Hi,
My cousin was just accepted to Christopher Newport University (in Virginia) and Roger Williams University (in Rhode Island). We were discussing which college would be a better choice but given the resources available, we don’t know which one would be a better choice.
What are the advantages of going to Christopher Newport over Roger Williams and vise versa?
My cousin doesn’t know what to major in so which school might be “better” overall (as in the quality of education of the majors offered in each school)?
Also, we don’t live in Virginia so the tuition will be out-of-state tuition.
Any thoughts, advice, or information helps!
Did he get into Honors program at either one?
What are the net costs (tuition, fees, room, board) - (grants, scholarships) =?
Christopher Newport is a fantastic school, lovely campus, lots of opportunities. But what is the cost? Is your cousin instate for RI? I wouldn’t go into big debt for either!
Reading my post, I didn’t mention a lot of things…
@MYOS1634 : I don’t think he mentioned about the Honors program so I don’t think he is in it…
@STF4717 : My cousin is not instate for RI so he will need housing
As for the cost, he received something around 10k scholarship for Roger Williams. I think he was also offered around 10k scholarship for Christopher Newport.
So the tuition for the colleges are,
Christopher Newport: 31k-10k = 21k
Roger Williams: 37k-10k(ish) = 27k
Also, cost will not be the decisive factor (if he didn’t like the school, then it can cost more) and he is also curious about the atmosphere and the environment around the school.
Whoops, I miscalculated the costs
Roger Williams: 31k - 10k = 21k
Christopher Newport: 2(13k)-10k=6k
The 37k for Christopher Newport included fees other than tuition.
I calculated 213k since the website showed 13k for tuition per semester.
Also, does anyone know how the housing is like in these two schools?
Christopher Newport’s dorms are very fancy by college standards - suites, nice bathrooms with granite counters, covered parking. For the price I’d choose CNU!
@resea0312 Roger Williams COA is 52k
Christopher Newport COA is 42k.
So with 10k scholarships at both the net price is
Roger Williams 42k
Christopher Newport 32k
right?
@resea0312 Your math in post #4 is still wonky. Christopher Newport: 2*(13k) - 10k = 6k should be $16k. But as @gearmom points out, you are missing Room & Board costs and a few others. CNU requires that students live on campus all 4 years.
@dscottvb I didn’t see that miss, how careless is that.
Thank you for catching my mistake!
@dscottvb @gearmom
Thanks for pointing out the missing costs.
I looked at the tuition only since the the school’s websites had some fees that weren’t included in the other school’s websites.
Also for the COA, can I see the source? I’m interested on the breakdown of the costs.
@STF4717
I see…I don’t think my cousin is going to get a car although the covered parking sounds nice.
This is from the CNU Net Price Calculator, which is out of date. I did not find a more recent breakdown, although the last two line items may not change much from year-to-year. Swap in the current Tuition and R&B costs and you should be close. Keep in mind that tuition rates for 2018-2019 will not be set by the General Assembly until summer.
Academic Year: 2016-17
Estimated tuition and fees $24,680
- Estimated room and board charges
(Includes rooming accommodations and meals) $10,914 - Estimated cost of books and supplies $1,244
- Estimated other expenses
(Personal expenses, transportation, etc.) $3,544
Estimated total cost of attendance: $40,382
Since he doesn’t have an intended major and you said cost is not a decisive factor, what is? Why did he apply to these two schools? Has he visited either of them? Will he go to admitted student days?
@dscottvb
Thanks for the breakdown and the source, I will try and look for it myself too.
To answer to your question, the decisive factor is the atmosphere of the school (how open it is and safety of the surroundings), the overall quality of education (not just the level of academics of but also how helpful the professors are), and diversity is also a factor he is looking at. I talked to him again and apparently, he is leaning towards biology and chemistry (biochemistry maybe?).
He applied to these two schools since the counselor recommended him these schools and they were his safeties.
He hasn’t visited either of them and he is not planning to go to the admitted student days.
Why is he not visiting if the deciding factor is atmosphere? The visits are really important.
@suzyQ7
We live far from the east coast and he wants to focus on his IB exams and the Extended Essay that’s coming up in the next month (I don’t remember the exact date). He is still wondering if he is going to visit the schools but that is probably going to be after the exams…So that is why I am wondering if anyone knows the atmosphere of the school. He can look up safety and what is around campus on the internet but if it comes down to the students, then it will be very difficult (also he can’t forget that the student body is large enough that not everyone knows everyone else in the grade).
If a visit is not possible, then he should spend a lot of time on the colleges’ own websites and sites like Niche and Cappex where students review colleges. Unfortunately, I don’t have first-hand experience at either college, although CNU is on junior daughter’s list. It is an in-state school for us.
@resea0312 I just used “college data” website. Should be accurate within 1k.
@resea0312 Post #13 You don’t have to worry about safety for Roger Williams. It’s in a wealthier area of RI. It has a lovely state park near by, Colt State Park. Bristol has the oldest continuously running 4th of July parade in America. Newport and Providence are near by cities.
@dscottvb I see…I’ve heard of Niche but not Cappex, I will take a look into that.
@gearmom thank you for the site and some insight on the environment around Roger Williams!
@resea0312 At Roger Williams, you are only about 15 minutes from the Newport Polo fields. That is fun to go to and bring a picnic basket and blanket. Bristol has an outdoor shopping mall with higher end shops. It is a quaint coastal town with horse farms nearby. The divider lines on the streets are painted red white and blue for the parade. Nearby are other quaint historic seaport towns. Great seafood. Newport News will be completely different. Colt State Park has a public beach. And there is a great biking path to Providence. (Also continues south)
@gearmom Post #18 That is a very detailed explanation…do you happen to live near Roger Williams (I’m sorry if I am asking something that can be too private and don’t wish to share, if that is the case, please ignore my question)?