he went to grad school was halfway across the country.</p>
<p>lol…do you know how many kids would give anything to go to UMich?</p>
<p>Anyway, if your parents are concerned about a pricier school, then you have to respect that. THEY know their finances, you don’t…even if you think that you do.</p>
<p>That said, if you have the stats for UMich, then you may have the stats for merit to go elsewhere for a similar price…if you insist on “going away.”</p>
<p>*White Male
Michigan
GPA: 3.95 UW, 4.1 Weighted
Rank: 2/90
Rigorous class schedule. (2 AP’s when school only offers 3) </p>
<p>Test Scores: 30 ACT</p>
<p>EC’s:
Founder of a food pantry for animals after working at a vet office and finding there was a need in the community.
State Executive Officer for Business Professionals of America
NHS President
Student Council VP
Part Time Job (Full time in Summer)
Volunteering (300 hrs)
Regional and State Champion in environmental science competition.
Founder of a school run coffee shop.
Varsity Soccer Captain (Only 3 years due to a very bad car accident)
National Piano Guild superior ranking</p>
<p>I know Midd looks for great test scores but do you suppose I have a chance at Middlebury after visiting & applying early decision? Thanks!*</p>
<p>So, you do have the stats to get a good amount of merit at other schools.</p>
<p>What is your major? </p>
<p>What do you like about Midd? Maybe others can suggest similar schools that would give you enough merit to get costs down to UMich.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t dismiss OPs desire to go to a school other than Michigan. We’re talking about two opposite ends of the spectrum here, from one of the largest universities in the country to a relatively tiny, isolated LAC. Price aside, I don’t think that’s selfish at all - that’s just finding the type of school that’s right for you. </p>
<p>Because price is usually a factor, finding a similar school to Middlebury that OP’s parent can afford is another matter, but not wanting to go to Michigan, regardless of its reputation, is a perfectly logical choice.</p>
<p>I agree…the choice isn’t Midd or UMich. There would be some middle-ground smaller schools that would give him enough merit to get costs down to UMich.</p>
<p>It’s entirely possible that Ann Arbor is too big for you to be comfortable. Whether or not some students would give their right arm for UMichigan is irrelevant. </p>
<p>Consider financial aid and merit scholarships at smaller private schools, but barring that, there are some pretty good public liberal arts colleges that have a much lower list price than Middlebury ($57K tuition+room+board). Most are the size of a small university but are still undergraduate focused and small. </p>
<p>Consider the following public LACs that are on the lower end of costs for OOS.
Truman State in Missouri $21K (tuition+room+board)
SUNY Geneseo $28K (tuition + room+board)
UNC Asheville $28K (tuition + room+board)
University of Minnesota-Morris $20K (tuition+room+board)
Mt Allison University in New Brunswick Canada $25K (tuition+room+board+medical ins)</p>
<p>More expensive
College of New Jersey $37K (tuition+room+board)
Miami University (OH) $41K (tuition+room+board)
William & Mary (VA) $48K (tuition+room+board)</p>
<p>Less expensive privates (combined with some merit might make these affordable)
Kalamazoo College $48K (tuition+room+board)
Beloit College $48K (tuition+room+board)
Lawrence University $50K (tuition+room+board)</p>
<p>You can get into the honor’s college and are eligible for a presidential scholarship. No idea how much money that is, but at $40k total OOS before merit, it’s way cheaper than Middlebury. </p>
<p>You don’t need to go to go to your hometown college, but that’s the amount of money your parents seem to feel comfortable spending so find another school you like better for the in-state public price.</p>
<p>That’s probably the biggest draw to Umich, the Ross School of Business is superb. However, Midd and other LAC’s are hugely represented in Dartmouth’s Tuck Business School and others. The problem is that job opportunites in Finance seems to be greatly determined upon the prestige of your undergraduate school. </p>
<p>Too add to the frustration, my parents have a deal that they will match whatever Umich tuition is. Meaning that if I graduate from there, I will be debt free. Whereas any private school (Middlebury, Bowdoin etc.) I will have about 30k a year to pay for mysel. I just really dislike Umich’s campus/size and I feel that I won’t be learning as well in a large school vs. a smaller one.</p>
<p>Whereas any private school (Middlebury, Bowdoin etc.) I will have about 30k a year to pay for mysel</p>
<p>NO…that’s not true. At “any private school” you will NOT have $30k per year to pay for yourself. With an ACT 30, there are some good privates that would give you enough merit to get costs down to about UMich’s costs plus maybe a $5500 loan.</p>
<p>Besides, YOU can’t borrow $30k per year…nor should you. That’s an outrageous amount to borrow. YOU can only borrow $5500 for your frosh year. To borrow more would require cosigners, which your parents probably won’t do.</p>
<p>So…the folks here probably know some privates that have good B-schools that would give you enough merit to get costs down to about $35k per year. </p>
<p>I’m thinking…try:</p>
<p>Chapman Univ
some of the mid-tier Catholics
(do UDayton, DePaul, Loyola Chicago, LMU have good B-schools?)</p>
<p>For finance, Ross is hard to beat, and the Ross BBA program, where you’d be taking most of your classes, is relatively small, about 500 students per year. With a 30 ACT, however, pre-admission to Ross is a high reach; average ACT of entering Ross pre-admit freshmen is 33. Transferring to Ross from LSA as a sophomore is highly competitive, consequently no sure thing either; a lot would depend on your freshman year GPA. Under the circumstances, it would be wise to consider alternatives to Michigan even if it was your first choice, which apparently it’s not. </p>
<p>I think you can fairly tell your parents that you need to consider alternatives to Michigan because you’re not sure you’ll be admitted to Ross, the program you’d want to do if you went to Michigan. Unfortunately, your in-state public alternatives are either larger than Michigan (Michigan State), or not nearly as good (a possible exception is Michigan Tech for engineering, but that’s not your field). So that may leave you looking at the lower-cost OOS publics or privates that give lots of merit aid–most of which, frankly, are not as good as Michigan academically, but it is what it is. (This assumes you’ve run the net price calculators and it’s clear you won’t qualify for need-based aid).</p>
<p>I’d say Middlebury is also a reach with a 30 ACT. It’s OK to apply to a few reaches, but you need to be looking for safeties and matches.</p>
<p>I’m interested in finance for a career, but I think I’d rather study economics in college. Then I’d go on and get my MBA with a concentration in finance.</p>
<p>Fair enough (though I’m a little confused because upthread you said Ross was “the biggest draw” to Michigan, but whatever).</p>
<p>Economics is a very popular major at Michigan; 451 Bachelors degrees in econ were awarded last year, which I believe makes it the second most popular undergrad major after psychology (528 Bachelors degrees awarded). With that many majors, you’re likely to have big classes all the way through.</p>
<p>But my caveat about not taking Michigan for granted still stands. Your GPA and class rank are fine, but a 30 ACT is no longer a sure admit these days even for LSA. You need a realistic set of alternatives, not only reachy (and pricey) high-end LACs, but more matches and safeties. I’d say Michigan LSA is a match but not a sure thing, Michigan Ross pre-admit is a high reach. Middlebury is also a reach; their 25th percentile ACT score is 31.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, any in-state alternatives to the University of Michigan involve trading down in quality. Apart from your “reach” schools, many OOS public and private alternatives may involve simultaneously trading down in quality and trading up in price.</p>