Hi everyone - I am in a position academically where I can go to a many colleges with almost no debt (i.e. any college in Michigan besides U of M and MSU). Even if I went to MSU, I would save a year of tuition based on my numerous AP courses. However, not a single college even competes with U of M academically, but if I went there I would be slightly below average, so I would most likely pay full tuition for 4-5 years based on my intended major. I plan on majoring in chemical engineering, and going all the way to doctorate level. I have talked to numerous people with doctorates, and they have all said your undergrad really doesn’t matter. With this in mind, is it better to choose a cheap college over prestige?
If you know you are going to grad school, my opinion is to save the money in undergrad and go with the cheaper option. A word of caution about AP courses - be sure they really will impact when you will graduate. My daughter is going to start with sophomore standing but because of the way the chem e requirements are structured, at most could graduate a semester early.
Most good engineering PhD programs are likely to be fully funded (with free tuition plus a stipend). So, your ambition to pursue a doctorate shouldn’t put you under greater pressure to minimize college costs than you otherwise would be. Not that a mountain of debt is every a good thing, regardless.
Have you run the online net price calculators on every college that interests you?
Have you considered any private universities?
More selective/prestigious colleges sometimes have lower net prices than the alternatives, if you qualify for need-based aid. If you don’t, and if you’re counting on merit scholarships or low sticker prices to keep costs manageable, then a less selective/prestigious university may be a better choice.
College is not just career preparation. It is an experience in itself— a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
To a great extent, the college experience is affected by your own attitude and willingness to embrace its academic, intellectual, social and extracurricular possibilities. So, from that standpoint, you could go absolutely anywhere and have a good experience.
But many people look for a college that provides a “fit” for the type of experience they want.
If any colleges that will give you generous merit have that “fit” (i.e., match the type of experience you want), great! Go for it. You will have saved a bunch of money.
But if you envision a better experience elsewhere, it may not be worth the savings for you. My son got into his top choice ED, but if it had come down to a choice between his safety with a scholarship covering full tuition plus room and board, versus no aid and full pay at any of the colleges that were better fits for him, he would have chosen the more expensive option with our full agreement in his choice. Could he have been happy at the safety and gotten a solid education there? Of course. Especially since he chose a safety that shared some key characteristics with other colleges he liked. But he wanted a certain type of college experience that the reaches provided better.
You get to go to college only once, for a very special four years.
Start by thinking about fit, and then take a look at the net price calculator for colleges that seem like a good “fit,” whether public or private. You may be delighted to see that what you will pay is within your family’s means. Tk’s advice above, about more selective colleges providing better need based aid, is worth considering and seeing if your estimated family contribution works for you.
If not, then a generous merit scholarship is a wonderful thing to have, and you can make the most of the experience based on your own will and enthusiasm.
@TheGreyKing “College is not just career preparation. It is an experience in itself— a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime experience…You get to go to college only once, for a very special four years.”
Excellent point and I think one that is overlooked all the time on CC. Every student should think long and hard about what they want to get out of college and then determine which ones are going to be the best fit for their short-term and long-term goals.
However, it is understandable that students without wealthy generous parents can be under a lot of cost/debt pressure, which can shape their college and major choices due to the need to graduate quickly and get a job to be self-supporting, without needing extended parental support for an extended post-graduation job search. Unfortunately, the long term goals often must be compromised for immediate short term needs.
It depends on whether your parents can afford full tuition, or if full tuition means taking on a lot of debt. If you are only looking at being debt free at a lesser school vs. taking the $27k federal student loans for the high ranked flagship, then definitely don’t sweat the small loan. It will be easily repaid once you start working. If it is debt free vs. $100k loans for undergrad, I would seriously think hard before taking on that big of a loan when you know you willl be paying for at least some grad school.
As long as the program is ABET accredited, math is pretty much math in the long run.
@ucbalumnus “However, it is understandable that students without wealthy generous parents can be under a lot of cost/debt pressure, which can shape their college and major choices due to the need to graduate quickly and get a job to be self-supporting, without needing extended parental support for an extended post-graduation job search. Unfortunately, the long term goals often must be compromised for immediate short term needs.”
Point taken but what I was trying to convey is that you can and should think about achieving both, a solid major for good job prospects post-graduation and getting the full college experience. The journey is as important as the destination and once you start working, raising a family, have a mortgage, etc. you have less options to take risks and experience the world. When you are a young 18-21 year old it is the perfect time for exploration. I think we tend to lose sight of this.
Our S received virtually a full ride at state Flagship and a generous scholarship at a small, business oriented university (polar opposites) . In the end, he opted to be full pay at a fine university that is really the best of all worlds for him. Yes it’s expensive. Fortunately, we can afford it without tapping in to retirement funds. Many would say why not just choose one of the two far less expensive routes. I would say, this is an investment in his future. We have the resources (although it did result in spouse going back to work - so yes, some sacrifice beyond money). Seeing the results (personal growth, quality of friends, world view, ability to figure things out on his own, prep for future career, etc.) we couldn’t be more pleased or happy with the choice. He’s on a certain trajectory now. Not saying he wouldn’t be had he attended another school; no way to know that. But he is thriving and that’s good enough for me!
Don’t worry just yeat about A vs. B. Apply to all of them. Apply for financial aid, and for all of the scholarships that they have that you are eligible for. Visit them. Talk with the professors in your major, and find out more about their programs and where their students go to grad school. Pop by the career centers, and find out where their graduates get jobs. Then when you do get your admissions offers and aid offers you will be able to sort through everything more rationally and make your decision.