<p>...for help. I know what my parents, my teachers, and my friends think, but I could use another opinion about where I should go to college.</p>
<p>University of Mississippi:
Pros: Has everything I want. International studies, government-funded Chinese program. It would be free, and my parents would give me money. I would get to go to China for a semester and two summers.
Cons: In additions to being the University of Mississippi (zero prestige) I kind of hate it--its too much like my high school and the locations blows.</p>
<p>Duke, Dartmouth, UVa (w/ Echols), W and M (w/Monroe):</p>
<p>All of these will be affordable, but I'll be living meagerly and my parents aren't thrilled. I probably wouldn't get to study abroad, or at least not as much. I'll have about 20k in debt from each of these after 4 years.</p>
<p>As you probably deduced, I want to major in something government-ish and learn either Chinese are Arabic. I intend to go to law school or graduate school eventually, but between UG and G-school I think I want to join the Peace Corp or AmeriCorp.</p>
<p>I could really use some honest opinions and information. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>It is my opinion that any of those four schools are worth $20K in debt over the University of Mississippi. </p>
<p>You will probably make enough money in your first year out of college to pay back half of that, and the opportunities that will open for you after a Duke, Dartmouth, UVA or W&M education will be substantially stronger than those that you will find at Mississippi.</p>
<p>I think that of the four schools you listed, Duke is the strongest. I'm not a big fan of either Dartmouth or UVa, but they're both great schools and will do you well if you're comfortable there. W&M is a fantastic school as well, and one that I am seriously considering (see my own dilemma thread if you wish), but be aware that the Monroe scholarship's perks are mainly subjective (faculty respect) and not objective, since the money that you're "given" is actually not exactly in cash - you will have to apply for it through the Charles Center. The only people that have guaranteed research money are the Murray scholars.</p>
<p>You have been offered admission to some absolutely fabulous schools, and, while I will not say that your finaid is fantastic, there are many on these boards who would absolutely kill to be able to attend any one of these schools with only 20k of debt. 20k is really not that much. I'm guessing that your parents aren't thrilled because it would cost them a lot more money, but to me, your choices are not even close. Not to dump on Ole Miss, but it is not in the first or second tier of public universities. Were it U of I, or Madison, and certainly if it were Berkeley/Mich/UVa and free, I would be telling you something else right now, probably. </p>
<p>But even if it were one of those schools, if you hate it and could go to a school that you really like with a pretty manageable and minimal amount of debt, I would still advise you to pass it up. I could have gotten a fine degree from UIUC, and saved my parents AT LEAST $80,000 and at most $110,000 for my education. However, I would hate, hate, hate it there, and so we didn't even consider it. </p>
<p>Out of the four you have listed, all are unbelievable schools/opportunities. I really think you should choose one of them.</p>
<p>Here is a link to another thread where I gave my advice on how to make the final choice: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=324388%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=324388</a></p>
<p>Don't rely on input from others to make this decision. Too much "advice," especially from people who don't know you, can be confusing and even misleading. You WILL make a good decision, but only YOU can decide what it will be.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else. IMO Dartmouth is definately worth going in debt. U will be going to one of the best schools in the U.S and ur job placement opportunities will be endless. Location at most of those schools u mentioned are not great but the academics are way way way better than Ole Miss as will be the job u will get. </p>
<p>Will ur parents allow u to go to Dartmouth or Duke or UVA etc.. or they pretty much demanded u go to Ole Miss for finance purposes?</p>
<p>Also u can always get an on campus job to have more pocket money or help pay the debt. there are many possibilities to pay those schools. I would go to Dartmouth and do everything possible to somehow afford it. Show ur parents how much more likely u are to land a good job at Dartmouth. Also the prestige is quite noticeable. Im sure they know Dartmouth is Ivy League. If not show them the facts. Mayby they will be thrilled after all :D</p>
<p>What about Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service? Read up on it- it's amazing. If I was more sure about what I want to do with my life, I totally would've accepted their offer of admission.</p>
<p>Also take a look at Middlebury College's summer language programs- they're fantastic, I'm probably going to apply for one at some point.</p>
<p>I hate debt, just loathe it. But while I consider 20K to be real money, it isn't an impossible level of debt and I have to agree that there is a big gap between Mississippi and the other colleges. Your other choices are top national schools with very good students and faculty. Of those, you have two categories: William and Mary (smaller classes, a strong liberal arts emphasis) and the others.</p>
<p>Georgetown's finaid was apalling. I'll try to work on it, but I doubt it will be affordable. </p>
<p>My parents main concern, after cost, about Dartmouth is that it's so far away and my dad thinks its "too liberal" or something. Several family of my friends have gone of to Brown, etc. and come back home because they hated it. I'm confident this won't happen to me, but they aren't so sure.</p>
<p>While I concur with momfromme's overall sentiment that the other schools would be worth taking on a small amount of debt, I do take issue with her characterization of W&M as being totally different from Dartmouth and Duke, especially the former. In fact, W&M has a larger undergrad enrollment than Dartmouth (~5700 vs. 4200), and Dartmouth is also well known for its focus on undergraduate programs and education. Duke, while certainly more research-oriented, is not much larger either, at approx. 6300. So it isn't like you're going to have enormous class sizes at any of those three.</p>
<p>If your parents are worried about those "darn yankee liberals" corrupting you, ha ha, Duke and UVa are relatively conservative institutions (and actually Dartmouth is as well, given its location). I just can't imagine turning down any of these four fine institutions for Ole Miss, given such a small price differential... unless your heart was really set on Ole Miss, which it doesn't appear to be.</p>
<p>I went to Dartmouth for a year -- admittedly, a long time ago -- and it was anything but liberal (I transferred to Berkeley). It's in a very small town and isolated and, back then, full of answers to the question, Why is the world so ****up? (I had never been in contact with the sons & daughters of the rich and powerful, and it was an eye-opener.) But, there were some great people there, too.</p>
<p>I think all of these Where to? queries are best answered by yourself after visiting them all. That might seem like a big investment to make, but it's worth it if you avoid a mistake and find a great fit, based on what you feel and think. And a lot of it is based on feel. Go with your gut reaction when you step on the campus and walk around.</p>
<p>My D was applying to schools this year as a violin performance major, and that means we visited each school she applied to for auditions. It was crazy, a pain, and expensive, but it taught us what looks good on paper might not be a good choice at all. Visit and go with your gut.</p>
<p>20k is a lot of money, but with discipline it is also a debt easily surmounted a few years out of a college like Dartmouth or Duke. Interest rates are very reasonable on students loans, and I think education is one of the rare things worth taking a loan out for</p>
<p>Pitch for Dartmouth - it's got very strong language programs (in many different languages, and certainly in both Arabic and Chinese). If you're interested in study abroad, D has a ton of study abroad programs (both FSPs and LSAs) and something like half of Dartmouth students go on one at some point. I personally chose not to do it, but a lot of people come back from these things raving about what an experience they were. And our government department is very strong, if that's what you're looking for. A lot of Govie professors are real stars in their field. For example, the current director of the Dickie Center (<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Edickey/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dickey/</a>) is a former ambassador to Belarus and Georgia (the country).</p>
<p>Concerning liberalism - I'm not going to lie, Dartmouth is a pretty liberal place. But there's a broad spectrum of opinions. However seen I've been there I've considered Dartmouth a place where everyone respects everyone else's viewpoints, even if they don't agree with them. What this means is that you are inspired to have passionate but civil debates with your fellow students concerning politics, foreign policy, economics, you name it and you can find yourself exposed to different thoughts and perspectives, which last I checked is sorta the point of college. For example, I am a liberal and one of my best friends (frat brother, former roommate) is a libertarian. We've had lots of interesting debates, some more heated, some less, and while I don't think there's a chance we're ever going to convert each other I think both of us have sort of come to appreciate the other's position slightly more. And if you're really worried, don't forget that Dartmouth is home to the Review and the Beacon, so if you are conservative and are really worried about finding others of a similar leaning you will not be at a loss to find people with similar views.</p>
<p>I realize these things don't necessarily mitigate possible financial concerns but just things to think about.</p>
<p>I don't know if you've read about DukeEngage, but I suggest you read about it if you haven't. </p>
<p>
[quote]
In one of the most ambitious efforts of its kind in U.S. higher education, Duke University will make civic engagement an integral part of its undergraduate experience beginning in 2008, university president Richard H. Brodhead announced Monday.</p>
<p>Duke's new program, DukeEngage, will provide full funding and faculty and administrative support to all undergraduates who want to stretch beyond the classroom by tackling societal issues at home and abroad, and, in turn, learning from those real-world experiences. Projects could range from learning about African education challenges while helping a rural school to gaining insights into natural disasters while working with Gulf Coast flood victims. The program will provide Duke students with opportunities to collaborate with nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations that address poverty, housing, education, AIDS or other social issues; with a financial institution to explore how investment affects life in third-world countries; or an art museum to increase outreach to low-income children, among other things.</p>
<p>The Duke Endowment of Charlotte and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle are providing $15 million each to endow DukeEngage. The program's national advisory committee will be chaired by David Gergen, a Duke trustee and former White House adviser who is professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership. James Joseph, former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa and director of the U.S.-Southern African Center for Leadership and Public Values at Duke, will lead the faculty advisory board. The board's vice chair is biologist Sherryl Broverman, who has helped lead a student-learning project in Kenya in which Duke students are helping to build a boarding school for girls in Muhuru Bay...
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/02/DukeEngage.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/02/DukeEngage.html</a></p>
<p>As for study abroad opportunities, many of them are actually CHEAPER than your home university because you're paying their fees. I'm studying abroad in the UK next year, and their fees are literally half the COA at Duke. 46% of Duke students study abroad (engineers drag the % down).</p>
<p>Dartmouth has a little better finaid than Duke, which tends to offer more loan money. However, do check out the private schools' study abroad programs and you'll find that they usually adjust finaid awards finaid so those kids CAN go overseas.</p>
<p>I would take the undergrad focus, faculty, and experience of Duke/Dartmouth or W&M over Miss without a seconds hesitation. you will probably take out a larger loan for a car one day so dont scrimp on your college education.</p>
<p>I really hope you decide to come to Duke Ryan! You sound like an amazing person and you would be a great addition to the campus. If you enjoyed your TASP experience, Duke's FOCUS programs for freshman essentially mirror those and as warblersrule mentioned, the DukeEngage would certainly be a great opportunity for someone interested in community service like you. In fact, Duke is probably one of the most community service-oriented schools in the Top 10. In addition, Duke has top-notch departments in every area of academic study and warm weather, like you are used to in Mississippi. Out of all the schools you listed, Duke seems to fit you the most and will probably provide the easiest transition from high school to college.</p>