I was between two schools. One is an instate sec school (chose this and went for free) and the other is a better sec school (30 grand a year). I wanted to go out of state because i wanted to meet new people. My parents said they would pay for better schools but at the time i didnt think oos was worh 30k a year more. Hindsight, i kind of wished i chose out of state. (Money was somewhat a factor and the in state school was ranked higher in my major according to usnews but the oos school is better overall). Main points are: 1. I regret going oos becuz in state i see the same people. 2. This ones the most important but The oos is a better school, this would this have been better in the long run? 3. If i was planning to go to a good grad school anyways, would the prestige of undergrad matter? I thought going in state i could save money for grad school but i feel like i lost an opportuinity to meet new undergrad people. Can grad students still have fun such as go out to school sporting events or are you treated as a true worker? Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help. I constantly feel good and regret about my choice to stay instate
- I highly doubt you know everyone in your state or that you will see the same people every day at a state school. Wanting to go out of state simply because you want to meet new people isn't a good reason. You will meet new people in college regardless of where you go, and state schools are usually pretty big so you won't see the same people everyday. What is the overall enrollment of your state school?
- Overall ranking is overrated, and the value of the department is more important. For instance, UT-Austin has a lower ranking than Vanderbilt, but UT-Austin's CS program is better and therefore tech companies like Google recruit more at UT-Austin and not Vanderbilt. If your intended major is better at your state school despite the lower overall ranking, I think you made the right call. Choosing an inferior education for a slightly higher overall prestige is a huge mistake.
- You should especially save money if you are planning on going to grad school. The $120k that you just saved by going to your state school can be used for grad school instead of a pat on the back. The out of state school is not worth $120k more just for a little bit more prestige. Also, it depends on what type of grad school you want to go to, but usually, the prestige of your school won't be hinder your chances of going to a good grad school. I know people that went to state schools and later went on to ivy league grad schools. The important thing is to have a high GPA, good extracurricular activities, and good score on an entrance exam like LSAT and MCAT if it is required.
Unless you’re commuting to the local commuter school, I can’t imagine that you’re not seeing new people at your current school. The SEC schools, except for Vandy, must have at least 15k-30+ students, right?
But to answer your Q…certainly grad students go to games. No, they’re not treated like workers.
SEC schools are large enough that you will not see any one you know from high school unless you want to.
Generally, it is beneficial to attend a higher quality institution than one of lower quality. However, $120,000 is quite a bit of money, and Vanderbilt is not IMHO worth that much of a premium over any of the SEC schools.
Undergraduate generally won’t matter. Let say you attend Georgia Tech for an engineering masters, or Emory for an MBA. Whether you went to Mississippi State, UNC or Duke for undergraduate, you will be interviewing with the same group of companies once you have your graduate degree.
My D picked the instate option in the same town we live in (also SEC), where majority of college bound classmates and church friends end up going and she still seldom ran into those people. In fact, she made good friends with other kids that probably live within 5 miles of us but went to different HS so she had never met them. She picked free over several great options (ranking wise). Never regretted it after she started it (buyers regret for first month or so, so I think your feelings are normal).
Free is good. Grad school can be expensive if you plan to do something that usually doesn’t come with funding/graduate assistantship options (law, medicine, MBA for instance). Will the school hurt your chances? I don’t think so. My D at Ivy grad school. Lots of friends got into great grad programs.
Try not to second guess yourself and work hard to find new friends and opportunities. Have fun!
You picked the right school. $120,000 is a HUGE difference. Going OOS is not worth $120,000. The fact that you expect to go to graduate school makes this even more important. Having $120,000 left for graduate school, or avoiding this much in debt, is HUGE.
“I wanted to go out of state because i wanted to meet new people.”
There are “new people” at your in-state school. You might have to go find them (such as by being involved in clubs).
“at the time i didnt think oos was worh 30k a year more”
At the time you were correct.
“Money was somewhat a factor”
Welcome to life. Money is nearly always a factor.
" and the in state school was ranked higher in my major according to usnews but the oos school is better overall"
It sounds like from an academic perspective there is no meaningful difference.
“The oos is a better school, this would this have been better in the long run?”
No. From an academic point of view, based on what you have said (and without knowing the names of the schools) it is pretty clear that it won’t make a difference. Financially in the long run it will make a HUGE difference.
“If i was planning to go to a good grad school anyways, would the prestige of undergrad matter?”
No. If you are planning to go to a good grad school, then once you are there no one will care where you came from.
“Can grad students still have fun such as go out to school sporting events”
Yes, absolutely. I went to a grad school that is known as being very competitive (Stanford). I was still able to attend football games (Stanford did quite well the year I got my master’s), have a girlfriend, and participate in various social events.
The main issue was probably that I was a better student in grad school. I kept ahead in my work, was ahead in my reading, always showed up on time or early for classes and sat in the front row and paid attention. There were times when I would wake up at 10am on a Saturday, spend six hours doing homework, then go out and have fun in the evening. I remember seeing a couple of very good concerts in San Francisco, all while keeping ahead of my course work. Two things that helped so much and made this possible: (i) In grad school I always kept ahead of my work; (ii) In grad school all classes were in my major or closely related fields, so that I was taking classes in areas where I am very good. In contrast, in undergrad I needed to take some courses in subjects where I am not so good, and I was not nearly as good at keeping ahead (which in the long run just made it harder to catch up).
You made the right choice. Work hard, keep ahead, have some fun, and good luck!