<p>I'm stuck... which is better? The highly personalized education I would get as a full-tuition merit scholar and honors college member at a public university or the not-so-personalized and much more expensive education I would get as a normal student at a large private school?</p>
<p>Currently this is a hypothetical question... I've gotten into the public university (with honors and full-tuition scholarship), but I haven't gotten into the private school yet. I applied for a scholarship at the private school, too, and if I got it that would be a no-brainer. The problem is that I'm confident of getting into the private school, but I'm not so confident of getting the scholarship and honors.</p>
<p>It somewhat depends on the schools. Many people claim that the private may look better on the resume – IF it’s a tippy-top private (Ivy League-caliber, that is.) </p>
<p>On the other hand, graduating from a respected school (and most public universities are) where you got a personalized education and most likely good internship opportunities – and having done it all without incurring any debt, can open so many doors! </p>
<p>So without knowing what the two schools are, I’d say, pick the honors college; if you choose to work during school/summers, you could use the money toward something really fun: a great trip, perhaps a semester abroad. </p>
<p>And talk about a resume-booster: listing that you were on a full-tuition scholarship in the honors college will also look mighty impressive to grad schools and prospective employers.</p>
<p>It depends on the schools, your major, the characteristics of the honors programs, the net costs, and your post-graduation goals (for example, if you want to go to expensive medical or law school, or major in something with generally low paid job prospects, net cost may be a higher priority consideration).</p>
<p>What is you major? If your long-term goal is a Ph.D., which of these will get you into the lab or research group of Dr. Famous sooner? If your goal is a specific type of job right out of college, which has better career placement for that line of work?</p>
<p>" The highly personalized education I would get as a full tuition merit scholar and honors college member at the public university or the not-so-personalized and much more expensive education I would get as a normal student at a large private school?"</p>
<p>I think you just answered the question for yourself.</p>
<p>The schools are George Mason University and Boston University. I’ll be double majoring in biochemistry and religious studies. And I definitely plan on a Ph.D. in genetics so that I can do medical genetics research.</p>
<p>Just so the OP knows, at decent or better colleges students don’t pay for a PhD. They get funding thru grants and work as a RA/TA. In fact you actually earn a few thousand dollars a year while in school. Savvy students make funding an important part of their program selection.</p>
<p>Honors colleges can be a great choice for those attending a larger school. Honors colleges offer valuable perks and let you meet some of the top students at your college. However they are often oversold with glossy pamphlets implying a small LAC has been set up inside the larger university giving ann elite private education at the public school price. On this forum you’ll read posters who also say/imply that.</p>
<p>Depending on the program offerings may range from separate honors classes to taking just one honors seminar per semester. And some of the “honors” offerings may just be a special discussion section of the regular class (at many U’s you meet 2-3x a week in a large class with the prof, then everyone meets weekly in a discussion section with a TA). You really need to dig in to find what a particular school offers.</p>
<p>Keep in mind honors programs typically offer the small classes and hand-picked profs only the 1st two years of college. They can do this because doesn’t take that many classes to come up with a set that will meet the lower-division requirements for most majors. It is rare to find more than a token amount of upper-division classes since the honors program simply doesn’t have enough faculty members to create entire major(s). So the last two years most/all classes are taken with the rest of the students in the regular U’s classes. The teaching of the profs will be geared towards the normal U level, the discussions and student involvement in class will be dominated by the regular students, and so on. Class sizes may balloon, too, if you’re in a popular major.</p>
<p>Peer effects are big, too; when almost everyone around you at school is a strong student you have lots of good student to emulate in class or outside it such as doing research or internships. If the top kids are a few hundred strong dispersed among tens of thousands at the U then strong examples may be harder to see. When it comes to finding a job, employers are less likely to send recruiters to a campus with a limited number of honors seniors when they can get a campus-full at more highly regarded schools.</p>
<p>Honors colleges DO offer some valuable perks, in addition to the classes. Typical ones include registering for classes before everyone else so you get the classes you want (a perk worth its weight in gold!), special counselors, guaranteed housing, special library privileges. They will mark your diploma with special recognition. But I would be dubious about attending a college for its honors program in place of a more highly regarded U if finances are not an issue.</p>
<p>Boston University is bigger that many state universities (31,000 students including grad schools) and costs there are approaching $60K a year - and while it is a good school it isn’t Harvard. If there is no aid at BU then full tuition at George Mason sounds like a great opportunity.</p>
<p>Newengland2012: re-read the OP’s post. He/she will get full tuition at BU, not GMU. Personally, I think BU is a much better school, and is more prestigious than GMU. I would take BU in a heartbeat(again,just my two cents.)</p>
<p>Jazmine - I have full tuition at GMU. I don’t hear back from BU until late March or early April.</p>
<p>Everyone - thanks so much for your input! I’ve been so confused by this decision (I’m still crossing my fingers for financial aid at BU, but I’m confused in the mean time). This is definitely starting to make things more clear :)</p>
<p>So sorry- I forgot which one was the public and mistook George mason for another school. I apologize to newengland2012 and everyone else. I still stick by my original post(and subsequent post in regards to money) - take the scholarship. It’s not necessarily about the most prestigious, but if you could envision yourself being happy at either school(I assume you do since you applied) then do what is most practical. The decision is ultimately up to you but I think if you plan on going to med school or grad school, your wallet will thank you in the long run.</p>