Colgate, Gettysburg, or Rutgers - NB? Best education? Best deal?

Applying to College
1

<p>Out of my six acceptances, I have narrowed it down to these three.</p>

<p>I want to major in Physics.</p>

<p>Colgate University
$48,000 with no aid = $48,000
Out of the three, this is the most prestigious and has the best reputation. From what I have read, their physics program is strong. When I visited, I absolutely loved the campus. Though, this one is much more expensive than the others. If I were to go here, I would be paying over $80,000 in loans after I graduated.</p>

<p>Gettysburg College
$46,000 with $13.5k merit scholarship = $32,500
I initially was wondering why I even applied here, and was about to throw this acceptance out the window. Though, I visited yesterday, and I really, really liked it there. The physics program seemed really strong, nice facilities, its own building, and all the students there said they got offers from nice grad schools (MIT, Stanford, etc.) If I were to go here, I would be paying less than $40,000 in loans after I graduated.</p>

<p>Rutgers University - New Brunswick
$19,000 (in state) with $6k merit scholarship = $13,000
Very big university, not exactly on scale with the others. Since this is just our state school, it does not have a very good reputation in state, but it is still a good school. I have not visited it yet, but will next week. Being such a large scale school, I would not get as much personalized attention as I would at the other two. This is the cheapest of them all. If I were to go here, I would have $0 in loans after I graduated.</p>

<p>So...what would you recommend for a physics major who is bound for grad school? I got a feeling that Gettysburg would set me up very well to go to a great grad school, but maybe that was just my imagination. </p>

<p>Let me hear what you think.</p>

2

<p>I believe that Gettysburg would set you up well for grad school as well. Last year they had a Rhodes Scholar. You have three excellent options. Only you can know for yourself if you feel Colgate over Gettysburg is worth $40,000 in additional loans. I think the private school experience would be worth some loans and I really like Gettysburg, but I am not entirely objective!</p>

3

<p>Bump 10char</p>

4

<p>I haven't heard the best things about Gettysburg (where rich white kids go when they can't get into their parents' alma mater).</p>

<p>I've heard good things about Colgate's academics, but with no finaid, I wouldn't set foot there.</p>

<p>Rutgers has a pretty good reputation.</p>

<p>But if you want a more college-y, personalized experience, I'd go to Gettysburg.</p>

5

<p>I've heard very good things about Gettysburg. Colgate is obv a very strong LAC, but that's a lot more debt to undertake. Not as familiar with Rutgers. GL!</p>

6

<p>Can you go to accepted students events at these schools?</p>

7

<p>Rutgers has a great reputation out of state. And you won't be in debt when you graduate. If you are considering going to grad school, it might be important for you to choose a school that won't leave you in debt.</p>

8

<p>Rutgers has a much better reputation outside of NJ than it does with residents. I have no idea about their physics department and connections with graduate departments though. </p>

<p>The $40,000 in loans from Gettysburg, is that including projected tuition increases? Any chance you could bring that down with summer work or is that already included in what you're paying upfront?</p>

9

<p>Some links:</p>

<p><a href="http://aresty.rutgers.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://aresty.rutgers.edu/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/descr/descr-ug-program2.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/descr/descr-ug-program2.shtml&lt;/a>
Just published in the last issue of Nature: <a href="http://urwebsrv.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=5683%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://urwebsrv.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=5683&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I don't see what advantage Gettysburg or Colgate can give over Rutgers. You can get lots of individualized attention at Rutgers if you are interested in what faculty are interested in and researching. Rutgers offers many more opportunities than a small LAC... and grad schools will respond to that if you take advantage of those opportunities.</p>

10

<p>Bump....</p>

<p>Also, we are sending a letter to Colgate with more information about our financial situation in hope that they might reconsider and give us aid. I don't have much hope, but it is worth the shot.</p>

11

<p>go to rutgers</p>

<p>spending that much money on college isn't worth it</p>

<p>it puts your family in a really tough situation that really isn't necessary.</p>

12

<p>Another bump...</p>

13

<p>Go to Rutgers. You will need the money. getting a PhD in Physics is a long road. You will need money in grad school and probably be a post-doc before you get an academic appointment.</p>

14

<p>You guys really think that Rutgers is best?</p>

<p>First off, I don't think that Gettysburg would be incredibly hard to pull off financially. Although I would come out with debt, I don't think it would be debt that would overwhelmingly put me down.</p>

<p>And I may be wrong here, but I think Gettysburg will put me in a better position for grad school than Rutgers. I'm already in the top 10% of accepted students (which is why I got the merit award), and I think with hard work I could definitely be at the top of the physics majors at Gettysburg.</p>

<p>At Rutgers, it would be very hard to get to the top I believe. Even though it is a state school and I have higher stats than most accepted students, I will still have very crazy competition. So, I think it would be much harder to get at the top of Rutgers than Gettysburg.</p>

<p>I'm going to visit Rutgers this weekend, and I will be able to talk over this with their physics department. I also know that Gettysburg would have many research opportunities, while I am unsure of this at Rutgers (since it is a very large school with graduate students). Gettysburg is much smaller and has no graduate students, so all of the research goes to the undergrads.</p>

<p>Anyway, I still want to hear some feedback. Thanks so far.</p>

15

<p>I think that you should go to Gettysburg. Your reasons are very sound. PM me if you want more encouragement!</p>

16

<p>Bump 10char</p>

17

<p>I would go to Rutgers. It will put less burden om you financially. As for competition, yes there will be alot of it, but when you get a good GPA you know that you worked really hard for it. The physics dept here is very strong and will offer many research opportunities for undergrad students.</p>

18

<p>Don't go to Rutgers. Don't be like 90% of kids in New Jersey and go there. After I went to college and saw the caliber of some of the kids that got in, my opinion of Rutgers went down significantly. I'd go to Gettysburg.</p>

19

<p>Rutgers isn't that hard to get into. Gettysburg is much harder and I went to visit the college with my high school and it was amazing. The cafetria food was some of the best I've eaten, the buildings were glass and gorgeous. I heard good things about it and you seem to want to go there the most. Also, 40k isn't that bad, you can handle it.</p>

20

<p>If you want to go to grad school, why would you embark on that with an already accumulated 40K of debt? It is a lot of money. Instead of saving 40K for a down payment on a house, you will be paying it to lenders.</p>

<p>Also, in general, you would expect a much stronger physics faculty with more cutting edge research agendas at a research university rather than a small liberal arts college. I think this is borne out if you compare their respective websites <a href="http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/dev/descr-research2.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/dev/descr-research2.shtml&lt;/a> vs. <a href="http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/physics/faculty_staff.dot%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/physics/faculty_staff.dot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>