Duke is obviously a notch above UMD, but is it $160,000 better? It really depends on your family’s financial situation. I would talk to your parents to understand the financial implications to them and yourself. If the tradeoffs are negligible, I would definitely recommend Duke. However, if the sacrifice is significant, I would give UMD a serious looksy.
@ucbalumnus (re post #38):
I tend to agree with your thesis in post #38 for RECRUITING/ENTRY-LEVEL jobs. However, they represent only a small fraction of the job selection-experiences most of us will have in a 40+ year career. What about promotions, especially external hires? Many good employees will advanced perhaps ten times during their careers; networking and institutional stature are IMPORTANT catalysts. Obviously, with internal promotions (very common in some industries and enterprise – but NOT in all), demonstrated performance and potential are likely decisive.
These sorts of discussion on CC almost invariable inadvertently presume that the post-Bachelor’s/entry-level position is all that is relevant; it is important, but it is also only the fist step along a lengthy and demanding professional career path.
From what I have seen, school name matters less for experienced external candidates than it does for new graduate recruiting.
@TopTier: Since when do people look at where you graduated from college for promotion (or mid-level external hiring) purposes?!? Once you’re five years into a career, your track record matters more than anything else—if you have a good track record it doesn’t matter where you came from since you’ve proven you can do the job, and if you have a poor track record it also doesn’t matter 'cause you’re not getting the promotion/job anyway.
I mean, I realize from this and other threads that you’re all about promoting highly selective schools—but you’ve gone into an entire alternate reality with that claim, seriously.
As far as I know, UMD has not released full ride scholarship decisions yet. I’m not sure how OP received a full ride from UMD already.
Re post #43: Every promotion board and every hiring decision in I was involved (several hundred, in aggregate) for well over forty years had – and used – candidates’ undergraduate (and postgraduate) schools histories. Interestingly, for seasoned professional, what didn’t matter very much were grades (performance and reputation clearly indicated if one had the abilities, work-ethic, and values to succeed).
@moscott No one giving advice here has attended both schools undergrad. Holding me and me alone to that standard as I give my input is ridiculous.
How come it seems like almost all CC threads are or become about whether high ranked schools are worth the price tag? I have an idea (moderators, are you listening?) - how about we make a pinned thread entitled “Official [“low” ranked university w/good scholarship] vs [“high” ranked school w/high price tag] Discussion*” and have everybody shoot it out there? We can direct newcomers with that thread, they can chime in saying “hey guys, here’s my school A and school B, which should I choose” and everybody can give their arguments on one long thread.
Like my post if you like the idea. 5 likes and I’ll make a thread on that in the College Search and Selection section. Of course I can’t pin it, but if it gets enough attention maybe it would get pinned.
I think the key issue is whether your parents can pay for Duke out of pocket for you and potentially for your 3 siblings too.
If they can (and will), then why not Duke?
If not, then UMD.
Go umd, unless your parents are very rich. Duke carries the “ivy wannabe” stigma too.
@ChuoShinkansen “ivy wannabe?”
As you move along your career, the source of your undergraduate degree become increasingly meaningless, and one’s success is driven by ambition, judgement and risk tolerance.
Save the $160,000 and go to UMD. Duke is a good school, but it ain’t Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Stanford.
These Duke supporters on here are so vile – they make it appear UMD would be that bad.
UMD is a fine school. I agree Duke is more prestigious, but it isn’t head-and-shoulders superior to UMD.
If you’ll get out of UMD with a fantastic GPA, you’ll go places where top Duke grads have access to.
Save that money and go for UMD.
If you major in engineering, it isn’t easy to graduate UMD with a great GPA. So don’t get too comfortable if you attend there, it isn’t easy. Also, many graduates go on to big things, such as Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google.
@TopTier: What field are you in? Seems rather a bizarre promotion process to me (unless you’re military, in which case I suppose I could see Academy attendance maybe factoring in, but only maybe).
Anybody else in favor of making a whole thread on this general topic? Please see post #47.
I would take Duke. Nearly everyone I know that gave up a top school for a full ride elsewhere regretted it and ended up transferring out.
Thanks for the 3rd like to post #47! 2 more to go.
“Nearly everyone I know that gave up a top school for a full ride elsewhere regretted it and ended up transferring out.”
I’ve seen quite a few posters here on CC who attend/attended the University of Alabama for free and didn’t seem to have regretted it or transfered out.
Duke