<p>I was recently accepted into both the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the University of St. Thomas. The U of M is a more prestigious school, but I was offered a place in the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program at St. Thomas. I love the campuses of both schools, and after scholarships, they would cost about the same. I really am having trouble deciding...do I go with the more prestigious school or the amazing opportunity of an Honors program?</p>
<p>The Aquinas Scholars doesn’t sound as if it would be such a distinctive experience that it should dictate your college choice. It only involves 22 of the 132 credits required for graduation and there is no residential component. I’d choose UMN, but not from a prestige standpoint; the 2 schools re different enough that you should weigh the culture of a small private campus vs. one of the largest public univs in the country.</p>
<p>UMinn is NOT prestigious. No one knows the difference between these schools other than people in Minnesota. In the major cities, they are considered the same: a school in Minnesota.</p>
<p>Informative is still uninformative. Some things never change.</p>
<p>You don’t say what major you are pursuing and that makes a difference. It depends on where you feel more comfortable and which university offers you the best opportunities to meet your goals. You can get a good undergraduate education in either place if you put the effort into it, however, if you are in a science major, ther emight be more opportunity to become involved in a legitimate research experience at a majore research university like University of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Conversely, if you are looking into liberal arts, St. Thomas may be better.</p>
<p>Are you Catholic? St. Thomas is a Catholic school with a “Faith and Catholic Tradition” graduation requirement (three courses).</p>
<p>Minnesota is likely to have much greater breadth and depth of courses in many subjects. What major(s) are you considering?</p>
<p>I agree with gadad. This is not one of the special honors program with housing, stipends, privileges galore. I’d choose UM for a broader experience.</p>
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<p>Minneapolis IS a major city. You must have missed that.</p>
<p>MN guy here. Both are good schools. St. Thomas has a fine reputation in the business community locally, not so good in the sciences. U of MN is a good all around state U with noted schools of business and engineering. Depends on what sort of setting you want, too. St. Thomas is small, Catholic and in a very nice part of St. Paul. It has good D3 sports program, but my nephew there said it has a bit of a commuter school feel on weekends. U of MN is HUGE both in terms of enrollment and physical size. I’m sure there’s a large commuter population at the U as well, but it’s so big that it doesn’t feel overly quiet on the weekends according to another nephew who goes there. Good luck.</p>