Cheap State School vs. Private?

@ThankYouforHelp you think someone who can get into a much better school will end up in the middle of the pack at the low price in-state? It’s more likely they will end up in the middle of the class at the much better school.

This I agree with. I’m from NY, but both my parents went to UMass so they heavily encouraged me to acquaint myself with the school and apply there. We took a family vacation there once…anyway, I was totally impressed and actually really happy to be accepted, although I didn’t end up going. It’s definitely not all ZooMass culture. Students and faculty are doing incredible amounts of research, are winning awards and recognitions, and the school is nationally and internationally ranked. Plus, if you really want to try a different kind of student culture, you can always take classes as part of the five college consortium.

Northeastern has suddenly become hot-ish- certainly more competitive- but in our little corner of the world it would not be seen as any better than UMass-Amherst at all. I suspect that it is a combination of marketing and rising tides lifting NEU. And certainly not worth any amount of extra debt!

As others have said, you will find lots of smart, very hardworking achievement oriented peers at UMass. Go with your head high, make the most of it & know that in 10 years nobody is going to look down on your degree.

@ThankYouforHelp you think someone who can get into a much better school will end up in the middle of the pack at the low price in-state? It’s more likely they will end up in the middle of the class at the much better school.”

Because almost everyone ends up somewhere in the middle of the pack. Have one bad semester, maybe you are homesick as a freshman, maybe you get involved too much with a girlfriend or party too much for just a few weeks, or maybe you go into a major that doesn’t suit you, heck, have just one class that turns out to be way more difficult than you thought it was going to be and boom - you are no longer top of the class.

It’s not realistic to assume that you will be top of the class anywhere. That’s why you should ask yourself what opportunities the other 90 plus percent of the class is likely to have, when you weigh your choices.

Studies have shown that students who were selected for more competitive (higher ranked) schools and instead attended lower ranked schools did just as well as their peers at the higher ranked schools. It depends on the student, not the school.

Why are the only two choices NEU and UMass?

With this student’s stats, there are other choices for school that will give merit.

How much will your parents pay each year for UMass? Have they said that they will pay for all of UMass’ costs? Have you specifically asked them? If not, do so.

Your career goal is Finance?

No school is worth $200k in debt. NO school is worth $100k in debt.

@ThankYouforHelp your point in response to my post is very valid and well taken, but I agree with @Erin’s Dad.

If you can get admitted to a highly selective private school, you’re almost surely a cut or two above the guy or gal in the middle of the pack at the state school.

The situations you mentioned might shift someone from 98 percentile in their class to 95th or 90th, but likely not 50th. And if that bad a meltdown occurred, imagine owing 50K for that year and having basically nothing to show for it.

And many of my classmates in the middle 50 percent of the state school did very well for themselves.

Well I am close to my family, which lives in Boston, so I generally want to stay in the Northeast. There haven’t been any “wow” private schools besides NU and BC for me. I think it is foolish for me to go to a state school like UCONN, when I can pay in-state tuition at UMass Amherst for not a huge difference in education. I absolutely value my education, but I also like to drink on the weekends, so I think UMass would fit that culture quite well. (Especially if I get into the Honors College).

What about Tufts and BU? I thought there’s lots of colleges in Boston.

Merit scholarships at other schools? There’s plenty of great private schools in the northeast. If you can get one around or under 50k total, then it would merit SOME consideration versus UMASS. But simply, UMass is the best bang for the buck by far, and any feeling of frustration, even if merited, is not worth the huge effect large loans would have on your future.

@DrGoogle My SAT and GPA isn’t good enough for Tufts, and BU is very expensive. Possibly more expensive than NU and I would rather go there :/.

Unless you plan to visit them every weekend, do you really need to be within a 1-1/2 hr driving radius from Boston? My kids are int’l, when I talk to them on phone from 10 miles away or 10,000 miles away, it sounds the same.

25 Best Values in New England Colleges
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/college/T014-C000-S001-best-college-values-in-new-england-2015.html

25 Best Values in Mid-Atlantic Colleges
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/college/T014-C000-S001-best-college-values-in-the-mid-atlantic-2015.html

Amtrak runs along East coast from Boston-- easy peasy

@GMTplus7 I understand your situation, however, my family and I are very close and it would be nice to drive down every couple weekends and visit.

That’s why I gave you a link of other New England possibilities to look at. You are being very myopic to consider only UMass & NEU.

@GMTplus7 Well like I’ve said earlier, I looked through many colleges in the Northeast. However, I have narrowed down my list to my favorite private vs. my favorite state school. NU and UMass are my “final two” per-say.

It’s “per se”.

I’m only correcting you because you’re using it incorrectly, and spell check won’t catch it if you misspell it that way in your admissions essay.

@GMTplus7 Lol

Everyone - I want to sincerely apologize if my post #18 sounded too braggy or arrogant. This is a super-hot button for me right now, when my rising senior daughter has stats that outreach our financial grasp.

I want to echo the comment that once I was 5-10 years out of my M.S. program, no one gave a crap where I went to school, except for those in the Northeast who thought the Southwest was all tumbleweeds and golf. My education details receded to two lines near the end of my resume (yes, i did include magna cum laude) -and all the focus was on my work experience.

To the opinion stated a page or so back about what things can drop you from top 10% to middle of the pack: I worked 15-20 hours a week out of financial necessity, and I did party my first semester away from home, right after a traumatic romantic breakup. I finished my first year at Flagship U wiith a 3.2 GPA. That’s why I graduated magna and not summa. I had an upward trend from there and bent over backward to keep a 4.0 in my major. Again, as school receded in the rearview mirror these details mattered a lot less.

Take a look at HEBHE, a tuition reduction program for New England states. It may open up some options

@onmyownway Please ask your parents how much they’ll actually pay each year. This will be the amount that they will solely be responsible for.


[QUOTE=""]
I have a 1400 for the Cr+Math sections, which is 100 points above the requirement. I also have a 4.1 Weighted GPA when the requirement is 3.7 so I just think I am in good standing for the Honors Program.

[/QUOTE]

there must be some NE schools that you haven’t yet visited that would give you merit and you’d like as well.

I think that you’re wrong that you’d be driving home every couple of weekends. Once you’re in college, you’ll be busy.