Hello all! I am a high school senior from rural Minnesota, and I am currently trying to decide on whether I should attend Carleton College in Northfield or the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities.
Some background information- I am looking into majoring in mathematics. At the University of Minnesota, I gained admission into the College of Science and Engineering but was not selected for the honors program. In terms of financing my education, my parents are willing to cover most of my costs if I were to attend the U of M (about $29,000/year) but would only be able to cover part of my costs at Carleton (about $62,000/year). Furthermore, it would be more cost-friendly to go to the U as my sibling is a current freshman, and we could room together at an off-campus apartment in the future, after my freshman year.
So… I know both schools are very different in many aspects. If the costs of both were the same, I would most likely choose to go to Carleton College. However, is the quality of Carleton worth the difference in price?
Please feel free to ask me for more information. Thank you in advance for your advice!
sadly the cost are not the same and if your folks can not cover the cost of Carlton , you decision is made for you. what was your aid package at Carlton? what is the delta compared to the U? You can not make up the difference in cost if they are sizable.
@kidfrommn , disclaimer: I’m a graduate of the Carlson School at Minnesota for my MBA.
Carleton is a great school, and I had several very smart classmates who went there.
But, in my opinion, if the difference is $33,000/year, $132,000 for four years (and the cost will for sure go up), then the short answer is no. You could do a lot with an extra $130,000. Go to grad school, or buy a car, put a down payment on a house, and travel for 6 months following graduation.
Minnesota is a great and well respected school. You can’t go wrong going there, and the U is a fun place to spend four years. Don’t go into major debt, especially for an undergraduate degree.
My aid package at Carleton was calculated to be $12,000 for the first year. My parents would be able to cover a majority of the cost of Carleton, but I would still have to take out some student loans.
I agree with @sbdad12 - while Carleton is an excellent college, so is UMN. However, graduating from an excellent college without debt always beats graduating from an excellent college with debt.
You can only borrow a total of $27k ($5.5k, $6.5k, $7.5k, $7.5k) without a cosigner or parent loans. If you need to borrow more than that of the $132k difference, then you cannot realistically afford Carleton.