So obviously, i have only days to decide on this, and was really set on going to RIT after a visit on the accepted student open house. This was until Bentley informed me of my financial aid package, 43,500 dollars in university need based aid alone, enough to cover tuition entirely. On top of my Pell Grant this would make Bentley just over 10k a year. I haven’t been able to visit Bentley but it seems like an nice place using the Virtual Tour. Plus I’d much rather be in Boston than all the way out in boring Rochester. I’m set as “Undecided Business” at both schools. Also cost is definitely a factor but its more or less coming out of my pocket directly as I’m planning to pay off all my loans immediately when my annuity matures when I turn 25.
The thing about it all is, I’m not totally set on doing business, hell i really don’t know what i want to do, but business seems to be both the most lucrative and interesting. But a part of me still wants to go engineering, computer science or even down a pre-med to med school path, all these things I could just switch over to at RIT but would require transferring out of Bentley.
To sum up pros and cons of both
At RIT, I’d be paying around 15 thousand a year after grants, I think I’d also fit in better with the student population (kind of a nerd, come from a poor family too). I really liked the campus and everyone there seemed incredibly happy, I’d also have the liberty of changing out of the business field without transferring out. It also has a great Coop program with tons of great businesses.
Cons of RIT being it’s slightly further away, more expensive, much less prestigious (right? at least the business program) and I feel kind of odd and left out of the norm by being a business student at a technical college. Also a 70/30 male/female gender split might suck for someone like myself (i’m a guy lol)
At Bentley it’d be just over 10k a year, more prestigious business institution with name recognition, better local area, closer to home (4 hour drive vs 6 to RIT) and honestly i don’t know much more, better alumni network i suppose (again, am I mistaken?).
Some big factors making me shy away from Bentley are the so called “rich and arrogant” student population, both of which when coincided with one another are my least favorite traits of anyone. This along with having to transfer out if i ever want to not do business. I also haven’t been able to visit and the only look I’ve got at the campus is the virtual tour.
So where am I right and where am I wrong? What are your suggestions on where I should ultimately put my deposit down?