<p>Hi. So I'm a student trying to decide between going to Penn or UMD (Banneker Scholarship full ride)</p>
<p>i dont usually post on this place but i was wondering if I could get some help deciding, especially from a parent's perspective because you may have had kids already go through undergrad.</p>
<p>Ive gotten into UPenn and I really like it there, but they are offering very little financial aid, versus Univ. Maryland College Park, where I have a full ride + lodging +books, etc. I live in MD so I am very familiar with the school and know it is a very decent program. </p>
<p>Im leaning towards MD, but just wanted to know, does an ivy for undergrad really make a difference? Im planning on at least some sort of grad-school.</p>
<p>It depends on your family’s financial situation and the type of graduate school you’re considering. </p>
<p>Some questions to think about:</p>
<p>Would you have to go into debt to go to Penn? How much debt? Who would pay off that debt – you or your parents?</p>
<p>Are you considering a type of graduate school that you would have to pay for (e.g., medical school or an M.B.A. program)? Or are you planning on the kind of graduate program where you receive a stipend and can pretty much break even if you live frugally (e.g., most Ph.D. programs)? </p>
<p>If you’re considering a type of graduate school that you would have to pay for, what are your parents’ thoughts about contributing to the costs? If you go to Maryland, would they let you spend the money you didn’t spend on undergraduate education for graduate school? </p>
<p>By the way, my son went to Maryland (but not with a Banneker-Key scholarship). He and quite a few of his friends from the computer science department (one of Maryland’s better departments) are now at very good graduate schools. I can’t speak for the experience of students in other majors, though.</p>
<p>I know that Penn’s appeal lies largely in its Ivy League status. But just so you know: most people west of… say, West Virginia, do not realize that is the case. So if you think your professional life might take you to the center, south, west or west coast part of the country, Penn’s prestige may very well get “lost in translation.” ;)</p>
<p>“Isnt’ that some Quaker school in the bad neighborhood of Philadelphia? And don’t they have a sister school in Wichita? I’ve heard it’s not too bad!”</p>
<p>“Oh, you mean the one in Oskaloosa. It’s a pretty good place.”</p>
<p>Congrats on getting into UPenn and winning top honors at Univ of MD. If you provided us with a bit more about your course of study and an “impact” statement re dropping close to 200 grand on undergrad college…you would get better responses…ie if you are majoring in Chem perhaps you will be able to find funding for a doctorate…not as likely in other career paths…</p>
<p>(we just did the expensive path at Duke. we failed to anticipate A. The recession B. the drop in our home value C. the fact that our second son’s graduate schools will require our FAFSA until he is 28 in many cases.) Our son is happy, we are in debt. He is going into business which is highly regarded at the Univ of VA…so perhaps we weren’t sensible, but then…he didn’t know he was going into business when he was 18.</p>
<p>There is something to be said for graduating at the top of your UMD class when applying to some graduate programs…</p>
<p>that said, I am sure UPenn is a fine college experience on its own terms…</p>
<p>But I would heartily advise you to embrace the Bannecker and give it all your love and devotion for the next four years and watch something else great happen for you–seriously…you need to think about how many years you are going to be in higher education and plan accordingly</p>
<p>My son also got a full ride Banneker scholarship. He is an Econ major, and U MD is very well regarded in this field (top 10, I believe), Even so, he is going to U Chicago full pay. He is a wall street hopeful, and based on all the research we have done, unfortunately, Wall Street is very elitist, and indeed state U’s simply don’t provide an easy path… </p>
<p>If he were to go to a Ph.D. program post graduation, that would have been a good reason to take the Banneker scholarship. I know very well that the Ph.D. route can be very successfully managed by a big State U undergrad who are motivated to take advantage of the honor program offers. If my son wanted to become a Ph.D. economist in academia rather than an “unrepentant capitalist” (law-abiding, I hope), U MD as a full ride scholar would have been an excellent choice. </p>
<p>My take is, if you are not going into the investment banking route, the return on investment analysis will favor U MD. </p>
<p>For us, there is another very important factor. U Chicago will provide much more “intellectually rigorous” education - that, in our mind, is a very personal preference, NOT part of the the “return on investment” calculation. I made a few more posts explaining this aspects previously. </p>
<p>My son will thrive in U Chicago, my husband and I will be much poorer, but all of us are happy with our decision. This is really a personal decision on where we spend the money. It’s like some people choose to spend money on X, while others pick Y. I feel that all those years of diligent saving and conscientious financial management is worth it since we are spending it precisely for the things we value most. But different families have different assessment and ALL carefully thought family decisions are right decisions - there are no right or wrong priorities when it comes to something like this.</p>
<p>Good luck. You must be an excellent young person, and I am sure you will do well no matter what.</p>
<p>Take the full ride to Maryland. You can always tell everyone that you got into Penn.</p>
<p>My son is taking a National Merit scholarship (tuition, honors housing, stipend, study abroad/research stipend and laptop) at Alabama. He is turning down some outstanding schools, including Washington U. and William & Mary. Money played a big role in the decision, but he is also looking at graduating with little or no debt. Even his friends told him he would be crazy to turn down such an offer – and many are going into debt to attend school.</p>
<p>Going to an ivy for grad school (especially med school if you are premed) is easier said than done. No one will care that you got into Penn but chose to go to U Maryland. Although I think you can probably succeed going to either school, I seriously think you should consider going to UPenn. The students that you will associate with at UPenn are at a totally different league in terms of motivation and intelligence compared to that of U Maryland.</p>
<p>There are many more hard working, smart, motivated students than can fit into or choose to go to your top “brand name schools.” Go to UMD, work hard, do lots of research and surround yourself with people who you like.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if the student plans on a Ph.D. program, that’s a good reason why it is NOT necessary to accept the full ride from Maryland. Students in Ph.D. programs are almost always self-supporting; they have teaching or research assistantships that cover their tuition and provide a stingy but usually adequate stipend for living expenses. It’s students who plan on graduate school that they have to pay for – such as law school – who have a good reason to choose the least expensive undergraduate college in order to save up the money for later use.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, money for non-science PhDs is not so abundant anymore. My concern is that after making the decision to go to the elite school, pay $130k more over four years above State Flagship counting on a better-undergraduate-program-will-mean-a-better postgraduate-program, S will change to a major where there will be few institutional funds to continue his studies. So far it hasn’t happened but it’s only S’s first year. On the other hand, if you save the money now, change major to one with fully funded postgrad, then it’s win-win.</p>
<p>What evidence is there that an education at Penn is any better than one from the Honors program at UMD?</p>
<p>Put another way, if you had an extra $130k to spend on education, would you spend it on the marginal difference in education from UMD honors to Penn?</p>
<p>Science PhDs get much higher stipends, but all PhD programs that are worth going into are funded. Top schools do not accept students they are not willing to fund fully.</p>