didn’t even realize UMASS amherst has engineering college. but also PhDs in math, physics, engineering so maybe opportunities there if consortium allows?
^I’ve always wondered how full-pay families attending the 5 College Consortium felt about paying private college tuition for courses at the local state flagship? Does that issue come up at all?
When we visited Bowdoin, I met a mom who had just come from Amherst with her daughter. She did the Amherst tour guide said a number of times “if you can’t find what you need here, you can take it at U Mass”. And all she could think was “why would I pay $75k to take class at U Mass”?!
Well, the student gets the smaller lower level courses at the LAC, but can take less common upper level courses at the big university if the LACs do not have them.
Was that the exact quote? At private schools with sizable endowments, even full-pay students are usually somewhat subsidized by endowment earnings, aid students greatly so. The school’s balance sheet should indicate if it works that way.
I think the consortium is an advantage. U Mass may offer some less common classes that aren’t found at the other schools. I see it as a win/win and am looking at the overall experience. I would have been turned off by that mom who made the comment about paying $75k to attend classes at U Mass…That’s a huge amount of money regardless of school.
ROI can also be viewed in terms of personal growth, getting out of your comfort zone, meeting different types of people etc.
Beyond the courses required for a major, courses in topics such as functional analysis, complex analysis and topology will commonly be available (as would mathematically related courses in physics departments, such as those in mathematical physics and general relativity). For typically prepared potential majors, this curricular level wouldn’t be reached until junior and senior years, and would provide a substantial basis for most career objectives or graduate school preparation.
@twogirls not sure why that comment would be a turn off. It’s reality. Many parents are paying upwards of $70k per year for college.
And here’s the Kenyon article with that 24% number.
Yes I understand that’s reality…unfortunately…it’s a ton of money for any school…whether it’s U Mass …or Amherst…or Smith. I wasn’t there to hear that comment…but there is learning going on at all schools, and if people pay 70k+ to attend a consortium…then that learning can take place at any school, whether it’s an elite LAC or a flagship university. I guess I see these choices as a positive.
Simply as background info, if physics turns out to be the path, all of the schools in play will have enough physics classes for the OP’s son to get into any physics program (the physics major is well standardized in terms of meeting the content that grad schools require).
There is a little more variability on math: if the OP’s son turns out to be a serious mathmo, some of them may have little left to offer by senior year- but they will all have ways of dealing with that (independent study in particular topics, cross registration at peer school nearby, etc.)
Also, all of them have the kind of research and mentoring necessary to prep for grad school, should that be the route chosen.
@twogirls I agree that the comment was a bit obnoxious but what I took from it was that kids maybe needed to go to U Mass to find classes they needed that weren’t available at Amherst. It just didn’t feel like a positive statement at the time.
Yes I understand. Colleges are expensive and we would like to think that our kids will get the classes that they want or need. That being said, it might be nice to experience a class at a different school…doesn’t have to be U Mass.
Nothing is perfect and there are no easy answers.
@homerdog @circuitrider the ability to take graduate level classes is not for the typical student and it’s not needed for anyone to go onto grad school. However, if one were to take UMass amherst courses they would presumably be upper level undergrad or grad school classes (there are PhD programs at UMass) that are typically small classes. Also it would probably only be one or two classes not a whole semester.
There are some high school kids who complete differential equations and linear algebra before college and maybe zero of them go to LACs but having the option of more higher math at the graduate level is not a negative.
https://www.crimsoneducation.org/ie/blog/college-roi
http://time.com/money/5259908/public-college-salaries-roi-payscale-2018/
^^^ . that ranking is basically saying be an engineer or computer scientist. which is not necessarily untrue if you want the best ROI. The fact that Berkeley and CMU made that list is indicative of that. I don’t think @homerdog is really asking this, but really the best ROI is undergrad engineering degree, go work for a company and have them pay for your MBA for free. CEOs of APPle, Google, GM , etc. all fit that mold. Netflix CEO masters CS
@Greymeer those links don’t have anything to do with my OP. I was asking about expenditure per student and alumni donations as a way to judge ROI. Your links list schools where kids have high starting salaries which is mostly based on their majors. And I think I’ve discussed above that I’m not judging ROI just by salary anyway.
For typically prepared students generally, or on these forums (where student/parent demographics are quite skewed in various ways)?
“Looks like luxury price may be our only option unless some long shot merit comes in. That’s why I’m asking how to compare these expensive options.”
You’re getting a lot of good advice on how to do that, but I’m with ucbalumnus on this, why are you only considering expensive options. Are the safeties also $70K a year? In business it’s much easier to lower your investment (you control) than increase your revenue (market controls).
@theloniusmonk well… safeties are a little less or should be. Dickinson should offer him some merit. He went EA and will know in a couple of weeks. The XC coach sent him an email basically telling him he’s in. Also, the Kenyon coach has visited us and told us the admissions loves him and that he’s in the A plus band for athletics. They also give merit to their top students. I expect he will get a little there. Grinnell (while most would say it’s not a safety) is pretty close to one for s19. According to our Naviance and the history of kids at our school, he should get in with some good merit. And our Naviance also says he should get into William and Mary which would be more like $58k for out of state.
He really did not want a big school. We looked at honors programs and he is NMSF so there were other options but he chose not to go that route. My husband and I supported that decision.
Like I think I mentioned above, he won’t need to take any loans.
@theeloniusmonk the comment about why anyone would take a class at UMass Amherst is revealing I think. for true ROI a math or physics major might be better off going somewhere “lower” with a full merit scholarhip/honors college no? @ucbalumnus