How much is too much to pay for Duke?

<p>Money isn't a huge problem for my family, and they COULD pay for Duke ($56,000/year) but they don't WANT to. On the other hand, Johns Hopkins gave me a full ride, and I could save for medical school. I've always wanted to go to Duke (ever since Stanford rejected me) and I'm not competitive enough for Johns Hopkins, so I would be much happier at Duke. I would still be happy at Johns Hopkins though. Just happIER at Duke. So is it worth it to pay $56,000 for a marginal gain in happiness?</p>

<p>Judging by your other posts in this thread, it appears as if you’ve already decided-:)</p>

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<p>Hahaha, I was sure that I was going to Duke until I realized how much it was. I thought it was closer to $50,000 and then I didn’t think about my personal expenses.</p>

<p>I think I would want to kill myself if I went to Johns Hopkins for Pre-Med (I heard the freezing weather is depressing too).</p>

<p>Hopkins is a wonderful school. How could you turn down a full ride there to pay full tuition at Duke, a school of roughly equivalent quality? No matter how rich your parents are, I would think that a $50K+ x 4 difference would matter to them, esp. if you’re planning med school on top of that.</p>

<p>I attended Hopkins and met many fine and supportive people. Duke is an excellent school as well.</p>

<p>Be aware that the cliches about schools are just that–cliches. All universities of a certain size have a wide range of people attending. If you don’t like a competitive atmosphere, then look for other likeminded people. Clubs and other extracurricular activities are a great way to meet them.</p>

<p>Frenchhorngirl, Johns Hopkins is in Baltimore. Not a particularly cold part of the US! The azaleas are beautiful in the springtime.</p>

<p>Over $200,000 for 4 years is a HUGE amount of money. Why not go to Hopkins, a good school that you like for free.</p>

<p>You really don’t know where you would happier anyway. I know a senior last year turned down several good schools to go to Duke. She was happy the first few months and has been miserable ever since.</p>

<p>i had the same problem in choosing schools. it came down to a cheaper, more prestigous state school or a more expensive, less prestigous private school. on CC every told me choose the state schol (michigan). i would be happy there but not as happy. money wasnt really a problem, but i decided to go to the more expensive LAC. your situation is different since they are equally prestigous really though. do you mean your parents can pay for it without loans? if it is without loans then i would go with duke, but if a lot of it is loans then john hopkins prob</p>

<p>No offense, but you’ve got to be kidding me!!!</p>

<p>I love both schools (JHU for undergrad, Duke for Med school). My son just finished his freshman year at Duke right now. If he had a full ride at JHU, trust me - he’d be at JHU.</p>

<p>I guess you can’t force yourself to be happy somewhere just because you try and will yourself to. But, respectfully, if you were even in the ballpark of refusing a JHU full-ride versus other schools you were applying to where you would not get financial aid, why did you even apply to Hopkins?</p>

<p>I really don’t think there’s any question: pick JHU. You will always find people who share your interests/views, and turning down 200k+ is a HUGE mistake, in my opinion. You should just convince your parents to use that money to pay for your med school tuition ;)</p>

<p>I have replied to the OP before, but this will be my last response. The OP apparently is a very talented kid, but I am surprised by her immaturity. $250,000 to buy the “perceived” happiness?</p>

<p>“Immaturity?” Anonymous93 is in no way immature or being immature in this situation</p>

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<p>I think this is pretty good advice. Duke may or may not be worth it, depending on the OP’s financial status. JHU and Duke are two very different schools with different atmospheres.</p>

<p>@Anon:
Well out of curiosity, did you get any other financial aid from HYP? Just asking.</p>

<p>If you feel you’d be unhappy at JHU, then DON’T GO! Even if its full ride. Ultimately, its up to you. If you like a school, go there.</p>

<p>Money is money. It comes and goes. You’ll earn it back (with your crazy intelligence, I’m sure you’ll be financially successful). But a degree from an undergrad institution, the experiences, the friendship, the school spirit…that’s permanent. Pick with your guts!</p>

<p>I’m confused. Where did JHU come from? I thought the OP deposited at Princeton, but recently got off the Duke waitlist.???</p>

<p>And yes, asking your parents to pay $200K so that you can be “marginally happier” is very immature. Even if they are fairly wealthy (“money isn’t a huge problem”), the parents have indicated that they don’t want to pay for Duke. (Most likely they’re thinking about that medical school tuition down the road.) The OP has a FREE alternative that will give her an equally prestigious undergraduate education, so it is incredibly selfish to just dismiss the parents’ concerns and expect them to pay the extra $200K.</p>

<p>If you want your parents to pay $224,000+ for duke, I hope you know that your parents probably won’t want to pay for med school AT ALL. Why? Because they “they don’t WANT to” pay for the full price for Duke and then pay for the price of med school. Good luck finding fund for med school. No, I’m serious (i’m not trying to be mean or anything) but really, you have to realize money doesn’t grow on trees. Your parents worked HARD and I mean really hard for their money for a year. Spending $56,000 dollars per year won’t come as a happiness for them. Why?

  1. they have to survive, not just right now but for the future. They have to save for their 401K or for any financial/economic disaster that may lie ahead.
  2. knowing that you got the best financial aid possible to one of the best school in the country but you decided to turn it down because you want a “marginal” (meaning “extremely small” or “of extremely small merit”) gain of happiness does NOT sit well for any parent. Let me ask you, is the happiness worth the price (does money buy happiness, not just for 4 years but think about 8 years)?
  3. they probably want you to learn the value of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees or fall from the sky. They want you to learn how to save money and use it wisely</p>

<p>Also, how do you know you won’t be happy at JHU? Have you visited? Or are you listening to the bias, prejudice view from many of the people on CC (and especially on the threads for a specific college)?</p>

<p>I just want you to know this. Spending $224,000+ dollar for Duke = $224,000+ less for medical school. Your parents might not even want to support you much for medical if they spend so much for Duke. Where are you going to get the money then? If you went to JHU and then go for medical school. Chances are, the fact that they didn’t have spend much money for JHU will cause them to be more willing to support you for medical school. Duke and any school is NOT $224K+ better than JHU and that is a fact. If you spend $224K+ for Duke and end up having little money for Med school or ending up graduating from med school with a massive debt, would you be happy? </p>

<p>Ultimately it’s your choice: do you want to 1) spend a tremendous amount of money for Duke and have little or no money for Med school OR 2) spend almost nothing for JHU and have TONS of money left for Med school???</p>

<p>I was in a similar situation last year in April. I got a 2/3 tuition scholarship at Rice and had to pay full ($52,000/year) for Duke. Rice was basically half the cost of Duke. Duke definitely had greater appeal at the time (It has awesome school spirit, nice brand name, and just full of fun, interesting, very social people) and one of the best programs in my area of interest (environmental science). However, at the time, I didn’t think Duke was worth $100,000 more than Rice, which also offers an outstanding education although it is a smaller school. Even though Duke’s environmental science program was one of the best, and Rice’s program was okay in environmental science, I still decided on Rice.</p>

<p>I was quite unhappy 1st semester. I kept thinking “What if I went to Duke?” But as I reflect back on it now, I am very glad that I chose Rice (and I would do it all over again) even though I thought I would be happier at Duke. I had a great time 2nd semester (gotta learn to be patient…good times do come in college), built up relationships with professors and friends, and realized that Houston has SO MUCH more to offer than a place like Durham. Who knows if I would have been happier at Duke? Maybe I would have been. But I don’t think its worth $100,000 more over 4 years ($120,000 with loans), and even though I was very unhappy 1st semester, I am very glad I saved my parents $30,000/year. Personally, I don’t think happiness should be bought, and I believe if I went to Duke, I would be buying greater happiness. I felt like I made a very mature decision to turn down a more appealing place, especially since I’m going to grad school. I have grown to love Rice, and you will grow to love Hopkins. One visit cannot tell you enough of a school. Although Duke students might be slightly more well-rounded and active on campus, I don’t think its worth $100,000 more in my case to be with them. Same with your situation.</p>

<p>So this is what I recommend: visit Hopkins if you haven’t already. If you feel you can be happy there and find your niche, go to Hopkins. If you feel you will be “marginally happier” at Duke (i.e. you can be happy at both places, but happier at Duke), then I think it is wise to go with Hopkins. If your gut tells you that you are going to be miserable at Hopkins, then I would go to Duke. This is a decision you need to make for yourself. When you make the decision, don’t look back. It sucks not enjoying 1st semester of college because you think you will be happier at the other school or you think you would have saved a lot of money at the other school. Trust me. I have been through it, and I really should have given Rice more of a chance 1st semester instead of contemplating what life would be like at Duke.</p>

<p>Wait…I thought you enrolled at Princeton. So, can you even enroll at Hopkins anymore?</p>

<p>I’m going to Duke, but here are some responses.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I deposited at Princeton, but my parents were essentially like “If you’re going to pay full tuition for Duke, why don’t you just go to JHU, a school of similar merit for free? We can understand Princeton, but why Duke?” So that’s why JHU was brought into question…</p></li>
<li><p>As for the money, my parents can pay for medical school too. $200,000+ is without any loans for my parents, and so I would be debt free still. In terms of how -$56,000 a year is going to affect them - it might, it might not. They CAN pay for it, but it’s more of a "Why are we paying for Duke and not Harvard/Princeton/Yale.</p></li>
<li><p>Sure, I’m being immature. I’ve visited both schools and I didn’t like JHU that much, but enough to apply thinking that I might change my mind. I LOVED Duke. I wanted to get in very badly. Going to JHU instead of Duke would be the equivalent of turning down a dream for money - which I’m choosing not to do. Call it immature or whatever you want, but if you had to opportunity to go to your dream school and your parents could pay for it, wouldn’t you? I only asked the question because I was unsure of how much Duke means to me, and thinking it over, Duke means A LOT to me.</p></li>
<li><p>JHU is an amazing school and I realize that I could be happy there if I chose the right group of people to hang out with and that there are ubercompetitive people at Duke too. I can’t really explain it, but it’s just a feeling. I spent 2 days at both schools and Duke is my perfect fit.</p></li>
<li><p>In terms of money as a whole, I had a full ride to whatever school I wanted to go to, but turned it down so that someone who actually needed it could go to the school of their dreams. Money doesn’t grow on trees, but neither does an opportunity to go to the perfect school.</p></li>
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<p>Hehe with that kind of love for Duke, you’ll fit right in. Not gonna lie, I love how much Dukies love Duke :).</p>

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<p>its comforting to know i’ll be going to school with someone so kind</p>