@MYOS1634 maybe you’re right… Despite the prestige and opportunities at Cornell I might be happier at maryland, at least that’s what my gut is telling me
Saltydog97 the cost per year is approx. $62,000 (full pay at Cornell) vs. $32,000 at Maryland (includes $12,000 per year merit award). Are your parents willing to pay $120,000 more over 4 years for Cornell? Will loans need to be taken out by you and them to make up the difference in cost? Asking Grandma to fund the extra $120,000 in cost could cause problems with your siblings or first cousins, unless Grandma is willing to fund their college educations as well. Since your gut says Maryland and cost of attending Cornell can be an issue, i think you are better off at Maryland. Its a fine school with many top rated programs.
You have some company:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1778701-fysa.html#latest
Would that $120k from Grandma be your inheritance if you didn’t squander it on a college education? :)) If that’s the case I’d save it for a nice down payment on a house, or invest it in an Index fund. You might get better return than a degree from Cornell (over what you can make as a UMD grad).
@cmsjmt noooooo it’s not as if she would be paying for all of it. 10K per year is more realistic and I would appeal my aid decision to try to get 10k on top of that and then also I have the loans which would add another 5500 in the first year and increase a bit each year. then and only then would it be possible to afford Cornell with debt after I graduate
OK, I’m with those who think that whether you start in the spring or not shouldn’t matter but debt and the opportunities at each school should be a consideration.
The reason is because 10-20 years after you graduate, you’ll barely remember what your social life was like freshman year (and like people have said, at a big school like Cornell, no one will even know when you started) but what school you went to may still matter and the extra cost/debt may matter as well.
Personally, I believe that there are opportunities at Cornell that aren’t at UMD (even honors) but whether they are worth the extra debt/costs is a tough question.
Oh, and Cornell has sports as well (though they care more about hockey).
Maryland in a heartbeat. First you sound more positive about Maryland than Cornell. Second, the financials just aren’t there for Cornell. You need to come up with a additional minimum of $30,000 a year to attend Cornell, right? Currently, that plan involves getting money from a grandparent (maybe the first year, but how many grandchildren does she have? When is the next one going off to college? Family politics can get messy) and getting more FA from Cornell, where again you may succeed the first year, but no guarantees for subsequent years.
I know you don’t want to take finances into account, but it’s necessary here. If either of those two options go away, you may be looking at close to $100,000 in loans.
If you were paying the same amount for both schools, I would have suggested Cornell (better food always wins in a toss up). If you were certain, your maximum debt upon graduation would be $30,000, I would have suggested Cornell.
I also agree Spring admittance is a minor issue. You may feel like you’re a newcomer in the spring but in reality, all freshmen are still learning and meeting new people the entire year.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I have chosen Maryland Honors College because my family and I decided that we could not get substantial aid from Cornell and the 2X cost in conjunction with the spring admission aspect was not worth it over Maryland, a place I know I’ll be happy at.