Help with my college decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
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Hey everyone!

I’ve been put in the unfortunately lucky position of choosing between some great colleges. I really have no clue where to go and I have about 10 days to decide so I’m getting a little nervous. My options are Yale, Duke, and UVA.

Yale has been my been my dream school ever since I remember. I believe this would be the best fit for me socially and academically; the only issue is that we’d have to take out loans of about $10k/yr (my parents have yet to give me the final number, but this is the estimate). We are currently appealing as Duke unbelievably gave us more aid than Yale. I’m going to Bulldog Days next week FWIW.

Duke- Not as expensive as Yale but not as cheap as UVA. I like the school and would be fine if I had to go there, but I just can’t seem to let go of Yale. I did go to Blue Devil Days and really enjoyed it.

UVA- I’m from Virginia so it’s much cheaper since I’m in-state, in addition, I received a full tuition scholarship, so the COA is about $12k (and I’m in the running for another scholarship that will cover the cost of the rest of the school). I’m also CSS and an Echols Scholar, so if I went I would have many opportunities and resources at my disposal. However, I’m mainly concerned that it’s a state school and has to obey rules set by the Virginia government; also, I know it has a worldwide reputation but the prestige at some of my other options is hard to ignore.

Financial Situation/Career Goals: The main dilemma is that I want to go to medical school so it would make sense to keep undergraduate costs low and choose UVA. However, I’m not completely set on medical school and I’m also interested in business and policy so what if I end up in a career where a name brand college is much more important than it is in medicine? Also in a lot of instances, 2 years for an MBA is a lot cheaper than 4 years of medical school so undergraduate debt wouldn’t matter to the same extent (I think, I could be wrong on this). I think if I chose not to do medicine, Yale and to an extent, Duke, could help me with providing prestige and other academic pathways whereas UVA wouldn’t (to the same degree that Duke and Yale could). If I were to do medicine and still go to Yale, I read a statistic that said you shouldn’t take out loans that exceed your estimated entry-level salary and the average medical school resident makes $40k/yr, so the loans should be doable.

Final thoughts: In my mind, Yale > Duke > UVA, but I know that my emotions don’t really matter in this decision as much as I would like them to matter. I’m not sure if I would sacrifice my chances of going to medical school just to go to Yale but I know that last year I was 100% set on becoming a doctor, and now I’m about 85% sure that I want to be pre-med. There’s always a chance that I could have a further change of heart in college or get weeded out by the difficult courses, so I don’t want to make my undergraduate decision with that being the number one priority, maybe the fourth priority.

Thanks for all your help and for reading through this entire post!
-Slytherclaw12

PS. I also have more reasons to choose one college over another–I’ve thought about this for a long time–but I just didn’t list all of them.

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Obviously, these are all great options! It seems you’ve done your homework on Echols and CSS, so I won’t dwell on on those other than to say congratulations!

To get into med school, you will need excellent academics, so pick the school where you know you’ll be able to earn top marks in your prerequisites.

I don’t feel it’s my place to discuss other colleges, but I’ll say that full-tuition awards here would hopefully make graduate school an easier option, financially. Anyone with student loans can tell you that it’s hard to have that payment on your shoulders when you are just getting started. If I can help track down info about something that is bothering you about Virginia (“has to obey rules set by the Virginia government”), I’m happy to do it.

At the end of the day, you can’t really make a bad decision here, right? These are all fabulous schools full of very successful, talented students.

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You need to sit down with your parents and a calculator and make sure you know the difference in total cost over 4 years for each school. If for instance, you would need to take out a total of $40,000 in undergrad loans to go to Yale, that should not prevent you from being able to afford to go to med school. However, if the number turns out to be $90,000, that would be more of a factor. Federal loans do not have to be paid while you are in professional or grad school at least half time, but most people are only eligible for about $25,000 in subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans over 4 undergrad years. There are other sources of undergrad loans, but with higher interest rates and worse terms.

You might ask your parents - if I choose UVa, will you be willing to put some of the cost savings each year into 529 savings account that I can use for med or grad school?

UVa reached an agreement with the Va. State Government a few years ago. That agreement provided UVa great flexibility in regards to State control, in recognition of the fact that State funding had greatly decreased per in-state student. UVa is mainly run by a board of visitors who were appointed by two different governors, and is not run by state agencies.

If you list additional pros and cons that you have thought about for UVa, people on this message board may be able to tell you whether they are realistic.

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@“Dean J” If you could help me find some statistics, that would be great! I have a lot of friends who are students, and by far their biggest complaint is that the university often is not generous with money whether in terms of financial aid or study abroad, or anything in between.

@Charliesch My parents said that if I do go to UVA (and if I get this other scholarship; I received the University Achievement Award and am currently an alternate for the Ridley Scholarship) then they could help pay for part of any sort of professional school. I estimated $10,000 but my parents are currently trying to determine the exact amount of loans I’d have to take out for Yale and Duke, so I’ll get back to you on that.

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@Slytherclaw12, happy to help. What sort of statistics are you seeking?

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If you are saving that much money through your scholarships to attend UVa, you should have money left to fund study abroad. UVa does have extensive study abroad programs, and many students take advantage of them.

Financing of study abroad varies greatly from college to college. Some colleges allow you to use their financial aid for study abroad, while others do not. Some study abroad programs are much cheaper than private college tuition in the US.

UVa is generous with need based aid, but offers very little merit based aid. Other than the private Jefferson Scholarships, the other merit aid is mainly for upperclassman in particular fields, and it is scattered among many fields. There are other universities that do the opposite - they mainly give out merit based aid, which makes it hard for many middle class students to attend.

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The most troubling line in the OP is “I know that my emotions don’t really matter in this decision.”

Your emotions - your investment in the intellectual and professional and academic life you want to pursue - is the only thing that matters. Too many people get the idea that a ‘big name’ school is the perfect fit for everyone, when it is actually an appropriate fit for a very tiny percentage of the population. in terms of graduate school possibilities, I am in a very good position to tell you that the relative weight of your undergraduate institution’s name is a tiny consideration in graduate school decision-making. Of much more important is your engagement with the material, the enthusiasm you bring to it, and whether or not you seem like you will be a good fit for your med. school, PhD program, or whatever.

UVA is an excellent school - if you want it to be. Or it could be pure, disappointing hell. The same is true of Duke, or Yale, or Podunk State, or your local Community College. don’t get hung up on the name. I can guarantee that your graduate school, and potential employers, won’t.