<p>Okay, so Richmond is damn expensive, but I got full tuition, room, and board. What more can I ask for?</p>
<p>However, I also got into others schools that cost about the same but are even more prestigious: Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Rochester, Chicago, William and Mary, UC Berkeley. </p>
<p>Should I go for the name or the full ride? Please advise!</p>
<p>Btw, I don't mean to double post, but this is an interesting statement someone said in another thread also in this forum:</p>
<p>
I'd wager it's because there aren't so very many Asians in the immediate vicinity, and Asians elsewhere tend to select more well-known schools.
</p>
<p>...plus my parents have Asian Parent Syndrome. If I elect to go to Richmond instead of more well-known schools, I would have bloody battles fighting against my parents (figuratively of course).</p>
<p>Wisse, Take the full ride at UR. Its a good enough school to get you into a graduate program at one of the schools you listed, and without the big bill, you'll even be able to afford to go. Enjoy.
You'll be miles ahead of your friends at the "name" schools.</p>
<p>I hope the postgraduate schools give equally generous scholarships like Richmond does. This way if I go to Richmond and do well, I can probably get another full ride 4 years later, relieving my parents of money matters. Hah, as if...Richmond will be still hard, I'm sure, despite its "merely good" reputation. </p>
<p>If I can get the names of a few schools like that I think I can probably convince my parents, arguing "being the top of a good school is better than being at the bottom of a gold school - may get better postgraduate scholarships that way".</p>
<p>Thanks for your counsel, TurtlePhobic. I'm more convinced now. Hopefully my parents will be, too.</p>
<p>go to the college you would love going to.
Forget about the money thing, what comes first if YOUR preference and YOUR life.
Its a tough decision, and I suggest instead of going to a college just because of ful aid and having a miserable 4 years, go to a college where you would love to go.</p>
<p>If that's Richmond, then it's even better, isn't it?</p>
<p>Your decision should involve more than just name and money. You didn't say what you want to study or what your interests are. You've been accepted to some great schools, but each one has particular strengths. So, again, how each one fits with you is important. Money is important, too. You didn't say whether the other schools have offerred some $, but net cost should be an important element. You also said your parents might clock you if you didn't go to a school with a 'better' name. That suggests your parents would be willing to contribute more for that, leaving you with less debt. While life is often a balancing act, seems to me your choices are not between extremes but between closer wonderful alternatives.</p>
<p>Well said! All of these schools have different pros/cons in location/size/grad focus vs undergrad focus/weather etc..if money isnt an option pick the one that has the best feel and dont look back. What you are really buying is your peer group and you want that to be as strong as possible.</p>
<p>I'd say go to Richmond, definitely. It's one hell of an LAC. Even though some of the schools who took you have better reps than U of R, like Hopkins and Chicago or even similar reps, like W&M, getting a full ride is worth it. Many Richmond grads do end up making it big and go to great grad schools.</p>
<p>If you got a full ride at a school which was considerably less reputable than Richmond, and you got into these other schools, then maybe you can flirt with going somewhere else, but this one is definitely too good to pass up.</p>
<p>Wisse, what are you looking to major in? UR has a Top 25 undergraduate B-school and just completed a $35 million renovation/expansion of their science building. Improving the sciences has been a big issue over the last few years. I think the current quality of education there is well ahead of its reputation.</p>
<p>I would try to work a deal with your parents. Go to UR for free and if you don't get scholarships for grad school, then they can help pay for that from the money they saved by you going to UR.</p>
<p>@everyone: Thanks for your responses!</p>
<p>The other schools didn't either offer me enough scholarships or no scholarships at all to attend. Paying for 30K-40K p.a. is a pain in the neck.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what I want to study. I'd most likely go with what I'm best at. The following things just come naturally:
* Mathematics
* Languages</p>
<p>I'm good in other disciplines as long as I work hard.</p>
<p>I'm leaning towards international business with Chinese and/or Japanese. U of Richmond doesn't seem to have very strong Chinese and Japanese curricula. :(</p>
<p>Saving money for postgrad is a good idea. Usually, though, do they give generous scholarships to URich students?</p>
<p>It's all about how you perform. That's like asking if most colleges give good scholarships to kids from your high school. That being said, I have a good number of friends who have received very nice scholarships for postgrad.</p>
<p>"Saving money for postgrad is a good idea. Usually, though, do they give generous scholarships to URich students?"</p>
<p>Spiders05 prob knows this better than me, but I hear that they give one out of every 10 or so kids a full tuition scholarship or more. </p>
<p>And as with individual academic depts at U of R or any school, I don't think it really matters that much since the school's rep should override most of that. The only subjects where a single department should really matter include engineering, art and music, given their specificity...</p>
<p>Wisse, If money is a make-it-or-break-it issue, then do what you have to do, but otherwise, go where you'll be most happy. The schools you mention have such varying student body atmospheres and geographic locations, among other things, that you really should trust your judgment on where would be the best place to spend 4 years. Don't worry too much about your postgraduate finances before even starting college! Enjoy college! Loans are a pain but manageable. An unhappy college experience is less manageable.</p>
<p>hey wisse, are you an oldham, science scholar or something else?</p>