<p>Alright so I am deciding between Washu, Oberlin, Swarthmore, and Binghamton. We appealed our fin aid decision at Swarthmore and our one at Wustl is being reevaluated. Binghamton, is significantly cheaper than both of those obviously, even with fin aid. As an added plus, I would be part of Binghamtons track and field team, which is D1. Basically what I am asking is, is the academic quality differnce between Bing and the other schools great enough where it'd be worth an extra 20-25k? And would this choice of Bing come back to haunt me in the future? (Mind that I want to be a professor, or do something in public policy or education) Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>If you want to be a professor, I think Swathmore will be the best for that. However, for education or public policy Bing is very good. Many of my teachers at my top rated public school went to Bing.</p>
<p>Binghamton has had a great reputation for decades. It was the top SUNY when I worked for the system 30 years ago. You might look at where its grads get in to graduate school, and that will probably make you feel better.</p>
<p>More and more smart young people are taking the lower-cost route for undergraduate school especially if they plan to go on to graduate school. It just doesn’t make sense to spend all your savings and perhaps take out loans for undergraduate school. I would also argue that going to a SUNY school will give you more flexibility to explore many different subjects because it will probably be more generous with your AP credits if you have them.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that financial aid packages change from year to year. What you are given the first year–to reel you in so to speak–may not be given in the years following.</p>
<p>Is the difference 20-25k per year or overall? How would you cover that difference?</p>
<p>If your aid packages don’t include any loans whatsoever, and you could cover the difference with no more than the maximum each year with Stafford loans, then it would be do-able. If you are talking more debt than that, then no. Run the numbers and see what you think: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) Right now, Bing is the clear winner.</p>
<p>I’ll follow up MD Mom’s suggestion to look at where grads go with a related suggestion to chat/email with some professors at Bing in the fields you’re interested in. Ask them if they’ve sent students on to grad programs, and where. I will bet you that they will mention highly motivated and capable students who go on to excellent grad programs. It’s your graduate institution that matters, not the undergrad. </p>
<p>Public Policy and Education aren’t fields that generally result in big bucks, so keeping your debt low is going to give you greater options in the working world. With no or low debt you don’t have to worry about choosing work which will allow you to pay back big debt. </p>
<p>That said, I have a warm place in my heart for Swarthmore as a special academic and intellectual experience in its own right (not from personal experience, though). I’d think it was worth $20k of debt, but not $100k.</p>
<p>Great input guys. Yeah it would come out to be 20 to 25k YEARLY difference, which obviously is substantial. I visited Swarthmore and really liked it, plus I am really big on social justice and stuff like that was really cool. Oh and my parents were just going to take on extra hours and take out loans to cover the difference. It seems that Bing’s grads are very successful, but as we all know in the professional world, reputation and networking are very important.</p>
<p>BUMP, I was hoping I’d never have to do it</p>
<p>How easily can your parents “take on extra hours” and pay off any loans that they would take out to meet this difference? If it would be mostly loans, can they even qualify for those loans in the first place? What is your family FAFSA EFC?</p>
<p>Swarthmore is one of the very few institutions for which I would consider combining the maximum Stafford loans for my child and taking on some parent loans in order to meet our full family EFC. However, you notice that I used the word “consider”. After going through all of the numbers with a very sharp pencil, the decision could come down on the anti-Swarthmore side.</p>
<p>Only you and your parents really know what is possible for you financially. Sit down with them and talk about what this kind of expense would mean for your family. Find out just exactly what the rest of your family would need to sacrifice for you to have a Swarthmore education. All of you need to make this decision with clear heads, not with your emotions.</p>