<p>And to parse Purple Titan’s comments- you won’t get Merit aid at Harvard Law School. But you can get Merit at Columbia, Penn, and a bunch of other top 14 law schools (just not at the top three). And the loan forgiveness programs at any of the top 14 mean that a kid who wants to work in public service law (which includes JAG, DA’s, any branch of state/federal law, public defenders offices, children’s defense services, prison reform/innocence projects) can get a fantastic deal. And yes- you can get into a top law school from a not-top-tier undergrad. But the odds are not in your favor.</p>
<p>Miami- you do need to be reminded frequently that PhD programs are fully funded. MBA programs are often funded by one’s employer. It is generous that you are paying for your D’s med school after free undergrad, but there are MANY other options. That’s why people pay top dollar for undergrad- it qualifies their kids for many of these other options.</p>
<p>This really is a difficult decision. With our daughter, she got into a 5 year OT program at a private, quite expensive university. We considered 2 state schools which were more reasonable in price. However, the admissions people we spoke with at those state schools encouraged her not to give up a 5 year program at the private university as grad school admissions are quite challenging. We chose to send her to the program of her dreams where OT is a guarantee.</p>
<p>Arizona has a very nice award, but it is not free, unless one gets more than the basic offer. It’s about a full tuition scholarship. To get free, have to go to UK, UCF, UIdaho, UHouston, LATech, UA-B, Tulsa or a few others. </p>
<p>What we are seeing now is the elite 20 privates are filling up with full pay and no pay students. They upper middle class don’t receive enough aid and can’t pay the full COA and are going to the honors programs at the state flagships. As the cost continues to grow the full pay pool of students shrinks and U’s are forced to look for well funded students overseas (state flagships fill their spots with OOS students to bring in the $$$). Unless costs are controlled this trend will continue.</p>
<p>…and UNM as peacelovessophie says, and OleMiss, Mississippi State, Wichita State, FIU, UN-LV, NJIT, Oklahoma State, UT-Dallas, UNTexas, and others too. There are some that offer tuition and room or tuition and board so more than full tuition.</p>
<p>The point of mentioning it was just that for Arizona the comparison isn’t between free and in-state cost at Colorado-Boulder.Looks like about $27,000 in engineering, or $24,000 for some other sciences? It’s more like $10,000 (plus additional travel costs) vs. $24,000/$27,000. I might think that it’s still an easy choice to pick Arizona, but someone else may weigh a $14,000 annual difference differently than $24,000.</p>
<p>Need-based full rides (with no merit component) are almost non-existent, since just about every good-financial-aid college expects a student contribution. For example, try a maximum-financial-aid scenario at a good-financial-aid college’s net price calculator to see the minimum net prices (e.g. Yale $4,400, Harvard $4,600, Stanford $5,000).</p>
<p>Need-based aid covering full tuition is probably more common.</p>
<p>I don’t believe debt is a very good option for anyone, so I would go with the full ride. I chose a very close university that I could commute to and received enough scholarship money to cover tuition, books, and even gas. My parents weren’t going to pay a cent, so scholarships were a high priority for me. I am so happy to say that I will graduate without debt. I think that many people underestimate the relief of knowing that when you begin your first job, you are starting with a clean slate, not thousands of dollars of debt.</p>
<p>Plus, if the full ride is at a “good” university, you’ll be fine. It might even be easier for you to shine among your peers at a good college rather than a more selective one.</p>
<p>All that said, not every decisions should be made the same for everyone. People differ in their needs and situations, so it is a very personal decisions. You just have to prioritize according to what you want, not what others tell you to want. Don’t make any snap decisions and you’ll be fine no matter what you choose. As my mother always says, “There are many roads that lead to Rome.”</p>
<p>Full ride does not equal meeting full need. Full ride = 100% paid for, at least 100% tuition. Meeting full need = family must pay their EFC but no more is required.</p>
<p>Not all Ivies meet full need. It appears to me that Penn, Columbia, and Dartmouth do meet full need, based on my family’s EFC.</p>
<p>Heck, if I just looked at colleges that met “full need” based on our NPC, there would be no issue and my son would have 14 schools to choose from. But another 14 on the list do not meet full need, and some of those “meet full need” schools include loans not just grants.</p>
<p>As to the OP’s question, it really is a personal family decision of costs vs prestige. There is some benefit to going to a more prestigious university, but when you really evaluate all the costs and benefits of a particular university, in my opinion, it is difficult not to go with a near full ride scholarship to University of Arizona over your other choices. </p>
<p>If you do well at UA, you will have similar opportunities that Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd and any other “elite” school can offer. Just think, if your parents deposited the money that they would have paid for your full cost schools into a retirement account for you, that retirement account would be worth $$millions when you retire. </p>
<p>We’re a full-pay family with a senior at an elite private school with the stats to be competitive just about anywhere. DS has no interest in the usual suspects and has several state schools on his list. If he gets significant merit money ANYwhere, that will be the school he goes to; the name of the school is irrelevant. The 529, less the penalty for non-education use, will go right into our retirement accounts. DS will get a great education wherever he goes, and our retirement picture may get rosier. Win-win.</p>
<p>"at UA, you will have similar opportunities that Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd "</p>
<p>that’s not quite exact - the undergraduate experience at CalTech or HarveyMudd is not comparable to that at a large state university, even if you take some of your classes in the Honors College and if you really care about sports. The first two years, in particular, will be very different. The opportunities are not the same, either, nor are the peers.
While a driven student will find plenty of opportunities at UA, it’s not quite exact to liken them to opportunities at CalTech and HarveyMudd, just like opportunities at UCB aren’t the same as opportunities at UCM or SDSU.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 You are correct that UA and CalTech/Harvey Mudd will offer different educational experiences during school but my statement had to do with opportunities after graduating. Do well at UA and every job available to the “elite school” graduate will also be available to a UA graduate. </p>
<p>You make a good point that different schools will provide different opportunities during school but this point is true whether you compare UA to Harvey Mudd or Harvey Mudd to CalTech or CalTech to MIT etc. Each school has its own personality, but the question of the OP was input on where to go based upon financial issues. Any input to that effect would be helpful to the OP. </p>
<ol>
<li>One of my daughters was offered full ride with housing and food at a local private college. It was third tier. Employment placement was 90%. I had one already in college and two more behind here, so money was an issue. She opted to attended the same school as her sister in first tier and it was where she wanted to be, that’s very important. No regrets. </li>
<li>Two of my daughters went to selective engineering school. I had learned over the years how difficult engineering was compared to other programs in large universities based on what the students said from their experience or the jokes, like …" You see the engineering students moving in and won’t see them again until graduation". STEM programs can be rough and the academic perfectionists suffer to know that their peers are enjoying campus life while they are taking a heavier coarse load and miss out on the interactions of campus life. Mine were both awarded large scholarships, so it made it easy in the end to select their school. Most important in stem or any area, experience, co-op, internships, clinical hours, working with professors on science research etc. you aren’t employable just because you have a degree if you haven’t experienced real world applications. It also helps the learning process when you are side by side with professionals in the field you choose. Even if you have a liberal arts student, guide them into learning code, HTML and other applications that could help them work while in school part time or temp. It’s a rough job market out there, skills & aptitude beat out honors awards and the nice suit. </li>
</ol>