I want to do business with a CS minor. At CMU, I got a grant of about $15k (do they generally do that for one year or every year? the FA office won’t give a straight answer). So assuming that it is for every year, it’s CMU for $240K or Rutgers Honors for $64k.
Rutgers!
Can you really afford either? Should you instead start at community college, in the honors program, and go “away” for the last two years? $64,000 of debt - $659+ a month for 10 years. And that ASSUMES you graduate in four years - lots of kids do not, and the extra time is not free.
Also, this means you need to come up with $16,000 a year. Do you understand how much you are eligible for in student loans? First year = $5,500. Where is the other $11,000 coming from?
We play it real here in ColConf. You may not like it. Then again, you may be grateful to learn these facts now.
Rutgers. CM is a fantastic school, but the nearly 200K difference would be better spent on a down payment on a house, on an MBA, as seed money for the business you may wish to start after graduation, or saved for retirement. Any of those things will have a bigger long-term impact on your life than where you attend undergrad college.
Thanks Groundwork
I should have added more info. My parents can pay for CMU so there won’t be any debt, but I am just trying to figure out if CMU is worth the difference over Rutgers Honors College.
@manveldad Is CMU for undergrad worth your parents, who ~say~ they can pay that money (Is it in savings, have you seen the statement? SO many parents make statements to their kids that the kids can go anywhere … but the parents really don’t have the money saved…)
Your parents can pay, let’s assume they have the money saved and really can.
Is it worth an extra 200K? Or would you be better off using that money for grad school, or as the person above said, to pay for a house in an area you want to live later? That kind of money doesn’t just drop from the sky (at least not for 99% of the population). I’d go to RU Honors and put my all into it. Use the money to travel, do a semester abroad and travel etc.
See if your parents are willing to negotiate something with you if you take Rutgers. We did this with Kiddo #1 who opted to accept a full ride at a lower school. She will get a decent sum of money upon graduation that will go towards a terminal masters program or travel, or a significant down payment on a first home.
I don’t believe that your life will be $176k “better” for having graduated from CMU vs. Rutgers Honors. I think if you work hard at Rutgers you will have likely as many opportunities as if you graduated from CMU.
as a business prospie, you should run the ROI of each. And unless you think that employers will pay a CMU grad that much more than a Rutgers grad for the same job, the choice is obvious.
That being saiid, if your parents have money to burn, an OOS private is a wonderful educational experience.
the best ROI in NJ is TCNJ and its ranked the top business school in nj and #34 in the nation.
Rutgers Business School ranks in the top 15 for ROI nationally. In fact, it is the ONLY school in NJ in the top 20 for ROI (not certain where TCNJ fits in, what data there is to support stating it is “the best ROI in NJ”, or why it is even mentioned in a thread specifically posing a choice between CMU and Rutgers). Data assumes full tuition of about $35k/year or about $110k for a 4-year undergrad. Even at that level, with average salary out of Rutgers Business at around $60k, you will come out close to $200k ahead. If you are down around $64k, it’s all gravy. Just something to consider, per @bluebayou, and GREAT suggestion from @My3Kiddos!