<p>I'm curious. My parents and I got into an argument about what was worth the money. It seems that only Harvard fits the criteria, and everything else is iffy. Hm.</p>
<p>It depends on what “not a full ride” means at First Choice U. If “not a full ride means” doing some work study and taking out $4,000 worth of loans a year, then it’s worth it. If “not a full ride” means paying a stratospheric EFC while working a full-time job and plunging oneself into tens of thousands of dollars of debt, then it’s not.</p>
<p>I think most of the ivies give the FAFSA expected pay amount plus more.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you’re asking…</p>
<p>Did you receive a full ride (tuition, fees, room, board, books) from Ohio state? Are your parents saying that only an acceptance from Harvard is worth turning down the Ohio St offer?</p>
<p>Would you qualify for aid at Harvard or can your parents pay for it?</p>
<p>Just curious, what sets Harvard apart from (for example) Yale or Princeton? What about the other Ivy Leagues? Rice? Or a different school that you’ve (perhaps) wanted to go to all your life?
I think it’s interesting that, in your house at least, only Harvard made the cut. I’m going to ask my parents what their take is.</p>
<p>Q1. I am guaranteed to receive a tuition waver at the Honors College, and am very likely to receive more. The full ride is a possibility, though it is not certain.
Q2. My parents are essentially saying that, yes.
Q3. I doubt I’ll get into Harvard, but at places like Dartmouth and Brown, I qualify for aid but I would still have to pay more than double the price of OSU. </p>
<p>My parents think that the teaching quality, class size, intellectual environment in general etc are just flimsy excuses to pay more.</p>
<p>Won’t the class sizes be small and the intellectual environment be good in OSU’s honors college?</p>
<p>What is your major and intended career?</p>
<p>None, since you said Ohio State I’d go with Purdue since they are both in the Big Ten. Purdue has a top 3 program in my major and I love the school so it would be a win situation for me since I had to leave of finances.</p>
<p>Which “full-ride” scholarship did you get for OSU Honors College?</p>
<p>“I would still have to pay more than double the price of OSU.”</p>
<p>There are very few programs that are worth paying more than twice the price of another program for. You are fortunate to have parents who are clear thinking about this. If you have some “dream” program that you believe is significantly better than the cheaper option, you need to be able to produce some hard evidence about that significant difference in quality.</p>
<p>Sun neither rises nor sets on any college, not even Harvard!!</p>
<p>What is your major or intended career?</p>
<p>If your future involves med/law/business school or something else that will cost a lot of money, ask your parents if the undergrad savings can be used towards that?</p>
<p>Starlight,</p>
<p>Add 1" snow an hour in Columbus to the rainy, dreary description for today.</p>
<p>“My parents think that the teaching quality, class size, intellectual environment in general etc are just flimsy excuses to pay more.”</p>
<p>As a parent, I can sympathize…to a point. Ran into the same with S when it looked like he would be able to get a state U at virtually no cost. Thankfully, he took classes there and realized just how bad an academic environment it was.</p>
<p>Honor colleges are used by less prestigious institutions to “hook” higher qualified applicants. This isn’t high school. Look at it this way, you worked harder than your peers to achieve the enviable position you are in. Do you want to stay with these peers who didn’t work as hard as you? 6 out of 10 who apply get into OSU. </p>
<p>You obviously want to go to school outside of Ohio…you did what you needed to to make that a reality. Ohio is known for low expectation college choices, you need to bring your parents expectations up to your abilities.</p>
<p>Michigan! (LOL)</p>
<p>bahaha bclintonk - I actually got into Michigan as well, but that’s pretty much out of the question now. </p>
<p>I plan to major/possibly double major in Economics and International Relations and then head off to law school. The financial aspect of going to OSU over other schools does make sense somewhat since I will be going to grad school, but honestly, it’s OSU. Out of the 9 schools I applied to, it’s at the very bottom of the list. </p>
<p>I don’t know. I haven’t heard back from other colleges, so perhaps I’m counting my chickens before they hatch. At least if I’m denied everywhere else there are perks to attending OSU 
</p>
<p>Oh, and Ohio Mom 2: Tuition wavers are awarded to students who are National Merit Finalists and rank in the top 10% on their class. I went to compete at the Maximus competition on Saturday, and filled out an Honors Scholarship aid form to qualify for several other heavy scholarships. Most of the top students from the last couple of graduating classes who ended up OSU received huge amounts of money, so hopefully I’ll receive something similar to their packages.</p>
<p>First of all, congrats on getting the tuition waver for your PSAT results! That is quite impressive.</p>
<p>Ohio State is an amazing school. Loved the spirit on campus (especially the OH-IO tradition) and the opportunities available. I don’t think you can go wrong by choosing OSU; it was one of my top 5 schools when I was choosing in April. If it wasn’t so cold and depressing in the wintertime in Ohio, I might have stayed, but I need a break from the dull winters. </p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your question, it all depends on what you want to study and all. If another school offers a stronger program in your field of interest and has a better quality of life, you should go there (although quality of life at OSU is very good from what I saw there).</p>
<p>None, unless my parents were in a bizarre financial situation where they couldn’t afford to pay me but lacked the ability to get proper financial aid. I think the children of lots of farmers are in that situation.</p>