<p>My son was offered half tuition scholarships at Santa Clara University, the University of Miami, and the University of Denver. He was also accepted at Richmond but did not receive a merit scholarship. He doesn't yet know what he wants for a major. He has narrowed it down to Miami and Santa Clara. I know Miami has more of a national "cache" but in the long run, that's probably not the difference maker. We live in a suburb of Chicago.</p>
<p>I would attack it this way…</p>
<p>Miami is better known, mostly because of sports and the fact that they are a research university. But what exactly does this so called ‘cache’ buy you? You need to find out (if it is even that impoartant to you).</p>
<p>Are similar students with similar grades and similar majors getting higher paying jobs coming out of Miami (check their career services)? Are they being placed at a higher percentage than SCU grads (check career services)? Does Miami have more national recruiters recruiting on campus than SCU? How about the career services in general? Would a grad school take a kid with a 3.4 GPA from Miami over a kid with a 3.65 gpa from SCU (all other things being equal) because Miami is more prestigious? Absolutely no for this one. Does you son see himself working in the SE or west? Almost all recruiting is local even at national universities like Miami.</p>
<p>Unless you can find some data that strongly suggests Miami; I don’t think it will matter one bit which school your son attends.</p>
<p>Thank you! We had not even delves into the aspect of “life after college” yet, and I agree that it makes sense to do so. I appreciate the points you brought up.</p>