I’ve been fortunate enough to be accepted into these three schools and am having a very hard time choosing.
At Amherst and Michigan, I’m looking at majoring in economics/political science, while at Georgetown I’m focusing on the International Political Economy.
I hear that the SFS is the best school in the country for IR, but it’s the most expensive school on my list, especially since I’m in-state for UMich.
Any help or insight towards the schools’ programs and environments would be greatly appreciated!
If you calculate (tuition, fees, room, board) - (scholarships, grants) = what is the result in exact dollar amount for each school?
How much of that amount would be covered “out of pocket” by your parents? by federal loans and work study/a job?
Would you or your parents have to borrow above the federal (“stafford”) loans?
I’d cross SFS out. Between the others you really can’t go wrong. Gerogetown is top for International/Geopolitical fields. Amherst is a great school.
What you need to ask yourself is do I, or I will I want to go to grad school in the future?
If yes, pick Michigan. You can excel academically and save some money.
If no, decide which program you want and pick the school with the better one.
@MYOS1634 I received aid from both Amherst and Georgetown plus a small merit scholarship from Michigan. Georgetown still remains almost twice as expensive as Michigan with Amherst almost squarely in the middle between them. However, my parents really liked the school and program when we visited and told me not to worry about finances, but I’m having doubts about putting that much financial pressure on them.
@Mandalorian I’m definitely planning on going to grad school, but I’m worried Michigan’s size will prevent me from getting to know professors well or getting access to research opportunities. Amherst’s small size seems to cover that, but they don’t seem to send many people outside of med/law to graduate school. I really liked Georgetown’s structured program for IR, but I’m not sure how well it would prepare me for grad school.
It seems that financially Michigan is the best option, but it’s a little too close to home and I’m worried about fitting in, especially since I’m not too in to sports or partying.
Where in the world did you hear that Amherst doesn’t send many people to grad school (PHD I suppose you mean)? Their record is superb in that respect. NESCAC is like the Ivy League of LACs and Amherst is at the very top (think, perhaps, Yale).
Since you want small classes; no big sports, and a relationship with your professors, I agree that Amherst is your best choice.
Ask your parents how much they could pay out of pocket, how much in debt they would be got Georgetown Georgetown SFS is indeed THE best school. if your goal is Foreign Service, they even have a special preparation only they have (which makes the difference.) However, the opportunities will be similar from Amherst, even for prestige-driven fields such as IR.
What kind of graduate/professional program do you think you’d want to attend?
In a strong PhD program, your tuition and living costs should be fully funded by the university.
An MA/MS/MBA program may be covered (in whole or in part) by an employer.
For law school, you (or your family) probably would be covering the entire cost.
According to the numbers I’m seeing on webcaspar (National Science Foundation data) and IPEDS (National Center for Education Statistics), Amherst alumni earn more PhDs per capita in economics and political science than Georgetown or Michigan alumni do. I’m not too confident of the exact numbers (due to the judgement calls one must make in counting alumni). However, the spread appears to be big enough, and consistent enough with other data I’ve seen, that I would expect Amherst to be quite competitive with Georgetown or Michigan with respect to social science PhD production. Selective LACs generally out-perform state flagships in alumni PhDs earned per capita. http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html (see “other social sciences” column, with Amherst at #9).
What’s the annual out-of-pocket price difference between Amherst and Michigan?
Would you need to borrow more per year than the federal student loan maximums ($5500-$7500/year) to make Amherst work? If so, go to Michigan. If not, then seriously consider Amherst (especially if you don’t need to save money for law school or other professional degree.)
tk, I am fairly certain that LACs have a higher PhD production rate because of the types of students they attract, not because they are more effective at producing PhDs.
Between those schools, I would first look at cost, then at the “better fit” academically, socially and culturally. You can’t go wrong either way.
Nobody here knows your family’s fi nancial situation. We don’t know if picking Amherst means Mom and Pop will be eating peanut butter sandwiches for the next 4 years or if it means they will be delaying the purchase if that new Bentley they had their eye on.
If the choice is between Mich and Amherst, it should be pretty obvious to u whether u will thrive more at a big bustling university or a small cozy college.
@MYOS1634@tk21769 I guess I was misinformed about Amherst’s ability to send students to grad school. After speaking to my parents and reviewing my aid letters, Amherst is about 13k per year more expensive than Michigan while Georgetown is 22k more expensive. However, Georgetown’s aid package includes a 5k per year federal work-study program, and 3k per year in federal subsidized loans. My parents said they wouldn’t need to take out loans for any of the schools, as they are about to finish paying off some heavy work loans in September, which would drastically improve our financial situation.
However, the work-study program seems to negate one of the primary benefits that I saw at Georgetown: the ability to intern during the school year, as I don’t feel as I could juggle an internship while also taking a full course load and doing a work-study program.
work study only means “working on campus” Since you’re unlikely to have an internship until at least sophomore year (typically the summer after sophomore year), you can use your work study award to do interesting stuff on campus, or at least build your resume by showing good work ethics when doing boring stuff (useful, trust me :D)