Is a near full-ride to Michigan OOS worth passing over Stanford and Yale?

Parents Forum
61

<p>The OP is a prospective Ross student?? He will have the same access to major companies at all three universities. The big-names heavily recruit at Michigan, and if he desires to get an MBA down the road, he can go to Harvard/Chicago/Stanford/MIT/Wharton for that kind of networking and education. Granted, Stanford is closer to Silicon Valley but if he's not interested in the technology/venture capital route, I don't see how Stanford is better. Then again, you have to visit both schools to figure out what is better for you. </p>

<p>I believe sakky and Alexandre would provide a better explanation here. </p>

<p>Note: I chose Northwestern over Michigan for my undergraduate studies. NU was a better fit for me and gave me a better financial aid package.</p>

62

<p>No aid. Wow. That would be a very difficult decision. I was in your shoes. Lots of $ from Ann Arbor, also admitted to Yale. My girlfriend matriculated to Stanford so i know it was great too. Luckily for me, FA came through in a big way for Yale and I graduated w/o any debt. </p>

<p>160K is a huge amount. I don't know if I'd advise my own kids to go to Y or S in this scenario. However, my opinion is that Y's undergraduate experience is superior to UM( where I've worked) and to SU (where I've worked plus my GF's experiences there).</p>

<p>Try to visit Y during its Bulldog Days. Talk to lots of alums and current students. Neither Y or UM can beat Stanford's weather though -- like paradise. Man I miss Palo Alto!</p>

<p>You have a great dilemma. Best of luck to you weighing this decision.</p>

<p>EDIT: I had a great friend at Y who was pre-med. She turned down a full ride to U Illinois for lesser FA at Y. After graduation she had to go into big debt for UI's med program. She said ruefully that she would have preferred to go to UI for undergrad and Yale for med. One perspective about future Grad school...</p>

63

<p>Actually, Stanford is only a "large university" in the physical size of their campus. But, it's certainly doesn't have the student population that University of Michigan does. And, Stanford guarantees campus housing for all 4 years. In fact, a large majority of students continue to live on campus for the entire time.</p>

<p>UMich has a total of 41,000+ students. 26,083 are undergraduates and 14,959 are post graduates. Stanford has a TOTAL of 19,945 students. 6,759 are undergrads and 8,186 are postgraduates. Quite a difference in size. Yale has 5,316 undergads, which is closer to Stanford's size. 11,000+ total. I feel that Stanford has quite a "family community" feel to it.</p>

<p>ellemenope wrote:</p>

<p>"(S)tanford is large university, much like UMich. Big on sports, great academics, great campus culture. (Y)ale is a smaller college with residential housing for all 4 years. Completely different feel to the college experience."</p>

64

<p>Oh, how I wish our daughter COULD get into Stanford. For us it would be a blessing financially. My daughter would qualify for free tuition since we make under $100,000 annually. So, I'm hoping she'll be accepted to a school with large endowments not so much for their "prestige", but for their generous financial packages. :) I suppose it might help that my husband is a Stanford alum. But, we won't count on that! Actually, we visited Stanford on a sweltering day last August. We live only an hour south. Our daughter really wasn't that impressed. I think if she had experienced it when school was in session, she might feel differently. But, also, she's expressed interest in being an Occupational Therapist and Stanford doesn't have a program. She wants to get right into a pre-OT program from the onset. Places like USC and BU offer BS/MS accelerated degrees.</p>

<p>I don't envy you! You have some tough choices here. To be accepted by two Ivies is impressive...but as you said, little good it does if you can't afford it. :( Best wishes to you.</p>

65

<p>That sums it up! Welcome to the Farm! :)</p>

66

<p>This is very self involved thread. That isn't a quality that would matter at a huge school like Michigan. Stanford is fairly well stocked with self aware pre-professional school types so I don't think they would notice either. Of the three; Harvard, Yale and Princeton, self involvement is more the norm at Yale. However, as the whole point of going to one of the top three is the opportunity to make friends of people who can kick your ass in every way, what would be the point if you aren't going to bother with anyone but yourself.</p>

67

<p>To the OP: Lets see if I have this right, you can't decide between a full ride to Michigan and full pay at either Yale or Stanford. Right?</p>

<p>Are you nuts? Michigan has a fabulous reputation and has more alumni in top jobs,which can be used for hiring, then that of any of the other schools that you mentioned. I promise you that you will get plenty of intellectual challenge.</p>

<p>Unless your name is Trump or have a parent with a huge amount of wealth, take Michigan and NEVER look back. To me the only advantage of going to Yale or Stanford is that you can have the satisfaction of telling folks years later that , " I went to Yale" or "I went to Stanford" and get that "Oh gee" look. However, it does get old after a while and few will care as time goes on. I probably would say the same about full tuition at any HYP or most private schools vs. that of a free ride to a good state school.</p>

68

<p>Going back to post 43, several pages ago. If this is one of the big deal named scholarships (with no possibility of cuts due to economy) this may be the best choice regardless. Because the university will have a huge interest in the success of that student and give amazing support and resources that will just not be available anywhere else. With some of these scholarships, the student has been targeted and will be groomed as a future Goldwater, Truman, Rhodes Scholar... or whatever opportunitities/honors are appropriate for the particular field of study. Possibly the student will achieve those honors regardless of school but I doubt any other school will have the personal investment in the particular student. jmho fwiw</p>

69

<p>OP: In complete agreement with other parents that your posts are impressive. Did I read you were still waiting for complete award info from Mich? Of course, you realize anything you post on cc will get back to the scholarship committee one way or another. Not trying to worry you but please be very cautious during such a stressful time. Take care of yourself, enjoy all your college visits, and good luck with a very high-class problem! Obviously no bad decisions here!</p>

70

<p>Like xiggi, I was reminded of an older poster. Frecklybeckly went to Michigan after being rejected from Yale and ended up loving it. (Anyone remember her? She had an incredibly good operatic voice.)</p>

<p>
[quote]
I have a dual purpose in writing this. First of all, I want to bring those of you with your head in the clouds back to earth. Because of how (outrageously) competitive admissions are, most people can forget colleges that have garnered an excessive amount of prestige. DON'T DISGREGARD PUBLIC SCHOOLING! Sure, they're not Harvard, but I don't see the huge difference, for most kids. My brother goes to Harvard and I to University of Michigan, and he and I are having equally enjoyable times. The thing is, though, he's kind of a math genius, having completed most of the undergrad math curriculum at Yale before applying to colleges. That's why Harvard is good for him - they have an extremely specialized and demanding math program for the top top math students, for kids who already have very specific needs and goals academically.</p>

<p>For the kids who don't have that, like, say, me, but do have interesting academic and extracurricular backgrounds and are looking to pursue their interests further in depth, a large public university is just the medicine. Obviously I'm (second reason) trolling for U of M since it's my school and I adore it, but I feel like I can generalize.</p>

<p>I'm trying to appeal to those of you who perhaps are very smart, very assertive, and know you want to be active in college life, somehow, but are not yet sure what. I'm trying to appeal to the biochem kids who want to do research at a place with top funding but perhaps haven't yet isolated a perfect cure for encephalitis. I'm definitely trying to appeal to the prospective thesbians and musicians who are accomplished, but perhaps haven't been on Broadway. I'm appealing to those of you who write poetry, but maybe never have had someone to critically analyze your work.</p>

<p>Big public universities are for motivated academics. Oh, and they'll give you a lot of money. (Tell your kids.)</p>

<p>Fin and best wishes,
Frecklybeckly

[/quote]
</p>

71

<p>ahl, </p>

<p>Michigan is probably not the place you want to bring up regarding mentoring future Rhodes Scholars. They had their first in a long time this fall, but read this:</p>

<p>The</a> real reason you didn't win a Rhodes scholarship | The Michigan Daily</p>

72

<p>Newmassdad: thanks for link. Obviously Rhodes was the wrong example to use (maybe the others as well?) in this case. I learn something every single day I read this board.</p>

73

<p>alh, </p>

<p>Actually, one could argue that U. Mich's success last November was in response to the article! The thing to remember, though, is that large state universities by and large are far worse at mentoring for major scholarships than the elite places. Part of this is just class size, but part of it is due to the fact that some elites have multiple counselors dedicated full time to what are called "national scholarships". Some state U have started doing this too, but not all, and I fear some of the effort may be scrapped in the current budget crisis.</p>

74

<p>To the OP:</p>

<p>Stanford is obviously your dream school. If you choose to enroll elsewhere, you will always wonder what could have been. No amount of money will buy you peace of mind.</p>

<p>Also, you shouldn't count on getting into Stanford Law. It is arguably the second most selective law school in the country. The law applicants with whom you will be competing will be self-selecting. </p>

<p>If you're smart, you'll easily make up the difference in college tuition a couple of years out of law school. Unless finances provide a true hardship (i.e. not an inconvenience), you should always follow your dreams now. Who can predict the future?</p>

75

<p>Where did you end up accepting? Am dying to know!</p>

76

<p>Tyler chose Michigan.</p>

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