I’m coming here for help. My daughter and I are struggling with which college to choose: Barnard or Macalester. My daughter loves NYC and Columbia but Macalester offered her a scholarship. As a divorced mom I feel guilty to hold her back, but Columbia’s diploma is also an attraction. So it’s a $90,000/yr vs $50,000/yr struggle! Please share your insights if you can, thank you.
Where is that money coming from to fund Barnard? If it’s parent loans or parent co-signed loans…you are looking at a huge amount of debt.
But actually, even Mac at $50,000 a year (is that what you meant) means $200,000 or more.
Will any of this be funded with parent loans?
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Macalester is a great school. It’s in a big city (Minneapolis/St. Pul) with the added benefit of it being a state capital. Your job as a parent is to provide with the best education you can. If you send her to Macalester, you will not be shortchanging her. There are a lot of kids for whom that was their dream school but they were turned down.
Columbia will still be there in a few years when she graduates. At that point, she can opt to do graduate studies there. If she pursues a PhD, they will pay her to go there. It’s worth noting that Barnard/Columbia is in a dangerous area. Postponing that experience until she’s a little older and more worldly wise would be the smart thing to do.
Your daughter is a teenager. She loves her idea of NYC, but unless you’ve lived there before, she really doesn’t know what daily life in NYC is like.
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Can you easily afford Barnard? You’re talking about $112,000 extra for Barnard. Does she want an all women’s college? Honestly, as a parent, I’m not sure I’d let my child choose a college just because it’s in NYC. With all the money you save, she can go there for vacation any time she likes.
Mclaester is an excellent school, also located in a city. It’s known for socially aware and intelligent students who make an impact. Kofi Annan is a graduate. I suggest she spend time looking at Niche, their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds, and see what she thinks. So many students get stars in their eyes about NYC. I suspect the reality of living there is often much different from what people expect.
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I would choose Macalester- is $50,000 a year affordable for you?
She could attend Columbia for grad school. Plus- it is not unusual for Columbia to provide merit awards and FA for graduate programs that are not PhDs.
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When I went to Macalester there were two transfers from Barnard. They much preferred Mac.
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I have spoken to many happy Barnard students, however if it’s not affordable then it isn’t really an option.
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Needs context on how much you can actually afford without needing parent loans, parent-cosigned loans, or compromising your household finances with respect to younger kids’ college funding or your retirement.
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Is this really a matter of “I can see myself here?” or “These are my peep?” Sounds like it’s really “Columbia” the university prestige that is the attraction here, not Barnard-the-all-women’s-college-on-the-upper-West-Side-of-Manhattan-experience. As others have noted, Columbia, Barnard’s parent-institution, will be there in four years and will have a lot more meaning for her intellectually and professionally.
Macalester and the Minneapolis/St. Paul area have their own attractions and I’d examine whether they aren’t comparable in terms of fit.
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Yes, especially when the OP says this:
And this:
The OP isn’t suggesting her daughter is eager for the experience of an all women’s college. And doesn’t the diploma still say Barnard?
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The diploma says Columbia, and there is a tremendous amount of interaction between the schools- research, social etc
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Yes, the diploma says “Barnard”. It also says “Columbia”. In other words, both are on there.
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That’s weird- a student I know who attended Barnard has a diploma that says Columbia. Maybe I misunderstood? Actually- it might say Columbia University, Barnard College (?).
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It likely says “Barnard College of Columbia University,” or something similar. The point being made to you might have been that it includes Columbia.
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My D’s diploma from Teachers College at Columbia was a Columbia diploma signed by both the president of Columbia and of Teachers College so I’d guess it is similar for the Barnard diploma.
Anyway, we can probably move off the diploma discussion.
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Yes, that’s what it says. And it’s signed by the presidents of both Barnard and Columbia.
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That’s a perfect comparison. TC and Barnard both have the same relationship with Columbia.
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Yes, true. However, it’s important that the OP’s daughter wants the women’s college experience. It seems that the daughter is primarily interested in Columbia.
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Parent of former Columbia student here. My daughter was attracted to living in NYC (as a rural WA resident with NY ties) and loved what Columbia offered: core curriculum, connection with Barnard, potential for great performing arts extracurriculars, internships, etc. Then reality set in, and she could not imagine living in cramped conditions in NYC for 4 years. Furthermore, the intensity of some of the students and their anxiety around not getting into highly-competitive extracurriculars surprised her. I was amazed by how much my not particularly outdoorsy child missed the greenness of the Pacific Northwest.
From our experience, I would recommend Macalester. Personally, I think it offers a more balanced environment. I tried to convince my daughter to look at schools around Minneapolis, but she nixed them.
Good luck with your family’s choice!
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Is having a particular name on a diploma worth $200,000 more?
Definitely not.
Go to Mac. Use the leftover money for grad school and/or to subsidize the cost of living in Manhattan for summer internships.
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