<p>These are 3 schools that I am seriously considering. I did not receive FA from ND because I am an international student and applying for aid will hurt my chance. Grinnell offers me 25k scholarship but they kind of promise the full scholarship before the selection process and they offered 50k for past recipient of this scholarship. So I am still arguing with them and maybe I can get more money.
I don't plan to go to graduate school(I honestly don't want to spend more years in school and my family are unable to finance me) I want to work in the U.S. or other Western countries.
My family income is about 50k dollar after tax. That is not much but because the consumption in my country is not as high as in U.S. we can save a lot. My family are willing to pay for my 4 years in U.S. </p>
<p>What are you asking? Whether you should go to Grinnell for less money or the other schools for more money? They are all great schools, but why would you not go to Grinnell? Maybe I’m not understanding your question. This is one of the best schools in the universe.</p>
<p>I just think it’s not easy to get a job if i go to Grinnell. ND is a university and Haverford is in Penn. I don’t know much about US job market and that’s why I ask for advice from you Americans</p>
<p>And why do you think I am from either India or Pakistan? If I reveal my nation, people at the admission(if they read this) they would know who i am. I really love Grinnell and I don’t want anyone to think that I have to compare G with ND and Haverford.<br>
To tell the truth, I had no doubt about Grinnell’s community and academic. I am just a little worried about getting a job after graduation.</p>
<p>Grinnell is an extremely well respected college. There’s no reason to pay twice as much to go to Haverford or ND, especially if your family only makes 50k/year.</p>
<p>Go to Grinnell, Sarah. If the costs were equal, then it might be hard to choose between Haverford and Grinnell (S visited both, liked both and choose Grinnell for reasons of personal fit). The cost is no where near equal which makes Grinnell a no brainer, given your financial situation. </p>
<p>ND is a significantly different experience. S didn’t consider it - not a fit at all. Larger, Catholic, more conservative socially, big sports scene - a different culture entirely, whereas Haverford and Grinnell as LACs have more in common than differentiates them.</p>
<p>As for career placement, what are you planning to study and what field are you looking to enter?</p>
<p>Thank you so much you are so sweet! I am considering business or engineering and that is why i found the decision difficult. Grinnell does not seem to offer a solid program for engineer or business and i can’t afford to go to graduate school so I hope to get a job immediately after graduation and earn the money back.</p>
<p>what if you base the choice solely on job prospects – and then when you graduate you can’t find a job anyway? What if you change your mind during the course of your studies and don’t want to be an engineer? (I thought Grinnell has one of those programs that combines with another school in this area though?) Business? You can go into with any degree from any school. Alot of companies prefer students who have learned how to think critically and express themselves clearly, rather than ones who have learned a set of specific skills that can be learned on the job. </p>
<p>My point is: go with the school that will you feel will give you the best experience for the next four years. </p>
<p>And, if it is, indeed, Grinnell, then rest assured that Grinnellians follow all types of career paths and that while you are IN school you will find plenty of opportunities to pursue career-oriented activities, during the semester and through off-campus semester or summer opportunities. Grinnell has alot of funding for internships, research, etc. It also has put renewed attention on its career services office. </p>
<p>No, you will not find a pre-professional major at Grinnell, but you will develop the skills, resources and yes, connections, to be successful (or at least take steps to being successful!) in whatever path you choose after graduating. </p>
<p>But, why not call admissions and tell them what you are thinking? Ask them to point you to information and other people at the school that you can get more information from. I’ll bet they’ll be happy to do so. While they want you to come, I"m sure they also want you to make an informed choice and one that will bring you to whatever campus you choose ready to fully embrace the experience!</p>
<p>If you went to Grinnell and decided to pursue engineering, you would study for 3 years at Grinnell and then 2 years at one of their partner schools for a BE degree: Cal Tech, Columbia University, Washington U or Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Of course, your grades would have to be good. At the end of year 4, you’d earn a BA from Grinnell and at the end of year 5 (assuming you do the work) you would earn a BE degree. If ND has its own engineering program, then you could save a year, but I’d think you might still come out ahead financially with Grinnell because of the financial aid. Do you have a counselor at your school who would help you weigh these options? I assume Haverford would have a 3/2 engineering program similar to Grinnell’s.</p>
<p>If you want to be a business major, you won’t find that at Grinnell or Haverford. The closest thing they offer is Economics. Economics majors with a solid quantitative background usually do fine - but as an international, you may find getting a job in the US very difficult because of your visa status. Check this out carefully in the forum for international students. The recent economic downturn as significantly reduced the opportunities for foreign nationals in favor of domestic applicants.</p>
<p>If you are serious about doing the 3/2 engineering program, you should check with Grinnell and Haverford about how that would be funded. Your scholarship may not carry over to the other school for the last two years. </p>
<p>Alternatively, if engineering and business are really what you want then Notre Dame’s programs are well respected. You’d still have to figure out how to pay for it though.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your reply! The information you provide is so important to be—the part about the engineer program. When I had my interview, one of the interviewers mentioned that and I thought it was like transferring to another school with an engineer program all by yourself.
By the way, my school don’t have a counselor.</p>
<p>Thank you! I think I’ll attend Grinnell. My family can afford to pay for 4-year tuition no matter where i go to school because they made some good investments. And my family can save almost all their incomes because their companies provide meals, travel, health care, supermarket credits and even movie tickets in addition to their wages. (I am not from North Korea though, it is just a way to avoid tax in my country) So I can afford to go to ND but it still is a big burden for my family. This is how my family reasons: attend a college and they’ll pay for it. Get a job and earn the money back. If you have to go to a graduate school, it will cost much more than any college.
I thought I could not do business or engineer in Grinnell but now it seems to be a different story. I’ll seriously consider it.
By the way, please continue to post your advice here! I really appreciate that!</p>
<p>“I thought I could not do business or engineer in Grinnell but now it seems to be a different story.”</p>
<p>I just want to make sure you are understanding, Sarah - you can’t major in business or engineering at Grinnell or Haverford. Those majors are not offered. They are offered at ND. </p>
<p>You can do Economics if you like business. Or you can do math/physics and transfer with the 3/2 program (but you might want to check how many people actually end up doing it - my impression is that very few do.) If your family can pay for ND, and you want to do engineering or business, you should think about this carefully.</p>
<p>M’s Mom is right, but you also can go into business after going to Grinnell. In the US, you don’t have to be a “business major” to get a job in any number of industries. I still suggest that you talk directly to Admissions to understand exactly the American system, the job opportunities and how Grinnell might connect you to them through its education, its programs and its networks so that you can make a very clear and informed decision.</p>
<p>Grinnell knows that you are deciding between different college choices. And, while of course it wants accepted students to attend, it really does want students who want to be there and understand what a small LAC can and cannot provide for its students. Happy, engaged students make the campus come alive; students who arrive and feel like this “isn’t what they signed up for” is not a benefit to the school, so don’t hesitate to discuss your concerns with the school. There is alot of information on the website, too, if you hunt around. </p>
<p>OP–you have a month before you need to decide on this. I thought it was a no-brainer to pick Grinnell until I heard what you might be majoring in. Now I think you might want to take a better look at ND if your parents can manage it financially.</p>
<p>Would just like to agree with the poster who advised you to choose the school where you think you will have the best four-year experience. DON’T base it all on theoretical job prospects, because there is absolutely now way to know what those will be in four years. For what it’s worth, my daughter is graduating from Grinnell in May, and has had four wonderful years there. It is a magical place.</p>