<p>Hey there everyone. As an Out of State (OOS), I will have to pay roughly $55,000 per year to attend U Michigan. I just wanted to know how many people out there on College Confidential are either currently attending or planning on attending next year while having to pay this hefty price. So, for those of you who are paying/plan to pay this much for U Michigan, can we please discuss the reasons as to why it is worth it? I myself love U Michigan, as I have been a Wolverine since birth, however I don't know whether $55,000 is realistically worth it, regardless if my parents can somewhat afford it.</p>
<p>I will be attending Michigan next at full oos price. My parents will be paying for it or else I wouldn’t be able to pay for it and for that I am grateful. My family and I find it worth it because college is perhaps the 4 most important years of ones life. It will influence my career and the kind of person I will become in the future therefore I want the best experience I can get and for me that is Michigan.</p>
<p>@MichBound15
If you don’t mind me asking, which colleges did you chose Michigan over? Also, how did you decide that Michigan is where you will receive your best experience?
Since I am asking you these questions, I will also provide you with my answers to these same questions.
For me, I plan to chose Michigan over UF (full ride), U Miami (full ride) ,UC Berkeley,UCLA, and Georgia Tech.
I believe Michigan is the fit for me, not only because of rankings (which shouldn’t matter as much as people often make them), but also because of the ambience, and my wolverine passion and pride.</p>
<p>Similar to you, I decided Michigan was the best fit based on my passion for the school and how I felt I would fit in with the student body. I am picking Michigan over Illinois (instate tuition as my family is moving there so the school guaranteed me instate), Georgia Tech, University of Washington (Instate), Calpoly, and Marquette. The only other school I got the same feeling at was Stanford. However, I did not think I would get in, so I did not spend the time to fill out an application.</p>
<p>I must say though, if my family had to go into debt to pay for Michigan, I don’t think I would go there just because I am completely against building up any kind of debt. Also, a full ride anywhere might have been tempting, but I was not offered any.</p>
<p>Same here, but I am facing waters a bit less severe than yours (roughly 42k courtesy of the Jean Fairfax scholarship). And I am trying to choose between Michigan and full ride via Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Baruch. I absolutely love Ann Arbor, the level of support UM has to offer, and the mentality of the students. </p>
<p>My family is willing to lend me about 80k in total (at 0% interest of course), and I plan to work part-time during school and temporary full-time during the summer – which leaves me at about $35,000 in student loans after 4 years, without including interest. Although that doesn’t seem too much in loans, the net amount of money spent toward my undergrad education at UM is difficult to justify.</p>
<p>I’m guessing you’ve been told to look at it as an investment? I see the benefit it holds in terms of alumni connections, recruitment presence, internship opprotunities, quality of peers, and etc. But the question for me is the difference between opprotunities offered by the schools that provide full-ride that great? </p>
<p>I’m sorry that I can’t fully answer your question since I too am in nearly the same boat, but I would love to hear your thoughts as well.</p>
<p>Entee2017… you are talking about taking on $35,000 in debt with interest and $80,000 in debt without interest. IMHO, no school is worth that kind of load and I doubt seriously your salary coming out of Michigan vs. your full ride school is going to make up that kind of difference. And really, the school you attended ONLY matters for your first job out of college… after that, no one really cares because it’s all about what you have done IN the job market. Good luck all…</p>
<p>Your college experience, and where you attended, is something that stays with you your entire career/life. That is why it is a big decision. While I agree with granpic that it is not the most important thing after your first job, I disagree that “no one really cares”. It is one of the few things in your background profile that most people can relate to. A career is not, in most cases, a linear progression that only depends on recent work. Many situations also consider body of work, which includes college.</p>
<p>For example, I was just looking at the linkedin profile of a colleage who seems really sharp, and saw that he was a math/computer science double major at a top university. It clicked with me and help understand him better, and raised my preception of him professionally (like, “I knew he was smart”). One could argue that your college choice is more visible now that social networking has broadly exposed this data about people.</p>
<p>Now, in the corporate world I have seen some super sharp people from tier 3 schools, and vice versa, so I don’t think a prestigious college automatically makes you a star. But your college is something that stays with your background info forever, so choose with care.</p>
<p>I don’t like the idea of going far into debt, but you should think about it as an investment, and consider the probability of recouping that money (ROI), and your alternatives. The right college choice can be a very profitable investment in the long term. But it needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies. But now i ask, what would you do? If you were in my situation with the full ride to UF, which college would you pick?</p>
<p>Full ride to UF. Sorry. We love Michigan, but not for the difference in net cost.</p>
<p>^^^Of course. A full ride to a quality school over a full pay one is ALWAYS the way to go, unless one is very wealthy and can afford otherwise.</p>
<p>My parents were great at saving money.
My sister had a lower college cost
Its worth it for my degree to go to a top school, it’ll pay off (hopefully)
Always been a Michigan fan</p>
<p>Basically I’m just pretty lucky</p>
<p>^^^That’s fine ThisIsMichigan. You can afford to go to Michigan w/o crippling debt. You are lucky! :-)</p>
<p>Yes Sir. I am</p>
<p>My husband and I have been talking about this every night for weeks. We keep thanking our lucky stars for the situation we’re in… Our son is transfering to UM after two years at community college. Since we live near Ann Arbor he will commute from home, at least for the first year.</p>
<p>Community college for two years: Approximately $6,000 total.
UM tuition only for two years: Approximately $26,000 total.
Engineering degree from the University of Michigan: Approx. $32,000 total.</p>
<p>We are lucky, lucky, lucky. It’s the same degree that costs an Out of State student more than $200,000. That is a staggering sum! It literally takes my breath away.</p>
<p>We are thrilled to be able to provide our son with the opportunity for a UM degree. BUT… we feel that the BEST gift we can give our children is to launch them into adulthood debt free.</p>
<p>So if we didn’t live in Ann Arbor we absolutely would be packing our son’s bags and wishing him well at his full-ride school. Never underestimate the shackles of debt or overestimate the $$ value of a degree from a particular school.</p>
<p>Wishing you and your parents the best in your decisions!</p>
<p>Just FYI . . for OOS I had U Michigan giving 29% of frosh an average of $6k per year.</p>
<p>U Wisconsin’s #s were 17% getting an average of $1k per year.</p>
<p>What exactly are you saying? I don’t understand.</p>
<p>Getting back to the topic though, I feel like I will miss out on something big if I don’t attend U Mich, but I know it is best to go to UF.
Here is another question however:
If I get into Duke (currently on the wait list) should I pay in full to go there? Is it worth the prestige?</p>
<p>Also, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! 
I am baffled by the number of rapid replies to this thread! Thanks everyone for the responses! (:</p>
<p>“If I get into Duke (currently on the wait list) should I pay in full to go there? Is it worth the prestige?”</p>
<p>NO!</p>
<p>That was a very to-the-point response! But keep in mind, my parents can afford tuition at Duke and Michigan. The only reason why I am torn between Michigan and UF is because I don’t believe Michigan is worth that much money. Do you also believe Duke is not worth the money too?</p>
<p>I just visited UF a couple of days ago. The campus was nice, but Gainesville was nothing to be excited about. Central Florida is not a great place to live. Secondly, Florida has one of the worst economies in the nation (not that michigan’s is good). Secondly, I don’t know what your major is, but for engineering, Michigan is so much better. If you can afford it, follow your heart and go to Michigan. You don’t want to doubt your decision later in life.</p>
<p>RJN0101… your situation is different than the other poster, in that it sounds like you personally will take on no debt for any of these schools and your parents are happy to foot the bill. In that case, I say go where your heart leads you. My S had the option of Michigan, and we would have paid, but after visiting he did not feel such an enormous love for the school that he wanted us to have to fork out that kind of money. He felt he would be just as happy and fair just as well upon graduation with a degree elsewhere that costs less. It’s a personal choice in that respect, and only you really know that answer. </p>
<p>But for the other poster, I do not think ANY school is worth that kind of personal debt load… the Michigan “good ol’ boys” network will only get you so far, and it will not be answering your phone when the debt collectors start calling. No matter how much you love your alma mater, you may hate it if you are still existing on Ramin noodles well into your 30’s just so you can make your loan payments. Good luck with your decisions!</p>