<p>Echoing another thread, but changing the facts slightly: Is it a better choice to pay full tuition at HYP or take Robertson at UNC? Assuming non-science, non-engineering, and assume that all have good programs in candidate's field of study. </p>
<p>Obviously this is a presumptuous exercise at this point, but inevitably there will be a number of candidates who will face this decision within a few weeks and have < 2 weeks to make the decision. So please consider the question seriously!</p>
<p>A co-worker's D chose the Morehead over HYPS. She later won a merit scholarship (full ride, I think) to medical school as well. While Robertson is not Morehead, UNC is UNC. FWIW, there's a girl who won the Morehead, the BN Duke and accepted to Yale. She chose Duke. UNC is not Duke but it's not that far from it, literally and figuratively :-)</p>
<p>I know a young woman who turned down Princeton for UNC. Her story was part of a larger story in the New York Times Magazine.</p>
<p>If you have to pay full price at Harvard, you may be in an income range in which you're not all that impacted by cost. If your family annual income is $180,000 or less, you'd only have to pay about 10% of it to go to Harvard.</p>
<p>A student from my kid's high school turned down the scholarship to go to Yale. It is a case where the parents had no issue with paying the full tuition. The reason Yale over Duke was the student was a shy person, not much of a partier. The parents felt Yale was a better fit for their son. That was the story, but it could have been a prestige issue and money was no object for the family.</p>
<p>It's a tough choice. One of these prestigious scholarships singles you out--but I suspect the benefit is somewhat regional. The financial element depends on the family's situation, of course.</p>
<p>There will indeed be a number of people facing this decision. Most Robertson and Morehead winners have the stats to get into HYP and often turn them down.</p>
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<p>Thanks IB for posting that.</p>
<p>While the Robertson and Morehead are somewhat different programs, especially the summer programs, as another poster said, UNC is UNC.</p>
<p>My S attended an all boys very elite private school in a graduating class of 82. Over 25% of his class matriculated at HYPSM. He was one of seven accepted to Yale and the only one who chose not to attend. The Morehead nomination was a big honor and led to some difficult choices when the other acceptances stared to roll in. Once he was admitted to Yale (SCEA) and knew he was a Morehead finalist, he withdraw apps from Pomona, Dartmouth, Amherst and one or two others. We encouraged him to keep his Princeton, Stanford and Wash U apps in for merit money purposes although in his mind, it was either going to be Yale or UNC.</p>
<p>When he became a Morehead finalist he asked one of his teachers who was someone he looked to as a trusted mentor what he should do if he got into Yale and won the Morehead. His teacher essentially said it was a "no brainer" and that he should take the Morehead. You need to understand that this school lives, eats, and breathes HYPMS from the time you arrive as a first grader so his comments were interesting to say the least He said that at Yale he would be one of about 1300, albeit a very talented 1300 while as a Morehead he'd be one of forty (his year) and would be exposed to the best of the best at UNC. He was dead on in his assessment.</p>
<p>After we visited UNC, met the Morehead staff as well as current Morehead Scholars I had an epiphany of sorts and came to realize that the day he entered school at UNC he would have a built-in peer group (moreso with the the Robertson by the way) of kids just like him and would have a staff of professional mentors who were not only interested in seeing him succeed but also highly financially invested in his success.</p>
<p>To be totally honest with you, I think that EAmom and I had the hardest time throughout the process trying to give up the Ivy dream and the thought of not being able to put the Yale sticker in our car back windows. It was very easy for us to get over it when we saw how happy and excited he was and how he was thriving and growing each year.</p>
<p>As someone has already said, virtually EVERY winner of the Morehead or Robertson has to choose between HYPMS or the scholarships. In my S's Morehead class there were six others who turned down Yale and several others who turned down H and P that I am aware of and even one girl who was a double Stanford legacy!</p>
<p>He had life changing summer experiences, got an incredible education, had an undergrad experience that was amazing, has an enormous circle of friends that he remains very close to and graduated absolutely debt free. He was very well prepared for professional school and is doing quite well as a first year med student at a top ten school.</p>
<p>Echoing his old HS teacher and mentor....it really is a no brainer......</p>
<p>I think it depends on the student's goals and the family budget. </p>
<p>If the student wants to get to med school for example, UNC could make the most sense. If he has his heart set on elite jobs in business, HYP may well be worth it.</p>
<p>We learned with DD that it's not best for some kids to be at the top of the pool at their college. She was much happier when she transferred to a college where most were her academic peers.</p>
<p>^^^Ditto. Every word that hmom5 said.</p>
<p>the robertson is a no brainer. you're known as one of the smartest people at unc and you go for free. </p>
<p>i know a robertson who is a senior right now who is deciding between attending grad school (for economics) at yale, stanford, or MIT. she honestly thinks the reason she got into all three is because she had so many amazing experiences (all of which the robertson provided/funded).</p>
<p>i know three robertsons in my year, and they chose the robertson over yale, harvard, stanford, brown, and williams.</p>
<p>USATODAY.com</a> - Wanted: CEO, no Ivy required</p>
<p>Yale</a> Daily News - Fewer CEOs are Ivy League grads</p>
<p>I hope to write a longer post later, but for now I only have time to write some quick notes:</p>
<p>Both the Robertson and Morehead-Cain offer far more than funding for college expenses -- they also fund summer research/travel, academic-year opportunities, etc. That is, they offer benefits far beyond what you would have if someone just magically swooped in and paid for your college each year. Indeed, they offer opportunities that would not necessarily be easy to come by even at HYPS (e.g., access to and automatic funding for specific programs and internships).</p>
<p>If prestige is a hangup, I think it's important to recognize that the Robertson and Morehead-Cain are, in many ways, equally strong "brands" themselves. The Morehead-Cain in particular is very respected among educators, employers, etc. The Robertson is not far behind.</p>
<p>As a Robertson, you have access to virtually limitless resources:
-- You have unique access to the full resources of both UNC-Chapel Hill & Duke
-- You have the full financial backing of a program that has extraordinary financial resources (the Robertson Foundation funds a wide variety of programs, not just the Scholars, but it has assets of more than $1 billion)
-- You have access to a dedicated advising staff and an amazing peer group of fellow Scholars who will push you to make the most of all of these opportunities</p>