Help choosing a college

Hi everyone,
I just cannot decide but I have narrowed it down to two choices: Miami of Ohio, and Boston University. I am majoring in Biology and want to either do research or become a doctor, I have not decided that either. At Miami, I would be paying around $13,700 per year and BU would be $16,100 but there may be tuition and room and board increases over the next four years. I feel like BU could open more opportunities for me to do either path, but Miami is close to home and a bit cheaper. Any advice is welcomed. Thanks!

Congratulations. What great options you have earned!

It’s personal to you and your family. How hard is it to come up with the extra 3k to 5k per year is for you to decide.

If it were irrelevant then it’s a fit issue. The campus life and locations are quite different. Boston is a wonderful city for a college student. It’s filled with all these great schools and broadly speaking if you count the adjacent towns - it’s quite unlike any city in the world in terms of educational focus. It’s the leading industry it seems.

The access to hospitals and med schools adds a vibrancy in Boston for pre health students.

So there’s my no real answer, answer. But if I had to choose for myself it would be BU and with a child at BC that’s hard to say ?

@privatebanker Thank you very much for your advice! I worry about getting adjusted to a city such as Boston but I feel like it could be a great fit. Again, thank you very much!!

It’s actually a very small city and with all the students around Mass Ave it’s like you own the place! Miami U is a strong option. But you will never regret going to college in Boston except for the snowy winter.!

One thing I’ll say about the price difference is that while Boston is a great place to be a student, it’s also brimming with opportunities and temptations to spend money. Plus, as you say, travel costs. So keeping the additional cost down to just what it looks like on paper could require some discipline. Still, that’s a great deal for BU - certainly a terrific value for that price. They are both excellent schools where you could not possibly run out of opportunities, and the price difference isn’t enormous unless BU’s price is above a realistic limit for you. Wherever you feel that you could best thrive will be the right choice. Congrats!

@aquapt That’s a really good point. And not to be overlooked. Really important. Thanks for adding this to the conversation.

@aquapt @privatebanker You bring up an excellent point. I also have to account for travel costs to and from during breaks as well. As for the discipline, I know that if I go to BU I will definitely have to watch out for excess spending. I can’t afford to do that. If I were to choose it, I think it’d be a stretch financially, but I’m willing to do that for the great education and the opportunities to do research. But there’s also comfort in Miami, that I won’t have so many expenses.

@aquapt thank you for the advice!