In love with one school, in money at another, and on familiar ground at a third: Help

Parents Forum
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<p>Lists have been made, apps filled out (well, most of them anyway, see below), acceptances are in, money is in....I thought I was done with the hard part. Well, I'm not.</p>

<p>Long story short, I applied to 7 schools and was acceptanced with merit money at all (even UIUC, which I was shocked about). Four didn't give me enough money to make them real considerations, so that leaves me with the following three (with the pros and cons of each, estimated Cost of Attendance with merit aid subtracted):</p>

<p>University of Rhode Island (FullTuitionSchool from my other post): I was accepted to their six-year pharmacy program, which gurantees me entrance into their professional school as long as I maintain a 2.5 GPA (3.0 for scholarship purposes). I visited the campus, liked it well enough; the people were very nice, and it doesn't seem to very sports crazy (a plus in my book). However, it's almost halfway across the country for me, and I liked it, not LOVED it. Pharm. program's great and apparently the students in program are very cohesive and the are treated like gold by the school. They have some I have concerns about the drinking culture and a wee bit about the isolation (though the latter is shaping up not to be as big a factor as I would have thought). Also, the getting tuition paid for undergrad and professional school is great and automatic Pharm. school acceptance is great.</p>

<p>Full OOS Tutition ~$18000 per year
COA (Room, board, fees off school's website totaled):~$11000</p>

<p>University of Montana (UM): This is the school I LOVE. I've been here twice, and everytime I step on campus I think, "This is where I want to be." The campus is beautiful, the city is nice (if overpopulated by hotels), and the people have been great. The disability department was also excellent, and they offer a lot of Japanese (not my major but a strong side interest of mine). To sweeten the deal, I was recently given their top scholarship, which gives me, in addition, to money, admission to honor program and additional perks here and there (i.e., a special box to watch basketball games in). The students I met who have received this scholarship before seemed very much like people I'd hang out with. The cons? Basically, thir pharm program is hard to get into; you need at least a 3.5 to have a shot, and I'm sure if I can get that. I'm worried I'd spend 3+ years working for pharm. school and not getting in. Also, it doesn't have an Amtrak station and is psuedo distant from home. My mom said she'd drive up if I really needed something, but... I'm a bit concerned about the drinking culture.</p>

<p>$11,300 (Presidential Leadership Scholarship and $5,00 per year housing scholarship)
COA (Tuition, fees, room, board, books, and living expenses off the school's website): ~$8,000</p>

<p>Westminster College in UT: The unknown in all of this. I haven't visited yet, but I lived in the area most of my life and loved area. Our "extended family" (i.e., really, really good friends) all live nearby if I had proble and need help. No pharmacy program, but I could apply to the University of Utah's Pharm program after doing my bachleor's (probably in three years given my AP credit). I liked the idea of May Term (basically, a "free" mini-term in May when students get to take a variety of fun classes). Not much Japanese offered, but I could make do, I think. I could apply for the honors program and additional scholarships, but I wonder if I should borther as the apps. for both are long and difficult, and I doubt I could get in for honors (though the school did invite me for an "Honors Day" given my admissions app. Maybe that's a good sign). Actually, I like the Honors Program a lot, so I don't understand my own heistance really. I think it's just that I'm wondered I'll turn in a sub-par essay. I like the idea of small class sizes as well, but the thing I'm heistant aboout is the size. At 2,500 undergrad and profession students, the entire school is smaller than three grades of my HS. When I visited University of Puget Sound (total enrollment ~2,900) this summer, it seems really claustrophobic and just not for me. It's also hard for my family to find time to visit. However, I do "feel at home" in Salt Lake. Should I fill oput the Honors app and visit or just focus on URI and UM?</p>

<p>$11,000 per year (merit aid for full tuition is possible but very, very unlikely, so let's just go with this.)</p>

<p>COA (Tution, fees, room, and board of school's website): ~$15,000</p>

<p>I'm happy to have all the choices, I really am, but this is hard in a way I won't have expected</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>I say go with UM as it is the one you love. :)</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper, I agree with Wealth - UM sounds like it is where your heart is.</p>

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<p>read back over your own post -- UM is clearly your choice. make the leap and go to UM.</p>

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<p>Yeah, but the guranteed professional school with money at URI would be REALLY hard to turn down. I mean, there's a huge chance that I won't get into Montana's pharmacy program, and I don't want to spend 3+ years and then come out with no direction/source of employment. I feel that I could be happy at URI, just not as happy as I would be at Montana. Plus, I would have an awesome safety net at URI.</p>

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<p>So your bottom line at Montana is $3000 and at URI is $11000?</p>

<p>I overlooked that URI is willing to pay your professional school tuition as well. But if Montana is $8000 cheaper for the next four years, then financially the two of them are in the same ballpark (leaving aside the possibility you could get aid for grad school after Montana).</p>

<p>(Do they teach Japanese at URI?)</p>

<p>So then perhaps it comes down to: how important is that comfort level of the guaranteed admission? Is it important enough to give up the school you love?</p>

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<p>ADad, it looks like Montana is $8000, URI is $11,000 - so it is a $3000 difference, not that much when it comes down to it. (But maybe I'm misreading Wolfpiper's post -- I am assuming her COA numbers are what she will pay vs. how much of a discount she is getting).</p>

<p>To Wolfpiper: Are you absolutely, completely, totally, sure that you want to become a pharmacist? So sure that you can't possibly conceive changing your mind? </p>

<p>If you are, I would say that you should go to URI, simply because no matter how much you love a campus when you visit, after you are there for awhile you will experience the negatives as well as the positives. (All colleges have some problems that will be upsetting or inconvenint for you, no matter how wonderful they are -- it could be the quality of the food, or the winter weather, or difficulty getting desired classes). </p>

<p>At the same time, once you are at a college that merely seems "ok", you will make friends, settle in, etc. -- and you very well may come to love it. </p>

<p>The URI offer is the best for you professionally -- but ONLY if you continue with your current career goals. I entered college 36 years ago as a pre-vet major, and it took me a single quarter to change my mind entirely. I found my chemistry class extremely difficult, dry & boring -- and I found my intro to philosophy class fascinating, and though I had always thought of myself as a science & math person, I realized that my calling was going to be humanities & social sciences. </p>

<p>However, I had made an excellent college choice: a large university that didn't require met to formally declare a major until the end of sophomore year. So I freedom to explore many different subject areas. </p>

<p>So if I was your mother, I'd be pushing you toward Montana, because I'd want to urge you to keep your options open. You don't want to be in a situation 2 years from now where you have discovered a new passion, and you feel <em>stuck</em> with your pharmacy track.... or <em>stuck</em> in a college you didn't want but for the pharmaceutical progam. And it is very common for kids to change their minds -- a university is a world where you will be exposed to ideas and concepts and whole areas of study you never knew existed. When you tie yourself at the outset to a pre-professional program, you are closing a lot of doors before you even get to campus.</p>

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<p>You will go back and forth on this one for awhile. It is probably a good idea to do that. But you know where you really want to go. : ) From my perspective it could be one of two options.</p>

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<p>Calmom:</p>

<p>Very good point to consider: keeping options open.</p>

<p>I understood wolfpiper to be saying that the $5000 housing allowance at Montana was toward the $8000 total cost. But I was not sure either, which is why I asked.</p>

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<p>See if this helps: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=51596%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=51596&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>My vote's for Montana, too. I think a lot could change and to make a choice for URI based on a 7 year plan at a young age could be risky - maybe not for you, but many students change their minds.</p>

<p>One other factor: I knew an OOS student at URI a decade or so ago and she complained that because RI was such a small state, and so many of the students were, naturally, in state, they all seemed to go home on the weekends and there wasn't much of a campus life.</p>

<p>I went to the U of Wyoming from the east and although 70% were in state residents at that time, few people left on weekends - they may have lived in state, but in state could be 400 miles away. I'd check into the percentages of in-state residents at each of those schools.</p>

<p>Your post does read like you'd prefer Montana.</p>

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<p>Go with your gut. Go to UM. If you are happy, you will do well academically.</p>

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<p>I think that if you are certain that a pharmaceutical major is for you, then URI is the school to attend. BTW, my H is a URI graduate. He went in premed, but graduated with a degree in polysci and went on to law school. BTW, he has no regrets about going to URI, and had a great time! He would send our children there if they wanted to attend. He is a perfect example of how people grow and change. If you aren't certain about what you want to study, then go with the school that you love. You might even want to take a broad spectrum of classes in your freshman year and then decide upon a major. This is how my friend's D found that she loved anthropology.</p>

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<p>Hi Wolf,
Congrats on all these wonderful options! </p>

<p>Just wanted to say that I am from NJ, and now live here after leaving in Salt Lake City for a year, and Billings Mt ( 1 year) , and funky, neat Missoula for two years......</p>

<p>1) RI is a long way from your home, and unless you have experienced this it may not be for you.</p>

<p>2) Remind me, Did you visit Univ of Mt, when the students were on campus? Did you sit in on classes-do an overnight?</p>

<p>3) Apply for the Honors program at Utah, so you never have any regrets for roads less taken. You are an essay away from that option. Go for it!</p>

<p>4) You mention the drinking issues concern you, and you mention the comfort level in Utah. If you are Mormon, I would factor this in, recognizing the "clash' of cultures that may lie ahead.</p>

<p>5) Most importantly, have you interned at a pharmacy, do you know pharmacists, and are you going into the major with "eyes wide open".
So, so, so many kids change majors as other posters are pointing out. Keep your options open.</p>

<p>Hope this was helpful. Exciting times ahead for you.</p>

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<p>I wouldn't discount the expense or the inconvenience of travelling to RI. It may not be worth it unless it was a dream school scenerio.</p>

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<p>Another vote for UM! It's pretty obvious that's where you really want to be.</p>

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<p>Not Mormon. My family are "Utah Gentiles" (and Democrats!)--Both parents came to the U of U for college from really far out of state and didn't leave for 26 years. They have a whole extended network of college friends/neighbors and so forth there, many of whom were pratically "second parents" to me growing up. Even now when we go back for vacation or whatever, SLC still feels like home. We know almost everything there is to know about the neighborhood-great out of the way breakfast joints, the quirks of the local politicians, what groups hang out at the Liberty Park on weekends, etc. That's the big pull of Westminster for me-that feeling of "home."</p>

<p>I didn't visit a class at UM, and they don't offer overnights, but I did interview and ask questions to pharmacy advisors/genetics advisor and talked to some current students. I have no doubt there's bad things about the school--there's bad things about anywhere, really--but I really liked it for what I saw. Which is a problem.</p>

<p>Both URI and Westminster offer 4 semesters of Japanese. I'm in Japanese VI now, which is basically an independent study literatuire class, so I'm thinking I could place out 2, maybe 3, semesters.</p>

<p>I want to go into pharmacy. Sure, it could change, but I doubt it. My family thinks I should be a lawyer or an author (everyone seems to be under some delusion about my writing ability), but I don't really want to do that--I want to work in health care, to help preople, as naive as that sounds. This job has, it seems, everything I want. I know the best place to do that is URI-great program, great internships, job placement, etc. I think UM is a better school, even though, they're both 3rd tier (yeah, I went the merit aid route- don't kill me! ;) ), but URI is THE program for pharmacy.</p>

<p>What it comes down to is this: I don't want to sacrifice my future for a lifestyle--with UM, there's a possibility I can have both. With URI, there's an almost guarantee I can have the future I want, but I'm sure about the lifestyle.</p>

<p>It seems like it changes with the tide--one moment, I can see myself as being semi-happy at URI, the next moment I can't. UM I can always see myself being happy, I just don't know if I'll be successful. Of course, there is the possibly I'd get into UM's pharmacy school, but I doubt I could get a 3.5+ in college, and I really, really have no idea what I could do with a Biology/Japanese double major if I couldn't get into professional/grad school....</p>

<p>ETA (Edited to Add):
Also, I'm a bit wondered about internships/job placement at Montana.</p>

<p>My parent's say not to worry about drinking; there's drinking at every college and nod-drinkers at every school. Agree? Disagree?
Thanks for the input!</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper--To address what seems to be your main concern about Montana--why do you doubt that you can get a 3.5 GPA at Montana?</p>

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<p>There is drinking of diff degree at every college, as long as there no pressure for you to drink it is irrelevant.
School with garanteed acceptance to pharm program is best option. Pharmacy is very much needed occupation and you will have no troble finding good job. Good internships are VERY important.
Colleges in many countries do not have option of undecided major- you are applying to either engeneer, teacher, doctor, architect etc. right after high school and that is where you are going. Go with your future and most likely you will be completely happy at that school.
Distance from home means only one thing- most of your contacts will be in that region- will you be happy to stay there after graduation?</p>

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<p>(everyone seems to be under some delusion about my writing ability)</p>

<p>I guess I'm deluded, too. You are a very good writer. I don't really have anything to add to the discussion, other than to re-visit if possible. You are a different person now than when you applied last fall.</p>