<p>Financial aid to middle class families is honestly terrible, but that's for most private universities nowadays anyways.</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Cornell ugrad for engineering and (like my opinion above) I didn't receive a "kind" financial aid package. Now I'm wondering, is Cornell really worth all that money? I'm debating whether Umass Amherst's commonwealth college, where I'll most likely graduate in three years at the cost of less than one year's worth of Cornell, is the better choice or not. I'm planning on going to graduate school anyways (hopefully at an ivy) where I'll end up with research stipends to pay for my education. Plus when looking for a job, companies will most likely look at the highest degree (I'm assuming).</p>
<p>I'm interested to hear what people's opinions are on this matter.</p>
<p>I would say that Cornell is definitely worth it, especially for engineering. You will have many more opportunities if you go to Cornell and you will get into better grad schools. That being said, if you are a highly motivated, driven student you can be successful anywhere, but it will much more difficult.</p>
<p>No, it’s not worth it. You don’t want to graduate with close to $100,000 in debt or more. I too was accepted to Cornell was engineering, did not receive any financial aid (also middle class) and am now at RPI at engineering where I’m doing well and engaged in research.</p>
<p>Keep in mind you’ll have to pay for graduate school too; you don’t want any significant debt from undergrad to carry over, especially since grad school matters more for your career.</p>
<p>Go to best school that you can afford. The highest ranked the better. The school you attend will be apart of you for the rest of your life. It will always be on your resume. It will open doors. </p>
<p>Do you know where Obama, Bush, Hillary or Bill Clinton attended college? It is stated often.
They are long out of college. Why does it matter? Because it does!!</p>
<p>Avoid massive student debt at all costs. UMass is plenty good based on what I’ve read. If Cornell costs about the same as UMass, then go with Cornell. The difference in career prospects is over-rated.</p>
<p>If you will be left with massive debt, and you will be worried about paying for that debt, then it isn’t worth it. Do you want to spend every day thinking about how you will have to repay your debt? If it won’t bother you, then go to Cornell. If it will bother you, just remember that you will get a great education at UMass and if you get good grades, you will still have an opportunity to go to an Ivy for grad school and you will still have the Ivy “stamp” on your resume then.</p>
<p>I acknowledge that it will be easier for you to find people who are more like you at Cornell (i.e. serious students interested in the world). But you can find those people at UMass, you may just have to work a little harder to find them. They are at UMass, there just aren’t quite as many.</p>
<p>I went to Northwestern 30 years ago, which isn’t an Ivy, but is still a top school and as one poster noted above, 10 years after I graduated, no one cared where I went to school.</p>
<p>If you will have to work many more extra years of your life to pay a debt and start to make money, does it makes sense to go to an Ivy? It is true that it will help you get your first internship or even your first job (maybe) but do you really think a MIT engineer or Cornell engineer makes a lot more than others after a few years experience in the marketplace? Actually before getting into debt go check the salary of an engineer ( you can actually compare by school and by specialty) in the Internet , it might surprise you.</p>
<p>My rule of thumb is not to take out more loans than what you could make first year out.</p>
<p>I have posted many times, I think it is a shame so many middle class students are left out on FA. They fall into the donut hole, to rich to qualify for FA, not rich enough to afford full pay. I sympathized with cortana last year when he couldn’t afford Cornell, but he is doing well at RPI and I am sure he will do well after he graduates too.</p>
<p>I don’t know a lot about UMass Amherst, but I do think there is an unquantifiable value in a Cornell engineering education. It’s not just about the name, but the people you meet, the professors you learn from, and the opportunities you are exposed to. Plus, depending on what career path you’re interested in, and how much making money matters to you, paying off the debt shouldn’t take more than a few years, and that should be made easier with your Cornell degree. But then again, if you are a really personally motivated student, I think you’ll do amazing anywhere and find your own opportunities. This really is a decision you should make with the rest of your family, and I do think that whatever you choose you can be successful down the road, so just take your time and think it over.</p>
<p>The Unabomber was a genius who went to Harvard and became a math professor at age 25. I thought that added to the media sensationalization of the crime back when he was discovered as the culprit?</p>
<p>The only thing that matters is the last thing you did. For college, it’s high school. For your first job, it’s college. Cornell can get you off to a great start! My son tells me that some computer science majors start getting recruited from Cornell during their sophomore year. I think for him, he worked very hard in high school with Cornell as the ultimate goal. I think it will always be a fond memory for him - he absolutely loves being there.</p>
<p>I truly believe that one of the reasons tuitions are so high is that these schools have 2 guaranteed payers, no matter how much they charge in tuition. Those at the bottom financially get so much money from the federal government and the colleges AND those who have so much money that tuition isn’t an issue for them. Yes, that leaves the middle income families in a huge bind. So many of them could go to these schools and succeed, but the system works against them. While EVERY university build the perfect athletic facilities and beautiful academic buildings, you have to ask if your tuition really goes towards your education, or does it go to attract the next classes of kids with the best facilities. If the federal government got out of the college gifting business and colleges had to really COMPETE for students, I believe tuitions would have to decrease. Just a thought.</p>
<p>My son had this dilemma in2006. Full pay Cornell or half tuition Duke or free Penn State Honors. </p>
<p>He chose PSU. Graduated with honors, Phi Beta Kappa with two degrees ( physics and engineering). He got into a number of top 10 grad programs and chose one. He then decided he wanted to work and was immediately hired by a top aerospace company.</p>
<p>State college did not hurt him. He has no debt…none.</p>
<p>Pell Grant is only one option. There are many others - FAFSA and the like. You’re in much better to get money if your family has nothing, or next to nothing. Middle class Families that work hard, save, and are responsible, but still can’t meet the tuition get…nothing…</p>
<p>^Good job sax! You raised him right - he chose the responsible decision over the emotional one. I wish more people were that brave and not feeling they are entitled to a “financial aid package”.</p>